Really when it was on the website where searching for an Any Seat Award also showed Any Seat Award purchases of a seat available as a classic award then it certainly plain and simple was normal business. The price in points was marginally higher than a classic award and it came with some perks (points and SC's).
It seems that Qantas had a better solution available to the fact that people were clocking up too much status for a certain spend (remember points are cash to Qantas, - you credit card company has to buy them!).
Their actual solution
- Quietly remove them from the website during another website change
- Pacify the forum dwellers with a phone in system
- Remove them altogether
Suggested better solution
- Leave them alone and on the website and increase the margin applied such that they were no longer a un afordable gift but a real contributor to profit.
My 2 cents and 10points worth.