The ex-QFF benefits list. What do you miss the most?

[Mr_Orange]

True.
And has the minimum points guarantee recently been increased ?

Last couple of emails said that QFFs earn at least 1,341 points ? (Used to be 1,000 IIRC)

34.1% increase isn't too shabby.

I don't think that is an increase in the minimum guarantee. It is a reflection of points earned on the shortest route advertised in the sales.

 

[flychrisfly]

I miss the cheap point redemptions. I scored a 30000 point round Australia ticket Syd-bne-cns-Syd-per-Syd in the good ol' days. But I do love flat bed flying now on long haul international and the Emirates partnership has opened up a tonne of inventory I will be using on which I can score points and SCs. I also like the barista service in the domestic QPs, the wine bar in international QP and am looking forward to sampling the spa in the First lounge this Christmas.

 

[zachary.august]

My gripe is that QFF does not appreciate the fact that points are issued to the QFF member, in return for cash from the member’s credit card company etc., who buy the points from Qantas for cash. This equates to a member effectively paying in advance for their seats, sometimes years in advance. You would expect to be treated well by Qantas, but instead, when the member tries to book a flight, using classic awards, he is penalised, with no status credits! I have also had the qff staff tell me that my "ticket was only booked on points!” it made me feel small and ashamed.... way to go Qantas. I have even heard that Qantas makes more money from points than it does from the rest of its business, so why not reward QFF members rather than squeezing them dry. I rack up over a million points per year, and use them all, yet still have virtually no status credits and I am still a bronze member (pauper). I am left wondering if another airline would appreciate my points more than Qantas, but as with most members, I feel loyalty to Qantas, but i am starting to question this.

Well, although I think it may upset you for the Qantas staffer to state that your ticket was booked using points it is the case. I would hope that if someone whom was of equal status, in your case Bronze who had a monetary paid ticket would receive priority. Your logic about the 'points are money somewhere along the line' is a bit... extenuated? It's like arguing that although money doesn't grow on trees some machinery and or the currency itself was made with trees therefore money is made with trees and could grow on them..

 

[Rox]

My gripe is that QFF does not appreciate the fact that points are issued to the QFF member, in return for cash from the member’s credit card company etc., who buy the points from Qantas for cash. This equates to a member effectively paying in advance for their seats, sometimes years in advance. You would expect to be treated well by Qantas, but instead, when the member tries to book a flight, using classic awards, he is penalised, with no status credits! I have also had the qff staff tell me that my "ticket was only booked on points!” it made me feel small and ashamed.... way to go Qantas. I have even heard that Qantas makes more money from points than it does from the rest of its business, so why not reward QFF members rather than squeezing them dry. I rack up over a million points per year, and use them all, yet still have virtually no status credits and I am still a bronze member (pauper). I am left wondering if another airline would appreciate my points more than Qantas, but as with most members, I feel loyalty to Qantas, but i am starting to question this.

That's why the ASA awards were so great and why everyone is so,upset with their imminent demise. Book them while you still can!

 

[footy99]

A few points from the article that brought me here:

The recent change means that only flights with a Qantas flight number will be eligible to obtain status credits.

Exit rows being sold rather than reserved for Platinum members

No lifetime status available

Is there any truth at all to any of those 3 points?

If so, all my oneworld and Jetstar bundled flights coming up don't earn SCs? All the exit row seats I have reserved for the rest of the year are gone? And my Lifetime Silver has been removed?

I have a feeling this is false in every aspect!

 

[oz_mark]

A few points from the article that brought me here:



Is there any truth at all to any of those 3 points?

If so, all my oneworld and Jetstar bundled flights coming up don't earn SCs? All the exit row seats I have reserved for the rest of the year are gone? And my Lifetime Silver has been removed?

I have a feeling this is false in every aspect!

No, it is wrong. It is a poorly worded article.

You will still earn SC, it is just that any SC earned on non QF numbers will not be counted for the loyalty bonus.

 

[whiteshark]

Its really amazing. The competition for air travel increases and they reduce their benefits to loyal travellers. Most companies understand and promote lifetime value of a customer. I fly with Qantas (and JQ flights, paying extra for status credits) because of the Platinum benefits that I value like exit row seating...etc.

Some corporate idiot is clearly trying to demonstrate he/she is adding value by slashing away at the FF expense overhead. The sad thing is that same idiot doesn't know how to add value any other way so will move onto another company and do the same thing while leaving Qantas with pissed off and less loyal customers. effectively damaging the companies brand ands goodwill amongst people YES PEOPLE who support and have supported the airline because of the program for years.

This makes me so angry - I feel betrayed and let down after continually giving them my preferences for the small additional benefits I valued. I am also 50 status credits off lifetime gold and now losing that too by the sound of things.

Disgraceful Leadership, no its not leadership its malpractice. Damn idiots !

 

[footy99]

Don't read too much into the article whiteshark. As mentioned above:

The recent change means that only flights with a Qantas flight number will be eligible to obtain status credits.

Exit rows being sold rather than reserved for Platinum members

No lifetime status available

These are all just false statements. The first actually means the SCs you receive for others don't count towards the loyalty bonus. The second refers to select international flights only. The 3rd I think refers to lifetime Qantas Club membership?

I don't think it is deliberately misleading, just bad wording that can give the wrong impression.

There are certainly many real issues that have devalued the program as outlined in this thread, those just aren't part of them.

 

[JohnMcC]

Its really amazing. The competition for air travel increases and they reduce their benefits to loyal travellers. Most companies understand and promote lifetime value of a customer. I fly with Qantas (and JQ flights, paying extra for status credits) because of the Platinum benefits that I value like exit row seating...etc.

Some corporate idiot is clearly trying to demonstrate he/she is adding value by slashing away at the FF expense overhead. The sad thing is that same idiot doesn't know how to add value any other way so will move onto another company and do the same thing while leaving Qantas with pissed off and less loyal customers. effectively damaging the companies brand ands goodwill amongst people YES PEOPLE who support and have supported the airline because of the program for years.

This makes me so angry - I feel betrayed and let down after continually giving them my preferences for the small additional benefits I valued. I am also 50 status credits off lifetime gold and now losing that too by the sound of things.

Disgraceful Leadership, no its not leadership its malpractice. Damn idiots !

Well said! But please don't blame one idiot, it takes a well coached team to achieve great results. I knew the writing was on the wall several years ago when management convinced the workers to take pay cuts and then in the SAME financial year gave themselves pay rises for the money they saved. Of all the amazingly stupid management decisions in the history of business this ranks right up there with "let's invade Russia". I was traveling even more on QF in those days and the sense of violation in the crew was palpable. Now it could be that Qantas unions are recalcitrant, outdated and wage costs are too expensive but see how Lufthansa handled the exact same situation. They had an across the board cost saving and restructuring program a few years ago that was amazingly effective. The new Lufthansa is almost unrecognisably better. But, most importantly, the management shared the pain so they had buy-in from the staff and on they went. If you were a QF union organizer now (even if possibly wrapped up in in your own importance) what possible incentive is there to believe what management says?

 

[dajop]

Its really amazing. The competition for air travel increases and they reduce their benefits to loyal travellers. Most companies understand and promote lifetime value of a customer. I fly with Qantas (and JQ flights, paying extra for status credits) because of the Platinum benefits that I value like exit row seating...etc.

Some corporate idiot is clearly trying to demonstrate he/she is adding value by slashing away at the FF expense overhead. The sad thing is that same idiot doesn't know how to add value any other way so will move onto another company and do the same thing while leaving Qantas with pissed off and less loyal customers. effectively damaging the companies brand ands goodwill amongst people YES PEOPLE who support and have supported the airline because of the program for years.

This makes me so angry - I feel betrayed and let down after continually giving them my preferences for the small additional benefits I valued. I am also 50 status credits off lifetime gold and now losing that too by the sound of things.

Disgraceful Leadership, no its not leadership its malpractice. Damn idiots !

Your LTG seems pretty secure to me. QF ARE NOT PLAYING WITH STATUS CREDITS!!! They are merely only allowing stats credits earned on Qantas marketed flights to count towards loyalty bonus this does not affect status earn in any way.

As for "some corporate idiot" , I think they are shrewder than any of us think. If you read the number of people on AFF despite the ongoing "enhancements" to the program, who continue to fly QF I think they are in a sweet spot. I think the key has been the expenditure on the lounges, the dom J lounges, the F lounges which has people "hooked" on WP and allowed devaluation in other areas. The reviews and the hype around the lounges is astonishing at times (the food is nice, but still can get that sort of food for a modest amount of money in the "real world"), and I think this has been the key to people tolerating all other QFF sins. Very clever indeed.

 

[Nizar]

QF ARE NOT PLAYING WITH STATUS CREDITS!!!

Maybe just not yet.
They can just as easily devalue status credits they way they devalued their points through removing xASAs.
What's to stop them ? Think about it.

 

[Baysider]

Qantas is making it extremely clear that loyalty no longer matters to them. Last year I was a Qantas WP. I took up the Turkish Airlines status match and am now just one short flight away from *A platinum. I don't see any incentive whatsoever to take my allegiance back to Qantas.

You can keep customers by rewarding loyalty or by providing a quality and competitively priced product. Qantas does neither. So what is the objective, going out of business so that someone else can pick it up and run it properly?

 

[serfty]

There is a world of FF travel beyond Qantas - they simply pervive a captive market - at least their view is not as myopiuc as AirNZ these days ...


FWIW, I just held an AAdvantage NRT-ORD-LAX booking in for for 62½ thousand AAdvantage miles and USD45.20 in additional charges (I have until Wednesday night to finalise).

Now of to buy some Miles to top up my account ...

 

[jessesd]

From a Qantas perspective:
do they receive money for both tickets..? Answer is Yes.
One is paid in advance, one closer to time of flight.
Surely an advance paid ticket is worth more to Qantas?
This seems logical to me?

 

[beardoc]

From a Qantas perspective:
do they receive money for both tickets..? Answer is Yes.
One is paid in advance, one closer to time of flight.
Surely an advance paid ticket is worth more to Qantas?
This seems logical to me?

Actually, once QANTAS receives the money from your credit card company you are seen as a liability, not an asset, they have to provide you with a service in the future that they've received the money for now. Hence QANTAS' interest is in limiting the liability of your free flights. So no, someone with piles of points is actually a business risk rather than an asset.

 

[jessesd]

you are 100% right!! That is exactly how Qantas treats us now.
i will have to rethink where my points go..

 

[zachary.august]

Oh please all of these comments like 'Qantas doesn't value our loyalty' or 'I will have to rethink where my points go' are stupid and most likely hypocritical. Most of you will continue flying Qantas because frankly DJ with their what two international routes, no global alliance and low cost turned demi full service airline status just doesn't cut it. QF is a business first and foremost so if something doesn't make money than they should cut it. I really can't think of a huge number of airlines that offer an all you can eat and drink high quality restaurant in their international lounges for FFs.

 

[JohnMcC]

Oh please all of these comments like 'Qantas doesn't value our loyalty' or 'I will have to rethink where my points go' are stupid and most likely hypocritical. Most of you will continue flying Qantas because frankly DJ with their what two international routes, no global alliance and low cost turned demi full service airline status just doesn't cut it. QF is a business first and foremost so if something doesn't make money than they should cut it. I really can't think of a huge number of airlines that offer an all you can eat and drink high quality restaurant in their international lounges for FFs.

You are flat out wrong. I fly much less with QF than I used to, I use other airlines more than I used to (Star Alliance, JAL). I can imagine reading a lot of complaints when the lounges really are excellent and the planes are getting better and the staff are good, but because I fly internationally frequently (almost every month) I really want some small things to remind me of why I do. So as good as Qantas has made their services, the complaining here is about the rewards for frequent flying being cut back under the guise of improving services. It is really hard to cash in miles as easily as it used to be, the taxes and charges for doing so are spectacularly high higher than other airlines (Star Alliance again) and the competition for frequent premium flyers is intense. What I would love is for Qantas to recognise truly frequent flyers just a little more, rather than relying mostly on the great services they offer.

 

[amaroo]

Been a member for 17 years - plat for the past 8 + qualified for next year. FWIW I'll hit LTG in two weeks.

QFF over this time hasn't change much IMO. I never used ATA, rarely used ASA (they didn't exist for most of my membership) and my history of re-deeming 60+ long haul J/F sectors - only 8 have been QF metal. Classic have been my choice due to better access to premium cabins flying the likes of CX, BA etc.

QFF provides better access for families and the lounges have improved for plat & above.

YMMV

 

[beardoc]

I think the thing I take away from this thread is that the loyalty program game is always changing. There are benefits that come and benefits that go. There have been substantial improvements and some substantial losses over the years with QFF, and sure, I miss some of the stuff from the past. But it just means you keep constantly re-evaluating whether the program is good for you in the future as it might be in the past. If it isn't, and another program is better for you, then it might be time to consider whether switching is a good idea.

Surely it's worth not worrying about what it was like in the past other than to acknowledge it and move on, looking for further opportunities ahead (either with QFF or with another airline)?