PxC

I've stopped flying them since they stopped the sales, until they do there is always someone else who will offer something better (in terms of value for money). Shame as I thought the Q-suite were outstanding.

I wanted Europe-BKK, and Oman offered Paris - BKK - LHR (and I just start in LHR same day) for £1200 all on Apex Suites, and it was that or BA First from AMS. Absolutely no reason to consider QR on that route if they aren't sub £1500 from the UK or £1200 from EU. TBH, for all the ****ing around with positioning/connecting, I've even been tempted to just pay £400 and book LHR-BKK direct on Thai and just watch an ipad for 10 hours. Everyone has their cut off, and £800osh extra is mine.

flymetoHEL

Absolutely. The way QR managed the changes is disgraceful.

Maluku_Flyer

Who needs more than one OW FFP anyway?

flymetoHEL

How is this related? My status with QR will expire in feb'19. Now OW Emerald with AY. And as per the CEO of QR they'll be exiting OW anyway.

Maluku_Flyer

Because your profile says that you are a member of AY as well as QR and both are OW?

NoY

Indeed. I lose QR Plat/Emerald in March. Have already qualified for BA Gold/Emerald & NO-WAY was I going to credit jack to QR! Just a timing thing to have OW Emerald with 2 carriers....and with QR leaving OW () even more so.LOL.

makrom

Unfair doesn't necessarily mean illegal. Baiting people by offering them Qmiles if they credit their flights to them and then just devaluating these Qmiles out of nothing, justifying it by pointing to somewhere in the fine print isn't exactly what I would call fair either.
It might not be illegal, but treating me like this definitely causes me to react in a similar way. I will however gladly keep on booking any upcoming error fares.

LondonElite

I think you are getting a bit ahead of yourself. That's not what he said.

Dr. HFH

I don't seem to share the same emotional reactions that many here experience. I have no interest in trying to punish an airline; nor would it accomplish anything even if I could do that. I'll continue to select flights and which program to credit those flights to based solely on what gives me the most desirable solution for me based on my criteria.

makrom

It's not so much about punishment rather than chosing with whom to do business with. I guess it also depends upon how much one has lost in the process. For me, it was a few $1000 (at least when ignoring the fact that Qmiles were almost unredeemable before the enhancement anyway). How is one supposed to react? Just thinking "boys will be boys"? Will this be an isolated QRPC issue and QR would never be capable of such heinous decision making in other areas? Personally, I am pretty sure that it wasn't just their QRPC guy who came up with that.
Frequent flyer miles are commonly considered a financial liability and have to be declared as such in most countries. And the clever people at QR just administered themselves a haircut - with our money.
I can genuinely say that my reaction wasn't too emotional. I am really much more of a "fool me once" kind of guy, it's all about learning from my mistakes. And trusting QR turned out to be a very costly mistake. So from now on I will reduce my business with them to deals that are as opportunistic as possible and prefer more reliable partners otherwise. Obviously changing my FFP was the very first step.

Richard Bell

Hypothetical case, you buy a washing-machine with a 3-year guarantee, but the guarantee is then unilaterally cut by the supplier to 18-months, without apology. Are you more or less likely to buy your next one from the same company ?

Personally I had some sympathy for both the state & airline, when some of their neighbours started the blockade, that's simply bullying. However the airline damaged their own reputation & customer-loyalty with hamhanded & ill-timed cuts, a good customer should be giving them feedback, about that.

And if they continue to make sub-optimal decisions, then the market will punish them, that's logical and not emotional, except for the feeling that one has been fooled, which offends my personal & business-ethics rather. I don't expect the deal to change, after I've booked and paid-for my ticket.

Whatever, given the current pricing-policy, I am now expecting to switch to another airline, for the next few years, and once I've taken my remaining-flights & burned my remaining Qmiles. And my searches/plans reflect that. Was that really what AAB & Qatar Airways wanted to achieve ?

Dr. HFH

Inapposite comparison, -- the printed terms and conditions of the guarantee on your washer don't allow the manufacturer to change the coverage. The Ts & Cs of FFPs do.

makrom

Yes you are right about that, but at least for me, it really isn't about the legality. I am sure their move was perfectly in line with their T&Cs and Qatari law. Not sure about all the other legal systems as it could violate some good faith principles, but I don't think anyone intends to actually pursue such legal options.
Imagine QR chartering some A300s including original 1980s business class seats to fulfil their contractual obligations in regards of transporting people who bought business class tickets. Even though such a move would probably be perfectly in line with ther T&Cs, it would certainly backlash in regards of customer loyality.

Dr. HFH

I understand your point. This always happens when FFPs are devalued; QR is hardly the first. In terms of loyalty, mine is based primarily on the J product and its availability at a competitive price. My off-the-top-of-my-head calculations tell me that QRPC wasn't actually devalued all that much, if at all. Yes, a one-way redemption ticket is, IIRC, 169,000 miles on QR J, compared to approximately half that number using AA miles on AA, CX or JL. But one earns faster on QR, too, with all the multpliers. I'll reserve judgment until I actually do all the calculations and see what it is. I measure to indicators, 1) how many paid J roundtrips does it take to earn a one way redemption ticket in J (but F on CX, as I think that they're comparable), and 2) how many paid J roundtrips does it take to achieve OW EMD status. As I said, my guess is that QR isn't going to fare as poorly as most in the QR forum seem to think. Stay tuned....

lost_in_translation

Sorry, but this section is a total non sequitur to me and I would suggest you revisit your calculations if you genuinely believe that. QRPC was devalued because the exact same number of miles now buys significantly less in terms of travel; how QRPC currently compares to AA, CX and JL is tangential at best to whether there was a devaluation. For travelers from Europe to Asia and vice versa (which are a quite large percentage of QR's customer base), the same journey now costs almost twice the miles. Journeys from Europe to DOH and DOH to Asia are also up about 30% in cost. Earnings barely moved other than in a couple of fare classes on a couple of the longest routes. The scheme was clearly significantly devalued.

Whether travelers will desert QR as a result is a different question.