[Personal share] Point Hacks comment in media 21/2/25 regarding Qantas "Classic Plus" is a let down

[graham]

Yet another glowing Qantas propaganda piece about “Classic Plus”, complete with a smiling photo of the exec in charge of the program, appeared in the media on 21/2/25 with the glowing headline “Scoring Qantas rewards seats might be about to get easier”.

The rest was an uniformed article that only a casual collector would fall for. As we know this is not the first time Qantas has “fed” these these “propaganda” pressers to the media and the reporter being completely ignorant of the true story of points just regurgitates it. You can safely presume the reporter knows absolutely zero about Qantas points.

But the shame is that the reporter obviously then reached out to “Point Hacks” for comment, and what was said in reply.

I almost coughed up my cornflakes reading what “Point Hacks” was reported to have said about “Classic Plus.” This is straight from the article:

"Daniel Sciberras from Points Hacks says that introducing Classic Plus as an additional burn method on top of the existing Classic Rewards seats has been a deft strategy to rebuild customer loyalty – which had been badly damaged during the airline’s post-pandemic years.

“I think people appreciate the availability of these seats,” says Sciberras.

“A lot of people are happy to pay a little bit more in points to actually get a seat, rather than Classic Rewards which were hard to find,” says Sciberras.

Shame on Daniel Sciberass for a virtual endorsement of Qantas calling it “deft” (skilful) and the rest of his comments which virtually endorse “Classic Plus” to the unaware. He knows they are are an extremely poor use of points but the only conclusion could possibly be that he was misquoted or that he obviously prefers to curry favour with Qantas?

Nominate one overseas flight Daniel, which most point collectors use their points to fly Business, where “Classic Plus” is where you would use your points?

And why didn’t you provide a more truthful reply of the reality of “Classic Plus”?

[graham]

The sheer amount of negative comments the article has drawn from readers feedback certainly is not good for Daniel’s credibility with Point Hacks.

[daniels]

Hi graham

Thank you for your post and for sharing your feedback regarding my quotes to Tansy Harcourt at The Australian.

While some of the word-for-word quotes did adopt some creative licence from Tansy, I support the sentiment of the piece. At Point Hacks, we converse with a wide range of frequent flyers who all have different capabilities of earning points and various objectives on how to use them. Some (including myself) aim to maximise the overall value they get from redeeming points. These redemptions are predominantly (but not universally) Classic Flight Reward Seats, generally for long-haul flights in premium cabins. However, for others, it could be taking the family for a holiday during peak holiday periods to a very popular destination. As an example, flying to Disneyland during the peak July holiday period on the direct Qantas Sydney to LAX route. These flights can sell out from revenue-paying customers alone, and under a Classic and Any Seat Reward redemption program only, members are unlikely to find any reward availability for the former, or the cost is eye-wateringly expensive for the latter. This scenario does not apply just to the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.

Over the eight years I have been at Point Hacks, the major gripe I hear is that members find it hard to find reward seats in their frequent flyer program of choice at a destination and time of their choosing. They follow on by saying that if more reward seats could be made available for the most popular destinations and travel periods at more reasonable prices (than the Any Seat Reward pricing), then that would be great. This is where the Classic Plus redemption system neatly slots in.

I understand that for many ‘points maximisers’ anything other than a Classic flight redemption will not do. However, many other frequent flyers have different goals, such as finding a reward seat at a ‘peak time’ rather than maximising the redemption value. Tansy Harcourt is an excellent example of this.

Also, remember that while a majority of the time, members will pay a premium for Classic Plus Reward seat to that of a Classic Reward seat, (around 1.5x top 3x as stated in the article), there are times when a Classic Plus Reward Seat could be cheaper than a Classic Reward seat. As Classic Plus Reward pricing is linked to the cash fare, this will occur when there are sale fares, as is the case right now. The objective of Classic Plus Reward is not to provide a cheaper seat to Classic Rewards, but to provide a seat for Qantas members at a reasonable premium during peak periods and ‘high demand’ destinations where historically none were offered by Qantas or other frequent flyer programs.

The only caveat is that my commentary is subject to Qantas continuing not to dilute the availability of Classic Reward Seats. Obviously, if this were to occur and Classic Plus Reward Seats were to ‘replace’ Classic availability, then my commentary would start to change. However, there is no indication that the c. 5 million Classic Reward Seats made available each year has changed.

I do understand that Classic Plus Reward Seats are not for everyone. Still, in my view, it is optimal that Qantas members have a choice to pay a reasonable premium for a ‘high demand’ seat during peak periods to popular destinations rather than either having no availability or an Any Seat reward pricing, which is many multiples of Classic Plus Reward Seats. Singapore Airlines has gone down this route, Qantas now too, and Velocity is terms of their domestic redemptions. I suspect the loyalty industry will continue to head down this path. Time will tell.

Again, graham, I thank you for your feedback, and I suspect we may be agreeing to disagree on this one.

[jenart]

I think where maybe people are feeling confused or glum about the whole Classic Plus Rewards scenario (and the FF Program in general) is that “a reasonable premium during peak periods and ‘high demand’ destinations” so far hasn’t seemed that reasonable - it’s a very subjective term to be honest.

I used approx 45,000pts for a Classic Reward Business Class Seat one way from Melbourne to Perth when booked well in advance for a Christmas visit for a family member. Then a last minute change to travel days meant that the only seats available to choose from were Classic Plus Rewards at an astonishing 208,000pts for the exact same seat!!

That’s an approx. 4.5X multiple… I’m not sure who would say that’s reasonable. But Qantas know that people will pay it when in a bind or with little or no other choice… just as I did. But it leaves a bad taste in your mouth for sure.

There might not any indication as yet of the c. 5 million Classic Reward Seats being reduced, but I think there is emerging evidence that Qantas is moving some of those seats around from peak travel times and replacing them with the “new improved” Classic Plus Reward Seats. It’s exactly like Uber surge pricing. One could be left asking at what point does this fall into the category of price gouging??

Add to this the upcoming points increases to the majority of routes for Classic Reward Seats and I think it’s pretty easy to understand the continued growing dissatisfaction with the Qantas FF Program. For all the expensive “feel good” advertising and corporate speak laden press releases (by all forms of media) touting the added/improved value Classic Plus Rewards is meant to deliver to their FF members - it leaves the majority of frequent flyers feeling far from anything special or on the receving end of an increase in tangible goodwill.

Just my $0.02 worth.