Upcoming Qantas Frequent Flyer Changes

[Alanslegal]

Or simply let the the top tier WP's sit in the comfy seats up front if they are available pre-boarding with or without the extra services - meals, edible bread roll, etc etc. My flights have 90%-100% of the J seats empty most times. Such a waste.

As much as I like your idea I don't think it would ever come to reality, but if it did ... I will 'go hard' and get to WP1.

This is how I will do it:-

On day 1 of my brand new membership year I will fly to the USA and spend two weeks of my time flying only YUPP fares. A reasonable outlay of $5,000 for YUPP fares to earn 3,600 SC and $2K to get to USA ... means I will qualify for WP1

And for the next two whole years having WP1 status I will be flying loads of cheap economy flights [read all those flights with the A380's to/from SIN,LHR, LAX] and moving myself to seats 1A when available. The break even point will be one flight in F but I'll have two years of this hot seat game

Ok, I am fantasising too much about this prospect so it's time to go to sleep now, goodnight xoxo

 

[HardieBoys]

I'm another Platinum who usually hits around 2200 - 2400 per year, with no extra cash or desire to hit 3600 per year. Last year's 162 commercial flights were enough. Having reached LTG some time ago, I'm surprised that there's reduced incentive to keep on flying with QF once the Platinum threshold has been reached. It's made me fly Star more than I usually would have, in order to try to build up some points there.

 

[connieguy]

One proviso--WP1 had better be good when it arrives, or the disappointment will be worse than if nothing had been done.

Agreed. But why announce WP1 and give no details? That bit makes me concerned QF are buying WP loyalty for the next 6 months until they tell us the details. If they were WP positive, then I suggest they would be telling us now.

So QF, 1/12 of your WPs are starting their new year, like I'm doing and I suggest most will easily re-qualify as I will. My issue is I can make WP and AA EXP OR WP1. My question is will WP1 be worth what AA EXP is to me as I do a lot of AA system flying in the states and South America. I fund my flying myself and will never be a big J and F spender. AA EXP will give me AA domestic F travel at discount Y prices and 8 AA system wide upgrades to J from discount Y per year cost without it costing any QF or AA miles.

To me even if WP1 gives CL access and red carpet curb to plane service, it would not be worth what QF WP and AA EXP combined can offer.

So my pathway seems clear. I can't afford to spend 6 months waiting for QF to define what benefits WP1 will deliver. So now I will reluctantly push as much $$ to AA as quickly as I can to get AA EXP as soon as possible and then re-qualify for QF WP at the end of my current year.

Had QF made it very clear what the new WP and WP1 benefits will be, I may have decided to shoot for WP1 but with QF not revealing what I'm trying to achieve nor what the benefits are, it will never happen for me. Sorry guys. I'm a loyal Aussie and QF customer since 1971 but announcing WP1 and delaying the details for 6 months just forced my hand.

Sad day actually.

 

[MattinCBR]

I must say I am a bit surprised about the distress that changes to the status bonuses has caused. I have never considered them to be that exciting previously - 5000 points is hardly the most difficult thing to come by these days, certainly compared to when they first appeared following the end of the Upgrade Credit era.

I am also a bit bemused by the howls of distress at the formalisation of a level beyond WP+PG, I thought we were all pretty aware that people with high levels of SC's were treated a little bit different by QF, the provision of a different card (maybe), and a formalised list of benefits doesn't really seem a radical shift from the status quo - apart from providing those people with some real expectations around what they are entitled to receive, and hopefully taking some YMMV out of the system.

If you really think hard about who is most gipped in the whole status/benefits equation it is probably actually the habitual first class international long haul flyer. Consider someone that takes 5 return first class trips to London per year, they earn 3600 status credits, the only thing they really get for their $100,000 is points, none of the benefits really mean much because they get them through COS anyway.

I think we should remember that status is designed to primarily reward/promote loyalty, and for the most part that is around directing discretionary travel to QF and partners - I cant imagine that there is much serious business contemplation within QF of people doing NAN trips to move from one status to another - there might be some consideration of people doing an extra trip or two to obtain or maintain a level, but not 600 status credits worth.

I continue to look forward to seeing what comes out about P1, my only other question would be, will they be basing the initial membership on current year position or previous year, ie. will in the first instance status be granted as if P1 existed at the end of my last status year, or will it be awarded when i hit 3600 SC's this membership year.

 

[connieguy]

On day 1 of my brand new membership year I will fly to the USA and spend two weeks of my time flying only YUPP fares. A reasonable outlay of $5,000 for YUPP fares to earn 3,600 SC and $2K to get to USA ... means I will qualify for WP1

And for the next two whole years having WP1 status I will be flying loads of cheap economy flights [read all those flights with the A380's to/from SIN,LHR, LAX] and moving myself to seats 1A when available. The break even point will be one flight in F but I'll have two years of this hot seat game

Super SC run indeed. My plan as well. Just with me the aim is to get AA EXP first and then QF WP. If and I say if with bated breath, WP1 is worth the effort, combined QF WP and AA EXP status will make getting QF WP1 easier and lower cost to achieve.

 

[djfuzz]

As much as I like your idea I don't think it would ever come to reality, but if it did ... I will 'go hard' and get to WP1.

This is how I will do it:-

On day 1 of my brand new membership year I will fly to the USA and spend two weeks of my time flying only YUPP fares. A reasonable outlay of $5,000 for YUPP fares to earn 3,600 SC and $2K to get to USA ... means I will qualify for WP1

And for the next two whole years having WP1 status I will be flying loads of cheap economy flights [read all those flights with the A380's to/from SIN,LHR, LAX] and moving myself to seats 1A when available. The break even point will be one flight in F but I'll have two years of this hot seat game

Ok, I am fantasising too much about this prospect so it's time to go to sleep now, goodnight xoxo

Lol, 5 return trips on the great SC chase special? Surely the TSA would be snapping their gloves at the thought...

This would actually be a very clever and devious way of manipulating any 'real' advantages that might go the way of the SP tier - therefore, I can't see the actual benefits being so juicy.

 

[samh004]

I would have to assume WP1 must include Partner Platinum, as well as greater guest lounge access, anytime access, and pretty much the benefits of CL without having CL. Otherwise it wouldn’t be worth it.

And I love Alanslegal’s idea!

 

[medhead]

I just watched Lateline Business and apparently Alan Joyce stated that the fuel surcharge is going up again. Now the recent (significant) decrease in Jet A1 was mentioned. I can only hope that Qantas is using some of the savings from these changes to hire decent people to do their hedging.

2/ Well done to QF for listening to our suggestions in your thread where you asked for suggestions. I do see some relationship between the themes and the new announcements.

The main themes as I recall were suggestions for:

- an Uber-WP level;
- FF/SC earn on JQ;
- a discounted point redemption level for status FF's as opposed to frequent spenders (and not referring to additional award availability).
- replacement benefits for WP to distinguish WP from SG.

Really good post to bring this all back together. Another thing that I recall from the other thread was interest in a return to guest passes. (mainly my suggestion, but others seemed interest) That is something that I would really like to see and would get me to reconsider my current views. Also I'm happy with a trade off to give me more flexibility in when I can have guests. Well, I'm dreaming now so time for bed.

 

[dfcatch]

I just watched Lateline Business and apparently Alan Joyce stated that the fuel surcharge is going up again. Now the recent (significant) decrease in Jet A1 was mentioned. I can only hope that Qantas is using some of the savings from these changes to hire decent people to do their hedging.



Really good post to bring this all back together. Another thing that I recall from the other thread was interest in a return to guest passes. (mainly my suggestion, but others seemed interest) That is something that I would really like to see and would get me to reconsider my current views. Also I'm happy with a trade off to give me more flexibility in when I can have guests. Well, I'm dreaming now so time for bed.

Thanks medhead.

And I'm 100% in agreement with your comments regarding guest passes & guest flexibility options.

As we (amongst others) had put these views forward in the suggestions thread as well as the ATA thread, I was loathe to bring the ATA issues up here for fear of drifting the thread too off topic.

I still like those ideas but was just restricting my views/commentary to the current program changes.

 

[V1213]

Wow, I made it to the end of this thread! Thanks to the 2 hour time difference allowing me to catch up to thread frontier.

Firstly, I'll also thank Red Roo for starting the thread and being so active in the discussion, not to mention diligently repeating responses for those who had not followed the entire thread.

I have to add that I'm not really fussed about the changes to the status bonus. Sure, it was nifty to get 5000 points for time to time but I never planned to get it, they were just a random perk. Getting 8000 points instead will be nicer, although I'll admit that I'm likely to fall into one of the categories that will earn more points under the new arrangement, but I doubt I'll be paying attention to it or trying to coordinate my SCs to maximise the bonuses.

While I can sympathise with the Bronzes who will get nothing under the new system (I was there not that long ago myself), a lot of members will be getting a significant increase in the points they earn when flying and this needs to be paid for somehow. If QF were going to significantly increase the number of points dished out to members without reducing it elsewhere in the program it would be reasonable to assume that fares would have to increase to match the increase of points earned in the air. The fact that QF will save some points on changes to the bonus makes me less cynical with regards to them increasing the point cost of award flights.

WP1 sounds cool, great that there's going to be a formalised, published next semi-tier ("tierette"?), compared to today's situation where it's unclear, but all WPs are likely to not be equal. I can see how WPs are feeling left out by today's announcement, especially in light of their more recent changes leaving them less than happy. Since I'm being positive, perhaps their turn will come with the WP1 announcement and that will be the day that the rest of us are left out?

 

[medhead]

Thanks medhead.

And I'm 100% in agreement with your comments regarding guest passes & guest flexibility options.

As we (amongst others) had put these views forward in the suggestions thread as well as the ATA thread, I was loathe to bring the ATA issues up here for fear of drifting the thread too off topic.

I still like those ideas but was just restricting my views/commentary to the current program changes.

Totally agree. My recollection is hazy but I thought the suggestion thread mostly didn't mention ATA. Only based on someone being surprised that no one had suggested ATA.

There are a heap more change hinted at with the current announcements. PO benefits, or course, but also the reference to making our experience better - or something like that. So guest arrangements fit into that future, hopefully.

 

[JohnK]

What a thread!

At face value I am a little disappointed that the gap between Gold and Platinum is much narrower but glad to see there was no real "enhancement" to Platinum banefits.

I will do enough to requal platinum each year, but that's it (unless the platinum 1 changes are too good to ignore). I have been averaging about 3,000 SCs per year for the past 5 or 6 years now, but the icing on the cake was the capping of the loyalty bonus - thwe only ones punished there are their most valuable members - simply does not make sense, and will alienate all the WPs between 1,200 and 3,600. That's a lot of valuable passengers.

Not necessarily. All members will be affected in different ways. Some positive, some not so positive.

If someone earne 3000 SCs in a year then under the old system they would have earned 30,000 QFF loyalty points and carried forward another 3,333 QFF loyalty points until the next loyalty bonus. Under the new system they will earn 32,000 QFF loyalty points capped.

If someone earns 2700 SCs in a year then under the old system they would have earned 30,000 QFF loyalty points where as under the new system they will earn 32,000 QFF loyalty points capped.

If someone earns 2000 SCs in a year then under the old system they would have earned 20,000 QFF loyalty points and carried forward another 2,222 QFF loyalty points until the next loyalty bonus where as under the new system they will earn 32,000 QFF loyalty points.

If someone earns 1500 SCs in a year then under the old system they would have earned 15,000 QFF loyalty points and carried forward another 3,333 QFF loyalty points until the next loyalty bonus where as under the new system they will earn 24,000 QFF loyalty points.

But, and this is the big but, with a bonus every 500 SCs per membership year then if I achieve WP next year on 1200 SCs then only 1000 of them will count for a loyalty bonus. That means the calculations for points per SC will be significantly reduced from the offered bonus. I don't think was accidental.

If you achieve 1200 SCs next year under the old system you would have earned 10,000 QFF loyalty points and carried forward another 3,333 QFF loyalty until next loyalty bonus. Under the new system you will earn 16,000 QFF loyalty points and forfeit the 200 SCs toward the next loyalty bonus.

There are obviously many other possibilities and some people will lose and others will gain. Perhaps things should have stayed the same but personally I would have much preferred for upgrade credits to return.

 

[Jobu]

Thank you Qantas - you really are listening to some of our feedback and suggestions.

In fact, this weekend boarding QF32 in LHR the priority boarding was followed to the T - nice to see.

I'll post my suggestions for Platinum One in the separate 'WP1 suggestions' thread.

But why is it called Platinum One? Brings visions of The Highlander to mind (there can be only one!).

Also, why cap the loyalty bonus to 4x per annum? Not a huge worry for me (and maybe other WP1 level people) as I'm currently earning 100k points per month with the amount of flying, just seems a little unecessary...

Cheers

 

[Jobu]

Oh yeah - and you forgot Lifetime Platinum...

 

[Reggie]

Oh yeah - and you forgot Lifetime Platinum...

I had been thinking thst on may through the thread, and was until the end, but you have beat me to it......... at 0248hrs EST:shock:

I hope RedRoo doesn't have much planned for today, they'll be busy catching up on this and trying to reply as necessary, whilst the thread grows.

 

[Ewing]

But why is it called Platinum One? Brings visions of The Highlander to mind (there can be only one!).

Goes nicely with my NAB Qantas credit card - which is also "Platinum One". I wonder if they'll give cardholders a free status upgrade, or if I could pull a Kath & Kim and try to use it to get any extra "benefits" (hey, it has a Qantas logo and says "Platinum One" on it)

 

[TonyHancock]

I was a little surprised at the poor execution of the announcement yesterday. It seems to me that QF has had a little time to for this but there was a lot of confusion surrounding the implementation of the new points earn.

The terms and conditions of points earn post 17th May were quite clear. Members asked for confirmation that the new earn would not take affect on existing bookings and the QF representative duly obliged......only to advise within minutes that he/she had been given incorrect information.

Interestingly the QF rep had quoted from the T & C's so had been given the correct information.

We then had a scenario where the marketing blurb did not match the terms and conditions , and a wait for the new terms and conditions to reflect the back flip.

Ultimately it was the right outcome.....but let's not forget this was not what was planned.

It will be interesting to see if the systems have now been updated to correctly credit points as they should.

All that needs to be done now is to increase points earning for WP's to 125% and release details of the upgrade enhancements and the new WP level and progress will have been made.

It does worry me that an organization geared up to deal with the public could have made such an obvious gaffe with it's launch yesterday. If I was Alan Joyce I'd be issuing a please explain letter to the department head responsible.

 

[russ]

Goes nicely with my NAB Qantas credit card - which is also "Platinum One". I wonder if they'll give cardholders a free status upgrade, or if I could pull a Kath & Kim and try to use it to get any extra "benefits" (hey, it has a Qantas logo and says "Platinum One" on it)

Ha ha ha! Looks like another QF stuff-up! I suspect they will change the name when they get around to announcing the benefits!

 

[russ]

... as I was trying to reply, I noticed the site went down momentarily.

The AFF site was working for me. Perhaps you were using the QP WiFi?

 

[simongr]

Around 3 or 4 PM the site was crashing a lot.