QF fare bucket changes live today (inc heavily disc ‘sale’ red e-deals -> J upgrade)

[psi999]

Lady’s and gents,

Just a gentile reminder that new QF fare types have gone live today, most importantly red e-deals now allowed J upgrades domestically (with instant confirmation).

For someone like myself with close to zero QFF status this is fantastic news (simply do not fly enough these days).

(I successfully upgraded my heavily discounted $89 SYD-BNE red e-deal from Y to J at a cost of 8000 points this morning ($89 at the time was cheaper than JQ’s offering once baggage was included + 1000QFF points).)

While some do not rate QF J domestic worthy of asking points a J ticket will most importantly allow access to the QP (from my understanding - please correct me if this isn't the case)... Which will be fantastic as I will be connecting from an international JQ flight (so have built in a few hours buffer).

So I see this program change fantastic for persons such as myself (heaps of points but no QFF status / QP membership) but also on the other hand not a particularly great program change for genuine high tier QFF members with;

- QP potentially full of great unwashed on J point upgrades (as lets face it, points are plenty easy to earn these days with Woolworths seemingly giving them away by the thousands)

- J upgrades harder to acquire with again great unwashed acquiring ‘U’ seats months out (FWIW my upgraded fare is for late November)

- Business class cabin again full of e-deal upgrade pax (potentially paying less than comparable JQ flight).

So gents, your thoughts – has opening up red e-deals to J upgrades enhanced the QFF program ?

And how will it effect your flying / upgrade strategy.

Cheers!

 

[markis10]

Re: QF fare bucket changes live today (inc heavily disc ‘sale’ red e-deals -> J upgra

I dont see any real need to use points for an upgrade with the changes, a $88 fare + 8000 points is not as attractive to me using 16000 points and $66 to do the same flight but get SC and points at J levels.

 

[psi999]

Re: QF fare bucket changes live today (inc heavily disc ‘sale’ red e-deals -> J upgra

oops, sorry guys.

Not sure how i missed that thread - perhaps someone would like to move my post to that thread.

(My post was intended to be a heads up - today being 'go-live' of e-deal -> J upgrade)

Apologies

 

[medhead]

Nice to have a thread where we can discuss our experiences with the new system. Rather than one that discusses our expectations following announcement of changes and prior to implementation.

I don't see the upgrades will change my behaviour. I'm on my own dollar and the upgrade cost on my usual route is the same as a Y award ticket. I would rather save a bit of cash on buying next weeks trip than upgrade this week.

In SYD your upgrade will get you into the J lounge. I'll be there tonight at about 17:30.

 

[psi999]

Re: QF fare bucket changes live today (inc heavily disc ‘sale’ red e-deals -> J upgra

In SYD your upgrade will get you into the J lounge. I'll be there tonight at about 17:30.

Fantastic and thank-you (Qantas site is very wishy-washy around entry requirements)

Out of curiosity (and benefit of the thread) what sort of earning would one expect with a 16000 + $66 SYD-BNE booking over regular no-status earn of QFF point earn of 1000 ?

(Unlike most of you status points are a waste with me, I simply do not travel often enough to be of benefit).

Cheers guys.

 

[medhead]

Fantastic and thank-you (Qantas site is very wishy-washy around entry requirements)

Out of curiosity (and benefit of the thread) what sort of earning would one expect with a 16000 + $66 SYD-BNE booking over regular no-status earn of QFF point earn of 1000 ?

(Unlike most of you status points are a waste with me, I simply do not travel often enough to be of benefit).

Cheers guys.

No worries.

I assume Markis10 was referring to a JASA. Which will earn as business - 40 SC and 1250 points.

 

[markis10]

Re: QF fare bucket changes live today (inc heavily disc ‘sale’ red e-deals -> J upgra

Fantastic and thank-you (Qantas site is very wishy-washy around entry requirements)

Out of curiosity (and benefit of the thread) what sort of earning would one expect with a 16000 + $66 SYD-BNE booking over regular no-status earn of QFF point earn of 1000 ?

(Unlike most of you status points are a waste with me, I simply do not travel often enough to be of benefit).

Cheers guys.

If you use the points wisely it does not take much travel to get status, as many have discovered, and with changes to the way things are bundled such as baggage etc, it can be a cost saving!

No worries.

I assume Markis10 was referring to a JASA. Which will earn as business - 40 SC and 1250 points.

Yes I was referring to a JASA, its using less cash but generating more benefits in terms of status!

 

[opusman]

Re: QF fare bucket changes live today (inc heavily disc ‘sale’ red e-deals -> J upgra

Personally I doubt this will make much difference to J upgrade availability. Remember, all fares used to be upgradeable - it wasn't until several years ago that the QFF program was "enhanced" to make NOQ buckets ineligible for upgrades. So this simply puts things back the way they were.

And the price differential between Red E-Deal and Super Saver was never that great; I doubt it would have deterred many people who wanted the chance to upgrade.

Even though points are easy to earn I think most people see them as a way to get free (economy) flights. I know my parents (fairly typical of non-frequent travellers) wouldn't even consider "wasting" points for upgrades.