Very happy with Business saver sale fare BUT
 

My husband and I have been on the lookout (for a few months) for the best business class fare (SYD-YVR direct or via one-stop) next Jan/Feb. (Sadly we missed out on booking award tickets when the booking window opened.) So it seems the best deal was Korean Air at about $5000 pp then yesterday just when we were about to pull the trigger we double checked various web sites and low and behold there was a QF business sale fare at about $5300 pp. Amazing - we thought so immediately purchased.

So all's well that ends well; however, I was left wondering why these sale fares don't seem to be advertised - it seems I get daily e-mails from QF offering wine and other merchandise but not such great sales. If their IT was really on the ball they could even have targeted me as they would know I have searched this route for these dates many times in recent months.

(as an aside - of course the Korean fare is still $300 less BUT we would not accrue any useful FF points and at the end of day we prefer QF for a variety of reasons. There are other even cheaper fares about - eg. Philippine Airlines and Xiamen but we're not that desperate for a cheap fare).

I receive reqular emails from Qantas about such sales.

Have you subscribed on Qantas.com?

Hum - you're probably correct - will check my e-mail preferences.

Did you get the QF fare as part of the Companion Premium fare sale that is going on?
I saw that on their main website page.

Actually I'm not sure if it was a companion fare or not - just searched for 2 passengers - got a great price so booked it !! Fare was called "business sale" which was less expensive than "business saver". I also did an online chat and confirmed that it still earned points (and SCs which I don't care about anyway).

typically speaking those who are looking at, and purchase J fares are price inelastic.. its not like if you searched for biz fare it was on sale so you buy... if you were prepared to buy J fare it would have happened regardless. (as your own experience show u were about to pull a trigger anyways)

price is a relative concept. in this case comparison against competitor and relative tightness of the spread between 2 enacted your purchase.

anyways yes i agree QF shud market their J sales more. but its double edged sword... as noted it could cannibilize the segment that are relatively price inelastic, for example if you knew you had to buy J ticket and knowing sale ends in 2 days most likely you would transact now than later thereby QF.loosing out on the opportunity to earn extra off you.

Assuming you mean business class fares in general - rather than J fares , I disagree. Price does matter and if the price is too high, the person may well just book on another carrier

I purchase business class tickets, but I do spend time looking at fares and how to best purchase and on what airline before buying. Price , schedule and product quality are all aspects that I consider. Qantas , for me these days, nearly always fails on the 1st, generally on the 3rd and ( for trips to Europe ) on the 2nd

I've noticed a lot of premium sale fares on QF ex-NZ that are not listed under flight deals on the QF website. It has been getting more common in recent months than it was previously (a couple of years ago it was only trans-Tasman J & F sales that were unadvertised but now Asia and Europe in J and PE come up a lot too).

Hum - interesting comments - I keep an eye on the FT thread "Premium Fare Deals" but there are rarely any deals posted ex-Australia (or NZ). Perhaps this is a reminder to check each (i.e. ones which meet one's criteria for schedule, quality, etc) airline's web site very often and very carefully when planning a trip in paid business.

As leisure travellers (with a preference for luxury) we shop around for both fights and accomodation - and will adapt plans if we spot a good deal.

QF business class AKL-SYD-LAX can be considerably less money that SYD-LAX. Even when the SYD-LAX-SYD is on the same aircraft. Ex AKL BNE and at times MEL is offered as the transit, as well as SYD

There are lots of airlines with fares in that price range for January such as PR at $3900 , Air Canada and Americanat $5300 and United at $5400

Qantas is just offering similar to the other airlines

For FF earning to AA , AA would be good at a base earning of approximately 25,000 miles whilst QF credited to AA would give a base of about 15,000

With status that would give between 40,000 and 55,000 depending on status

Well, their IT is actually on the ball - they realised you were searching and they thought that at the end you will do what many loyal QF customers do - buy their incredibly inflated fares... :D

But honestly, I am getting these from QF regularly together with all that other SPAM you mention. But then I do not use QF for my regular long hauls to Europe (so perhaps they do target me) since I cannot justify paying double to what I pay to LH for flying MEL-SIN(SQ)-FRA(LH) return.

Agree totally - when buying business fares to Europe that LH (and sometimes LX) fare cannot generally be beaten; however, to Canada (or USA) where I visit at least once a year - there are few regularly available sale fares. I did use an NZ one once (to YVR via AKL) but while it was available a few months, ago when I went to purchase it was no longer available. LH and LX also have RTW fares which can be used but unless you also want to visit Europe it's too much flying IMO - it's also in the low $6000's pp.

Over the past 7+ years I have been using the buy miles from AA and LM tactic but in the past 12+ months these programs just "aren't what they used to be" - with program devaluations, lower $A, and general lack of award seats - in fact it's cheaper to buy this QF (or other) sale fare than to use (purchased) AA points for award seats on CX via HKG to YVR.

I've seen fares in J between Australia and YVR / USA for as little as $4700 on Air Canada and Air NZ. Now that AA and QF have "ceased" their trans Pacific marriage, AA fares can be far more competitive than those of QF.

With Air Canada about to start flights from MEL there will be increased competition between BNE/SYD/MEL to YVR.

Don't forget to check Air NZ via AKL - they occasionally have some very competitive fares.

Also AA have a 787 running AKL-LAX which may offer reward opportunities (if you can work out which seat you want in their forward/backward facing layout).

Do you check alternative routes to use up your points? JAL fly NRT-YVR and CX fly HKG-YVR with more availability than QF for reward seats with redemptions possible through QF or AA points! You won't see the JAL rewards on the QF website.

Another alternative is to buy cheap fare to HNL when they arise (check Hawaiian and QF) can be around $3,000-$3,500 in J - you can pick up a cheap fare on WestJet to complete the journey (if you can stomach a leg in economy to save the cash) or use points from HNL to YVR on AA etc in the event you can't use points to get from Australia to YVR.

Hawaiian also do BNE-HNL as well as SYD-HNL and are using their new lie flat J product. IME a comfortable product with excellent service.

At those price points on AC and NZ, why would you worry about QF's usually exorbitant fares and a ancient J seats?

QF marketing is a mysterious beast - I get countless emails for economy fares which I haven't bought from them for more years than I can remember.....on the other hand I have had several status credit bonus offers in the last 6 months or so and not flown with them for over 6 months...(although I did buy over $10,000 of J fares during one status credit offer only to cancel al of them later).

On the other hand, I'm seeing my browser offer up ads related to recent flight searches on the QF website...

Thanks Platy - all good tips - some of which I've used - what really surprised me (and hence my OP) was that QF had a sale fare offered during the North American ski holiday season (and exactly suited the dates where we had accomodation booked). I too have seen some very good fares but usually they don't suit us at the time (e.g. conflict with already booked travel or wrong season or whatever). The HNL option is a good one which I've considered from time to time but always found a better alternative. In fact we recently book HA to HNL (for an Hawaii vacation) at $3600 pp - seemed like a great deal considering they now have flatbeds and J* Starclass was almost the same price (and QF was over $5000).