? improvements coming to QFF

[ozflier]

Does this guy realise how stupid he sounds to the average QFF member?

"Qantas Loyalty executive general manager Simon Hickey said yesterday: "Everything that's there today - all of the value that's there today, all of those seats, all of that capacity, everything that's in that program today - none of that changes"

If there is all that value, the seats and all that capacity , then why are visa and amex moving to other ways of ensuring their cardholders get seats when they want them ?

[AndDee]

There is great value there IF you can book flights 11 months in advance

For the vast majority of travellers this is not possible, as a result the program is not that good for lots of people.

Amex want to keep all their customers happy and therefore offer redemption on other partners, I just got another advertising piece from them promoting Virgin Atlantic and the rest of them

[IMOA]

Originally Posted by ozflier

The question in my mind is

will there be a separate additional pool of seats for the higher
"Anyseat" level or will the number of seats available for any non revenue awards stay the same ie the number available for classic seats will be reduced ??

My read of the Anyseat was that they were simply going to prescribe a dollar value to points and then let you book through the usual inventory using points. They talked about how you won't know how much any anyseat award will cost until you actually make the booking which certainly sounds liek standard inventory rather than a seperate pool of seats to me.

[hauteboy]

Any ideas on lifetime status changes? I'm pretty close to Silver but won't make it there by the time the 'enhancements' roll out.

[Tyrolean]

Originally Posted by hauteboy

Any ideas on lifetime status changes? I'm pretty close to Silver but won't make it there by the time the 'enhancements' roll out.

This woud mean stop flying QF for me.

[simongr]

Originally Posted by Tyrolean

This woud mean stop flying QF for me.

Why stop flying QF? Do you have other options than to fly QF on your required routes? If you are fairly nonchalant about the QF FF program then why not consider another program and still fly QF?

[ozflier]

Can anyone summarise the advantages of flying QF but pushing all your miles towards AA - i guess one obvious problem is not being able to australian transfer credit card spend to AA.

[serfty]

Amex MR rewards can be transferred via SPG to AAdvantage miles.

33,400 MR => 20,040 SPG => 25,040 AAdvantage

An Amex Rewards Maximizer earns 1.5 MR points per AUD.

-> AUD22,267 expenditure can earn 25K AAdvantage miles.

[ozflier]

Originally Posted by serfty

Amex MR rewards can be transferred via SPG to AAdvantage miles.

33,400 MR => 20,040 SPG => 25,040 AAdvantage

An Amex Rewards Maximizer earns 1.5 MR points per AUD.

-> AUD22,267 expenditure can earn 25K AAdvantage miles.

That certainly sounds good when you compare with other SPG conversions eg to United Airlines.

[simongr]

Originally Posted by ozflier

Can anyone summarise the advantages of flying QF but pushing all your miles towards AA - i guess one obvious problem is not being able to australian transfer credit card spend to AA.

Return awards on AA are cheaper in terms of points required than QF - by over 50% for premium cabins. AA Plat earn 100% status bonus compared to QF SG. AA have dramtically cheaper fuel surcharges on awards than QF. AA operate in an evironment where there is competition for FFers, QF don't.

[NM]

Originally Posted by simongr

Return awards on AA are cheaper in terms of points required than QF - by over 50% for premium cabins. AA Plat earn 100% status bonus compared to QF SG. AA have dramtically cheaper fuel surcharges on awards than QF. AA operate in an evironment where there is competition for FFers, QF don't.

So to summarise simongr:

• Better burn rates
• Better earn rates (depends on comparative status levels)
• Lower extra charges

And I will add these:

• Get to AA Exec Platinum status and receive 8 x system-wide EVIP upgrades
• Get to AA Platinum and earn upgrade credits towards domestic flight upgrades
• Earn status bonus on CX flights (but not BA flights)

These are all things that are benefits to me based on my travel patterns.

[GUWonder]

Originally Posted by NM

I suspect they may be still weighing up the possibility of selling off QFF. If that is the case, then changes will either be delayed or shaped to increase the sale price of the program.

They are certainly planning to sell QFF if they can (and they think they can).

Qantas' program is going to have massive changes and a sell-off of the frequent flyer program is all the more of an indicator for me to distance myself even further from the Qantas program.

[DownUnderFlyer]

Originally Posted by GUWonder

They are certainly planning to sell QFF if they can (and they think they can).

Qantas' program is going to have massive changes and a sell-off of the frequent flyer program is all the more of an indicator for me to distance myself even further from the Qantas program.

So lets just lock in this lifetime status and then reconsider things...

[simongr]

Originally Posted by GUWonder

They are certainly planning to sell QFF if they can (and they think they can).

Are you able to cite an official source confirming this? The Board were certainly planning to sell the business to APA as well...

[Lonely Flyer]

Originally Posted by simongr

Are you able to cite an official source confirming this? The Board were certainly planning to sell the business to APA as well...

I think it is a given that they will sell? It is only to whom and when that remain unanswered