For me, the changes are generally positive. The one part that I dont like however is the changes to the loyalty bonus. There should be more rewards for those of us at the bottom end of the scale. Who dont fly often enough to get status, but dont fly anyone else.
We need to fly more, with our money to get less benefits. Who's to say we are less loyal than the Whinging Platinums who complain they cant use the QF lounges when flying SQ?

My daughter who has taken 12 years to reach over 350 lifetime SC's and who's account is showing:... will have that change on December 1st to 500.

QFF are going reap a huge windfall through the forced "Breakage" of this benefit.

NB: It's obvious Qantas know this particular change is an overall material degradation to the Program for members - that's why they are giving the six months notice as per their T&C's.

Yes but where is the notice for JQ StarClass/Business passengers?

Dave Noble - yes point taken - I guess it is only a few extra miles - but i have some upcoming flights to the states where those few miles will add up.

Maybe only an addition 10,000 miles or so, but... those miles off set the increased phone assistance fees and the slightly higher fees for redeeming intra-asia awards on CX (which attract an additional 2000 miles upwards per sector over QF awards for the same distance).

Those additional fees had removed the benefit for me in using FF points for those trips (cheaper just to buy a regular economy fare).

This small increase in miles earning will make those flights beneficial again.

In relation to the status and cabin bonus changes only applying to Qantas and Jetstar, rather than other partner carriers, it is worth noting that any changes to the earn proposition for other carriers is subject to negotiation.

FWIW, there are other FFPs which have different earn rates between the home carrier relative to partner carriers.

sounds one hell of a lot like the Carbon tax to me.....:rolleyes:

it is equally worth noting that any time you make a change that negatively impacts the earning capacity of a member, or degrades their benefits in relation to another tier, you will disappoint that member and reduce their sense of engagement in the program, which is what you have done here, particularly in the absence of any firm details relating to the mystical "Platinum Plus" program

they are only a 'partner' as QF are want to claim.

Is CX Diamond offering anything interesting at all?

I would imagine this to be similar to LH HON service with someone picking you up from a gate etc.

Agree, the increase to 8000 points sounds great but in reality it will be a degradation for most customers.

Private lounge / Platinum One
 

Any chance that PO PAX will get PRIVATE lounge access?

Chairman's Lounge? Possible but I doubt it.

Overall I have to state I am still pretty disappointed.

Regardless of some of the fluff announced, QF's programme is still probably the most miserly out of the big carriers out there. Even with the increased bonuses, you are still paying out more to get less. Factor in the huge fuel fines and the programme is even poorer value.

The other concern is that Platinum is obviously no longer the sweet spot of the programme - that honour has definitely moved down to gold tier.

Whilst the new platinum tier could be of interest, I'm unlikely to hit the number required to join it (I probably could if I moved my *A business to OW though), however as I need not too many more SCs to completely my run to LTG, I'm still very much planning on cashing out of the programme shortly.

QF is a decent carrier, but certainly no longer top of the pack. It does however charge top prices and rewards less than it's peers and these recent changes won't really paper over this. Glad to see VA/DJ is putting the fear of god into QF - I don't believe that these announced changes will fundamentally change anything.

Would it be possible to negotiate with other carriers then? An airline like Qantas should look higher as a benchmark, not lower, FWIW.

Interesting 'enhancements' to the scheme, and it's an interestingly ploy that they are overtly shifting the emphasis to reward those who fly QF specifically. As they are in the business of bums on seats, this makes sense.

As a WP based in the UK, there is no significant change in terms of benefits for me on a personal level, but what I am particularly disappointed by is the change to the Status Bonus.

It's a perfect example of giving with one hand and taking with the other. 8,000 points per 500 SCs appears to be quite generous compared to 5,000 per 450, but limiting it to your membership year seems somewhat mean spirited to me. I'd be curious to understand the rationale from QF for this, but I doubt that kind of information is able to be shared.

No it isn't ; they are getting what they got before; there is no dilution of benefits, just seems to be a sulk that others are getting something . Just that a Gold member gets a higher status bonus doesn't mean that the platinum member has lost something.

Then again... The sky is falling in! The sky is falling in !