SAWorldVoyager

I am not too sure if more should be given to platinum members or a new higher tier given for persons who say fly 2000 QPoints a year and with a requirement for minimum 95% premium class travel, to keep it exclusive. I'd like the later. But here are some things Id like to see for top tier Qatar members (and these are purposely outragaeous so a higher tier than platinum is probably needed. Especially given the high number of status match holders who keep retaining status without earning It - high traffic at Al Safwa vividly paint a clear picture of the problem.

1.) Airport chauffeur service
2.) Free onboard wifi
3.) Ability to book al-safwa room for up to 8hrs say 24hrs in advance or even a room in the transit hotel
4.) Golf cart service, gate to lounge and lounge to gate
5.) Car service to remote stands or far away stands, with car service from Al Safwa downstairs where F pax depart. From an experience point of view there is no service distinction between a F passenger and a F passenger who also happens to be platinum
6.) Doha F check in and lane when flying business class on flights where there is no F
7.) meet and greet, skip queue service at outstations
8.) annual branded and exclusive gift
9.) customs tags for luggage engraved and perhaps riveted to bags.
10,) a concierge that can resolve all queries through one number - someone at management level who can make decisions.

any other additions?

nomadabroad

Access to QR premium lounges on outstations and AM (at least) when flying in Y

Plats flying in Y from LHR can only use QRFF the same lounge access as QR Silver (not even OWR equivalent)…..Fly AY economy from LHR T3 and I can use the CX F lounge. They need to try harder to renew my loyalty over the coming years lol

fender5787

Can’t plats flying J already use the F check in at DOH?

ecanem22

None of this sounds outrageous at all, especially the wifi and car service, exactly what EK gives. Would be a welcome addition

IAN-UK

I firmly believe the hurdle for entry to the top tier should be, say, just below the Qpoint level I achieve.

Just guessing .... but would the proposed metrics represent the travel profile maintained by the OP ?

SAWorldVoyager

nope, but could maintain 2000 easily on a year to year basis.
100% premium cabin (ticketed - never once upgraded pax, never once flown Y) dating back 10 years of flying with Qatar.

600 does seem easy though. Helped a friend last year get to plat, enrolled them in QRPC then we did JNB-DFW-JNB then JNB-MAD-JNB followed by JNB-CDG-JNB, all within 6 weeks and bang, mission accomplished.


Maybe 1200 points? However, it needs to be at least twice as hard as current levels, too many plats in the system.

fender5787

I think what maybe should be considered and what OP is looking for is an unpublished tier similar AA CK or BA GGL where many of the benefits OP has listed are included. However, if it’s like AA CK it would involve at least $50-100k in spend a year with QR but if it’s like BA GGL 2k qpoints seem equivalent to 5k TPs

IAN-UK

I'm not sure what leads you to this conclusion. I'm aware of claims that the capacity in Safwa is stretched, although I've never experienced a crush there. True, space in the snooze rooms is hens' teeth, but I'm pretty sure a lot of that pressure is down to paid access -where those taking up the offer set the entry charge against the cost accommodation.

Using the Platinum communication channels I get through quickly, and when I've opted for the Maha arrival and departure facilities I've rarely run into other users.

i can't think of any other Platinum benefits that might be adversely affected by the number of Plats in the system,

lost_in_translation

I think the point is for QR to offer any of the suggested above additional benefits it would have to be a much smaller pool of members as QR clearly doesn’t have the staff to offer things like golf carts / car services to all Plats.

KingCanute

If you were based in Doha, like the airline is, you would need to take 10 return trips to Europe a year (on a standard J fare) to qualify for platinum. For most people that is an impossible amount of travel. Overseas based transit passengers have the built in advantage of flying more sectors on one journey of course, but doubling the threshold would exclude many of Qatar's own residents. So perhaps non-Qataris should earn less or need higher thresholds to level the playing field and trim the numbers

On the occasions I spot the passenger manifest in the galley, I can't say there ever seem to be more than 1 or 2 platinums (in J). And I agree that the platinum customer services when I need to use it is generally efficient and helpful.

Airlines that offer services like cars to and from the airport generally provide those to all passengers on certain ticket types, irrespective of FF membership. It’s a direct cost to the airline which is in turn built in to the ticket price. So it's difficult to see how it stacks up to provide those to people who haven't paid for it, particularly every time they travel. And the sleep rooms situation in AS is not going to change as envisaged, if it were it would be more justifiable to limit them to passengers paying cash for F fares. It is a First Class lounge after all.

If I bought 12 cheap J tickets a year, my value to the airline on each journey is not suddenly what it might be if I had bought a full price ticket on any of those journeys, and someone else would have bought each of those cheap tickets instead anyway so the cumulative value doesn't necessarily add up either. QR don't offer a network wide first class service, so it seems unlikely they would consider offering such services based purely on FF membership.

So I think it’s better to look for the cheap wins. The onboard wifi could be one of those, plus some tweaks to qcredits/upgrade vouchers, a reduced priced redemption reward, enhanced discount codes etc. Perhaps a lifetime membership at some stage, or some landmark rewards when you pass certain higher thresholds (instead of qcredits). Mailing gifts around the world that many would not want, as many also would not want labels fixed on to their expensive luggage, seems a bit niche. For me some easier way to redeem all the avios that very frequent travellers rack up without having to spend at x2 would be a real benefit, even if only once per year.

Otherwise I guess it might just be better to fly F for the additional backside kissing that may offer. Constantly adding higher membership levels runs the risk of absurd elitism, which given their emphasis on top quality J rather than F may also be contrary to QR's own ethos.

lost_in_translation

Come again? So offering three tiers is not elitist but four tiers is absurd elitism? Ditto QR’s very strict line between aspects of the J and Y experiences which almost no other airline on the planet enforces as strictly? Ditto QR’s constant obsession on attaching bits of paper to my hand luggage to denote what ‘class’ I am? I find this a slightly bizarre suggestion, personally.

I note that the most sophisticated airlines on the planet which make by far the largest profits (the US airlines) typically have four or more tiers to their FFP. No one would call AA ‘elitist’ with a straight face.

KingCanute

I don't think I said that the current system wasn't elitist, especially in the terms you describe. Doubling down with more and more tiers doesn't change that. But QR have always had a clear distinction between economy and premium, which is arguably more logical than multiple or increasing layers of FF status. Once the distinction between cabins starts to be watered down by FF perks, something has to give to pay for it (eg. the fizz in AS). Pre-oneworld, gold was the top and platinum was only introduced to tie in with the multiple higher tier levels those other airlines had set up. I suspect the same will happen over at WY if they do indeed join OW.

Older readers may remember the health club membership episode of Frasier re. the absurdity comment

IAN-UK

If QR moves towards creating a Plat+ tier, I reckon it might be better advised to follow the BAEC GGL lead, by offering (cheap, manageable) reward-related benefits rather than expensive frills. The QR-version of Concorde Rooms already exist: tweaking the lounge access rules might satisfy the exclusivity needs of the OP.

GGL members have to earn considerably more TP's than simple Gold members, but seem happy to do so in return for access to additional upgrade and redemption benefits.

One of my other FFPs is Turkish, where my Elite+ status (*G) costs me more flying than Elite status (also *G). Yet the only benefit I see is an annual economy to long-haul round-trip business upgrade. That's short-hand for a clunky process: a low cost perk, where the airline tightly controls access to business-class seats available for upgrading. No reason QR couldn't offer a similar sweetener to members of a Plat+ tier.

SAWorldVoyager

Agree top perks should always be linked to revenue, and perhaps minimum amount of hour flights, so as to exclude the quick cheaper destinations. I find I get points easily because I am 90% of times ticketed in C & J and the other 10% in D or I

The problem being Qatar has abandoned first class to most destinations, and the majority of the F seats are ME flights, and really just classified as F through a naming anomaly.

SAWorldVoyager