mattm199

It seems particularly odd that just as all the debate regarding lounge access is raging, to see the QP having a "sale" on membership!

No wonder the lounges are crowded, and even the J lounges often busy as that's where the real "Frequent Flyers" can access.

orac

From my experience and what I have seen this is the case. If you only have carry on bags (domestic), then a glance at your card is all they want at the entrance.

I regularly travel this way on short trips and there are often a number of us at the desk inside getting boarding passes. In the same vein, it would be easy to show your card and go in the lounge then board a Virgin flight later. Unless they jot down the numbers just showing cards as we go in they have no hard data on who is using the lounge with a boarding pass. I do not know how they would work out who is not flying with them and using the lounge on any particular day.

AnonymousCoward

This is a disconnect I do not understand. Time and again people here have stated that they use this facility (some people quite often) yet they feel that it costs very little to QF to provide. How can you say that?

On the other hand, people also insist that QANTAS are making decisions based on no evidence. Isn't that a bit, um, ironic? Hypocritical? (my guess is that QF did some spot surveys and based their decisions on that. Statistically significant? I don't know. I'm guessing they are stupid in making their decisions - most businesses don't make decisions with no data).

Anyway, there are plenty of other benefits as WP: better seats, ability to kick people off full planes, extra miles, and they provide J/F lounge access.

Otherwise, there are other carriers. Oh, and expect benefits to be further degraded over time (unless you want to pay more for fares)

Edit: fixed end quote

m0hamed

I have noticed for the last two years, mainly in SYD T2, ADE, HBA and CNS that the lounge dragons keep tally of frequent flyer numbers and tiers upon entry. I've only ever seen it in QP, not the J lounges, but perhaps I've just never noticed because it's easier to see in the QP.

VH-RMD

it certainly doesn't happen at BNE...

Globaliser

If that was the real problem, it could have been solved by a small tweak to the international business class lounge access rules!

lokijuh

Yes. Mentioning EK & NZ seems to be deliberately avoiding mentioning the obvious one (DJ). FWIW I have been into QF J lounge in MEL prior to an EK departure and I was the only person in the lounge (apart from staff), hardly a massive problem.

lokijuh

Oh, still haven't got an email from QF notifying me of the changes, just as well I hang out on FT.

Did any other non Australian resident QF FF'ers actually get the email?

whughes3

In recent weeks, there has been a spate of press advertising for JQ Starclass deals; one in particular I noted was MEL-SIN return for $998, which, as was prominently noted in the ad, includes QC access and "business" points and SC's.

Now, putting this in perspective; the fare quoted is less than the cheapest QF economy fare on this route, less than half the cheapest QF PE fare (which offers a similar level of service but of course no lounge access), and a small fraction of the cheapest Business fare.

It annoys me immensely that, on a laughable peppercorn fare like this, they see no problem in offering lounge access to all comers, and trumpetting the fact in the media; yet on alleged grounds of "overcrowding" they see fit to deny occasional "anytime" QC use by people like me who spend vastly larger amounts.

(Not to mention that giving the Business points/SC's completely debases the QFF scheme, and hence the Oneworld system).

Traveloguy

Be careful what you wish for.

orac

Good point. The reps's on the BA forum are very good in my experience. My comments that follow are no reflection at all on the recent posts by a new Qantas rep, or the individual themselves.

I would suggest that if Qantas are going to have a permanent rep on this, or the AFF forum, then they give some thought to the level within Qantas where this role is based. The current person mentions they are from Marketing. I suspect this person has been 'sent forth' to gauge the membership response to the changes to benefits on these two forums. We need a permanent rep who is there during the good and the bad times to assist with the full range of Qantas FF questions that come across forums like this.

My suggestion to Qantas would be for the Company to appoint an individual to forums of this nature who has a senior role within the Qantas Club system in the capital cities - perhaps a management and/or customer facing role? Or someone who interacts with the FF membership on a daily basis so they understand the issues over time as they develop with their regular FF flying base - rather than Woolies or credit card FF's. My personal view is marketing is the wrong department to source this role. Needs to be 'a hands on operations type of person' who can answer membership questions in plain English and in a timely manner. Accessing the FF forums would be part of their daily work and we would see a Qantas rep interacting with their membership on forums like this most days/nights.

A Formal Qantas rep would lift the level of discussion as we would have a conduit directly into the Qantas FF system.

Just my thoughts.

m0hamed

+ 1. The 2 Starwood Lurkers are extremely involved and deal with questions on the form, or via PM. So too does Hyatt's Gold Passport Concierge. They alert members of Flyertalk to upcoming promos, new additions to the program, and actively respond to forum discussions. Hyatt, in particular, responds to their Diamond members' concerns and has extended promos, or offered to switch promo redemption options both indicating their value of their elite members.

Other airlines including BA and AA have an official presence and it's about time QF did the same.

whughes3

Same here! Hopefully the message may be starting to sink in...

Leumas

At least you guys got a call, I got an email showing sympathy and no action on the lounge issue. The explanation didn't make sense to me at all...

I wrote about something else and the response was that it'd be passed to 'management'.

In other words, my response to drewbles was better and more comprehensive than the one I got...

Red Roo

Thanks for the welcome to FT, appreciate the feedback.

Correct.

Note the policy change is not to the level of lounge Platinums are able to access, rather when lounge access overall is available, i.e. the introduction of the travelling on eligible carriers on the day requirement. See the Lounge Access Table here.

To clarify the comments, here are some of the situations, in which the revised policy allows lounge access.

For instance, you may have arrived on a QF red eye flight from PER first thing in the morning. As a Platinum, you are welcome to use the lounge to freshen up after landing. Alternatively you may have flown with us into a port and are waiting for colleagues or friends to arrive on other flights. In this case, you are also welcome to use the lounge as a place to wait. In these situations, you would be travelling with an eligible airline on the day, and hence would have lounge access.

Essentially, the main benefit of the latest policy revision is to provide access in arrival situations when travelling with eligible airlines. This is the main issue, on which we received feedback and we’ve acted on that feedback. Understand that not all are fully satisfied by the policy revision, however we feel by global standards, this is still a generous lounge access policy; we are not aware of any major airline currently providing lounge access without a travelling requirement to their Platinum equivalent tier.

Just to clarify, on the vast majority of Qantas International routes (i.e. excluding the Americas), such on the SIN route you mention, the existing weight concept continues to apply. The new policy has not introduced a piece restriction on such routes.

As a Platinum, in the new policy you are entitled to 64kg on these routes, regardless of travel class. This is an increase from the 23+15kg in Economy/Premium Economy, 30+15kg in Business and 40+15kg in First provided for Platinums in the previous policy.

Qantas International piece allowances continue to apply on routes to/from the Americas. More information is available here.