by Qantas unveils long-awaited changes to its frequent flyer program, increasing the number of award seats available and changing how those seats are priced. What does Monday’s announcement mean for the 15.2 million frequent flyer members and who will benefit the most?
What are the changes?
The carrier has created more than 20m additional reward seats on international and domestic routes across economy, business and first class fares, the prices of which will vary according to flight demand. Under the new Classic Plus Flight Rewards system, peak airfares mean higher points costs and vice versa.
The change, which Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said was one of the carrier’s biggest expansions to the program in its 35-year history, gives customers more price transparency, with frequent flier points only carrying value. effectively fixed. 1¢ for economy flights and 1.5¢ for business class flights.
In terms of value, Classic Plus delivers a midway option between Classic seats and Points Plus Pay, according to Daniel Sciberras, editor-in-chief of Point Hacks.
“This new category will change, depending on the price of the fare, but at a fixed rate of value – and it is there to fill the huge gap,” he said.
When do the changes come into effect?
Classic Plus bookings for international flights from 1 July are available from today. Domestic flights will follow later in the year.
Is this an improvement?
Five times as many reward seats are now available, which goes some way towards addressing long-standing criticism that the airline has too many Classic reward seats. But that access comes at a cost – Classic Plus seats are usually more expensive to book than the popular but hard-to-find Classic seats.
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Australian Frequent Flyer editor Matt Graham said: “Qantas had to do something because there have been a lot of complaints that people have a lot of points they can’t use.” He also said that he felt that there was little change.
For those who have been accumulating points more successfully than they have managed to get Classic bookings, the new offer gives them a way to spend points over the poor value and inflexible Points Plus Pay ($0.6ca points) and shop Qantas (about $0.5ca). point) options. In some cases, Classic Plus offers similar or better value than Classic seats, for example for sale flights.
For Sciberras, the move is definitely an advantage, as they are not taking anything away. It’s complementary to what was already there.”
He and Graham said they would look at Classic deals before turning to Classic Plus.
How does Classic Plus compare to Classic rewards?
Qantas has been open about Classic Plus generally being more expensive than Classic. In many cases, that difference is large, especially for long-haul premium flights, according to Graham.
“For those ambitious redemptions that most members save their points for, the cost will be much higher,” he said.
Take the example of a return flight from Sydney to Dallas, Texas. Graham got an off-peak business class seat that cost 253,000 points plus taxes and $675 in fees. The same flight cost Classic Plus customers 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.
Classic and Classic Plus offer good flexibility. Unlike Classic, Classic Plus flights can be upgraded to first class.
The system is struggling – Graham said he had found dates where classic premium economy flights cost less points than Classic Plus economy flights, as well as return flights that were cheaper than one-way options.
How does this affect Classic rewards?
It does not. There is no change to the existing Classic 5m seats.
Who will benefit most from the changes?
Those who have excess points and miss out on the limited number of Classic seats. And almost half a million Qantas Business Rewards members.
“If you’re a business owner and you have a lot of credit card spending, you can earn millions of points every year,” Graham said. “They just want to be able to take their family on holiday once a year and this is a way they will be able to find availability much more easily.”
How does the Qantas frequent flyer now stack up against other reward programs?
“Qantas is one of the world leaders [in loyalty programs]they know how to engage as well as their members,” said Sciberras.
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Graham said he hoped Qantas would release more Classic seats and introduce a Singapore Airlines-style second-row option, which is priced about 50% higher than its normal points rate but offers more availability.
“It’s very difficult to get huge value from the program when the points are set at a certain rate,” he said. “It takes some of the gaming element out of trying to get more value out of your points.”
How important is an airline loyalty program?
Very, and increasingly so. The Qantas Loyalty division is one of the company’s most profitable areas year after year, especially at the height of the Covid epidemic. The key for the company is to keep its members engaged, according to Sciberras, who believes that the change “going. be a good thing overall for Qantas”.
Will this help the brand after a bad year?
“Anything they can do on good news is of course welcome … they want to show they’re listening to customers,” Graham said.
The changes to the loyalty program come after a turbulent period for the company but would be in the works for many months, if not years, Sciberras said.
