QFF Ideas & Suggestions

[JohnK]

Your 8th point is actually very smart (not implying that your not, just a really good idea), however considering their focus on EDR, I doubt they'd want shoppers thinking their points were worth less than those that actually fly

I guess you could word it in a way that does not leave shoppers feeling worthless but simply giving a discount for higher tier members. Something like 10% for Silver, 20% for Gold and 30% for Platinum.

I probably read it wrong but doesn't Amex already reward loyalty for being a member for xx number of years when you purchase items from their rewards catalogue.

Everyone keeps whining about anytime lounge access, but I would suspect that less than 1% of WPs would actually use this benefit (most appear to be on AFF)

I know this has been discussed to death but I think you are underestimating the number of people who use anytime access. I know a fair few Platinums outside of these forums and these people use anytime access.

By the way Anytime access does not mean going to airport when not flying but possibly flying on the day with another carrier as QF does not service the route or they are too expensive. I got stung by the change as I had booked a whole lot of flights on TG and SQ expecting to have Lounge access and now QF has pulled the plug.

I see where you are coming from on this but I think a more elegant solution would be to provide more points for actually flying and higher status bonuses on QF. this would certainly sway me towards QF when flying.

That would work as well. All I wanted to highlight was QFF would not exist in it's present form if QF was not doing so well and people should be rewarded accordingly for keeping the airline going instead of being treated the same as some who are able to earn hundreds of thousands of points from business spend into QFF.

 

[Philosiphier]

Not intending to be detrimental to exisiting Platinum and Gold FF members - but it is clear that loyalty for these customers has already been established, given their status from choosing to fly frequently with QANTAS. If benefits were that dreadful, I am asuming they would chose to fly with different airlines.

It may be adventageous for QANTAS if they focus on those of us who have not yet 'formed an alliance' with a particular airline (Bronze members). They may find that if they start valuing potential, in addition to existing, customers, a lot more may be gained in the long term.

Just a thought.

 

[soetes]

I've just gone from Bronze to Silver and now to Gold in six months, and, so far, have nothing to show for it except different coloured plastic in my wallet. I fly for business quite a lot, but it's my own business and in a big growth phase, which constrains my ability to buy anything other than the cheapest seats. Of course, these are not upgradeable so I can't use my 600K points to give some comfort to my long legs. Having just done LAX-SFO-SYD in the very back, the exit row seats having gone before I booked, I was hurting at the end. It really annoys me to hear of friends who barely fly getting free upgrades while I have to sit with my knees around my ears. Or to see the road warriors on corporate accounts getting the J Class seats, for that matter.

Suggestions? Maybe those of us achieving Gold through heaps of flying, rather than from corporate accounts paying for F & J, should get some recognition for handing over the hard-earned to Qantas in the hope of a creature comfort or two.

 

[drewbles]

Really agree on this one. You need a minimum ~4 qualifying flights for everything right now, though 4 for Silver, 8 for Gold and 16 for Platinum would also work. Most people I would imagine would do enough anyway, but you might weed out a few that are just cheating the airline. That being said, it might not make much difference. But it makes sense.

Can't say I'm particularly fond of it. Not that I don't do a lot of my BIS miles in QF (I do, over 30 last year), but i'm seriously contemplating a move o/s in the next 12 months. That would put me in prime AA Territory, but there's no way I could easily qualify for EXP (that I know of, I've not looked at the status runs, but I would not be doing as much flying as I do now within AU).

I'd be topping out at around 8 segments a year if I did move (LAX/SFO-SYD-MEL-PER return and a LAX-MEL return a year).

There needs to be a way to make expats happy too

 

[veraj]

Recently there has been a lot of discussion about QFF here, with a number of interesting suggestions raised. To follow on from this theme, I'd like to ask for your ideas.

How would you improve Qantas Frequent Flyer and how could the program encourage you to fly more with us?

This is a pretty diverse community, across all tiers, with a variety of domestic/international network flyers and airlines flown. There's no shortage of knowledge and creativity here, so look forward to an interesting discussion.

Thanks and have a good weekend.

" My suggestion for improvement to the qantas FF is simple- list and identify the taxes being charged when booking an award trip. yesterday I booked a return trip for 2 from Melbourne to St petersberg- returning from Frankfurt with a stop-over in Perth. taxes for the trip for 2 amounted to $1402.78.
I'd like to know if Qantas is loading this cost in order to recoup some of their costs. I'll be emailing Qantas to identify exactly where they incur these taxes- stay posted

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I've just gone from Bronze to Silver and now to Gold in six months, and, so far, have nothing to show for it except different coloured plastic in my wallet. I fly for business quite a lot, but it's my own business and in a big growth phase, which constrains my ability to buy anything other than the cheapest seats. Of course, these are not upgradeable so I can't use my 600K points to give some comfort to my long legs. Having just done LAX-SFO-SYD in the very back, the exit row seats having gone before I booked, I was hurting at the end. It really annoys me to hear of friends who barely fly getting free upgrades while I have to sit with my knees around my ears. Or to see the road warriors on corporate accounts getting the J Class seats, for that matter.

Suggestions? Maybe those of us achieving Gold through heaps of flying, rather than from corporate accounts paying for F & J, should get some recognition for handing over the hard-earned to Qantas in the hope of a creature comfort or two.

I can't speak for QF, but I think this is wishful thinking. QANTAS is there to make a profit, not to hand out rewards.

I'm sorry that you are so envious about the corporate road warrier on the corporate tab sitting in J, but presumably you are in business for yourself to be one of those successful people one day. Evidently you place the success of your business ahead of your personal comfort - and I applaud you for that. that's your choice, but it's still a choice you made and not something to complain about. Hopefully it pays off for you in the future.

And whilst you might hear from people who don't fly very often getting free upgrades, those people are few and far between. Very few, and very far between.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

" My suggestion for improvement to the qantas FF is simple- list and identify the taxes being charged when booking an award trip. yesterday I booked a return trip for 2 from Melbourne to St petersberg- returning from Frankfurt with a stop-over in Perth. taxes for the trip for 2 amounted to $1402.78.
I'd like to know if Qantas is loading this cost in order to recoup some of their costs. I'll be emailing Qantas to identify exactly where they incur these taxes- stay posted

You can find this out from your ticket. YQ is QANTAS "fees". Everything else is usually taxes or similar 3rd party charges.
FARE CALCULATION : SIN QF X/BNE QF SYD297.21QF SIN681.14NUC978.35END ROE1.429940XT4QR60WY61AU6QR AIR FARE : SGD 1399 TAX : SGD 28SG 226YQ 131XT TOTAL : SGD 1784

 

[soetes]

QANTAS is there to make a profit, not to hand out rewards.

Ouch, OK, I stand chastised. I thought the FF program was to ID and reward the loyalty of those who put their BIS most often. I'll pull my head in.

 

[JohnK]

It may be adventageous for QANTAS if they focus on those of us who have not yet 'formed an alliance' with a particular airline (Bronze members). They may find that if they start valuing potential, in addition to existing, customers, a lot more may be gained in the long term.

Not being critical but interested to hear how this would work.

- So would a bronze be able to sit at the front of economy while high status flyers sit down the back?
- Should op-ups be given to Bronze first and then Silver, Gold and Platinum?

I can see a lot of high status flyers getting extremely upset and once a year bronze travellers to remain well once a year bronze travellers but with much better benefits.

 

[Fishhead]

I am a Qantas Platinum flyer doing all my trips overseas in economy. I also fly other One World carriers where possible as I value lounge access first and foremost. I used to value access to exit rows.........The decline in interest in Qantas Frequent Flyers is very noticeable. I flew Cathay the other day and they moved me to an exit row once the flight was underway as I couldn't open my laptop as someone's head was in my lap. Cathay alwsy sends the purser to say hello and make themselves available if needed. Qantas? No way. Lounge access seems to be driven by a list of rules created under contract by those in immigration offices. Once you're in the oounge there is nobody there anyway (except London and LA). Most other lounges are dead quiet. Jetstar is problematic. Qantas has pulled out of many routes, forcing folks to use jetstar which is fine but why no status credits for lower fares? Why pay for Jetflex when you only have carry on? So, as I look down the barrel of lifetime gold I've started the process of investigating a move to Virgin Blue. I tried to follow up advice on Aus FF from somebody who had managed to negotiate an equivalent status with VB and if I could do this I would jump quickly as Qantas takes my many thousands of dollars for granted.

 

[drewbles]

Very interesting thread.

Here are some of my suggestions in no particular order.

1) Bring back Upgrade Credits instead of the measly 5,000 point Loyalty Bonus for every 450 SC's. Another idea could be to give each status level a certain number of upgrade credits at reassessment date, eg Partner Gold 8 UC's or more based on SC's earned, Platinum 6 UC's, Gold 3 UC's and Silver 1 UC. From memory 3 UC's were sufficient to upgrade a SYD-SIN/BKK/HKG flight.

2) Allow confirmed points upgrades (or using Upgrade credits) on international flights on any fare class for Platinum, Gold and Silver. Perhaps restrict the number of points upgrades available at T-353 days and release more closer to the time of the flight.

3) Spare middle seats should be in rows 4-10 on a 738 and not in rows 11-29.

4) Block some forward aisle and window seats for late bookings. I liked the fact that QF looked after me when my SIN-MEL flight was going to be 3 hours late and I would miss my connection and QF rebooked me onto a later flight and allocated for me 27D on a 767.

5) Ensure that if op-ups are required on any given flight that Platinums and Golds get them before Silver and Bronze members. Loyalty should be rewarded in these situations not left up to pot luck.

6) Allow Platinums to pre-allocate exit rows on international flights free of charge.

7) Restore anytime access to lounges for Platinums

8) Keep a track of how points are earned in each QFF account and if booking awards using points earned from flying then reduce the number of points required for the award and also remove fuel surcharges for these award bookings. Perhaps a sliding scale can be used depending on the percentage of how the points were earned.

9) Allow selection of fare class when booking a multi-city itinerary. At the moment it defaults to the lowest fare class available on the flight where as the point to point airfares allow the selection of Sale, Super Saver, Fully Flexible etc for each leg.

I haven't really commented on ideas in this thread, but JohnK has got pretty much the same ideas as me.

Upgrade Credits were great. It was a very good way of differentiating between frequent flyer benefits vs frequent shopper benefits (and yes, I know you have to fly to get loyalty bonuses, but with the amount of promos Woolworths/Safeway have going, you can earn 5k points very easily every few months without stepping foot on a plane). 5,000 points is nothing. I get that from my Credit Cards every month or two.

OpUps, whilst a rare beast, should reward loyal flyers. I've been fortunate enough to receive several in the past years, but there are many who have not (one in particular ).

Anytime Access, bring it back. Simple. Before QF start saying that it will reduce crowding, how bout the staff actually record how many Plat's were actually using it? Not once when using it was anything noted down, I was simply waved through. This does not constitute knowledge of crowding due to anytime access being abused.

Exit rows are a no-brainer. Why should your most loyal (non-gifted-status) clients be subjected to pay for them? Let us be rewarded with small tokens such as this.

Seat blocking is another huge thing that Altea should be able to handle well yet never ceases to amaze me in its stupidity. I've often been in the front few rows of economy to have someone sit in the middle seat of a 763, yet have rows way back further empty in the middle. I understand aircraft trim requirements, but this is silly. I've noticed what we're coining the 'WP Shadow' which seems to auto-block seats for WP's where space is available, but the airport staff must love seating random people anywhere and paying no attention to status of pax they're putting someone next to.

Number 8 is interesting, not sure how that'd work in practise as many of us WP's earn a lot of points from flying alone. Could work out well though (although i'm probably more in favour of a tiered discount-for-redemptions based on your FF status; that way WP's who fly a lot and earn plenty of points via other channels are not disadvantaged).

I'm sure there's many other suggestions in here I' agree with, but JohnK's post sums it up pretty nicely!

 

[samh004]

It may be adventageous for QANTAS if they focus on those of us who have not yet 'formed an alliance' with a particular airline (Bronze members). They may find that if they start valuing potential, in addition to existing, customers, a lot more may be gained in the long term.

Just a thought.

Not being critical but interested to hear how this would work.

- So would a bronze be able to sit at the front of economy while high status flyers sit down the back?
- Should op-ups be given to Bronze first and then Silver, Gold and Platinum?

I can see a lot of high status flyers getting extremely upset and once a year bronze travellers to remain well once a year bronze travellers but with much better benefits.

I think they’ve already addressed this issue by lowering the bar required to get to silver, and thus giving those members benefits that they wouldn’t otherwise have got. They still have to put in the miles, but it’s a little easier, which should help.

So, as I look down the barrel of lifetime gold I've started the process of investigating a move to Virgin Blue. I tried to follow up advice on Aus FF from somebody who had managed to negotiate an equivalent status with VB and if I could do this I would jump quickly as Qantas takes my many thousands of dollars for granted.

You can see here for a status match before the end of this month. As a LTG you’ll be given Velocity Gold.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Ouch, OK, I stand chastised. I thought the FF program was to ID and reward the loyalty of those who put their BIS most often. I'll pull my head in.

Haha (not laughing at you - laughing with you).

No - the purposes of the program is to extract as much profit from people as possible. A while ago that would have correlated with people who did the BIS miles. However with the advent of LCCs driving prices ever lower, there are many sitting in planes that don't really bring in that much profit anymore.

The constant service reductions and benefit devaluations we see are a direct result of needing to maintain profits in the face of squeezed margins.

 

[drewbles]

Not intending to be detrimental to exisiting Platinum and Gold FF members - but it is clear that loyalty for these customers has already been established, given their status from choosing to fly frequently with QANTAS. If benefits were that dreadful, I am asuming they would chose to fly with different airlines.

It may be adventageous for QANTAS if they focus on those of us who have not yet 'formed an alliance' with a particular airline (Bronze members). They may find that if they start valuing potential, in addition to existing, customers, a lot more may be gained in the long term.

Just a thought.

The main problem with your argument is that people in Australia are choosing Qantas as their FF program simply based on the fact there are no real viable alternatives. DJ and Velocity are obviously very keen to pickup on QF's downfall, but it'll take time (no DOM J yet, A330's still to come online, John Borghetti has some work to to but aircraft reconfig and delivery takes time).

QF have already lowered the barrier to Silver. There's no point in bestowing benefits to Bronze FF's IMHO, as they are yet to prove loyalty. Buying lots at a store or using your Amex lots is not demonstrating loyalty to Qantas, it's just earning you points. The Banks are paying for your points, not you.

Whilst Qantas have eroded benefits (and the PS people are particularly vocal, and I understand where they are coming from as I spent a good 6 years as a PS), they have at least made it possible for those who do fly semi-regularly to taste some of the goodies available at top tiers, for less than it used to be. 300SC's is not a high number, and 250 to retain is dead simple. If you're flying less than this, you're not really a frequent flyer IMHO.

Just my 2c.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Upgrade Credits were great. It was a very good way of differentiating between frequent flyer benefits vs frequent shopper benefits (and yes, I know you have to fly to get loyalty bonuses, but with the amount of promos Woolworths/Safeway have going, you can earn 5k points very easily every few months without stepping foot on a plane). 5,000 points is nothing. I get that from my Credit Cards every month or two.

Agreed.

Anytime Access, bring it back. Simple. Before QF start saying that it will reduce crowding, how bout the staff actually record how many Plat's were actually using it? Not once when using it was anything noted down, I was simply waved through. This does not constitute knowledge of crowding due to anytime access being abused.

You are presuming that QF did no analysis at all. They may have gone and done some sampling - stats doesn't require every lounge to be sampled every day to come up with a reasonably confident answer.

Seat blocking is another huge thing that Altea should be able to handle well yet never ceases to amaze me in its stupidity. I've often been in the front few rows of economy to have someone sit in the middle seat of a 763, yet have rows way back further empty in the middle.

What happens when people /want/ to sit in the middle up front? And those people have status? I used to pick middle seats up the front when I was a lowly Silver. (By the time I got to Gold I could usually get an aisle )

Edit: spelling

 

[docjames]

I guess you could word it in a way that does not leave shoppers feeling worthless but simply giving a discount for higher tier members. Something like 10% for Silver, 20% for Gold and 30% for Platinum.

I probably read it wrong but doesn't Amex already reward loyalty for being a member for xx number of years when you purchase items from their rewards catalogue.

.

Amex have "Member Since" discounts on awards. I agree that a status-discount would be a useful "enhancement" ().

It may be adventageous for QANTAS if they focus on those of us who have not yet 'formed an alliance' with a particular airline (Bronze members). They may find that if they start valuing potential, in addition to existing, customers, a lot more may be gained in the long term.

Just a thought.

A really good an interesting thought. However if the low tier benefits are too good, there's no incentive to be higher tier, so you lose business as those that would be higher tier spread their travel around due to the perceived lack of value at the higher end.

 

[Katherine26]

I am a platinum QFF but I add my voice and vote to the chorus to:

3) Convince Jetstar to give out 0.5 points and pro-rata status credits per Jetsaver/Light fare mile instead of 0 as it currently stands!

 

[drewbles]

What happens when people /want/ to sit in the middle up front? And those people have status? I used to pick middle seats up the front when I was a lowly Silver. (By the time I got to Gold I could usually get an aisle )

I guess I looked at it from the view of who would want to sit in a middle seat, when there's aisle/window seats available. May I ask why you like middle seats (I'm not going to pass judgement, just curious as I know I love my space when in cattle class )?

 

[shodgso]

I recently achieved the dizzy heights of Platinum on QF and my observations of my treatment at that level is ..................... absolutely no difference! The Asian airlines (Singapore and Cathay) really do value it's elite passengers eg greeting them individually on board, calling them by their names etc. Some suggestions:

• Upgrades to recognise your tier
• Prompt sending out of membership cards once you change tier
• Special QF offers by tier
• Special associated rewards with third parties eg hotels

 

[samh004]

Prompt sending out of membership cards once you change tier

Welcome to AFF!

I just wanted to point out that usually they’re very good with sending out new cards, just with the new technology in the cards and bag tags there have been some delays. I’m sure in the future though it’ll be just like normal.