Woolworths reviewing partnership with Qantas Frequent Flyer.

[MEL_Traveller]

I earned 40-50K PA from EDR.

:shock::shock: you did? I earned like 250!!

Qantas would like us to belive that negotiations are still underway, but clearly this has been Woolies plan for some time.

Makes you wonder what other negotiations QF would 'have us believe' are still underway but really aren't. The whole Qantas Club access to BA lounges springs to mind. This makes me wonder... how hard were QF really trying all those other times they said they were working on it??

Interesting how the pundits seem to like direct savings rather than the points, but I guess some had enough trouble trying to make any good out of it.

It depends if it is the same mythical bunch of passengers that demanded the end of Any Time Access, and mASAs, and the introduction of simpler and fairer, and the new points tables, and an increase in parking charges at Melbourne Airport. :-|

 

[Captain Halliday]

This change gives WOW a more tangible way to change the buying patters for the average consumer.

Let's exclude for the moment AFFers who know the value of a QFF point.

If Joe or Joanne Average is standing in the aisle and would normally buy brand A but is offered 50 bonus QFF points to buy brand B... The trip of a lifetime in economy is so far away does it really matter?

Now stand there and consider getting $1 WOW dollar. Maybe the Average family has a big bill sitting on the table at home... The kids need new shoes, every dollar counts... Some basic psychology kicks in and the tangible immediate benefit of $1 May mean Mr & Mrs Average select brand B.

Taken a step further, what if WOW get smart with the data and the HVC are getting $1 WOW dollar for buying three or more of a particular product, thereby increasing basket size, but low value customers like the Average family are just being driven to the higher margin items, possibly WOW owned lines, thereby increasing revenue.

From WOW perspective I see immediate benefits, even if they lose a few QFF points addicted customers in the process.

From a QF perspective it's a huge hit to revenue. It'll be hard for the QF loyalty mob to see any upside. I'm sure the spin team will find some though.

 

[PLANT]

It's as simple as this.... They are following America SAFEWAY/Flybuys $10 back.... And then saving 80million as per ALDI to put into Masters and BigW....

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I wonder how well Woolies market research has tapped this end of the market?

I wonder how well woolies has their database segmented and micro-segmented the affluent customers off into other segments. A few hours, 100 lines of 'R' and I could whip up a data model that shows how the top groups interact with the brand why it is or isn't important. It may also be a case that woolies target customer isn't the mum and dad who have extra cash to burn.

What I do think is Woolworths now lose the ability to tap into QFF data (If I were QFF I'd certainly be taking my data out of the hands of DW that WOW deals with). I assume part of the "$80m/year" deal included overlaying data sets and levering off the biggest and most successful loyalty program in the country.

Not having James Strong around probably didn't help either.

My condolences Qantas... I feel your frustrations with the announcement

 

[PLANT]

Now for the new thread...."How to keep QFF active without Woolie's points? "

 

[Mal]

This change gives WOW a more tangible way to change the buying patters for the average consumer.

Let's exclude for the moment AFFers who know the value of a QFF point.

If Joe or Joanne Average is standing in the aisle and would normally buy brand A but is offered 50 bonus QFF points to buy brand B... The trip of a lifetime in economy is so far away does it really matter?

Now stand there and consider getting $1 WOW dollar. Maybe the Average family has a big bill sitting on the table at home... The kids need new shoes, every dollar counts... Some basic psychology kicks in and the tangible immediate benefit of $1 May mean Mr & Mrs Average select brand B.

Taken a step further, what if WOW get smart with the data and the HVC are getting $1 WOW dollar for buying three or more of a particular product, thereby increasing basket size, but low value customers like the Average family are just being driven to the higher margin items, possibly WOW owned lines, thereby increasing revenue.

From WOW perspective I see immediate benefits, even if they lose a few QFF points addicted customers in the process.

From a QF perspective it's a huge hit to revenue. It'll be hard for the QF loyalty mob to see any upside. I'm sure the spin team will find some though.

In the UK, there are two (major) supermarket schemes. Clubcard and Nectar. Neither push cashback via tags instore. They care about bigger things. Woolworths are way behind the game if this is what they are plugging.

 

[SIA1A]

i guess i can go back to breaking my shopping into $30 increments at the checkout again. Only stopped because i got Qantas points.
More fuel vouchers here we come.

You also have the recently introduced option of using FlyBuys at Coles to earn FlyBuys points that you can then convert to Etihad miles. Significantly, you can also earn Etihad status credits via FlyBuys. Etihad miles can be used for Virgin Australia flights (Etihad is a major Virgin Australia shareholder).

 

[Captain Halliday]

Now for the new thread...."How to keep QFF active without Woolie's points? "

This prompted me to review other earning methods as I don't have a QFF credit card... But the QFF pages of the website is down

There's a giant eraser rubbing out all references to Woolworths as we speak.

 

[Princess Fiona]

From a QF perspective it's a huge hit to revenue. It'll be hard for the QF loyalty mob to see any upside. I'm sure the spin team will find some though.

The spin team deserves an Emmy, Oscar, Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize and a lottery win if they can find any upside from this

 

[SIA1A]

Now for the new thread...."How to keep QFF active without Woolie's points? "

I just tried to login to the QFF accounts of my kids to figure out my family's earning pattern. With no WW points and no Optus points (Optus left the QFF scheme recently) coming through in the future, this could affect my kids.

This happened:

Frequent Flyer - Temporarily Unavailable
The Qantas Frequent Flyer service is currently unavailable.
Try again later or contact us on 13 11 31 (in Australia), elsewhere contact your local Qantas office

Perhaps QF is already in the process of amending its website to reflect the impending loss of the WW Rewards points scheme?

My credit card gives me a QF points option so I'm OK for now but my kids don't have credit cards.

I can't see anyone in my family using QF Dining Club restaurants (the QF restaurants are generally old-school and trying to stay alive) while the QF Wine Club has got to be one of the most expensive ways to buy low-grade wine.

At this stage the lowest-cost QFF keep-alive option is probably to get each QFF member in my family a Qantas Money prepaid MasterCard and load it with $10 (each Christmas?). It earns 0.5 QF points per A$ spent in Australia (more O/S but the FX rate is lousy).

 

[Princess Fiona]

I just tried to login to my QFF account to figure out my family's earning pattern. With no WW points and no Optus points (Optus left the QFF scheme recently) coming through in the future, this could affect my kids.

This happened:

Frequent Flyer - Temporarily UnavailableThe Qantas Frequent Flyer service is currently unavailable.
Try again later or contact us on 13 11 31 (in Australia), elsewhere contact your local Qantas office

Perhaps QF is already in the process of amending its website to reflect the loss of WW Rewards points?

Since you can earn QFF points at Woolies until 31st Dec I can't see any rush to fix up the website

 

[trippin_the_rift]

The spin team deserves an Emmy, Oscar, Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize and a lottery win if they can find any upside from this

Too easy

"Since round #2 of Fairer & Simpler where you will receive higher recognition of your commitment to Oneworld -- Qantas now understands you will be spending more time in the air and thus you won't need to shop at Woolworths any more. Please find the enclosed 2% off duty free discount coupon which is valid when you next fly on a fully paid First Class ticket".

 

[JohnK]

Of course, JohnK. I thought that was why we were here! Interesting however that the discussion has all been about points, and yet the Flybuys-Etihad deal includes SCs. Some of us are more obsessed with having cool status than with points.

It didn't take long to discover the flybuys status offer is a bit pfft. Do the maximum possible monthly shop and the three for one tier miles deal can't get you more than 60% of the way to EK PS status by 31 Dec. However the way it's structured looks like it's a carefully designed ploy to grow sales at that all important time of the year - only 62 days to Christmas, folks!

Of course it's about points but not when earning $5.00 worth of Flybuys points is costing you $20 extra.

As for Etihad status from shopping it's not going to happen. It may be useful as top up for status but I wouldn't think many in Australia use Etihad as their primary FF program.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Too easy

"Since round #2 of Fairer & Simpler where you will receive higher recognition of your commitment to Oneworld -- Qantas now understands you will be spending more time in the air and thus you won't need to shop at Woolworths any more. Please find the enclosed 2% off duty free discount coupon which is valid when you next fly on a fully paid First Class ticket".

You win a Logie for that

 

[candyb]

I would have to say the new wow program is definitly simpler and for the masses fairer

 

[The Flying Brick]

No Woolies shopping for me in 2016. Coles will be the default as the only reason I shop at Woolies is for QFF points.

Unless they turn around and do a deal with American Airlines for AAdvantage points

 

[kevrosmith]

My local shopping centre has both a Coles and Woolies. When it was first built, it was only Coles, so I always shopped there. Then it expanded and gained a Woolies, and I switched for QFF points. Now I guess I can choose which one I want to shop at. I'll have to evaluate if the EY/FB is of any benefit to me. Shame it's not Velocity points instead... then it'd be a no-brainer where I'd shop.

 

[Princess Fiona]

No Woolies shopping for me in 2016. Coles will be the default as the only reason I shop at Woolies is for QFF points.

Unless they turn around and do a deal with American Airlines for AAdvantage points

Now you're speaking my language

 

[samh004]

Having followed along with the developments, all I can say is that I'm really disappointed and will be showing my displeasure with my spend. I'm finally free of Woolworths and can shop around a bit more to get the best value (though was already doing that with a fresh fruit and vegetable store outside my local that is consistently cheaper). My fuel purchases have also come from 7-Eleven, owing to a 2-cent cheaper price for higher octane petrol than Woolworths lowest rated stuff.

I sent them an email this evening to further make sure they got the message.

Just wanted to let you know that you will now be losing my business, my families business and probably the business of a lot of my friends. I have no clue who you talked to about what Australians want, but Qantas points are certainly very much an in thing. Heck, just look at the recent Flybuys partnership with Etihad.

In recent months you've sent me less offers I can use anyway, so I'm earning far less from you than I used to. But I shall now be trying the competition and generally seeking the lowest price (hint: it's generally not you)!

In time, you'll come to see that dropping Qantas Frequent Flyer has a big impact on your earnings.

Cya!

Woolworths dollars are only earned on selected products. Orange ticketed ones and other "things we think you'll like". So not based on total spend.

That sounds even worse than first thought!

Way to gut a brilliant program.

It's as simple as this.... They are following America SAFEWAY/Flybuys $10 back.... And then saving 80million as per ALDI to put into Masters and BigW....

Thing is, I was shopping at Masters, showing loyalty for the fact I was earning points elsewhere, all the while hoping I could someday do so there too.

And Big W used to be great for points, but isn't anymore, so I no longer shop there.

Moving forward, I wont shop at either.

Lose/lose.

 

[SIA1A]

Since you can earn QFF points at Woolies until 31st Dec I can't see any rush to fix up the website

Yes, but we have already seen the signs of shock/urgency at QFF with that email on Friday that implied negotiations around the continuance of the QF/WW were still in train. QF needs to do something, fast, to explain that email to its QFF membership base at the very least.