Too many status flyers? Where will the love go....

[Deleted member 29185]

Bottom line is, it looks like va dont care about small business using their flights any more. Its all about that huge corporate ....

I can't say I necessarily agree with this comment though Mark.

In fact, the changes to the SC earn has certainly benefited me by now making gold achievable whereas silver previously was it. I do have more perks with gold but I have to compare the worth to me of those perks and see if they outweigh the rising fares.

I'm aware of the potential, but I'm keeping an open mind just at the moment.

 

[UP4014]

All valid points, and it will be interesting to see in 12 months time how much value VA have received from the status match process. I suspect there may be an initial surge of activity from the comped Platinum's but I suspect it may taper off as the months go past.

I can also understand the "true" VA fliers (who have earned their status through actual flying with VA) feeling somewhat annoyed by being overlooked or not recognised for their effort in supporting VA (a similar situation for QFF WP's a few months ago when improvements were made to all levels except WP's.) Possibly VA should have considered comping their longer term or higher value Gold members as well?

A case of the grass is always greener, until you get to the other side of the fence.

Matt

 

[777]

Bottom line is, it looks like va dont care about small business using their flights any more. Its all about that huge corporate .... Hmmm once loyal, now a thrifty shopper, bfod with all things equal wins my flight. And i will use va lounges when flying qf like all the other qf matched flyers are. Old saying, if you cant beat them, join them

I'm confused. VA were never "always cheaper" than QF or JQ - they had some flights that were and some that weren't.

Any airline is going to do its pricing based on supply and demand -- they aren't going to sell artificially low fares and when they sell very low fares they are probably going to do it as part of a promotion or in a time window that you may or may not have the timing to take advantage of. Virgin will sell their tickets at the highest prices that fill their planes as will any airline and i can't really imagine them doing anything but.

 

[MarkD]

I never said"always cheaper" i have simply stated the bleeding obvious that since va have been pushing towards corporate scalps ( who as someone pointed out wouldn't pay full rate anyway), that i now check both sites for flexible pricing whereas before, virgins flexible base ticket price was less expensive than qf. Check it out now. Unlike many on here when i pay for a business trip i actually pay for it and my business account balance falls. If qf is $50 cheaper then my business account is $50 better off and so is my return on the job. Funny, it used to be the other way around dj weremore often than not "better value" than qf, sadly this does not appear to be the case, and legs where i would have just booked straight on virgin, i am now checking qf, and most of the time the ticket qf are selling is better value.


Sent from my iphone and AFF app

 

[Deleted member 29185]

i now check both sites for flexible pricing whereas before, virgins flexible base ticket price was less expensive than qf.

I've found the same for my typical flights as well. I rarely booked flexi, always Go!Fare or Blue Saver and it was always much of a muchness between JQ and DJ and QF doesn't fly many of my routes. JQ in fact, was often the cheaper, but when I factored in the status, points and discounted lounge membership on silver, it made DJ a better investment of my travel $.

DJ is still a good investment and I do love the changes, but the reality is their fares have had to increase and they are now considerably dearer than JQ on the checks I've done (I don't often get to bag a DJ special as I can't book that far ahead unfortunately).

 

[777]

i now check both sites for flexible pricing whereas before, virgins flexible base ticket price was less expensive than qf. Check it out now.

Weird. My experience is the reverse - that Virgin's flexible tickets have got a lot cheaper with the introduction of flexi fares. However there do seem to be less of the very cheap "go" and "super-saver" type fares around now they have been amalgamated as savers.

Unlike many on here when i pay for a business trip i actually pay for it and my business account balance falls. If qf is $50 cheaper then my business account is $50 better off and so is my return on the job.

Same here. I don't think you're alone in that.

Funny, it used to be the other way around dj weremore often than not "better value" than qf, sadly this does not appear to be the case, and legs where i would have just booked straight on virgin, i am now checking qf, and most of the time the ticket qf are selling is better value.

Interesting to see. Which routes are you flying on? I'm still finding DJ on the whole to be cheaper than an equivalent qantas fare but not always. They are usually dearer than Jetstar but nothing new there (and it still depends on when you are travelling). There does appear to be less really cheap fares around although i put this down to the fact they did a massive sale when they rebranded as VA and probably sold a lot of their inventory of very cheap fares a fair way ahead and also, to the absence of Tiger bumping things up a bit of late.

 

[777]

One thing to add about all this: VA have made no secret that they're plan is to raise 'yield' through the "game change" program. Yield is a fancy word for "fares" or, more specifically, average price per average bum on average seat.

They claim that they will still sell some cheaper seats (i don't doubt this) and i would think from a competitive point of view they will probably likely remain on average cheaper than QF when offering a similar product [* we could have a long discussion about averages here but as long as QF has the entrenched competitive advantage DJ will need to use price to their advantage although there may be times when QF lowers its prices to compete].

VA are working from the theory that they can charge more for a better product and make more money by doing so. There is no secret about that and if you don't value the additional value of the better product then undoubtedly people will find alternatives that suit them better for specific flights or in general. In many respects, VA are making a bold move by arguing that people will pay a little more on average for something that is considerably better and cutting against the industry trend that says that cheaper = more profitable. I hope they're right.

 

[JohnK]

There's a difference between it being no value to join a program and no value to maximise your spending with any airline. Joining a program should cost you nothing providing you don't change you patterns of expenditure.

And that is where a lot of people get hooked.

Many don't do enough flights to maintain Silver and some may stretch flying to Gold but they start reading forums such as AFF and through jealousy or whatever reason start flying all over the world chasing Platinum status just for the sake of having status. Some chase status just in case they will need it on the once in 3 year trip to Europe/USA next year.

 

[Justchecking]

Talking about averages. On average I will pay more for all inclusive. Is a royal pain to book online with a 20 step process asking you if you've bags, want food, want seat selection, travel insurance, a lap dance etc. For the real LCC online booking experience you can't go past AirAsia. It takes 45mins to book a seat as they charge you 50 cents for everything but the seatbelt. By the time you are done, incredibly your fare is now double the price you thought you were booking. I almost always go for a full service airline over the LCC where schedule allows. I just want an airfare and an FA to offer me a free cuppa without me having to decide 3 weeks in advance if I'll be hungry at 9:30pm on 6th October. Want to book a fare as advertised, grab my seat and get an eTicket. So yes I am one of those who will not shop exclusively on price. Not needing to trave frequently gives me that luxury.

While the DJ hard product is indeed looking much improved it's still that whole 'got change onboard' experience which sinks it to JQ level. It's more psychological than cost, if I have to grab my wallet during the flight the experience is not as shiny as when I don't.

 

[MarkD]

The sale you mentioned does make sense as to lack of availability and increased flexi prices. There would have been a stack of sale seats, so I understand that.

So you seem to know more than me about fares etc, are there only x amount of flexi tickets at $x each, once they are sold, the price goes up to $y for x amount of seats etc. ie: supply and demand, a full flight, the flexi will be higher, is that correct? because I looked at a certain SYD-BNE flt for next week, and it went up from 232?? to $289 within about 20 mins


In terms of routes, Mainly BNE-SYD, and BNE-CBR, with the occasional SYD-MEL, and BNE-PER. Perth was the one that was really the eye opener for me. Obviously Virgin still do have better flexibility and customer service, as a gold, however, I wonder how long that wiull last with 100,000's of platinums onboard. Thats another story though.
I will just keep my finger on the pulse, and fly whoever gets me there for the best all round value.......... Still not game to try tiger though... BUT Have you seen their on time performance since they started flying again.. Puts the other 3 to shame, who ever would have thought, Tiger more reliable than Virgin, Jetstar and Qantas LOL:shock:

 

[WindowSeat]

...a 20 step process asking you if you've bags, want food, want seat selection, travel insurance, a lap dance etc.

The Craig Thomson fare?

 

[JohnK]

So you seem to know more than me about fares etc, are there only x amount of flexi tickets at $x each, once they are sold, the price goes up to $y for x amount of seats etc. ie: supply and demand, a full flight, the flexi will be higher, is that correct? because I looked at a certain SYD-BNE flt for next week, and it went up from 232?? to $289 within about 20 mins

Correct. They only have a certain number of airfares available in each bucket.

e.g take a look at SYD-BNE on 25 September and you will see the Saver airfares $135, $154, $175 and $198 while the Flexi airfares are $205 and $249.