Re: QANTAS Classic awards to Status Credits
So mASA's price on a start-point to end-point distance with essentially free stops in between but classics will add each leg to get the price?
Essentially, mASAs (if we call it that
) are minimum priced from start to end direct (but I think there must be a published fare between those two points, otherwise it will be higher. For example you can't do BNE-SYD-OOL and get it to price as a one-way zone 1 as a minimum).
That said, the "additional legs" are not exactly free as they increase the co-pay but by an undetermined amount (just as if you had selected an indirect option if you had booked the same flights in cash).
I think I predicted all the commentary that was coming to this thread eeking out of the woodworks way before they appeared....
Anyway..... I imagine that this will be a once off (or, at best, periodic) promotion, and will function similar to Virgin's, i.e. only SCs, no points. I'm not sure it'll last for six months - I see it more like any other promo, i.e. maybe only two or three months. Maybe this will only apply to QF marketed flights (so EK classics, again, will be no earn, as will other partners and JQ). Maybe they'll tack a rider on it, e.g. when booked in conjunction with a cash fare, so to get SCs on the entire itinerary you need a cash fare and then all Classics on it will be earning. Which of course would create a bit of hell for those who would like to exploit this in J or F.
Notwithstanding my last sentence, if they instituted this system where you got SCs on Classics and that's it, I'd be reasonably happy. Yes, they will not be as good as the old ASAs due to higher points cost (point to point, almost) and no points earned on such fares, but it would truly mean that every (almost) award flight would be SC earning, and at Classic award rates. For WPs who can request seats, that's a boon. Remember that there is almost no other programme in the world which offers elite qualifying credit for award flights.
