Brettmcg

I really do hope they are "new" and innovative rather than just reinstating benefits which have previously been taken away under previous "enhancements".

VH-RMD

yes thanks Red Roo for your infrequent but informative update.

It is very difficult to make a silk purse from a sows ear...

Red Roo

Apologies for the less frequent updates here, I've been trying to satisfy the voracious appetite at AFF, with 29 posts from me over the last day.

Rest assured, we appreciate your input here. There are differences in the audiences between the two forums and it's useful to have that perspective.

Blackcloud

Sorry but the fact that Platinums benefit from higher cabin bonus is immaterial. That is a consequence of Cabin of Service (COS) NOT FF Status. Also additional COS bonus is immaterial for Zone 1 travel as the minimum guarantee of 1,000 for Economy and 1,250 for Business is NOT changed by the "enhancements".
The change to loyalty bonus is also not affected by status, it is just that Platinums to attain/retain status will achieve at least 1 lot more than Gold.
The fact that the 50,000 points at 2400 is so popular is probably an indication of the poor quality of the other offerings and the inflated redemption costs for QF.
What I wanted was recognition of status benefits with JQ instead I see vastly increased prices and a reversal of the value of the product which will take me back to NZ domestic and now retention of NZ Gold.
IMO these changes were designed by QF to keep the most vulnerable flyers, Silvers and Golds from DJ and I am thinking that it may have driven Platinums to accept the drop to Gold and to fly the competition when the value is better as the Business Lounges are not significantly better than the Qantas Club or THe Lounge.
I have no desire to go for Partner Gold or even Platinum One and appreciate the Platinum will retain some of its former Lounge Access, not that there are too many lounges in NZ.
Improve the lounge offerings, baggage priority, JQ recognition, upgrade process and better value redemptions.

Traveloguy

What is the point? QFF upgrades are probably the most expensive in the industry, and in most situations it's better to do a full F or J redemption as the points are not only similar, but most importantly confirmed.

To make matters worse, QF has not had a market leading J or F (with the exception of A380 F) product in many years. Even the "new J" (yet to be rolled out on the 747 fleet) won't be particularly ground breaking. The irony is that the situation cannot be particularly great for shareholders either as it's not an efficient use of the space to create a flat bed cabin- the new CX, US, AY, LX, DL and AC cabins are all arguably better.

As they say, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig!

m0hamed

hmmm, I'm sceptical, however this sounds like upgrades for WP and PO may be confirmed much earlier, if not time of booking. This would be an actual enhancement.

kpc

Actually, a lot of us are members of both fora.... but AFF tends to get most of the traffic re QF!

DownUnderFlyer

And AFF seems to be a lot more positive about the changes than FT.

Cedar Jet

Thanks for the reply.
I'm sorry to labour the point but there is still ZERO new for platinums in this "upgrade" of the QF FF program. Bronze, Silver, Gold all got something and you created a plat 1 with benefits to be announced. Plats received zip, nudda, niente. You have only recited what we currently get.

Once again I realise you are a foot soldier but from my perspective I'll never reach Plat 1, as many plats wont; thus this whole episode for many loyal plat pax has been a non event. Qantas have left a present under the Christmas Tree for all tiers except plats-simple as that yet we have been the most loyal-have I missed something here?

As for the luggage I certainly hope QF is simply applying logic here;it's not rocket science having premium bags off-loaded first AND more importantly onto the belt/carousel first

I appreciate your input and respond with all due respect

CJ

Platinum A332

I do think Qantas has lost it, and my family has been loyal for countless years now. A QF Platinum flying on CX gets much better treatment compared to flying on QF.

Personally, once the Virgin Australia transformation is complete (assuming the product is comparable at least on a price point) it may be good bye to QF, especially as QF is quite useless internationally.

I know this is besides the point of a frequent flyer upgrade. QF service has gone downhill in recent times too. The most recent example, My Dad (Platinum+PG for countless years), on a flight from BKK a couple of weeks ago in J, declined the entree and main meal. He requested a fruit plate with one piece of cheese. This request was denied as it is "Fruit or Cheese only" - with no apology, and the F/A moved on. Not to mention the Boeing 747 featuring lie-flat and not fully-flat seats. I know this may seem like a superficial example, but it is the small differences that can make all the difference in a competitive marketplace.

The point of including the above example - Qantas reduce the benefits to Platinum Frequent Flyers. Qantas charge a higher price for J than any other airline out of Australia yet offer a declining and substandard level of service. Where is the benefit of sticking with QF?

Tyrolean

The J on the 380 is quite OK. Better than TG or LH.
Similar as BA, SQ is slightly better. But QF offers very attractive Fares form Germany to Australia.

Tyrolean

It took me quite a time to read all the post on AFF, but I have a different picture.

I do not mind a superduper Platinum, as it is out of reach for me.
I do not mind the increase of the status-bonus of PS and SG.

The change of the Loyalty Bonus is quite significant for my NB/PS Family. They wont fly 500 SC/Year. So why should they be loyal. Now they will get nil/nada/nothing.

For me, as I will end up with 1200 SC, it wont be a big change.

On the other hand: My goal of LTG will be a bit more attractive.

What I would like to see:
Cabin Bonus similar on BA and AA.

Why is there no status bonus on IB, as they are now one group with BA?

Traveloguy

I don't disagree, however I think you have missed the whole picture I was trying to paint. Also QF probably don't consider LH much of a competitor due to their positions geographically.

og

+1. Keep that one a secret. I'm just finalising a trip to the EU on LH because their Biz fare is thousands less than QF. And since LH pays very well into the UA program, it'll get me over my UA status level again.

TonyHancock

Oh dear QF is getting a bit of a bashing over at Facebook over the recent announcement.

The more I think about it the more I believe that QF is failing in it's communication strategy. On face value there should be a lot of satisfied customers. PS and SG got a nice points bump. There is a new top level WP to aim for too. The group that misses out is WP, it does't really lose out, it misses out.

I suspect QF would have expected some positive responses to the announcement.

If I were Alan Joyce I'd want to understand why there has not been such a positive response. QF is suffering the same issue that faces a lot of large corporations that deal directly with the public:- The pace of change in social media.

These days an announcement is analyzed and dissected by a number of QF's frequent flyers within minutes of release. Feedback is fast and furious and any flaws are picked out rapidly and posted in forums, on twitter and Facebook.

I believe that QF has to find a way to deal with this and embrace it. To be serious in the social media QF will need to allocate appropriate resource. Keeping up with Forums and feeds is a full time job for a department.

Why would QF do this? I think it would get them closer to their customers, and give them a better understanding of expectations. It just might make program announcements thet bit easier. It would be a little uncomfortable for the QF management, because it would mean empowering the front line staff in the social media to be able to answer questions and deal with problems.

None of this is easy, keeping up with the pace of change in media is hard even in small businesses.

I'm sorry if I have offended anyone by this post. I am certainly not being critical of Red Roo who I believe has a incredibly difficult job to do. (i am however critical of QF's management) I just sincerely believe that the QF management has to embrace change and commit to using social media to the full.

For me the lack of incentives for WP is poor, and the handling of the announcement was very poor. We had marketing blurb directly contradicting terms & conditions.

As a WP I feel unloved and wait with baited breath to see how the upgrade issue will pan out. Come on QF look after your WP's!!