Was standing at the entrance to the SKL waiting for someone the other day - for a good 1/2 hour mind you. Post 12:00am Sept 1, of course.
Noticed some common behaviours amongst the pax coming in.
This whole thing is so polarizing that I'm wondering if this is going to turn out to be the SQ masterstroke that defines premium loyalty service for all others to follow,
or
it's biggest PR headache since October 2000.
Made for a very interesting 1/2 an hour though.
Noticed some common behaviours amongst the pax coming in.
- I counted at least 40-45 people who genuinely didn't know of the changes "Since when?" was a very common reply. We, as members of SQTalk take an interest in these things and have known about the changes for ages, but we're but a handful. There are quite a few people out there who genuinely didn't know. . There were also a few mutterings about how intransparent the PPS value thing was, and how befuddled many of them were. As far as getting the message across, I fear it's turning out to be a bit of a PR disaster for SQ here. In all fairness, I don't think they could have done anymore short of regular 2 minute TV commercial slots at prime time. Not a good situation regardless of whose fault it is though.
- SKL staff getting so much abuse I wonder if any of them will want to work there anymore. I mean serious verbal abuse for all and sundry pertaining to those changes.
- I saw another 20-30 QPP's in J who looked like they knew the new rules, but were trying their luck but were not allowed into the SKL F. About half of them trudged over to the J side, the other half swore they were not coming back and never flying SQ again, and walked out. Even if half of them were pure crocodile tears, I think at least some proportion of them said it with enough conviction to actually carry out those threats.
- There was another gentleman who was very eloquent at putting his message across, and it got me thinking too. He stated the obvious "this new program is meant to get rid of the 25ers" - i.e. those that just scraped by,of which there are a great number of. He continued to say something along the lines of :The changes do however make an assumption that the 25ers will still continue to fly the equivalent of 25. They won't. The motivation to be a 25er is not the same anymore, as it will likely mean there's no plastic card waiting for me. Nobody's that stupid. Sure, the flights are full now with 744's having left the fleet, and the 380's being delayed and all so no one in management cares - for now.
This whole thing is so polarizing that I'm wondering if this is going to turn out to be the SQ masterstroke that defines premium loyalty service for all others to follow,
or
it's biggest PR headache since October 2000.
Made for a very interesting 1/2 an hour though.
Comment