The great Qantas con

[NM]

I have always assumed that the basic premise of a frequent flyer program is being able to redeem the hard earnt points.

Ahh, there be the problem .

The basic premise of a frequent flyer program is encourage loyalty to the brand. Some do that by providing benefits such as award flights, others manage to achieve their goal (to encourage the brand loyalty) with lesser benefits returned to the members.

The FF program does not exist for the purpose of giving its members free flights. It exists for the benefit of the airline, with them hoping the member's greed for points/status will result in them being willing to pay more for the privilege of earning points and/or status. So if you don't think you are getting enough from the program to warrant the loyalty, then don't play their game any more.

I did not switch away from QFF due to award flight availability. I switched away due to being able to obtain significantly enhanced earn/burn ratios elsewhere. My current programs of choice offer me the same award flight availability as QFF, but flight redemptions "cost" a lot less points/miles and a lot less in cash surcharges for redeeming a "free" flight. I had no problems at all finding QF economy award seats BNE-PER-BNE in May (booked about 3 weeks before travel). And I had little trouble building an itinerary in F and J using CX and BA to Malaysia and Thailand (booked 11 months before travel).

As much as I believe the QFF program does not deliver good value to me, I understand how and why they tightly control availability of award redemption seats. Its a business, not a charity, and the majority of the program members seem willing to remain loyal under the current program conditions, so there is little incentive for them to be more generous. If I was running QFF, I would be doing much the same thing in order to maintain the current string mix of brand loyalty and revenue/cost control. From a business perspective, they seem to have it pretty much right. From a member's perspective, I voted with my feet a few years ago.

 

[oz_mark]

I have redeemed over 400,000 K with QF and have found it to be an exercise in frustration. I do not have to worry about it with NW or SQ. It is KISS principle.

I did enjoy that post!

Generally I find that some programs work for me and others don't. I tend to stick with the ones that do. So if I was to find that the QF program wasn't working for me, I'd proably give it away.

If the SQ an NW programs are working for you, then maybe just concentrate on those.

 

[straitman]

The response was not meant to be offensive, and I am sorry if it appeared that way. It was actually meant to be lighthearted.

Accepted and understood.

If I did not want the answer I would not write a question.

From where I'm sitting it appears that no matter what explanation was/has been offered you are not going to be satisfied with anything to do regarding QF and it's systems.

As far as for me not knowing how to run a business, I could choose to find that innuendo offensive as well, since I am have recently been promoted to an AP area business manager. But I do not.

I apologise as no offence was meant and I should never have linked 'normal' Business Management with Airline or Aviation Management. They are by nature very different with substantially different issues to contend with.