Farewell QFF

[boko56]

I do understand the the use of Linked-In when you have been through what I've experienced with Qantas of late, you would use whatever medium to get help. All she had to do was get someone to contact me

 

[lovestotravel]

I empathise completely. I have been a loyal customer and QFF since the 80's. I have been trying to contact anyone who cares and more importantly how to fix a ticketing issue that has serious consequences due to my name been spelt wrongly. Numerous call centre call taking many hours, no change, tried the chat at least 4 times, same result, e- mails to Mr Joyce and Stephanie
Tully no response. Best of all was a linked in msg to Stephanie no response but after which she promptly barred me from messaging her again. For me they don't care. Just done a status match to Virgin and taking my first flight with them this week. My almost 40 year relationship with Qantas is finished.

Yep it's the only way QF will learn, after AJ runs off with his massive departure bonus!

Sadly I doubt I'll be on a QF aircraft anytime in the next 5 years, with the exception on a route they solely operate on such as Melbourne to Exmouth

 

[UP4014]

You may/may not find the grass is greener with Virgin.

Agree with that, when Bain decide to sell after a couple more years of "capturing value across silos" (Bain words) and Virgin makes more changes and it doesn't suit, where do you go then, eat humble pie at QF or tough it out at Virgin.

I do acknowledge we to sometimes change to get some satisfaction.

 

[mviy]

I do understand the the use of Linked-In when you have been through what I've experienced with Qantas of late, you would use whatever medium to get help. All she had to do was get someone to contact me

And if she gets say ~20 people (just a guess, it could be more or less than that) a day out of the millions of FFs contacting her through that method a day it could take a lot out of her day to try to manually get people to follow all those up, and if people feel they have success using that method once, they are likely to try using it again and tell others to do the same.

 

[drron]

Agree with that, when Bain decide to sell after a couple more years of "capturing value across silos" (Bain words) and Virgin makes more changes and it doesn't suit, where do you go then, eat humble pie at QF or tough it out at Virgin.

I do acknowledge we to sometimes change to get some satisfaction.

Thats not the only option. Sometimes best to forget loyalty altogether. Go with the cheapest reasonable option.
The majority of our travel value wise is International.

 

[MARTINE]

And if she gets say ~20 people (just a guess, it could be more or less than that) a day out of the millions of FFs contacting her through that method a day it could take a lot out of her day to try to manually get people to follow all those up, and if people feel they have success using that method once, they are likely to try using it again and tell others to do the same.

Or…. She might get head out of the sand and realise there is a problem and the current approach is not working if people have to resort to this …as if…

 

[kangarooflyer88]

The days of being loyal to any frequent flyer program in terms of earning points has long gone. Frankly depending on the itinerary you are looking to book different programs will make more sense than others. For instance, I would challenge anyone on AFF to be able to book a round the world itinerary in business class for 240,000 or less outside of Aeroplan. Similarly, British Airways Avios consistently requires far fewer points to book a Qantas domestic award than QFF points. However, Qantas Points can be quite useful for upgrades into business class, at least domestically since you can confirm the upgrade using points at time of booking even on the cheapest economy fare. You can't do that with Air Canada Aeroplan. There are also decent short-haul award redemptions where you can get outsized value such as Sydney to Lord Howe Island. And of course United MileagePlus remains my favourite for international business class upgrades, with it only costing 35,000 United Points + $650 USD co-pay to upgrade Australia to Europe (via USA) on even the cheapest of economy fares.

Hence, for frequent flyer these days, you want to consider two things: where you hold status for perks like lounge access and seating (for that I would argue Qantas remains one of the easiest ways to retain mid to top-tier OneWorld status) and frequent flyer miles (for award bookings and upgrades).

-RooFlyer88

 

[UP4014]

Thats not the only option. Sometimes best to forget loyalty altogether. Go with the cheapest reasonable option.
The majority of our travel value wise is International.

That's a very good point and should be observed. Although having said that the example I use myself is to try to buy Australian, try not to buy products made by slave labour or support known human rights problem countries. I put my travel in the same rule bucket.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Share price at $6
1.2 Billion profit forecast for 31 Dec
Planes are full

Massive bonus coming soon prior to his departure, he couldn't care less

I highly doubt Uncle Alan will be retiring anytime soon. He's making a stack of money at QF, is highly beloved by customers and shareholders and no doubt enjoys the climes of Australia versus dreary Ireland.

A320's coming to lower wages of the pilots from the 737 pool
A350's coming to lower wages of any pilots remaining on the old legacy contracts flying the A380.

In fairness, QF needed to replace their legacy planes as the 737 and A380 were starting to get long in the tooth. That they managed to get a good deal from Airbus including the A350s, A320s and Bombardier C Series (A220s) is somewhat surprising though given the competitive edge Airbus has over Boeing and their MD-737s.

AJ and the board are laughing all the way to the bank

I have 1.5 Million QF points and will sadly turn them into gift cards

Those points are still highly valuable for flights. I still don't understand why people would push them over to gift cards when you can find plenty of international business classic award availability, especially if you have some flexibility on dates and routing. That's like what 4 round the world trips on OneWorld in J?

Haven't flown with QF since before Covid and have spent $20k on VA since

I haven't flown much QF either, sticking mainly to their luxury brand JétStar. I found the fares cheaper, with much better accrual options and of course QF lounges access as a QF Gold.

-RooFlyer88

 

[QF WP]

Congratulations @Creston for following the exodus from Qantas - only handy if there is a viable alternative, depending on your mix of Dom/Intl and destinations.

Similarly, I've parked my flying with QF in the desert (since May) until I see a marked improvement in a range of factors (on-time drpartures and arrivals, cancellations/delays, etc). This all helps me to re-qualify VA Platinum.

 

[winfred]

I've tried long and hard to look for an alternative to QF. When I was based in Melbourne doing 30% domestic and 70% international travel to Asia, there was no viable alternative once I take into accounts ease of qualifying for higher tiers and earning points on credit cards. I have since relocated to SE Asia and the search for an alternative was also not successful. I looked at CX, MH and SG. All have issues. QF is not perfect but at least it is a lot easier to qualify for Platinum which makes travelling so much more enjoyable.

 

[Stilesy]

Bring on Qatar, I say...can't even conveniently pay for fuel via the BPme app over here in WA! Utter rubbish

 

[winfred]

I would consider Qatar if I have to fly to Europe but I don't. I did KUL-DOH-SFO-JFK in June. It was a very long journey.

 

[RichardMEL]

I have always believed in a "diversified portfolio" approach with the loyalty programs,(hotels, airines etc) and mix and match has been useful to me personally but also for specific trips one airline or alliance may be better, more convenient or cheaper than another, and having flexibility can definitely make life a bit easier rather than a desire to "always fly with.... X" because of those so called status handcuffs (yes I am still P1, but do not expect to retain this for long lol). certainly as one grows older I definitely prefer to pick based on things like product, experience and so on. eg I would prefer SQ over QF to go to or through SIN. If I can make that work then so much the better. Basically BFOD but with a nod to the alliances/airlinesI have specific interest in as a weight in the calculation (same with hotel groupings, etc)

 

[oz_mark]

In fairness, QF needed to replace their legacy planes as the 737 and A380 were starting to get long in the tooth. That they managed to get a good deal from Airbus including the A350s, A320s and Bombardier C Series (A220s) is somewhat surprising though given the competitive edge Airbus has over Boeing and their MD-737s.

There A380s are only about halfway through their life, and there is no specific replacement for them at the moment,

 

[winfred]

I have always believed in a "diversified portfolio" approach with the loyalty programs,(hotels, airines etc) and mix and match has been useful to me personally but also for specific trips one airline or alliance may be better, more convenient or cheaper than another, and having flexibility can definitely make life a bit easier rather than a desire to "always fly with.... X" because of those so called status handcuffs (yes I am still P1, but do not expect to retain this for long lol). certainly as one grows older I definitely prefer to pick based on things like product, experience and so on. eg I would prefer SQ over QF to go to or through SIN. If I can make that work then so much the better. Basically BFOD but with a nod to the alliances/airlinesI have specific interest in as a weight in the calculation (same with hotel groupings, etc)

It only works if you fly so much that you can qualify for top tier status for multiple airlines or you fly business class so don't need the tier benefits as much.

Post automatically merged: Nov 14, 2022

There A380s are only about halfway through their life, and there is no specific replacement for them at the moment,

I think it is more about the A380's interior rather than the plane that needs upgrading.

 

[mviy]

It only works if you fly so much that you can qualify for top tier status for multiple airlines or you fly business class so don't need the tier benefits as much.

Yes. I don’t fly enough to maintain status with multiple airlines.

 

[winfred]

Yes. I don’t fly enough to maintain status with multiple airlines.

Not many people do. I used to fly weekly with a mix of short haul (3-4 hours) and long haul (10 hrs plus), mostly in economy and premium economy and only just managed to qualify for QF Plat. If I had switched to CX or MH or SG, I would not qualify for the equivalent.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Not many people do. I used to fly weekly with a mix of short haul (3-4 hours) and long haul (10 hrs plus), mostly in economy and premium economy and only just managed to qualify for QF Plat. If I had switched to CX or MH or SG, I would not qualify for the equivalent.

Agree that it can be tricky, especially if you don't have flexibility on dates of travel. That being said, it certainly is possible, people do it all the time. The key as always is to weigh the costs of booking all the travel necessary to fly the necessary miles/status credits to earn status versus the benefits of holding that airline and alliance status. In some cases the math works, in other cases not so much. That being said, for my money mid-tier status seems to be the right balance of cost and benefits, then again YMMV.

-RooFlyer88

 

[drron]

Not many people do. I used to fly weekly with a mix of short haul (3-4 hours) and long haul (10 hrs plus), mostly in economy and premium economy and only just managed to qualify for QF Plat. If I had switched to CX or MH or SG, I would not qualify for the equivalent.

On the other hand in the 3 years pre Covid I would always qualify for BA gold before Mrsdrrom re qualified for WP. Flew the same International flights but she flew a few more domestic flights than i did.