I fly for business and was P1 with Qantas, purely from domestic flying. I had to change because they became too unreliable. I see the Virgin changes favouring the lower price fares. 15 SC's is the current earning on a single leg. Most single legs are > $180. Chuck in family pooling and there will be small gains made.
At the other end, business class flights, especially multi-leg, will earn significantly less. Personally, I think it will reduce my spend with Virgin. Currently, I aim to get to 1800 SC's in an earning year as this allows me companion Platinum (1000 SC's over retention). This means if a Flex fare is $400 and Business is $600, I'll often pay the extra $200 for a more comfortable seat and more than double the SC's. With SC earning based on $'s, I'll take the cheaper fare and try for points upgrade. Basically, I fly enough that I'll get the 800 needed to retain and I won't be forking out an extra $12,000 so that my daughter can keep Platinum.
