Qantas has announced long-awaited changes to its frequent flyer programme; increased the number of award seats available and changed the pricing of those seats. What does Monday’s announcement mean for 15.2 million frequent flyer members and who will benefit most?
What are the changes?
The carrier has created more than 20 million additional award seats on international and domestic routes under economy, business and first class fares, whose prices will vary depending on flight demand. Under the new Classic Plus Flight Rewards system, the highest airfares mean higher points costs and vice versa.
The change, which Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said was one of the airline’s biggest expansions to the program in its 35-year history, provides customers with greater price transparency and effectively carries a fixed value of a frequent flyer spot. 1¢ for economy flights and 1.5¢ for business class flights.
According to Daniel Sciberras, editor-in-chief of Point Hacks, Classic Plus offers a choice between Classic and Points Plus Pay seats in terms of value.
“This new category will fluctuate but at a fixed rate of value depending on the price of the wage and is there to fill this huge gap,” he said.
When do the changes come into force?
Classic Plus reservations for international flights starting July 1 are available from today. Domestic flights will be operated later in the year.
Is this an improvement?
Five times more award seats are now available; This goes some way towards addressing long-standing criticism that the airline has too few Classic award seats. But this availability comes at a price; Classic Plus seats will generally be more expensive to book in terms of points than Classic seats, which are popular but hard to find.
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Matt Graham, editor of the Australian Frequent Flyer, said: “Qantas needed to do something because there were a lot of complaints that people had too many spots they couldn’t use.” He added that he found the change insufficient.
For those who have accumulated points more successfully than they have been able to secure classic bookings, the new offering gives them a way to spend points beyond the low value and inflexible Points Plus Pay ($0.6bn points) and Qantas store (about $0.5bn points). dot) options. In some cases, Classic Plus offers similar or better value than Classic seats, such as on discounted flights.
According to Sciberras, this move is “definitely a plus because they don’t take anything away. It is a complement to what already exists.”
Both he and Graham said they would look at the Classic deals before turning to Classic Plus.
How does Classic Plus compare to Classic rewards?
Qantas is open about the fact that Classic Plus is generally more expensive than Classic. In most cases, especially on premium long-haul flights, the difference is large, according to Graham.
“The cost will be significantly higher for these aspirational redemptions where most members accumulate points,” he said.
Take the example of a return flight from Sydney to Dallas, Texas. Graham found an off-peak Classic business class seat that cost 253,000 points plus $675 in taxes and fees. For Classic Plus customers, the same flight costs 1,165,800 points plus $1,302 in taxes and fees.
Points Plus Pay provided the least value and flexibility, costing 3,131,167 points.
Both Classic and Classic Plus offer good flexibility. Unlike Classic, Classic Plus flights can be upgraded to first class.
The system has its quirks — Graham said he’s found dates where premium economy Classic flights cost fewer points than Classic Plus economy flights, as well as return flights that are cheaper than one-way options.
How does this affect Classic rewards?
Not. The existing 5 m Classic seats remain unchanged.
Who will benefit most from the changes?
Those who have more points and missed the few Classic seat opportunities. And almost half a million Qantas Business Rewards members.
“If you’re a business owner and you have a large credit card charge, you can earn millions of points every year,” Graham said. “They just want to be able to take their family on vacation once a year, and this is a way to find availability much more easily.”
How do Qantas’ frequent flyers now stack up against other rewards programs?
“Qantas is one of the world leaders [in loyalty programs]They know exactly how to keep their members engaged,” Sciberras said.
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Graham said he hoped Qantas would roll out more Classic seats and introduce a Singapore Airlines-style second-tier option, priced around 50% higher than the regular points rate but offering greater availability.
“It’s very difficult to get great value from the program when points are fixed at a certain rate,” he said. “It takes away some of the gaming element of trying to get more value from your points.”
How important is the airline’s loyalty program?
A lot and increasingly so. Qantas’ Loyalty division is one of the company’s most profitable areas year on year, especially at the height of the Covid pandemic. The key is for the company to keep its members engaged, according to Sciberras, who believes change “will probably continue.” “It will be a good thing overall for Qantas.”
Will this help the brand after a bad year?
“Of course anything they can do that is good news is welcome… They want to show that they are listening to customers,” Graham said.
Sciberras said the changes to the loyalty program follow a tumultuous period for the company but were months, if not years, in the making.