Platy

Er...but the very point is that QF is not providing the benefits associated with the status of P1...(IME)!

QF claim they proactively track the journeys of their P1s and are there to intercede proactively. Yeah, right!

QF claim to offer a hotline to offer P1s support and intervention (and then IME do not resource the phone number so calls bounce to an answerphone, especially after hours CBR time, at which time just one employee takes a mobile and laptop home them by admission of their own P1 team). Clang!

QF claim to offer invitations to events / flight simulators, etc. also a crock IME. Never happened!

It is no wonder that the OP is pissed off! And, IMHO, and based on IME as a former P1, quite rightly so!

I'm with the OP...nobody in their right mind should aspire to Qf P1, chase P1 (or even WP these days for that mater) unless willing to be rudely awakened to the reality that the airline really doesn't give a rat's buttocks about them.

Been guilty myself - chased WP for so many years, also P1, but ironically it was attaining P1 when I finally saw the "light" and realised that QF doesn't give a sh.t! The loyalty program is all about cash revenue and very little about rewarding actual loyalty to paying customers of QF!

Ironically, now I'm in Dave Noble territory: crediting flights to AA, seeking to maximise my cash when spent, etc.

The pie's on the customer' faces...

TomMM

Yes you are correct but if you want to make that argument, you have to factor in how much the passengers who got the seats spent with Qantas. Right??

Dave Noble

That they were already reboioked onto a flight 1 hour later - not sure much more could ask for. I can't see the airline choosing to pay large compensation amounts out when it doesnt have to. Even at $4000 cost per one way journey - if 8 people got on who would otherwise have been denied boarding, that is $64,000 compensation that it avoided

Normally, if flight is not oversold, would be surprised if the airline just offloaded the passenger rather than just see if the person got there. If not oversold then just board.... what would be ironic is if it was the P1 team that saw the delay and actively chose to rebook because of it

( active rather than proactive since it is a reaction to an event that has occurred - proactive is creating a situation rather than responding to it )

Airlines are not loyal to passengers - the airlines are trying to train people to be loyal to the airlines - perhaps think of it as obedience training rather than loyalty - please wear blinkers too so as not to see other choices that may have better price/schedule

If people aspire to get a low value piece of plastic, then the airline is laughing all the way.

I don't see the change as being ironic - perhaps more recognising that the airline is just one of many transport provider companies

shuuy

I fly a ton (250k bum in seat miles), but credit QF > SQ > VA > AA.

What I would have done in that situation
* moment wheels down in LAX, called the platinum one special services line and spoken with someone. Asking how long the cnx is and telling them that I'll make it
* if there was inflight wifi I'd email the P1 desk, knowing someone would read it within 6h.
* run, gotten to the gate, and politely insisted.

What the OP described is indeed an unfortunate situation, but versus Air Canada Super Elite (with concierges), AA ExPlat (my only two other top tier experiences), P1 wins hands down.

The 6 op-ups J to F in the last 8 months haven't been too bad either.

Platy

Pro-active....if....Qf P1 had (in line with their status benefit set):

1) Been following the progress of the journey of the P1 pax in any case (irregardless of any event apart form the fact a group of P1s were travelling)


2) Anticipated a tight connection and done all in its power to facilitate the P1 pax making the connection (e.g. alert ground staff at LAX to facilitate passage from incoming to outgoing flight)


2) Tried to contact said P1 pax the moment they knew there might be an issue on their arrival into LAX


Proactive (not active) since:

• Done the above BEFORE the P1s had sought help (which presumably they didn't, never anticipating being chucked off their flight before it had even left).

Ironic since we agree in our conclusions that QF status is a fool's game (despite differing in our perspective on QF's behaviour in this case which you find acceptable and I don't).

Platy

Great plan of action - maybe the OP's group never anticipated a problem and assumed they'd make the flight!

I have no direct experience of either AA ExPlat or AC Super Elite: but my impression (correct me if wrong) is that both would equate to Qf Platinum, not Platinum One: if so, the comparison is not relevant.

The relevant advertised benefit for P1 is as follows:

"...Your Dedicated Platinum One Team
Your dedicated Platinum Team offers you specialist support when you need assistance or help beyond routine requests. They personally monitor your travel, manage any flight changes or re-routes and provides support to help minimise any inconvenience. Your dedicated team are available 24/7 and can be contacted by calling the numbers displayed on Your Account..."


Congratulations on the op-ups!


(PS. Dave Noble the multiple grammatical errors in the quote originate with QF not me!).

Dave Noble

It is still reactive - since it is a reaction to the delay occurring.

I just find the overuse and misuse of proactive really grating on the fora.... that with the prefixing words with "pre" that is endemic.... prebooking seats ( for example ) - how s that not booking seats

Given tha price of a business class ticket, if the airline had to deny boarding due to oversale 4 passengers, at $5000 one way ( as an example ) , offloading those that are late saves $40,000

$40,000 saving with some whines at a barbecue and maybe a forum - seems a rational decision

It is of course, also possible, that the P1 team were watching the flight , saw it was delayed and rebooked so as to minimise disruption. It is possible that without the P1 team involvement, that not only would they have not got on the aeroplane , that they would have been waiting to be rebooked too - which could easily have led to not managing to get on the flight to Brisbane

Even so, as we agree, need to lower expectations as to what to expect as an individual passenger - few passengers are going to be classed as really important - those are also ones that may not have pretty shiny cards to flash too

AA EP status is indeed the equivalent to Qantas Platinum ; no idea on AC super elite
AA has another side offering called Concierge Key that is there to stroke those that are viewed as higher value - this does not have (iirc) a publicised requirement to receive

Platy

Proactive since it does not rely on the event of the P1 pax asking for an intervention.....it anticipates the customers' needs

(If most readers herein find that interpretation of the word to be comprehensible then perhaps the word is used in a manner which is fit for purpose?)

If it is still the case that the P1 hotline is manned by one person out of CBR business hours (as was explained to me once when I used to P1 myself some years ago) than it stretches credulity that that one person would be proactively monitoring P1s' travel as indicated by the published benefit set (they'd most likely be fast asleep and hoping the phone doesn't ring). Perhaps QF has changed this since, who knows.

Irregardless, the OP apparently has become disillusioned with QF P1.

Perhaps another convert to the merits of post-status strategy!

Dave Noble

Regardless - the passengers did not arrive at the gate until 15 minutes before departure

If overbooked, the airline would have had to have processed any passengers awaiting seat assignments before this time. If it was not overbooked, then I would be surprised at the airline offloading them rather than just seeing whether they ended up missing the flight

I would also doubt that the P1 team would have the authority to tell the US staff to deviate from its procedure for selecting passengers to deny boarding in an oversell situation.

Kiwi Flyer

I know from personal experience that QF is not the only airline that proactively rebooks elite passengers who are expected to misconnect, and that doesn't always end up with the best outcome. However, I still prefer this approach to the alternative of having to chase up rebooking myself and potentially finding out the next available flight is days later due to full flights.

og

Yes indeed. But I suspect we'll never hear the QF side of the story. I'm assuming QF went for the sure bet rather than the long shot.

edy4eva

Seems like what EY does to their Y passengers in SYD on misconnections is what QF does to their P1.

I have witnessed what QF does for a CL in a similar scenario: offer other options including reroutes on other ow carriers, while having a hold placed on these options! rather than book without any consultation - makes for a proactive QF on top of things, mind you.

It might be worth writing to the QF - not as a complaint but as a 'what happened' query and see what they say. At least clarify some of the mystery.

The fact you were a group half of which P1 flying on a full fare in business will perhaps ensure you'll get a satisfying response - unlike us Bronzies.

shuuy

The "what happened" responses in my experience are good.

Flew JFK-LAX-SYD in paid J and my bag was the literal last one to come out.

The response had a screenshot of which can my bag was in, and why they thought the priority tags didn't work that time. :thumbs-up:

Ausriver

I would say it is more of standard procedure here, well QF was lack of personal touch.

I have once arrived HKG late, when I arrived at the onward flight boarding gate, my original ticket didn't work, they need to get another ticket for me. It seems in the system, they think me as not able to catch the flight, and cancelled my seat. However, since I made it (among the last few to board), they reissued a seat for me.


Your flight to MEL overbooked obviously. Otherwise it wouldn't be hard to release the empty seats to OP and everyone is happy.
And when flight was oversold, all airlines are doing something similar, just standard procedure, to dump late arrival (especially from a different carrier) pax first. And as long as your arrival time was less than the MCT time, it is 100% legal and the right thing to do to rebook you to the next flight when your onward flight was overbooked. And since you only made to the gate 15 minutes before flight, I would assume you arrived later than the MCT required. So QF would be able to blame everything to AA's late arrival (code share would only help you to ensure arrival of final destination without any rebooking fee).

justin_krusty

Curious what the inbound flight number/route was and how late it arrived?
Did they have checked in luggage?