Experiences on Qantas staff travel

[brett-au]

Staff travel was largely ruined under the last (or is it still current) management. I can still access it, right up to first class, and I even have some long service (i.e. free) flights left. It's such a good deal that I'm looking at forking out $8,000 to Singair.

It's not 10% of the fare either. It's a percentage of a random number that they made up, that they call the fares. If it works, it's good value, but you don't need to be delayed for very long, for the accommodation cost (and probably flights on another airline) to offset any potential savings.

I dont think any airline would pay the taxes for you, even if the flight was free. So I'm thinking thats at least AUD$120 one way for SYD-AKL before QF/VA/NZ give you a great deal on a middle seat next to the loos.

(But if someone wanted to offer me QEA travel companion, I wouldn't say no)

 

[flyingfan]

What are you looking to know? It's not confidential nor necessarily secret information.

All good, I think I have a basic sense from the comments here

 

[henrus]

I’ve noticed quite a few flights fill up last minute with QF staff with a recent flight I took back from Asia to Japan filling up in the hours before departure with what was clearly staff travel. I have benefited from staff travel on a different airline and I guess if you are willing to be flexible then it works well but end of the day if a flight is full with paying customers then end of story.

 

[brett-au]

I’ve noticed quite a few flights fill up last minute with QF staff with a recent flight I took back from Asia to Japan filling up in the hours before departure with what was clearly staff travel. I have benefited from staff travel on a different airline and I guess if you are willing to be flexible then it works well but end of the day if a flight is full with paying customers then end of story.

Well that does sound better to shareholders "Our flights on average are 100% full*" vs "Our flights are 85% full of paying customers".

 

[henrus]

Well that does sound better to shareholders "Our flights on average are 100% full*" vs "Our flights are 85% full of paying customers".

Not wrong, it was full in business class but I think about 6 were staff travel so ~20%.

 

[muppet]

I’ve noticed quite a few flights fill up last minute with QF staff with a recent flight I took back from Asia to Japan filling up in the hours before departure with what was clearly staff travel. I have benefited from staff travel on a different airline and I guess if you are willing to be flexible then it works well but end of the day if a flight is full with paying customers then end of story.

What makes you so sure they were staff and not upgrades?

With classic points and bid upgrade options, I’m amazed any J seats are left for space-available pax.

 

[henrus]

What makes you so sure they were staff and not upgrades?

When they did meal orders they came around with a piece of paper to take orders by seat, this had just the seat number and they'd hand written status (eg plat) or staff next to seat numbers.

 

[DAC1]

With classic points and bid upgrade options, I’m amazed any J seats are left for space-available pax.

In reality this is accurate. Any staff member will tell you that the likelihood of them actually getting a J or F seat these days is significantly reduced compared to pre-COVID.

These days, it feels like staff often end up in PE.

 

[jb747]

These days, it feels like staff often end up in PE.

Which they cannot book.

I expect that most staff, who actually use any form of staff travel, now do so on other airlines with which there is an agreement. Most reports are that flying with just about anyone else, gives an experience far beyond what QF offers. Basically they're treating someone else's staff better that QF treats their own.

 

[brokenagain]

The key to using QF staff travel internationally is finding an EK flight and booking that. More destinations, more seat availability, and a much better on board experience. Not to mention the much better treatment from EK cabin crew than the QF dinosaurs who treat you with a ‘how dare you staff travel in my cabin’ attitude. Not all of them, but enough for it to be a common theme.

 

[DAC1]

Which they cannot book.

No they cannot book. But if they book a ticket which is eligible for a regrade to F/J but they miss out on the regrade they can end up in PE (and often do).

 

[brett-au]

The key to using QF staff travel internationally is finding an EK flight and booking that. More destinations, more seat availability, and a much better on board experience. Not to mention the much better treatment from EK cabin crew than the QF dinosaurs who treat you with a ‘how dare you staff travel in my cabin’ attitude. Not all of them, but enough for it to be a common theme.

EK and QF? Is that still a thing? I thought QF jumped into bed with QR who kicked all QF staff out of Business and First Class, to get back at the government.

But I guess if its cheap and you are flying Y you get what ever you can get.

Also dinosaurs will probably disappear on the A350..

 

[henrus]

EK and QF? Is that still a thing?

Yes the partnership is still alive and well both for staff travel and the actual codeshare.

I thought QF jumped into bed with QR who kicked all QF staff out of Business and First Class, to get back at the government.

Staff travel agreements with QR/QF did degrade during the whole applying for routes saga. Ironically VA agreements with QR are stronger so VA staff get access to QR premium cabins.

 

[Angelo1671]

Hi!

Hoping to get a good insight on this, but I'm on a Qantas staff travel through a friend, and I am embarking my journey to Tokyo in November. I've been trying to analyse the loading for both routes and I hope someone could tell me which route has a higher chance of getting on board for staff travellers.

In your experience, which one is busier and which one is not?

Thanks.

 

[bam71]

Just check and book the day prior to travel. Long time QF staff travel user here, albeit not much so these days but still have access to it. Even when we were using it to travel to LAX or LHR ex BNE, we just book the day prior, at least then you can see what loads are like and make a better informed choice of if you’ll get on.

 

[SeatBackForward]

how dare you staff travel in my cabin’ attitude

Oh is that why they totally ignored me after boarding the F cabin once - no I'm not staff nor on staff travel, but was asked in the F lounge, without explanation, to swap seats before boarding.

 

[PeterJG]

I have a family member who is a tenured Qantas employee who’s offered to add me to their staff travel.

I’ve heard that the way it works is that you’ll be on standby when you get to the airport so the flight isn’t guaranteed. The tip being never book the last flight of the day.

Just wondering peoples general staff travel experiences as a non-Qantas employee? I won’t be able to book anything myself and will have to rely on that person to check flight capacity etc. It will be cheaper though.

Is this worth doing or is the risk of being stuck at the airport and flights being booked out due to being on standby an issue?

So what are the family members that can access staff travel? Niece, uncle father in law?

 

[adenda]

One of my friends once got stuck in HKG for 10 days waiting to get on a 'QF family' standby flight back home. By the end she was living in a hostel because she couldn't afford a hotel any more. But hey the flights were cheap

Had a neighbour who was an Ansett pilot at the time and who had the exact same experience. The cost of the hotel in HKG at walk-in rates ended up exceeding the savings on tickets.

 

[Saab34]

With a smaller network, it only takes one cancellation from say SIN/HKG/MNL etc, for seats to be full for at least 2/3 days post that cancellation. That’s the best thing about EK, they can often funnel pax across its network very quick with a cancellation and the impact is somewhat limited.

It’s very rare to see a DXB/DOH/AUH long haul flight cancelled also, they have pretty much perfect completion rates, the only real problem is often long delays due to a late inbound aircraft. QF LAX or SIN cancellations can cause major headaches across the network, I’ve seen people stuck for days waiting to get home on a normal ticket, let alone a standby one.

 

[brett-au]

So what are the family members that can access staff travel? Niece, uncle father in law?

I believe some airlines work with coupons you can give to anyone you wish. I've heard that VA and QF cabin crew some times help each other out, if their own planes are full (not sure how true that is)

QF being QF I believe are more tight. You can nominate 3? people of anyone you wish, but you have to stick with them for 6 or 12 months before you can change. So yes, one niece, one uncle and one father in law.