First* Class with an Asterisk [*Lesser treatment when not WP..]

[Flying mermaid]

Without meaning to give any specific carrier a plug, surely "anytime dining" should be the new standard for F?

I totally agree We actually went EY F in 2009 and the food was wonderful. I came back to Qantas after that, to Mr FM's annoyance, but I now wonder why!

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I totally agree We actually went EY F in 2009 and the food was wonderful. I came back to Qantas after that, to Mr FM's annoyance, but I now wonder why!

I had the opportunity to do a fair bit of flying in EY F last year and was similarly impressed. Given the way the in flight chef comes around before take off to discuss your dining choices throughout the flight, I can't imagine the issue of running out of a meal would ever arise. I would be interested to hear if anyone has had an experience which contradicts this.

I don't think status would be of much relevance either. On some flights I was able to include my FF info with either VA Platinum Status or EY Gold status in the booking but other times a vigilant check in agent would remove the FF info as we weren't really allowed to add it to the bookings. I didn't notice any difference in the service.

 

[RooFlyer]

Funny isn't it. In EY F ( apartments) you can order, and get, things not on the menu. In QF F you sometimes can't get things on the menu!

 

[buntingflyer]

I need to get this straight.
Are you saying you were told you didn't get your meal choice because you're NOT Platinum ?

Mrs GPH prefers the A seating, mainly so she isn't disturbed for the entire flight.
We find that the other 300 odd days of the year are plenty to have a quiet chat to each other (lol)
My brief association with QF F, was excellent, cleanliness certainly NOT an issue. We didn't have a full cabin all of the way through to LHR though.
You will miss out on meals if you don't order them up front. Mrs GPH discovered that very early on in the peace !

I was told that I was skipped and served last because I wasn't a Platinum. I was told I did not receive the chosen meal / the tasting menu was not available because they only had a couple of each items of each menu item on the flight.

 

[buntingflyer]

Were you actually told that Platinum had their orders taken first?

Yes, I was. The cabin manager later apologized for the crew members statement and attitude and while it was true it shouldn't have been said.

 

[Caversham04]

I was told that I was skipped and served last because I wasn't a Platinum. I was told I did not receive the chosen meal / the tasting menu was not available because they only had a couple of each items of each menu item on the flight.

Did you follow up with Qantas at all? I'd be livid if I'd paid for First Class and got that level of economy-class treatment!

 

[buntingflyer]

Did you follow up with Qantas at all? I'd be livid if I'd paid for First Class and got that level of economy-class treatment!

Yeah I did, and I was, but I didn't have time to push it. I was given some points as compensation. Not really satisfactory, but dealing with the Qantas Customer Care team when there is a problem is a whole other discussion. It is less about customer care, and more about limiting liability.

 

[Caversham04]

Yeah I did, and I was, but I didn't have time to push it. I was given some points as compensation. Not really satisfactory, but dealing with the Qantas Customer Care team when there is a problem is a whole other discussion. It is less about customer care, and more about limiting liability.

Yep - definitely a mis-named job description, if ever there was one!

 

[TomVexille]

Ahh yes all the freeloaders on cheap bucket fares in Y! I bet they get their gruel choices served correctly.

They most certainly would ever since QF got this nifty thing where you can pre-order your meal online in Y...

 

[kermatu]

Yes, I was. The cabin manager later apologized for the crew members statement and attitude and while it was true it shouldn't have been said.

So the manager is chastising the crew for being truthful and would rather they lie or be silent. This story gets even worse.

 

[mannej]

So the manager is chastising the crew for being truthful and would rather they lie or be silent. This story gets even worse.

I think you may be reading a bit too much into the post, I'd suggest they are referring to using a degree of tact here.

 

[cove]

We don't think this is happening but we are both Platinums. Never seen it other than for QF staff.

 

[kermatu]

I think you may be reading a bit too much into the post, I'd suggest they are referring to using a degree of tact here.

I agree the manager should tell staff to be more tactful. But why admit that to the passenger, thereby saying "we prefer our staff not tell you the truth when we don't deliver what you paid for"? The CSM's is the bigger fault - in my opinion.

 

[TheRealTMA]

They most certainly would ever since QF got this nifty thing where you can pre-order your meal online in Y...

Gruel and mash! Yum!

 

[vantage03]

i have a f trip to london next month
ive gone and checked the loads
All F9 so far!

and j 9


hopefully that gets me my choice so far

LOL don't be ridiculous, guarentee it'll be full of staff travel and opups the day you fly.

 

[buntingflyer]

So the manager is chastising the crew for being truthful and would rather they lie or be silent. This story gets even worse.

No, the CSM handled the situation relatively well. He was quite professional and at least tried to make a bad situation better. Yes, they all probably could have dealt with the flight better. The flight attendant was not good, but nothing we can do about that. I must say, this wasn't the end of the world. Yes, it was disappointing and yes, it was not nice to be treated like we were (and to miss out on the full tasting menu), but, we were lucky enough to be flying F, so I am not sure we can really complain too much. The cabin manager did try - he got one of the meals from J (which was apparently similar to the F meal) and while there were other dishes we didn't get to try, there are bigger things to worry about. Our return flight was much better and was a good experience with great flight attendants and food. The issue for me here was how we were made to feel by the FA. The funny thing is, it is likely I will be Platinum in the coming months (from mainly flying other alliance airlines) and that's what I tried to explain to the CSM. Just because someone isn't Platinum now, doesn't mean they are not going to be in 6 months. And regardless - everyone in F should have a seamless experience and you should treat everyone with respect (regardless of the class they are flying or their "status".)

 

[vantage03]

*IIRC* both LH and LX fully cater every choice for every passenger. Some airlines probably also do a better 'estimation' of preferences

Correct.

I flew LH F from FRA-LAX a month or so ago, loading was 2/8 and they'd catered full meals for 8/8 LOL
She said 3 passengers mis-connected due to storms in Europe.

So, instead of (*cough* QF) shoving the meal service down our throats as soon as we'd reached cruising altitude, I was encouraged to look through the flight's whole menu and with the ingredients create whatever dishes I'd like for the flight and they'd "love" to make it up for us, whenever we'd like to eat.

 

[RichardMEL]

IMHO.....

The CSM was clearly trying some service recovery - obviously understood how bad it looked and wanted to do their best to acknowledge this to the pax.

I mean I am guessing the OP had spoken to them and indicated what the crew member had said about not being Plat... so the truth was already there. Would we prefer the CSM make it worse by maybe trying to say something like "oh they were wrong about that it was a catering issue" or some other lie passing the buck? No, S/he took responsibility for what was said as the senior cabin manager and apologied and took ownership of the situation as much as they could given what had happened. I'm not saying I'm impressed, but sometimes some honesty in this kind of situation is the best policy in terms of service recovery.

I was on a SQ flight years ago in F to LHR and it so happened that I flew out with the same crew (that was funny) and apart from remembering my champagne preference the CSM came to me after boarding and apologised for a supposed poor service incident from a FA on the flight in and told me "She is working Economy on the flight home" (! that's Singapore style for you!). Funny thing is I had a sensational flight in so not sure where he got the idea I had a service failure, but boy... I felt bad for the FA relegated to Y just like that. ouch!

Now should the original FA said that? No. There are any number of ways to tactfully handle this and they were too honest - because this is something the paying(if by points or whatever) pax doesn't need to know and whichever way you look at it, it makes people feel as not important enough to get the advertised product (compared to others in the cabin). Now, if it were me and I had an op up or last minute upgrade I'd perfectly accept that (this is where that familiar "Catering not assured" BP info comes into its own) BUT if I had paid for F, or used points or whatever to get there then you bet I'd expect the choices I wanted and if for some reason my choice was not available I'd much rather get a sincere apoloigy than be told basically "You're not high enough up the tree" to get this.

Tact can go a long way. Now they should have enough catering on board for sure, but I guess the tasting menu (for example) has elements not shared with J so they couldn't poach from there if needed.

A good friend of mine, who is a marketing guru in the USA - enough to be recognised nationally in the US media at times, was on UA from I think FRA to SFo a year or two back in F (well what UA calls F) and they flat out did the same thing and told him he wasn't Global Services or whatever and thus somehow not entitled to a beef dish. This did not end well for them....

 

[travelislife]

Without meaning to give any specific carrier a plug, surely "anytime dining" should be the new standard for F?

It's the standard for J on Qatar! Done on demand and from my limited experience they did it really well with good quality food.

 

[patrickk]

The QF F experience is great (my wife and I flew MEL - LHR -MEL) - although unfortunately my experience had some disappointments. It is disappointing to be in the F cabin (which is a long time goal for many), but treated as a second class citizen because I wasn't a Platinum member... This was most evident when skipped in meal ordering and our chosen meal was not available (only a couple of meals were available for each selection - despite the cabin being full). The cleanliness was also an issue - not the fault of the cabin crew. In terms of seating - traveling with a partner - QF F is not set up for sharing the experience easily. I actually think any seat next to is very similar, although if you want to be able to walk through to your travel companion easy, don't select the A seats unless you sit behind one another (which is not such a bad option and in fact one I would choose next time).

This not only happens in first class. My wife got an upgrade recently to business class 24 hours before flying from Bangkok (as a FF Gold) and likewise was not invited to place her order when the satff came around. When she insisted they take her order which they did, it was somewhat grudgingly. Was this practice because they wanted to make sure everybody elses choices were met before the upgrades were considered. Or heaven forbid was it that she was the only women in her vicinity in rthe cabin and Asian-Australian to boot. If it was the former that is just bad form, and if the latter inexcusable. Ultimately this is counterproductive, as we now seek out QF flights on EK metal. Enough food should be loaded to meet everybody's choices or otherwise don't offer them but make it on a strict first come first served basis. To seem to be discriminating for whatever reason is a very bad look.