One of the better perks for many of our members is priority boarding. A benefit usually on offer to the top tiers of frequent flyers, it allows them to board at anytime in a dedicated queue without joining what is often a long line. While Virgin have offered this benefit to their domestic Platinum and Gold travellers for some time, Qantas have only provided it to their Platinum members. Last week, that changed, with Gold Members now also able to use the queues. The announcement of more members being able to enjoy the privilege was met with mixed reactions from our members.
Not sure what benefit there is to Qantas Platinum anymore. Sure First Class lounge is nice, but you’d have to be in there a lot to justify crediting to QF.
While some of the Platinum members lamented the move, not surprisingly, Gold members were pleased with the move. Especially those who have fallen from Platinum since the “fairer and simpler” changes were made to the Qantas program.
Yessssssss! Since I dropped it was one thing I missed. All good by me, sorry all you Qantas Platinum’s
Others thought it might be a chance for Qantas at last to police the benefit properly. The consensus amongst the regular travellers is that Virgin has got the implementation down to a fine art. Sadly, on the other side of the fence, it seems Qantas still has some way to go. At some ports, there seems to be no priority boarding, while at others, it’s not policed, making for a general scrum when boarding commences.
From my perspective as a mainly domestic P1 (and LTG so in the, hopefully distant, future I’ll take advantage of this enhancement) I think this is a good thing but only if QF now strictly enforce the PB line. Otherwise all that has been achieved is vastly more AFFers who can legitimately complain that PB is the joke it has been since it was introduced.
After a few days letting the news sink in, discussion turned to what is the long-term future of the benefits of being a Platinum member. Maybe the levels of attainment of status are due for an enhancement of their own, with Gold becoming the new Platinum. Others felt the increase in benefits Gold members receive were an indication of Platinum being phased out entirely.
Repeating myself but I believe this is a sign that platinum level will go in the next 12 months.
With Christmas just around the corner, that’s probably the last change we will see for 2014. As we see in the New Year, one wonders what is in store for Qantas Frequent Flyers. Is this change just another true enhancement, or is it a sign of more serious changes for 2015? What do you think, like it or loath it, have your say HERE.
