Qantas Platinum ...Is it worth It with advent of paid upgrades??

Having recently flown QF PE I attempted to upgrade return leg with points. I am QF Plat and LG traveling off peak on biggest aircraft.

Following points upgrade request request 3 weeks prior to flight I was sent a message if I would like to BUY an upgrade.......was not upgraded and spot was lost to someone who presumably paid for it.

What is the point of being loyal? do others have this experience ?

CH

It really depends from where to where but I think paid upgrades come into play after others are distributed. I think in this case the plane was simply full unless you know for sure a pad upgrade snaffled it. Some flights such as Singapore and LA are tricky any time. You said PE so the only flight is Melbourne Perth mid afternoon on the 787 which is popular.

Airlines do not have a duty to provide points upgrades to fill empty seats in the premium cabins - they want you to pay cash. Many airlines prefer to have some empty seats in the premium cabins rather than have passengers expect to get an upgrade as a matter of entitlement.

I have had a very good record with upgrades not 100% but well over 50%. Never had them be so crass as to sell it back to me though. Sounds like a gltich

Certainly with Qantas, cash upgrades are processed after most points upgrades have been dealt with. Platinum requests are processed 3 days out and gold requests about 30hrs out (unsure on others). Cash upgrades are processed <24hrs out if there's anything still remaining. As mspcooper suggests, Qantas would much prefer to fill its empty premium seats and reduce its FF points liability at the same time.

I've tried cash upgrades when point upgrades aren't available (ie cheap international economy fares) and never had one come through.

I travel each 4 weeks, LHR-SIN-LHR on QF2/1 and book Premium Economy. I use my points to upgrade each way, and so far, have probably been upgraded 70% of the time. I have never seen on these flights empty business classes seats, probably because these flights are heavily booked as part of the Kangaroo route.

Platinum also allows me to use the first Cathay lounge at Heathrow, which is to be honest, miles more quieter and better than the so overcrowded Qantas lounge. So I think it is worth it

I have around a 90% success rate from Full Flex to Business as a Platinum FF. I keep away from school holidays often choose a weekend and fly mainly in SE Asia. I'm pretty happy with that.

According to clause 4.4 in the Qantas T&Cs for bid now upgrades, they only considered after all Classic Reward Upgrade requests are processed and confirmed.

https://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/upgrade-offer-terms-and-conditions/global/en

Consideration should also be given to the fact the request was only made 3 weeks prior to the flight. My understanding is that upgrade requests are made on status level and a "who joined the line first" basis. There may well have been multiple platinum and P1 flyers who simply booked earlier and made the request ahead of you. Making the request doesn't guarantee the upgrade.

Just landed another upgrade back to London this afternoon, PE to Bus. nice to lie down after 2 weeks working in Asia.