Originally Posted by
Dave Noble
If UA membership is of value to someone, then maybe that will sway them to using Star, but in relation to the comment I replied to, the lack of BA lounge access may be annoying to some, but I cannot see it making any real impact to Qantas or OW
I suppose it comes down to the definition of "real impact". As it is Qantas' international business is lagging. Notwithstanding their new "Asian Strategy", the loss of a perceived value of flying Qantas will further erode their market share of international sectors.
I suppose, to truly understand the impact, one has to assess the extent of LHR as the final port of call of their customers. Or more importantly to understand the role of Qantas Club on the decision of passengers choosing to fly Qantas internationally. Strangely that question has never appeared on all the surverys that Qantas as sent me. I personally think its foolish to discount it.
However it would also be interesting to see the impact of Qantas Club membership fees on revenue. I presume this stream of income feeds into the highly profitable Frequent Flyer (FF) segment of their business. If membership drops due to the patchy BA access, how far will their FF business be affected?
In any case it seems like another nail in the coffin for Qantas international routes; Just when you think they've got it right with the A380 roll out.
I hope someone at Qantas is doing the maths and weighing up what BA is charging for Galleries use against possible drop in revenue. Incidentally, does anyone know what kind of dollar value we're talking about here? How I wish Wikileaks has info on this! LOL