QF Frequent Flyer Point Redemption Sale

[Worldtraveller8888]

Got this email last night... Not huge discounts on the classic award price, but not bad for Any Seat!

WT
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Catch a great deal on a Qantas & Jetstar Any Seat Award

Everyone loves a great deal and here's one you won't want to miss, so be quick and book now for your next Australian getaway.*


Economy one way Any Seat Award

Points^​

Sydney to Melbourne / Melbourne to Sydney

From 9,600​

Sydney to Brisbane / Brisbane to Sydney

From 9,600​

What's more, when booking these deals at qantas.com, all surcharges, fees and taxes are included, so there's no more to pay. Book before 29 January and travel between 24 April and 27 August 2010.

 

[sarvowinner]

I didn't get the email. Wonder why?

 

[docjames]

No email for me either, but it is listed on the qf webiste under

FF // member specials // flights

 

[serfty]

PG mrs received the email at 16:04, myself at 16:18

 

[clifford]

Not such a "great deal".

 

[anat0l]

Got this email last night... Not huge discounts on the classic award price, but not bad for Any Seat!

One word says it all.

Meh

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Not such a "great deal".

No, or at least not for anyone with a healthy FF balance.


Would not surprise if offers like these are designed or the many new QFFers who signed up via Everyday Rewards as it gives them a flight.

ie those with not too large an account or point earning capacity.

 

[Warks]

But it says all fees are included, that's worth something isn't it?

 

[anat0l]

But it says all fees are included, that's worth something isn't it?

Essentially you're paying more points to cover those fees (i.e. taxes and charges).

Classic Awards already allow you to do this, albeit I must admit that in some cases you pay less points to cover fees in an Any Seat Award compared to the fixed charge for Classic Awards.

Personally, though, paying for fees with QFF points for domestic itineraries is dumb (at least in these times where there are no fuel fines). I'd just pay the Classic Award rate and stump up the cash for the fees.

 

[iqis60]

Hijack

Did anyone notice in recent QFF literature that they were saying that SC's being awarded on QF award flights was coming soon? I was suprised there was no discussion about this. I spoke to my friend to works with QFF and he confirmed that SC's will start being awarded for award flights some time soon. Not for classic flights obviously, but it does mean that the whole process of working out the best status club runs will get more complicated. We will have to start working out values for FF points and deciding what specials do equal a good SC/points ratio. Plus it opens up the possibility of sliding up into the next membership level by burning a few points.

/Hijack

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Hijack

Did anyone notice in recent QFF literature that they were saying that SC's being awarded on QF award flights was coming soon? I was suprised there was no discussion about this. I spoke to my friend to works with QFF and he confirmed that SC's will start being awarded for award flights some time soon. Not for classic flights obviously, but it does mean that the whole process of working out the best status club runs will get more complicated. We will have to start working out values for FF points and deciding what specials do equal a good SC/points ratio. Plus it opens up the possibility of sliding up into the next membership level by burning a few points.

/Hijack

This is worthy of it's own thread.

 

[samh004]

It was above my points balance, and being based in Brisbane I got:

Brisbane to Sydney / Sydney to Brisbane From 9,600
Brisbane to Melbourne / Melbourne to Brisbane From 13,800

 

[oz_mark]

Did anyone notice in recent QFF literature that they were saying that SC's being awarded on QF award flights was coming soon? I was suprised there was no discussion about this.

It was mentioned in the material QFF sent with the forthcoming July changes (see http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/qantas-frequent-flyer-program/july2010-changes-20656.html). Certainly where there is only a marginal difference between a classic and an any-seat award, there may be cases where this will make the any-seat award a better option.

 

[JohnK]

Certainly where there is only a marginal difference between a classic and an any-seat award, there may be cases where this will make the any-seat award a better option.

I must have missed this when it was first announced.

In my opinion earning SCs and QFF points by using QFF points for anyseat awards sounds like a dumb idea. The people who would benefit most from it are those earning millions of QFF points through business spending but do not do enough paid flying to earn QFF status.

 

[oz_mark]

In my opinion earning SCs and QFF points by using QFF points for anyseat awards sounds like a dumb idea. The people who would benefit most from it are those earning millions of QFF points through business spending but do not do enough paid flying to earn QFF status.

As I argued elsewhere, that was the whole point of the last set of changes. Taken together, the package of changes:

1) Expiry after 18 months of non activity (down from 3 years)
2) Excluding family transfers from being counted as activity
3) Status Credits and Points on Anyseat awards

was driven by a desire by Qantas to maximise the number of points that partners needed to buy. That is, the changes are there to encourage you to use partners even more.

 

[anat0l]

The people who would benefit most from it are those earning millions of QFF points through business spending but do not do enough paid flying to earn QFF status.

That's an interesting thought. So now you can use your points to buy status.

On one hand, this is not new - AA have it to a degree (not for immediate status, but just by putting points into your account counts towards lifetime membership); in fact for AA - in the relative scheme of things - it is relatively simple.

NZ Airpoints just introduced a similar system if you use their GlobalPlus Platinum Visa direct card. You get 1 status point for every NZD 250 you spend on the card. Plus, in order to change status tiers, you need at least 50% of the status points to come from flying (for NZ GE this makes it very tough to justify getting the status substantially through GlobalPlus spend).

I guess the Airpoints example shows that if QF set the bar sufficiently, then Any Seat Awards will only yield minimal effort for an extensive outlay of points, plus there should be a control placed on how much flying you would still need to do in order to get status. Something like:

• QFF Silver: at least 50% of status must be through flying
• QFF Gold: at least 65% of status must be through flying
• QFF Platinum: at least 80% of status must be through flying if qualifying; 90% if retaining status

This are just random figures meant for a guide - they are not based on any research or calculation! Of course, it does mean that Any Seat Award recipients can still get SCs for loyalty bonuses and lifetimes statuses.....

What does earning points on an Any Seat Award mean anyway? You spend points to get some back? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I'd rather see it no points earned and, as said above, minimal SCs.

 

[JohnK]

Of course, it does mean that Any Seat Award recipients can still get SCs for loyalty bonuses and lifetimes statuses.....

I haven't looked at Anyseat awards in great detail but I would imagine that it would not take very long for someone to redeem first class anyseat awards to the UK or USA and end up with Lifetime Gold status thanks largely to their credit card spending.

 

[anat0l]

I haven't looked at Anyseat awards in great detail but I would imagine that it would not take very long for someone to redeem first class anyseat awards to the UK or USA and end up with Lifetime Gold status thanks largely to their credit card spending.

Well let's look at one model of this then.

Suppose we set the rules at: Any Seat Awards only earn SCs at Fully Flexible rates or higher, and then at only 25% of the normal SC rate. That is, a Fully Flexible Any Seat Award BNE-SYD will earn 5 SC instead of 20 SC; a Zone 10 F Fully Flexible Any Seat Award earns 90 SC rather than 360 SC.

Assuming a modest 800k points per F Any Seat Award, this gives:

14,000 / 90 * 800,000 = 124,800,000 points that one must spend if getting LTG solely on Any Seat Awards. Of course I haven't taken into the loyalty bonus you get every 450 SCs; taking that into account reduces the "cost" to 124,645,000 points.

Even with LTS at half of those values, that's a lot of points just to kill off through Any Seat Awards. How many AA accounts (even through the poor MR->SPG->AA route) could you "LT-Platinum-ise" with a budget of points that huge?

A case like above again can be limited by adding conditionals about the number of SCs for status that must be obtained through flying.

 

[oz_mark]

I haven't looked at Anyseat awards in great detail but I would imagine that it would not take very long for someone to redeem first class anyseat awards to the UK or USA and end up with Lifetime Gold status thanks largely to their credit card spending.

I dare say the number of people that could potentially do this is quite small.

 

[JohnK]

Well let's look at one model of this then.

Suppose we set the rules at: Any Seat Awards only earn SCs at Fully Flexible rates or higher, and then at only 25% of the normal SC rate. That is, a Fully Flexible Any Seat Award BNE-SYD will earn 5 SC instead of 20 SC; a Zone 10 F Fully Flexible Any Seat Award earns 90 SC rather than 360 SC.

That is fine assuming that QF would put conditions on the earning of SCs or reaching membership levels by redeeming anyseat awards.

Perhaps I am wrong but I believe status (even lifetime) should be a reward for paid travel on the airline, or the alliance, not based on credit card spend. The term 'frequent flyer status' may no longer be relevant....