The QFF CEO event thread (and AFF associated interactions)

[Princess Fiona]

Safely home, very tired. Great day

 

[Homer]

There is nothing wrong with extrapolating or interpreting what the benefits may be from the information currently provided.

Exactly.

Everyone: can we please chill out a little on P1...On twitter and other mediums, we're limited by the number of characters available in a post, and it's very hard to capture all the salient information, post live, provide context and keep listening for more...As a consequence, some people have read into the tweets to take them to mean other things, or have got the message incorrect entirely.

Woah. That sounds awfully like “wait until we’ve got more time, and more characters, to sell this to you”. Please say it isn’t so! You guys haven’t been bought by a lunch at a mid-range restaurant and promises of free WP1 status, have you?

Until that time, can we please let calmer heads prevail - and not take things to mean more than they do.

Actually I think people are taking things to mean *less* than QF would like them to.

 

[Leumas]

Just wanted to say thank you for QFF, Rockpool and AFF for organising this event.

While we didn't get P1 memberships, the CL card sure looks nice.

I look forward to the op-up that I'm yet to have this year.

P.S. I'll be on QF107 on Wednesday the 19th, returning on QF108 on the 23rd.

 

[dfcatch]

Yes a very big thank you to QF for today. Was a great opportunity .

Currently delayed, not boarding till 21:05

But grateful to be in the correct lounge in the event of delay

 

[beardoc]

Ah, well, that counts me out. I do international J through DONE4/5 flights, and when I fly domestically, work forces it to be on discount Y (I sometimes convince them to pay for SuperSaver fares which now are full Y SCs), so I'm at 3720SC now for the last 12 months, but only 1420 of them are on QF.

Ah well, sounds like P1 is out of reach for me, realistically. A pity. But no worries - I understand why QF want to keep it for people that fly QF most of the time, rather than people that fly on all the OW airlines, as a way of keeping it super exclusive.

I'm sure that the details will filter out soon, and there might be some compelling reasons for those that fly a lot to get it. I'm not sure that of what I've seen so far, it would be worth trying to hit P1 - P1 doesn't seem to me to be that great - it's nice, but it's something I can live without (unless there's more that hasn't been reported).

The interesting thing will be the personalised travel service - I have a friend who is AA Concierge Key, and he describes a number of things that AA does for their CK members - for example, when they were connecting through one airport on a flight that was running late, they were met at the gate by someone from the CK team, rushed through by the team to a taxi which was waiting, taken through security at the other terminal, and then escorted through security and onto the flight. If QANTAS does those sorts of things for P1 members, then it'll be useful. I'll be listening with interest how the early experiences of P1 members are.

For those that are getting P1, congratulations!

 

[straitman]

Hmmm... Princess Fiona looks nothing like an ogre!

13102011196 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

No but one or two others there do :!:

 

[kpc]

Everyone: can we please chill out a little on P1.

On twitter and other mediums, we're limited by the number of characters available in a post, and it's very hard to capture all the salient information, post live, provide context and keep listening for more.

As a consequence, some people have read into the tweets to take them to mean other things, or have got the message incorrect entirely.

Everyone who attended the event is either traveling home from, or having some lounge time before their flights - and i'm sure they'll all post in due course to distill the discussion further and give as full of a picture as they can on P1.

Until that time, can we please let calmer heads prevail - and not take things to mean more than they do.

Well your tweets, which I appreciated, have not mentioned anything exciting or ground breaking about P1, and this came from one of the attendees:

...Platinum 1 seemed to be a bit of a fizzer...

...so what else can we conclude about P1??

 

[dfcatch]

Yes a very big thank you to QF for today. Was a great opportunity .

Currently delayed, not boarding till 21:05

But grateful to be in the correct lounge in the event of delay

It's quite surreal being the only person left in the CL

 

[medhead]

Everyone: can we please chill out a little on P1.

On twitter and other mediums, we're limited by the number of characters available in a post, and it's very hard to capture all the salient information, post live, provide context and keep listening for more.

umm serious much?
Actually you and everyone did a magnificent job with the twits and updates. Thanks.

Now I also just told SWMBO that they have introduced a new level called platinum 1 (and hat was all I said). She replied, "why are they f'ing around introducing new levels instead of making the current levels actually worth something?" :shock:

 

[Katie]

Wish you guys were here...

What, to go and buy another round?? Those are some mighty empty glasses I'm seeing ....

 

[rockyroad]

...While we didn't get P1 memberships, the CL card sure looks nice...

Looks nice sure. Even better in my wallet.

 

[bugayev]

Allllrighty home safely. Thanks to QF for putting on a truly amazing day for us all, thanks to the fellow AFFers for making it so fun, and to Red Roo in particular for handling the various details that turned it from enjoyable into memorable.

With regard to Platinum1 (my recollection and welcome to be disagreed with by other attendees):

• The requirements are 2700 QF code and 3600 minimum SC for entry, and it is targeted as a very select group. It does not seem that it would be a corporate benefit like CL (i.e. given out for free)
• A new special services team has been established and their job will be to monitor every aspect of the travel experience for every P1. If there is a delay/misconnect, the P1 will be the first one accommodated, the first one contacted and will be the person on the plane with a unique and private contact number 24/7 to get at the Special Services group.
• F/CL privileges on international arrivals (host on arrival, etc) will be extended to P1
• P1 will be able to get access to any revenue seat on any QF flight as a classic award - basically the F bucket for F, J bucket for J etc. This is different to the WP process where we apply, and get a request made to revenue mgmt - the special services team will do this immediately for the P1 member.
• With regard to baggage, P1 members seemingly will get an almost unlimited baggage allowance (although this will no doubt be limited in some way)
• The overall aim of P1 seems to be making the travel experience, particularly around disruptions, as smooth as it possibly can be. The profile of a typical P1 seems to be a premium cabin traveller, doing primarily international so this is especially important to them as a group of passengers.
• There was broad acknowledgement that where certain unwritten benefits for WP today, these won't change, but this is benefits far above and beyond those for WP when it comes to points redemption and also general handling.
• Guest access for P1 will be the same as WP in all lounges and anytime access will not be returning, although we did have a fruitful discussion that I'll let dfcatch explain
• WP1 will have international upgrade requests confirmed 7 days in advance, with WP 48 hours and others at the usual time. Upgrade requests will be confirmed/revisited very close to departure time to allow no-shows to be included in the seats available for upgrades.
• Domestic upgrades will allow wait listing as well, so if there is no U availability, there will be the capability for us to say "hey I want to upgrade" prior to having to ODU in the lounge.

Some of us were lucky (thanks to Steph and Trevor (Red Roo) in particular) to be granted special access to the Sydney CL after the event. This was incredible, an experience that is totally unmatched in the domestic arena, and I am sure I speak on behalf of all present when I say that this really did cap off a great day. The exception made to grant us access was something unlikely to happen again, so QF - thank you!


Finally - Lindsay Wilson - we all wanted you to know you were front of all of our minds throughout

 

[rockyroad]

Safely home, very tired. Great day

Trust the swamp mud bath is hot and steaming? Enjoy.

 

[Febs]

What a fantastic, fantastic day. Firstly, a huge thanks to Red Roo, Simon and Stephanie for organising it. The day was impeccably co-ordinated and I'm pretty sure every one else in attendance would agree.

The lunch was fantastic - we started with drinks and canapes, then moved into one of the private dining rooms where we were split into two tables of 9-10, with Stephanie and Simon swapping between the two. The format was a mix of casual chatter and formal(ish) Q&A - all very well done. Simon and Stephanie got up for 3 separate Q&A sessions (and answered most of the questions we'd submitted I believe), but during each course we also chatted about FF programs, Virgin, P1, the global airline industry, NGCI, A380 cabin layouts, lounges, you name it.

No, we didn't get P1 membership (nor did we expect to, or at least most of us didn't), but we were given complimentary epiQure memberships - a very nice gesture on QFF's behalf.

Oh and we met Neil Perry (he also did two brief Q&As).

Please will it be possible for someone to post 3 separate detailed lists.

List A) Everything to do with WP1
List B) Everything you saw , ate , drank , felt , heard etc in the CL
List C) Everything that happened at and around #afflunch

Sure, that's pretty much what I was going to post up anyway.

List A) Everything to do with WP1
Basically, WP1 is what Qantas described it as all those months ago - a Platinum level with a more personalised touch, and some extra benefits. Stephanie made the comment it's not a "tier" per se, but rather another level of Platinum. A few other comments (some have already been covered in this thread, some haven't. PS: Hi AustBT ):

• 3600 SCs (2,700 of which have to be on QF code, not necessarily metal).
• Initial qualification will be Nov10 to Oct11 (or thereabouts), as this was deemed to be the most fair way (I agree). Members will find out next week if they've qualified.
• Subsequently, qualification will be based on membership year.
• Soft landings to Platinum will apply if WP1s don't requalify for WP1.
• Benefits will include epiQure membership, excellent award availability (think better than current Platinum availability), where they can actually take from revenue inventory if a WP1 needs a seat. Example was: A WP might be able to get an A seat opened up, a WP1 might be able to get an F seat opened up (@ classic redemption rates).
• Benefits also include a dedicated CBR-based team to "watch" your travel (i.e. follow your flights, proactively call you if a delay is upcoming, and sort it out for you), going "above and beyond", CL-style departure and arrival treatment (no CL lounge access ).
• QFF are tight-lipped on membership numbers at each tier, so we couldn't get an idea of how many members QFF are expecting (3 at the lunch though ).

Basically, it's what I personally was expecting - Platinum with some additional benefits, very personalised service, much better award availability. Simon also made the point that (across all tiers), they are listening to us (this was very clear during the lunch too). Our comments in a few areas were noted, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a few tweaks in the next 12 or so months based on our comments.

List B) Everything you saw , ate , drank , felt , heard etc in the CL
Think SYD/MEL F Lounge, but replace the red with army green (it actually works, very well). Marc Newson designed it after the F lounge. Absolutely stunning lounge. Furniture, windows, dividers, tables, library, all pretty much what you see in the F lounge. Private work spaces + meeting rooms (members can use for up to 3 hours). Great views. 12m2 density per passenger at max capacity (240 I think? Which they never hit). QPub has 3m2.

Food offerings were sandwiches, party pies (apparently not NPPPs), pizza, then later chicken, rice, salads etc.. Similar to J lounge, just a bit nicer. Help-yourself spirits, wine, sparkling, beer (basically same offerings as J lounge). F&B is available whenever the lounge is open.

The thing that blew me away was the size. It's huge. An incredibly impressive domestic lounge. It's going to be hard to go back to the J lounge.

List C) Everything that happened at and around #afflunch
See above. In a nutshell - canapes, fantastic 3 course lunch, excellent wines, meet and greet with Neil Perry, most members were filmed (potentially for a YouTube video), lots of photos. All up about 4hrs. Then our QF-provided transport (7 Series and Q7s) took us to the airport, where we waited in the CL. Oh, and at least 3 of us were op-upped to J for the flight back to MEL.

Once again, a huge thanks to QFF for running this. They didn't need to, but it was a fantastic way for some loyal customers to interact with the QFF decision-makers, and hopefully QFF took a lot away from the day too.

It was great to meet some other members too - looking forward to bumping into some of you on flights/in lounges/at various AFF functions. Big thanks to Bugayev for the lift back to MEL CBD (and drewbles for offering too). Thanks mate, love your taste in cars.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[rockyroad]

All righty home safely. Thanks to QF for putting on a truly amazing day for us all, thanks to the fellow AFFers for making it so fun, and to Red Roo in particular for handling the various details that turned it from enjoyable into memorable.

OK I'm now interested in what you have posted. WP1 is starting to have flesh on the bones and flesh that may be interesting to indulge in. :shock: Thanks for your report. Well done. As for CL, been there a few times and found it of value. Enough value that I hoped WP1 would allow me to occasionally open that door to my select clients. That and ATA lounge access would sway me from VA.

 

[bugayev]

It was great to meet some other members too - looking forward to bumping into some of you on flights/in lounges/at various AFF functions. Big thanks to Bugayev for the lift back to MEL CBD (and drewbles for offering too). Thanks mate, love your taste in cars.
.

My pleasure Febs - always glad to assist.

 

[Febs]

• Guest access for P1 will be the same as WP in all lounges and anytime access will not be returning, although we did have a fruitful discussion that I'll let dfcatch explain

I'll also leave this to dfcatch, as I'm not going to get into a debate on this with some of the other members here, but suffice to say QFF's position on this is a fair one IMO. No-one at the lunch was asking for ATA to be re-instated so that we could use a QF Lounge when travelling on a competitor. Yes, Virgin do that, but for how long I wonder? Come back to this thread in 18-24 months and see if it's still being offered..

What we did discuss, was a potential solution for both parties - guest passes (the processes/infrastructure is already in place for Silver QFFers). Most complaints were that ATA means they can no longer:

1) See family off with a coffee/drink in the lounge
2) Access QF lounges when travelling on a QF Partner airline, but on a route that QF don't fly (example was Newcastle to...where again, Fiona? on Brindabella or Aeropelican)

A number of guest passes per year would solve this, and also stop the problem of excessive use of QF lounges by flyers travelling SQ or Etihad (yes, this was a problem).

I got the impression (I could be wrong) that this is one area that Simon and Stephanie took on our feedback. It was clear that ATA is not returning (fair enough, IMO), but it would be interesting to see if the guest passes eventuate.

Finally - Lindsay Wilson - we all wanted you to know you were front of all of our minds throughout

Yes Lindsay your name came up several times. Usually followed by "will be so jealous about...."

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Jobu]

Thanks for the updates Sounds like a great event.

So is it possible to be CL and WP1? or does CL already come with everything WP1?

 

[bugayev]

Thanks for the updates Sounds like a great event.

So is it possible to be CL and WP1? or does CL already come with everything WP1?

CL is a different program separate from Frequent Flyer which has defined benefits for "high value" passengers on Qantas. Given the confidentiality surrounding that, those of us who were in the CL don't wish to break too many confidences, but needless to say it is truly impressive.

You wouldn't be a CL and WP1 though - the CL would override any SC earn you had (as it's possible to be CL and earn 40 SC per year as much as it is possible to be CL and earn 5000).

 

[rockyroad]

...also stop the problem of excessive use of QF lounges by flyers travelling SQ or Etihad (yes, this was a problem)...

Sorry but I find it difficult to accept that a QF WP would use the lounge via ATA and fly SQ as the SQ fare structure is equal to or above that of QF. Maybe it did happen in some isolated cases due to flight unavailability but enough to kill ATA access for ALL QF WPs? Don't believe that was the real reason.