Wirraway
24th Nov 2004, 13:52
Thurs "Sydney Morning Herald"
Qantas's frequent flyer change 'shocking'
By Kirsty Needham, Consumer Reporter
November 25, 2004
Qantas has overhauled its frequent flyer program, making it easier to earn reward seats on short routes but raising the points needed for most flights.
Frequent flyers have described the changes as shocking, and one industry analyst warned that they are likely to upset international, business and first-class passengers.
Clifford Reichlin, who runs the independent website frequentflyer.com.au, said a reduction in points needed for Sydney to Melbourne or Brisbane seats was a "smokescreen".
"Many members use frequent flyer points to upgrade and these opportunities have been dramatically reduced," said Mr Reichlin. "I find it strange and it will piss off the corporate travellers."
From May upgrades will no longer be available on discount fares and will not be able to be confirmed in advance on international flights.
Qantas's head of marketing, Martin McKinnon, said the changes were a "rebalancing" of the program.
"There were some incredible deals around, almost to a ridiculous point," he said. "In a lot of cases it didn't bear any resemblance to reality.
"No one likes prices going up ... but we had to correct it."
From today, frequent flyers will be able to give points to a family member once a year, or buy additional points to attain a reward booking.
One-way flight redemptions will be introduced from May when a new reward system sees a flight under 600 miles (965 kilometres), such as from Sydney to Melbourne, drop in cost from 20,000 to 16,000 points.
"People who don't have huge points balances now get a chance to use them," said Mr McKinnon.
The measures formed part of Qantas's undertakings to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission earlier this year as the watchdog investigated claims the frequent flyer program was unfair.
But flights to Perth will need 6000 more points, and a flight to London 18,000 more. A first-class flight to Europe will rise from 275,000 to 384,000 points.
Qantas faced a member backlash on the internet yesterday.
"My points have been devalued by 20 per cent. So much for loyalty," one person wrote to http://www.frequentflyer.com Another said that gold and platinum memberships had had their value cut in half by the changes coupled with recent moves by banks to make earning points harder.
A telephone booking fee will also be introduced for people who need to speak to an operator and stray from the auto-voice prompts.
=========================================
Qantas's frequent flyer change 'shocking'
By Kirsty Needham, Consumer Reporter
November 25, 2004
Qantas has overhauled its frequent flyer program, making it easier to earn reward seats on short routes but raising the points needed for most flights.
Frequent flyers have described the changes as shocking, and one industry analyst warned that they are likely to upset international, business and first-class passengers.
Clifford Reichlin, who runs the independent website frequentflyer.com.au, said a reduction in points needed for Sydney to Melbourne or Brisbane seats was a "smokescreen".
"Many members use frequent flyer points to upgrade and these opportunities have been dramatically reduced," said Mr Reichlin. "I find it strange and it will piss off the corporate travellers."
From May upgrades will no longer be available on discount fares and will not be able to be confirmed in advance on international flights.
Qantas's head of marketing, Martin McKinnon, said the changes were a "rebalancing" of the program.
"There were some incredible deals around, almost to a ridiculous point," he said. "In a lot of cases it didn't bear any resemblance to reality.
"No one likes prices going up ... but we had to correct it."
From today, frequent flyers will be able to give points to a family member once a year, or buy additional points to attain a reward booking.
One-way flight redemptions will be introduced from May when a new reward system sees a flight under 600 miles (965 kilometres), such as from Sydney to Melbourne, drop in cost from 20,000 to 16,000 points.
"People who don't have huge points balances now get a chance to use them," said Mr McKinnon.
The measures formed part of Qantas's undertakings to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission earlier this year as the watchdog investigated claims the frequent flyer program was unfair.
But flights to Perth will need 6000 more points, and a flight to London 18,000 more. A first-class flight to Europe will rise from 275,000 to 384,000 points.
Qantas faced a member backlash on the internet yesterday.
"My points have been devalued by 20 per cent. So much for loyalty," one person wrote to http://www.frequentflyer.com Another said that gold and platinum memberships had had their value cut in half by the changes coupled with recent moves by banks to make earning points harder.
A telephone booking fee will also be introduced for people who need to speak to an operator and stray from the auto-voice prompts.
=========================================