Perhaps unsurprisingly I feel the need to chip in here. Hopefully, with something constructive, for a change. :shock:
My purpose here is to try to offer some background; an outline of the options and there various pros and cons. My personal views are probably well known and they haven't changed now that I am a gold FF. But I'll try to put those views to one side. I also freely admit that I don't have the answer to this often raised, but IMO trivial issue.
oops: what did I just say about personal views).
But there is some frustration at this question, it seems, so I would like to start the ball rolling to provide some basic background for those people who feel the need to raise the question. I would see this as something of a wiki type entry or maybe a sticky that would represent an AFF consensus of the basics "facts" behind this issue, that can serve as a starting point for any further discussion. As I mentioned I don't have the answer and I hope that people can constructively add to this start.
so here we go:
Fundamental premise:
Qantas club and Qantas frequent flyer are both separate programs.
Qantas club predates Qantas Frequent flyer
Members of Qantas frequent flyer who meet certain criteria receive a complimentary membership of qantas club (NB this is how the benefit is worded and this arrangement maintains the separation of the programs.
All qantas club members receive complimentary membership of QFF. (NB again see separation point above)
Paid QC members initial supported the lounge but paying there cash in addition to buying flights, prior to members of QFF with status. Perhaps this contributed to the success of the lounge?
Paid QC members don't use the lounge that much because they don't fly enough to get status
Both QFF and QC members contribute to the cost of the lounge, by either buying enough flights or making a cash payment
The lack of membership breakdowns on QC and QFF programs makes discussion on the topic pure speculation which may not make the actual situation
[There was another but I forgot]
Solution: Stop paid membership of the Qantas Club
Pros:
will reduce people in the lounge
Cons:
Alienates the people who have supported the lounge,
reduces profitability of QC program
may result in loss of infrequent but high margin flight sales
unlikely to have a major impact on numbers in the lounge due to inherent (infrequent) flying patterns of paid QC members
frequent flyer lounge users place greater demand on resources due to more frequent use of the lounge
unlikely to lead to savings
Solution: Reduce complementary QFF members
Pros:
will reduce people in the lounge
likely to result in savings
May increase paid QC members
Deals with perceptions of various FF groups like suits or fifos
Cons:
Alienates the people who buy lots of flights,
may result in loss of flight sales (low margin but frequent flights?)
Impacts oneworld agreements
[there must be more] :-|
Solution: reduce guest access
Cons:
will reduce people in lounge (both guests and primary users due to relationship factors)
cost savings
may increase paid QC members
Pros:
alienates all lounge users
potential loss of flight sales
Solution: Reintroduce guest passes (perhaps with tiered passes depending on QFF status)
pros:
will reduce people in lounge by capping annual guest access
may lead to cost savings
benefits paid QC members who may travel infrequently but with more that one guest
Tiered passes would benefit frequent flyer QC members
places emphasis on the value of the lounge and guest rights for frequent flyer members
cons:
[not sure here, help]
Solution: Build bigger lounges, expand J lounge locations
Pros:
will accommodate more people
Cons:
increase running and capital costs
lack of airport space
Expectation that more people can access lounge
My remaining ideas for solutions relate to the cost of QC membership. These are a combination of the following ideas:
Increase cost of paid membership, including corporate memberships
do something to corporate membership - something = restrictions on eligible members or something - obviously this hits the bread and butter.
introduce charges for lower status levels that are in line with corporate membership tiers - bronze have to pay full applicable rate, silver members pay at an equivalent higher corporate rate, gold members pay at a lower corporate rate, platinum free (possibly with tiered guest passes) - (NB I know there are different corporate rates because the AFf corporate rates is much higher than the corporate rate I got as part of a
very large corporate scheme.) so for a gold member we're talking something like $100 to $150 per year. Silver about the same as AFF corporate rate.
Anyway, I got to catch a plane.
(I was also trying to take my mind of the reason I left work a bit later than normal)
