Qantas accused of misleading its Frequent Flyers.
Jun 5, 2000, 9:00 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: EU rotating
Posts: 2,926
Qantas accused of misleading its Frequent Flyers.
Qantas and Ansett have been accused of misleading people about the availability of awards seats. ACCC has launched an investigation due to the increasing number of complaints by pax who are unable to book flights as far as 12 months ahead using their ff miles. However, a journalist who published a nasty article on the matter got a nice call from his FF program saying that "suddenly" a vacant award seat became available for him. One wonders why? At the same time pax are told that they can buy the tix they want for real money and when eventually on the actual flight then there are plenty of empty seats which just adds to the bitterness.
Article from www.news.com.au
Watchdog probes frequent flyer schemes By CLAIRE FOY-SMITH of news.com.au 05jun00
11.15am (AEST) A "STEADY stream" of complaints about frequent flyer schemes has
prompted a probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, chairman
Alan Fels said today.
Both Qantas and Ansett, were under investigation and faced fines of $1 million
each if the commission found they promised millions of Australians unrealistic rewards in their points schemes. The news came as new contender Impulse Airlines took to the skies for the first time this morning, in its attempt to become the country's third largest carrier. Debut flights left Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.
The ACCC will investigate whether Australia's two major carriers breached sections of the Trade Practices Act, after claims from some customers that they could not book the flights they wanted up to six months in advance.
Mr Fels said he often heard complaints from passengers about frequent flyer schemes. "The most common complaint is that, having built up points under a frequent flyer scheme, it is actually quite difficult to use the benefits because of seat "unavailability," he said.
Between them, the airlines have more than four million frequent flyer members.
Mr Fels queried whether the programs may falsely raise members' expectations and said the commission would look at whether that broke the Act.
Airlines have newsletters giving hints on how best to use the points but there were questions about whether the information was enough, he said.
But the airlines rebuffed concerns.
Ansett said this morning it was unaware of any criticism and half the frequent flyer seats that it allocated were left empty.
Qantas said more than 90 per cent of scheme members secured one of their first three flight preferences, passengers saw it as a very good program and evidence they were unhappy with the scheme was "anecdotal".
The commission will look at whether frequent flyer programs raise issues under sections 52 and 53(c) of the Trade Practices Act.
Section 52 prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct and section 53(c) prohibits representations concerning performance characteristics, uses or benefits that services do not have.
See also an article from The Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/news/0006/06/n...ational02.html
Article from www.news.com.au
Watchdog probes frequent flyer schemes By CLAIRE FOY-SMITH of news.com.au 05jun00
11.15am (AEST) A "STEADY stream" of complaints about frequent flyer schemes has
prompted a probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, chairman
Alan Fels said today.
Both Qantas and Ansett, were under investigation and faced fines of $1 million
each if the commission found they promised millions of Australians unrealistic rewards in their points schemes. The news came as new contender Impulse Airlines took to the skies for the first time this morning, in its attempt to become the country's third largest carrier. Debut flights left Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.
The ACCC will investigate whether Australia's two major carriers breached sections of the Trade Practices Act, after claims from some customers that they could not book the flights they wanted up to six months in advance.
Mr Fels said he often heard complaints from passengers about frequent flyer schemes. "The most common complaint is that, having built up points under a frequent flyer scheme, it is actually quite difficult to use the benefits because of seat "unavailability," he said.
Between them, the airlines have more than four million frequent flyer members.
Mr Fels queried whether the programs may falsely raise members' expectations and said the commission would look at whether that broke the Act.
Airlines have newsletters giving hints on how best to use the points but there were questions about whether the information was enough, he said.
But the airlines rebuffed concerns.
Ansett said this morning it was unaware of any criticism and half the frequent flyer seats that it allocated were left empty.
Qantas said more than 90 per cent of scheme members secured one of their first three flight preferences, passengers saw it as a very good program and evidence they were unhappy with the scheme was "anecdotal".
The commission will look at whether frequent flyer programs raise issues under sections 52 and 53(c) of the Trade Practices Act.
Section 52 prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct and section 53(c) prohibits representations concerning performance characteristics, uses or benefits that services do not have.
See also an article from The Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/news/0006/06/n...ational02.html
Jun 11, 2000, 7:32 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Thailand
Posts: 70
With regards to your comment above...you mention that pax are told there are no frequent flyer seats avail yet plenty empty on the aircraft.
This is because only a certain number of seats are available using frequent flyer redemption points.....For every airline.... they can only afford to reserve a specific number and they must attempt to sell the remainder so that they can make money on the flight!!!
If they allowed more FF seats then the flight would operate at a loss and the airline would eventually have to close down...then the complaints from FF would be that they have a large number of points and no airline to use them on!!!
It is all to do with YIELD and operating the flights as a business not a charity!!
This is because only a certain number of seats are available using frequent flyer redemption points.....For every airline.... they can only afford to reserve a specific number and they must attempt to sell the remainder so that they can make money on the flight!!!
If they allowed more FF seats then the flight would operate at a loss and the airline would eventually have to close down...then the complaints from FF would be that they have a large number of points and no airline to use them on!!!
It is all to do with YIELD and operating the flights as a business not a charity!!
Jun 11, 2000, 10:35 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: EU rotating
Posts: 2,926
Originally posted by heart of asia:
For every airline.... they can only afford to reserve a specific number and they must attempt to sell the remainder so that they can make money on the flight!!!
For every airline.... they can only afford to reserve a specific number and they must attempt to sell the remainder so that they can make money on the flight!!!
If they allowed more FF seats then the flight would operate at a loss and the airline would eventually have to close down...then the complaints from FF would be that they have a large number of points and no airline to use them on!!!
It is all to do with YIELD and operating the flights as a business not a charity!!
It is all to do with YIELD and operating the flights as a business not a charity!!
Jun 12, 2000, 7:22 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Thailand
Posts: 70
.........it may seem difficult to see the business sense in sending a flight off only half full...when frequent flyers require seats, but a sizeable percentage of revenue pax on that flight would have actually tried first to book with Freq Flyer points. Perhaps when they tried to book the Freq Flyer allocation had been utilised and so they had to purchase a ticket this time.
That is how the airline makes money on a half empty flight! If they allowed more freq flyer seats then some of the pax on the flight who paid for it with cash, would have actually used their points and the actual revenue from the flight would have been less!
That is how the airline makes money on a half empty flight! If they allowed more freq flyer seats then some of the pax on the flight who paid for it with cash, would have actually used their points and the actual revenue from the flight would have been less!