Scarce access to QANTAS Intl First and Business awards

[straitman]

Hi Guys
This is my first post. I'm in sales. I think Qantas miss the ball in filling all premium+ seats irrespective of seat class. After take off an empty seat is an empty seat!!!. They have missed the chance to fill it & get FF points liability off their ledger whether by upgrades or FF Awards. Lastly, op ups are also a form of advertising of the product to the lucky recipient who will rave about it to all & sundry. It also means more seats become available in economy which can be utilised on promotions for those that don't have the points or funds for premium+ etc.
Thanks for the opportunity to voice an opion.

Hi gberry,

Welcome to AFF.

I recall discussing this a few times in the past.

By Op-upping to fill all seats downgrades the product to the point that quite a few status pax will play the lottery rather than buying the dearer ticket. Look at the US where this is a problem.

The other significant point is to think back a few (a lot) years to the Kendall Aviation days. Don Kendall insisted that his aircraft always plan to taxi with at least one empty seat. His logic was that the number of times that a business man would arrive at the last minute and pay anything for the seat far outweighed the loss of the times that it went empty.

 

[Alanslegal]

Hi Guys
This is my first post. I'm in sales. I think Qantas miss the ball in filling all premium+ seats irrespective of seat class. After take off an empty seat is an empty seat!!!. They have missed the chance to fill it & get FF points liability off their ledger whether by upgrades or FF Awards. Lastly, op ups are also a form of advertising of the product to the lucky recipient who will rave about it to all & sundry. It also means more seats become available in economy which can be utilised on promotions for those that don't have the points or funds for premium+ etc.
Thanks for the opportunity to voice an opion.

Welcome aboard.

I have flown in F cabins when it has been only me and three stewards. I have also been in them with my girlfriend, and two or three stewards. Yes (selfishly) great short term thrill to enjoy the privacy of your own F cabin ..... but at the same time, you can't make it toooooooo easy for any John or Jane to be able to access F awards purely because they have points to burn ... otherwise down the track, nobody will pay for F and just use points because QF or whoever will release them for points awards.

The main thrust of this thread, is the the OP who is one of QF's most frequent flyers, isn't able to access F or J awards at short notice even though there is space availability and he as a WP1 should have 'greater' and 'better' access to award seats which does not appear to be the case or what the WP1 program is selling itself to be.

With op-ups, its rare as it is, and most likely it is given to higher status passengers who not only rave about it to all and sundry, but because of that positive experience will likely choose to remain loyal and continue flying with that carrier. So its a win-win situation because the airline required some seat flexibility in the short term, whilst making that flyer likely to continue to spend more with them in the longer term.

 

[tinkybelle]

I have seen a lot of J and F awards recently . just grabbed 2 F syd lhr on the a380 for a couple for friends and J back on cathay on the dates they wanted
also got a couple of seats to HK and TLV on exact dates I have also seen a lot to USA
but CX seems very loose at present.
just have to be creative when selecting multi destination

 

[Walter_Plinge]

Earlier in the thread I mentioned I was flying MEL-FRA business class next month using points but managed to get only one leg in business class, the rest being premium economy. With a month to go I started ringing QFF every few days to see if business class seats had come up on the other legs.

I rang a little earlier today -- still no luck. Then QFF called back 15 minutes later and said I could fly Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong on the same day, landing 5 minutes after the original QF flight. Naturally I took it -- 14,500 points extra plus $58. And it goes from MEL direct instead of via Sydney.

Well done Qantas and Amanda at QFF.

 

[drewbles]

Earlier in the thread I mentioned I was flying MEL-FRA business class next month using points but managed to get only one leg in business class, the rest being premium economy. With a month to go I started ringing QFF every few days to see if business class seats had come up on the other legs.

I rang a little earlier today -- still no luck. Then QFF called back 15 minutes later and said I could fly Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong on the same day, landing 5 minutes after the original QF flight. Naturally I took it -- 14,500 points extra plus $58. And it goes from MEL direct instead of via Sydney.

Well done Qantas and Amanda at QFF.

This is where Expert Flyer comes in handy (Flight Availability | Upgrades | Frequent Flyer Information). It's not free (there is a 5 day free trial) but you can setup seat alerts, so when something becomes available, you get an email, and can go and book it. I have around 15 alerts sitting in mine at present for an upcoming trip in J (I'm not taking the most optimal routing and would rather another which I can change to if availability opens up). I've also used it various times to snag U class on domestic routes. Very useful!

 

[MrJetset]

In May I was able to book a classic RTW F redemption. Located all of my BA and AA sectors, and called the Premium Desk to release seats SYD-LHR and LAX-SYD. I was able to get SYD-LHR via HKG, with a 1 or 2 night stopover switching from QF127 onto BA. LAX-SYD was able to be opened up on my return date.

So I was able to take advantage of the request benefit via the Premiem Desk only needing to have a 24-28 hour flexibility.

I should also note, that in the past I have always managed to get dates for myself WP, other WP family members, and for myself + NB partner in at least J, to and from LAX and LHR +/- 3 days.