Has QANTAS made the biggest marketing blunder of all time?

[911tphil]

Out of curiosity - who is the dictator in the UAE???
Would that be the President, the Prime Minister or the Sheik that leads the Dubai royal family (who is also the Prime Minister of the UAE IIRC) ?

The Ruler of Dubai:

[h=3]His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
a wise man who has led Dubai into the 21st century and, looking at some of the buildings, some would say into the 22nd.


[/h]

 

[dot]

The Ruler of Dubai:

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
a wise man who has led Dubai into the 21st century and, looking at some of the buildings, some would say into the 22nd.

I think the link you wanted was Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the problem is, he is the Prime Minister and the ruler of Dubai (the Emirate of Dubai that is) but not the ruler of the other six Emirates, nor is he the President. The UAE is a collection of seven monarchies. A dictatorship is ruled by a dictator who assumes absolute power. Because of the seven royal families as well as the President and the Prime Minister, the UAE cannot be called a dictatorship.

My point was that ronone69 claims that the UAE is a dictatorship when it plainly is not.

 

[Alanslegal]

Just to answer the title of this thread - Has QF made the biggest marketing blunder of all time?

If they won't let me use my QF points to fly EK F ... then hell yes!!!

 

[MrJetset]

Jock28, why don't you ask someone with an Israeli stamp in his / her passport or someone travelling on an Israeli passport about travelling through the UAE. The UAE is NOT a normal country. It is an Islamist dictatorship - even Sex in the City 2 showed you that. And why don't you ask the thousands of Filipino and Chinese who are slave labour workers in the UAE ? Why don't you ask other ex-pats who lose their jobs and are thrown in jail because they owe a UAE landlord $100 ? Australians desperately need a reality check about the UAE and so does QF. It is not a western country. It does not have western laws or values. It is a backwater dressed up to look like a modern society.

Sorry, I just choked on my food....

I believe that DFAT, among other foreign offices, offers Australians a temporary passport for travel to Israel to avoid any future issues.

I travel greatly within the Arab World, and my Hajj visas to Saudia give me more than enough trouble in the US. Your example is no different. (And in neither case does anything occur other than some extra questioning).

Oh, and for the record. I'm a homosexual working for a leading, global human rights NGO. Despite this, I have not been hung, stoned or tortured in Saudia or the UAE. I have gone clubbing with friends in the UAE, been out drinking, and yet, I have not been beheaded.

An 'Islamist dictatorship?' Ummmm, no. There is no dictator.

The plight of migrant workers is well known, and this is an issue in many countries, not just the UAE (and rather unrelated to QF). A better example would be the 3AM curfew for EK cabin crew (and their guests) at their apartments on Sheikh Zayed Rd, and how if they fail to meet it 3 times they are fired.

Using Sex and the City 2 as an example of the UAE demonstrates quite severe ignorance. It was shot in Morocco, claims Punjabi is Arabic, and did I mention a work of fiction? Perhaps Wahajat Ali's 'Sex and the City 2's stunning Muslim clichés' may enlighten you: “Sex and the City 2′s” stunning Muslim clichés « GOATMILK: An intellectual playground edited by Wajahat Ali

Finally, why would is have 'Western values?' It's not a Western country.

 

[JohnK]

I was thinking of a subset of that suggestion. ie cultural issues with transiting UAE.

I love how all of a sudden people have become experts at cultural issues.

There are 2 sides to every argument. And all I see in these threads is people jumping down the throats of those who have a different opinion and are raising their concerns.

Best go before I am shot down in flames.

 

[Must...Fly!]

There are indeed 2 sides (often more) to every argument JohnK, but if one of those sides is veiled behind a curtain of ignorance, racial undertones, untruths and broad stupidity, it really becomes an irrelevant one.

 

[dot]

Unlike the terrible dictatorship that stamped my first passport "Not valid for North Vietnam"

Who was that? (I am guessing this was in the 60's or 70's)

 

[Major]

Who was that? (I am guessing this was in the 60's or 70's)

It was the Australian government in 1969

 

[nlagalle]

I love how all of a sudden people have become experts at cultural issues.

There are 2 sides to every argument. And all I see in these threads is people jumping down the throats of those who have a different opinion and are raising their concerns.

Best go before I am shot down in flames.

Problem is JohnK is that most of the comments saying the UAE is dangerous and a dictatorship etc is totally unfounded and without fact.

People have been traveling via the Middle East for years already, I don't see warnings from DFAT not to.

Personally I have no issue transiting DXB, because if going via the Middle East was so bad why aren't we hearing horror stories daily?

 

[simongr]

Personally I have no issue transiting DXB, because if going via the Middle East was so bad why aren't we hearing horror stories daily?

Five trips personally to Jeddah - which is a heap more restrictive than DXB - no issues for me. In fact an alcohol free week is probably a good thing for me... Mind you the cheese is carp and the bacon just isn't.

 

[markis10]

Will be interesting to see down the track what people have to say when QF pulls its equipment off the ditch routes (the Jetconnect fleet is going to support domestic fleet needs) and Q catering is sold to Alpha!

I suspect they are two of the many developments that are currently the cards up the sleeve for Qantas that we are yet to see played, given the rego block for the JetConnect birds locally is reserved, it seems likely that at least that development is likely to be played.

 

[samh004]

Will be interesting to see down the track what people have to say when QF pulls its equipment off the ditch routes (the Jetconnect fleet is going to support domestic fleet needs) and Q catering is sold to Alpha!

I suspect they are two of the many developments that are currently the cards up the sleeve for Qantas that we are yet to see played, given the rego block for the JetConnect birds locally is reserved, it seems likely that at least that development is likely to be played.

What will this mean for routes like ZQN? Will that switch just to JQ?

Can't see an expensive town like that with only LCC offerings being a wise choice. Then again, I have flown a domestic rego bird home, so perhaps it's not so much an issue where they're registered?


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[anat0l]

Can't see an expensive town like that with only LCC offerings being a wise choice.

Telegram for you - it's Air New Zealand. They're sending the All Blacks, and I think they want to "talk".


More seriously, I thought it would be to QF's and EK's detriment to withdraw QF out of Trans-Tasman completely. Especially since that's prime feeder traffic to SYD and thus QF and EK services. I don't quite see how EK will embrace JQ codeshares...

That said, I think there is only one QF service to WLG, and only one to CHC (which EK cover quite nicely). And most QF ZQN services really only operate during the snow season.


Sent from my GT-I9300 using AustFreqFly

 

[markis10]

Just to be clear, its Jetconnect that will be wound down, there will be no red tail flights across the ditch, aircraft deployed to mainline domestic while crew are currently being invited to apply for a large number of 737 mainline slots that have opened up that do not match with expected announced fleet arrivals. I am also expecting to see ADL and PER get EK NZ services with QF code sharing, while both those cities have an interesting future when it comes to red tail flights to Asia.

QFi are very keen to eliminate routes that dont make a profit, hopefully that means new opportunities and routes on red tail equipment will also become reality (with 787-8s that were going to JQ).

 

[penegal]

It was the Australian government in 1969

IIRC certain levels of government clearance still prohibit travel to Vietnam to this day...

 

[Fruitcake]

Telegram for you - it's Air New Zealand. They're sending the All Blacks, and I think they want to "talk".

The same All Blacks who star in corny safety videos ("LCC") for an airline where your base short haul fare doesn't include food ("LCC"), a checked bag ("LCC"), or entertainment ("LCC")?

If you're going to call NZ ZQN services full service, for consistency I think DJ needs to be included - the only material difference is that NZ has fixed IFE throughout the fleet. In fact, I believe that DJ and NZ trans-tasman even have the same catering now.

Having said that, I personally prefer the NZ product, although it was better when they were genuinely full service. Under the new model the meal service takes a long time to get going.




Somewhat on topic - EK can provide a quality widebody experience across the Tasman but I think QF will still be needed if they want to fill in the timetable with frequency. Without dramatic (inefficient?) changes to the EK timetable the tasman tag-ons can't deliver an early morning flight into Sydney from NZ, for example.

 

[markis10]

I believe that DJ and NZ trans-tasman even have the same catering now.

Chicken wraps supplied by EK?

 

[Fruitcake]

Chicken wraps supplied by EK?

Not sure on the wrap front, but I took the hot breakfast option (frittata and 'sausages') last time I flew trans-tasman with DJ. A reasonable economy-standard hot meal, in my opinion.

I'm sure the wraps would have been available, Luke Mangan must have an entire industrial estate dedicated to their preparation.

 

[markis10]

I'm sure the wraps would have been available, Luke Mangan must have an entire industrial estate dedicated to their preparation.

Luke advises/consults, not makes or produces the DJ product, Alpha Inflight Catering and Gate Gourmet have the gig, and Alpha is an EK company, hence the comment

 

[MrJetset]

Five trips personally to Jeddah - which is a heap more restrictive than DXB - no issues for me. In fact an alcohol free week is probably a good thing for me... Mind you the cheese is carp and the bacon just isn't.

I choked on the Turkey bacon. Give me the real thing or nothing!

The biggest issue I had in JED was the Park Hyatt delivering me some Pomegrate sparkling juice that I thought was Champagne <sigh>.