An Open Letter to my fellow AFF members - External Influence on this website

[Airbumps]

That wording suggests you’re talking about an organised crime syndicate. Calm down and respect reality, and the right for Australians to support their national carrier. That rhetoric is not only a slap in the face to the wonderful country we live in, but also your fellow Australians who have a right to be proud of Qantas.

The last couple of flights I've had on them I've been more embarrassed than proud of them

 

[justinbrett]

Actually in the past I did think you were very much unwilling to hear anything that Qantas may do wrong even when it was obvious that was the case, however just recently I've noticed that you seem more open. And I don't think you were being referred to here.

OP made a post hours before this one that specifically included my name, but was deleted by a mod. There is a long history of this.

I've not recently changed my view. You'll see anti-QF threads (not just posts) dating back my full 18 years on this site. I could comment on your posting history but I feel this is adding to the ugliness of this thread putting members of AFF against each other.

 

[mrsterryn]

The last couple of flights I've had on them I've been more embarrassed than proud of them

Why embarrassed? Oh unless you work for them? Then I get it.
Re Qantas I get annoyed, stunned (at fares prices ), grumpy cause they are late, grumpy cause I rarely can eat the meals on board. That kind of thing .
However I have that with other airlines I have flown with as well

 

[Pushka]

OP made a post hours before this one that specifically included my name, but was deleted by a mod. There is a long history of this.

I've not recently changed my view. You'll see anti-QF threads (not just posts) dating back my full 18 years on this site. I could comment on your posting history but I feel this is adding to the ugliness of this thread putting members of AFF against each other.

Ok. Fair enuf. I didn't see that reference. Post away at my history if you want. I've experienced the good and bad of many airlines.

 

[33kft]

Well with all the talk of coming clean on conflicts of interest I'd like to own up to my dirty secret.. I think I turned over about $20 profit in some QAN shares I bought (and quickly sold, because I know better than to put good money into airlines) in 2022 for a Superhero promo. Next time I'll make sure I post a bunch of negative posts to offset my vast financial gains.

 

[Forg]

Well with all the talk of coming clean on conflicts of interest I'd like to own up to my dirty secret.. I think I turned over about $20 profit in some QAN shares I bought (and quickly sold, because I know better than to put good money into airlines) in 2022 for a Superhero promo. Next time I'll make sure I post a bunch of negative posts to offset my vast financial gains.

Hey you can buy a 20c bag of mixed lollies with that $20!

 

[Pushka]

I'm guessing we all own shares in Qantas through our super funds, mine is an industry one so

 

[SydneySwan]

I need to confess to being a fan of Dan-Air in the 1970s. It was the first UK airline to operate the 727. Unfortunately AFF was not around then for me to publicly laud them .....

 

[SydneySwan]

I'm guessing we all own shares in Qantas through our super funds, mine is an industry one so

You should be able to find this out. I am in HostPlus Balanced and as at June 30 2023 they had 696,060 Qantas shares. Perhaps I need to change my super fund?

 

[Pushka]

You should be able to find this out. I am in HostPlus Balanced and as at June 30 2023 they had 696,060 Qantas shares. Perhaps I need to change my super fund?

Wow, is that breakdown available in your portfolio activity? Depending on what you select as your investment plan you may actually not have any at all.

 

[SydneySwan]

Wow, is that breakdown available in your portfolio activity? Depending on what you select as your investment plan you may actually not have any at all.

HostPlus make their holdings as at June 30 each year for each portfolio downloadable as a csv file from their website. They are publicly available - you don't need to be a member to access. 696,060 shares were valued at $4.315m at 30 June 2023 which represented 0.25% of the fund's total value at that date.

 

[Pushka]

Ah, HESTA divides them into the various Investment stategies and you can pick and choose. As Qantas appears in all of them then yep, I'm outing myself. . Qantas is worlds best airline. It's interesting to see how HESTA rates their 'value' in each of the strategies.

Strategy. Number. Value. Percentage.

Balanced

Qantas Airways Ltd

6341588.908

39317851.23

0.00068053

Conservative

Qantas Airways Ltd

136658.9568

847285.5325

0.00030965

Indexed Balanced

Qantas Airways Ltd

56188.67557

348369.7885

0.00171085

Sustainable Growth

Qantas Airways Ltd

1772859.618

10991729.63

0.00531425

High Growth

Qantas Airways Ltd

353406.301

2191119.066

0.00092896

Ah. Wait a bit, you gotta laugh. Just did a Qatar check. Oopsie.

Qantas Airways Ltd	353406.301	2191119.066	0.00092896		AU000000QAN2
30/06/2023	High Growth	Listed Equity		Qatar Electricity & Water Co QSC	1321.023985	9486.644609	0.00000402		QA0006929812
30/06/2023	High Growth	Listed Equity		Qatar Fuel QSC	1791.084622	12551.81327	0.00000532		QA0001200771
30/06/2023	High Growth	Listed Equity		Qatar Gas Transport Co Ltd	7485.241321	12564.13686	0.00000533		QA000A0KD6L1
30/06/2023	High Growth	Listed Equity		Qatar International Islamic Bank QSC	2953.998048	12191.66124	0.00000517		QA0006929879
30/06/2023	High Growth	Listed Equity		Qatar Islamic Bank SAQ	4564.220618	33360.90858	0.00001414		QA0006929853
30/06/2023	High Growth	Listed Equity		Qatar National Bank QPSC	13480.21876	85789.47169	0.00003637		QA0006929895

 

[straitman]

Well with all the talk of coming clean on conflicts of interest I'd like to own up to my dirty secret.. I think I turned over about $20 profit in some QAN shares I bought (and quickly sold, because I know better than to put good money into airlines) in 2022 for a Superhero promo. Next time I'll make sure I post a bunch of negative posts to offset my vast financial gains.

OT but I have to say it.

Remember that the way to make a small fortune in aviation is to start with a large fortune.

 

[whughes3]

Or as Warren Buffet famously remarked: "if I ever think about investing in an airline, i get someone to slap my face and bring me to my senses".

 

[offshore171]

But what I don’t love are third parties and unofficial company representatives infiltrating our ranks, trying to build credibility and legitimacy while masquerading as everyday AFF folk purely to influence and mislead us with their political agendas and commercial interests.

I feel your case would be better made if you could cite some examples In this thread.

 

[p--and--t]

I feel your case would be better made if you could cite some examples In this thread.

Even better if they were substantiated cases as opposed to accusations. IMHO there is a report function for that.

 

[Danger]

Well done for speaking up, Gold Member. It's worth calling out when you see it.

 

[OATEK]

I have had bout a dozen international flights in the last year, with either EK, QF or BA. Best flight, EK. Worst flight EK. Good flights with QF, cr@ppy flights with QF. No particularly good flights with BA, but some better than others. Just saying up front that not wedded to any, but appreciate my OWE status gained with QF that has taken the edge off the BA flights.

I have seen first hand the race to the bottom by BA and QF, but still use them when it makes sense. I have never used QR, and may never as they are always too dear for my travel needs. Have absolutely no use for VA because there is no way I would have status to take the edge off flying with them.

Relevance? The range of preferences, loyalties and other reasons are many and varied. But however hard I look at posts on AFF I find it hard to identify plants for QF or others. Some seem overly positive/negative but I find the same thing about car types, sports and many other pursuits. I love a good conspiracy theory, set in a well written fictional work, but not on blogs etc.

Edit: however not Howe.

 

[Captain Halliday]

One of the great things about AFF is the contest of ideas and sharing of knowledge across a range of travel related issues.

I see plenty of instances where members have strongly pro-Qantas views which are sometimes consistent with QF’s official line. When these members argue their position strongly, I can understand why people, including the OP, might be sceptical.

But I’ve also seen similar from members advocating for VA, SQ and to a lesser extent other airlines and hotels.

I enjoy reading a range of views, including those that are different to my own. Sometimes I even learn something. There are members who are relentless in pushing a point - but that’s the same at work, or in my social circle.

And when people write things that are implausible, irrational, or who are just trolling, this is when the “ignore” button is very helpful.


While the official QF rep stopped contributing to AFF long ago, I’m not naive enough to think they’re gone completely. Whether they remain active via another handle, or just use AFF for information gathering, is open to debate.

However, if an airline rep (for any carrier) is active on the site, surely there’s more advantage and goodwill to be gained by doing so transparently with an official presence. They’d be able to answer questions authoritatively, provide assistance and so on.


I have no evidence to say if there are airline reps posting anonymously on AFF or not. But if this thread has caused people to stop and think about what they read, then that’s probably a good thing.

It’s a worthwhile reminder not to believe everything you read and to think critically about the motivations of the writer.


A couple of final thoughts:

Deleting this thread would have been the easy option, so credit to the mods for allowing a mature discussion.



And regardless of what you think of the OPs views in this thread @Gold Member has been an active and generous AFFer for a long time. I’m sure plenty of people have benefited from the knowledge and experience this member has contributed - especially the flight deals.

I do hope you remain an active contributor @Gold Member.

 

[Duffa]

Ok. So, by sheer coincidence, I was online when GM made his OP.
The past 4 pages are irrelevant in terms of Qantas good or bad.
I want to know if members think there are Qantas staff on here, masquerading as ordinary AFFers. Yes or no.