Hi Kremmen,

<<1) That doesn't do any good for those who've been earning their points over the last 5+ years at a much lower rate.>>

That is why (unlike other airlines) Qantas has gving you 18 months to use your old points at the old redemption rates (6 months to book and a further 355 days to travel).

<<2) You're not being fair here. My RTW's are a mixture of long and short hauls. You're effectively saying that a "normal" mixture is some long hauls with some short hauls and a whole lot more short hauls thrown in too. I'm not sure it would even work then, since those short hauls are worth very few tier credits in discount economy.>>

I get your point, but all I am saying is that on average members do a lot more domestic trips for every international one (including RTW trips) - I think it is something in the order of 10 to 1 (QF flying). Although people on this forum may be more inclined towards international travel.

Did you do the benchmark SYD-MEL versus LAX-SFO. It takes 15 return trips in discount economy to retain entry level on QF (17.5 rt trips to attain for the first time), 7.5 rt trips in full economy, 5 trips in business - all to retain. On UA it takes 25 rt trips in any class to attain or retain on LAX-SFO. Higher levels are at the same % difference.


<<3) Similar to point 1, people in this country have been measuring distances in km for, in some cases, all their lives. Putting distances in miles is a pain, since we already know them in km. Put a table saying zone 2 is 2001-5400 miles in front of Australians, and I suspect you will find they will generally have no idea what that means in practical terms. If the table said 3220-8690km, it would be much more useful.>>

I am not sure most members will know how far SYD-MEL, SYD-PER, SYD-CHC, SYD-DPS, etc are in km. So I am not sure I agree that providing a table in kms and miles would make any difference. This has always been a problem! If you look in the old QF manual they have a list which gives you the zone the redemption falls into. In September when you get the new manual you will most likely see (like in the current manual) a list of city pairs and the redemption cost for a return trip - I think this is the easiest way (distance, bonuses, etc all become irrelevant).

Anyway as said before I think you will find the table in September will list the zones in kms and miles – for all those with a metric milemarker computer in their head – excuse the pun

Cheers… Bruce