I initially chose Qantas because I had a DONE6 planned out and wanted to maximise status benefits from it. Qantas got me to OW Emerald the fastest (11 flights from memory) and was the easiest airline with which to stay there on my future DONEx itineraries.
Now the question is whether to stay. A key ingredient (almost irrelevant to me initially) is what I get for my numerous QFF points. Less than a month ago, I was happy enough with Qantas on this score. I could get free business class flights with QF for at least the next few years. That has disappeared online, despite guarantees from Qantas this would not happen, and very soon will be gone altogether. Bummer! So what about the old classic awards? It turns out in most cases now, the combined charges on classic awards exceed buying the ticket outright. They are almost completely worthless with the exception of the oneworld award, which is only worthwhile if you can avoid Qantas's exorbitant charges as much as possible.
I'd almost let this slide if Qantas made the changes honestly. But they don't. When carrier charges increase 5x over a period of just a few years, they do so silently. When the only advantage of QFF over other airlines is removed, it isn't even mentioned. If you weren't on this forum, you would have looked one day and they were there and the next they were gone without a word. If you were on this forum and caught them red-handed removing a benefit they guaranteed would never be removed (ASAs), they just recycle the name in reference to something totally different and completely useless to anyone (Points + Pay). Just to show they have no integrity left whatsoever, they will even say right to your face that ASAs have not been removed. Fortunately a select few employees are better than that, but it is still the company line pushed from the top.
But what is most sickening of all is not that Qantas consistently and immeasurably ruins the value of its program silently, but it has the guile to try to cover it with supposed 'enhancements'. These tend to be denigrations in their own right but that's not the point. It is not just silent removal of all benefits but red herrings to defer attention while they do it. This is the behaviour of a devious, manipulative organisation totally devoid of integrity in any form.
The only thing that has kept me from changing allegiance to date is the lure of LTG. The problem is, there is nothing stopping them from removing it too. And they are company who have demonstrated time and time again not only that they will almost certainly remove such a privilege, but they will do it silently. One day, it will just disappear without a mention. And in anticipation of the backlash as people gradually become aware of how they have just been shafted, they will throw out a few red herrings as 'enhancements' while they do it. It makes me squirm just thinking about the character of organisation that would treat its most loyal members that way. But that's Qantas.
