Have you Stuck with QF?

[snabbu]

I think the answer to the question is mostly related to where you live, who is paying and/or if you are LTG.

If you are SYD, MEL or to a lesser extent BNE based and your company is paying for your flights, I assume you are sticking with QF as QF actually services your port and you do not care how much extra you are paying over the competition.

I agree with this opinion.

Based in SYD with clients/company funding travel and have been with QF and WP since 2005, I have no incentive to fly VA.

Jumped on the VA WP status match a few years ago and used the comp upgrades trans pac which was nice however as others have said I still feel VA aren't in the same league (although this seems to be changing) as QF.

Also with DJ not having a proper alliance aka QF/OW, I'll continue with the Red Roo domestically.

Internationally is another story (still primarily OW), I'll take CX/JL over QF every day where plausible.

 

[TonyHancock]

I think the answer to the question is mostly related to where you live, who is paying and/or if you are LTG.

If you are SYD, MEL or to a lesser extent BNE based and your company is paying for your flights, I assume you are sticking with QF as QF actually services your port and you do not care how much extra you are paying over the competition.

I'm inclined to agree.........but I am the exception that proves the rule!! I am MEL based and the vast majority of my travel is company funded. I have switched to BA for international, based upon the best value for money/best FF scheme to suit my budget needs and travel patterns and VA for domestic - I like priority boarding and the ability to select front row Y seating when my flights are booked. (I'll lose that with QF at the end of July.) I am also QF LTG but that did not factor into my decision to switch, although I guess if I was approaching LTG it might have influenced me.

I think the number of variables for each person is actually quite high, we are all quite different in our travel patterns.

 

[medhead]

I've stuck with them, but my flying has dropped off a cliff!

It's not so much the earning that has upset me, nor the burning as I do use Classic awards a lot now (whereas before they were mASA's)... but it's the fact the prices have risen so much I simply can't afford it anymore.

When I started to enjoy flying and in my best years, there were regular QFLink deals around the $59-$79 mark one-way. Now a ticket to my favourite destination has just risen from $181 to $215!! I make the same amount of money, so I'm not a fan of this inflation thing

the price change is an interesting observation. I think Qantas are artificially forcing up prices. Anecdotally on my ADL-SYD flights; Monday morning there is a 6am departure and then an 8 am departure, the 6am is always full and prices are sky high. There used to be a 7am departure that still allowed acceptable arrival to the office in Sydney. On Tuesday morning, there is the 6 am, 7 am and 8 am departures, the 6 am flight is always cheap and not often that full. I firmly believe that the 7am has been dropped on Monday morning to push up demand for the early departure.

 

[kermatu]

the price change is an interesting observation. I think Qantas are artificially forcing up prices. Anecdotally on my ADL-SYD flights; Monday morning there is a 6am departure and then an 8 am departure, the 6am is always full and prices are sky high. There used to be a 7am departure that still allowed acceptable arrival to the office in Sydney. On Tuesday morning, there is the 6 am, 7 am and 8 am departures, the 6 am flight is always cheap and not often that full. I firmly believe that the 7am has been dropped on Monday morning to push up demand for the early departure.

Demand and other market forces at work I guess. Presumably there'd be 3 flights on a Monday if they could fill the seats?

At least the schedule is known. What frustrates me especially in and out of CBR is when flights are cancelled with 30 minutes' notice and everyone crowds onto the next available flight. But can't blame QF - why fly 2 half-full planes 30 minutes apart if the number of pax and routing needs can handle just one.

 

[medhead]

Demand and other market forces at work I guess. Presumably there'd be 3 flights on a Monday if they could fill the seats?

At least the schedule is known. What frustrates me especially in and out of CBR is when flights are cancelled with 30 minutes' notice and everyone crowds onto the next available flight. But can't blame QF - why fly 2 half-full planes 30 minutes apart if the number of pax and routing needs can handle just one.

But that's my point, the demand is much higher on Monday morning, yet only 2 flights. Whereas Tuesday, with lesser demand, has 3 flights. It's inconsistent. Not that I should be surprised by Qantas inconsistency.

I gotta say 30 minute frequency or even 15 minutes on MEL-SYD is just plan crazy.

 

[PineappleSkip]

The DXB thing makes QF a handy choice if you fly out of there a lot.
VA out of AUH not a handy option. No Y+ option to UK. On QFF I have both BA and QF. And can book online ex DXB (or DEL) VA don't even sell tickets out of AUH, so no Y+ option to Oz apparent.
OW is ok, not as good as it was. QR inconvenient and expensive, MH don't fly DXB or BNE any more. CX have jacked up fares out of DXB and screwed up the connection from the late flight ex DXB. Which has me making bookings on EK and QF.
Nice to have VA in my back pocket though, SQ have sensibly priced fares ex DXB, although only one flight a day to DXB limits the option.
EK now has a stranglehold on DXB. All other airlines consigned to either the inconvenient D gates, with lots of flights from remote stands, or (shudder) Terminal 2 This gives QF a huge convenience benefit for travel to/ex DXB.

Cheers skip

 

[JohnK]

I gotta say 30 minute frequency or even 15 minutes on MEL-SYD is just plan crazy.

Try 10 minutes between 2 BNE-SYD flights in the evening with flights 30 minutes either side.

Must be some sort of positioning flight but haven't bothered to try and work it out.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Try 10 minutes between 2 BNE-SYD flights in the evening with flights 30 minutes either side.

Must be some sort of positioning flight but haven't bothered to try and work it out.

Or perhaps a giant group booking in there, which might warrant another flight. I flew 767 ADL-SYD once. The reason was 100 odd Mitsubishi staff from Japan on a company holiday - to visit the Mitsubishi plant in ADL

Cheers skip

 

[orac]

Easy choice with me.

Qantas domestically, while Cathay International opens up the World to me out of HK

 

[JohnK]

Or perhaps a giant group booking in there, which might warrant another flight. I flew 767 ADL-SYD once. The reason was 100 odd Mitsubishi staff from Japan on a company holiday - to visit the Mitsubishi plant in ADL

Cheers skip

This is a regularly scheduled flight. Not once off.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Demand and other market forces at work I guess. Presumably there'd be 3 flights on a Monday if they could fill the seats?

At least the schedule is known. What frustrates me especially in and out of CBR is when flights are cancelled with 30 minutes' notice and everyone crowds onto the next available flight. But can't blame QF - why fly 2 half-full planes 30 minutes apart if the number of pax and routing needs can handle just one.

Not too sure about the can't blame Qantas bit. Surely the essense of booking with Qantas rather than say Tiger is that you can rely on flying what you book, apart from irrops. I thought I was badly off when I had to fly home with Virgin that other day (not that I minded them at all), but they went one better last week with Master FM's partner. She had booked a 6pm flight on a Friday night to go up to the Gold Coast (ex Canberra, so cbr-syd then goldcoast) for the weekend. Qantas changed her cbr-syd flight to 2:30pm so that she had to take a half day off work! Fortunately she had more than 30 minutes notice, but still - in what alternate reality is it OK to change a 6pm flight to an early aftenoon one on a work day!

Anyway I have just booked my first SQ flight (in First - yay!), so I am definitely not sticking with Qantas.

 

[rocketboy]

Still crediting my points to QF but my target is LTG and then I'm off to explore other options. Should reach that goal next year unless they move the goal points again. As others have noted, QFF is not that attractive if based other than east coast Oz. I used to easily retain platinum with three J round trips Europe to Australia each year. But now unless I fly solely QF, I am scratching to get across the line. I haven't been a fan of the EK partnership as DXB holds no allure as a transit or stopover. And a major delay last year showed me that the synergy between the airlines only works on a good day. EK staff are not helpful with QF problems. Have one more flight through DXB booked this September. Once I get the lifetime card, I will probably aim for gold on Star Alliance as currently FT with LH. But AA EXP is another option once the handcuffs are off.

 

[kermatu]

Not too sure about the can't blame Qantas bit. Surely the essense of booking with Qantas rather than say Tiger is that you can rely on flying what you book, apart from irrops. I thought I was badly off when I had to fly home with Virgin that other day (not that I minded them at all), but they went one better last week with Master FM's partner. She had booked a 6pm flight on a Friday night to go up to the Gold Coast (ex Canberra, so cbr-syd then goldcoast) for the weekend. Qantas changed her cbr-syd flight to 2:30pm so that she had to take a half day off work! Fortunately she had more than 30 minutes notice, but still - in what alternate reality is it OK to change a 6pm flight to an early aftenoon one on a work day!

Anyway I have just booked my first SQ flight (in First - yay!), so I am definitely not sticking with Qantas.

Not defending QF - and I expressed frustration - but I reckon 30 minutes or less is 'OK' because you are probably at or near the airport anyway. In your (or Master FM's partner's case) 3.5 hours is absolutely unacceptable. Surely there were later flights? If they were already full, I can't see it being a load-based cancellation. Did she get an explanation?

 

[Flying mermaid]

Not defending QF - and I expressed frustration - but I reckon 30 minutes or less is 'OK' because you are probably at or near the airport anyway. In your (or Master FM's partner's case) 3.5 hours is absolutely unacceptable. Surely there were later flights? If they were already full, I can't see it being a load-based cancellation. Did she get an explanation?

Yes I agree that the "on the day shift by a bit" is OK -it has been happening for years and I just view it as a hazard of travel and never have tight schedules. My one from a couple of weeks ago, was also a 3 and a bit hour shift - from 7:40 to 4:30. She was told it was due to schedule changes and not being able to fit everyone on the remaining flights that were close to that time. In my case that was the reason given as well. She is silver, I was flying on an award, so I guess were last in the pecking order for allocating to other flights. I know they have to do these schedule changes, if they are not getting the loads you need, but I just don't find a shift of 3 hours acceptable. However airlines seem to have the right to do what they like and treat their passengers with contempt and we just have to suck it up...Still waiting for my refund of points for the cancellation and interested to see whether they take the 5,000 points penalty given they forced the cancellation.

 

[kermatu]

Yes I agree that the "on the day shift by a bit" is OK -it has been happening for years and I just view it as a hazard of travel and never have tight schedules. My one from a couple of weeks ago, was also a 3 and a bit hour shift - from 7:40 to 4:30. She was told it was due to schedule changes and not being able to fit everyone on the remaining flights that were close to that time. In my case that was the reason given as well. She is silver, I was flying on an award, so I guess were last in the pecking order for allocating to other flights. I know they have to do these schedule changes, if they are not getting the loads you need, but I just don't find a shift of 3 hours acceptable. However airlines seem to have the right to do what they like and treat their passengers with contempt and we just have to suck it up...Still waiting for my refund of points for the cancellation and interested to see whether they take the 5,000 points penalty given they forced the cancellation.

Given the number of CLs on these routes status is a factor. I suspect she was booked on the earlier one to be sure of a seat - even though there's a very high probability space ended up being available on a later flight given so many passengers move to earlier or later flights on this route (have done so many times myself). Must actually be quite tough on the airlines. But tougher on the pax.

I also had my first SQ F experience earlier this year. Very, very nice....

 

[Flying mermaid]

Given the number of CLs on these routes status is a factor. I suspect she was booked on the earlier one to be sure of a seat - even though there's a very high probability space ended up being available on a later flight given so many passengers move to earlier or later flights on this route (have done so many times myself). Must actually be quite tough on the airlines. But tougher on the pax.

I also had my first SQ F experience earlier this year. Very, very nice....

ooh really! So looking forward to it! Yes it is tough on airlines - wouldn't like to be juggling loads, making a profit and keeping customers happy. However of late it has felt a lot more hardline on the part of airlines - maybe I am just getting old!

 

[kermatu]

ooh really! So looking forward to it!

Some aspects were no different to QF or EK, in my fairly limited F experiences -- eg, onboard attentiveness, and comfort of suite/seat (which is plane-specific on SQ). But travelling exSIN I got the full airport/lounge service and the food was a massive step up from the basically J food on QF, with greater (though not complete) flexibility in timing. Also excellent arrival experience (at LHR).

And it was cheaper.

 

[Archphoto]

Since being based in BKK, my QF "loyalty" has waned simply due to the lack of flights.

I chose CX over TG for my international flights (direct into ADL was the game changer), and since early this year, this has worked out well for TH domestic flights too, as CX and PG signed a partnership that helps boost my AsiaMiles. Domestically in AU I choose QF as I can again, earn miles with CX.

Cost wise, I haven't seen much difference between the two carriers, for regular flights. However the amount of "special offers" that CX has, far outweighs those from QF; have used some a few times on my usual long-haul routes, and their 2-for-1 deals are amazing. They do come in *very* handy for shoots.:mrgreen:

 

[marki]

Since being based in BKK, my QF "loyalty" has waned simply due to the lack of flights.

I chose CX over TG for my international flights (direct into ADL was the game changer), and since early this year, this has worked out well for TH domestic flights too, as CX and PG signed a partnership that helps boost my AsiaMiles. Domestically in AU I choose QF as I can again, earn miles with CX.

Cost wise, I haven't seen much difference between the two carriers, for regular flights. However the amount of "special offers" that CX has, far outweighs those from QF; have used some a few times on my usual long-haul routes, and their 2-for-1 deals are amazing. They do come in *very* handy for shoots.:mrgreen:

I have managed to stick to QF they treat me reasonably well. This does not mean, the "empty greetings" on boarding but actually fixing stuff up when it counts. Ie Waiting for outcome of a down to Y when travelling trans-continental no compensation yet. Hopping for double SC or double points instead.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Some aspects were no different to QF or EK, in my fairly limited F experiences -- eg, onboard attentiveness, and comfort of suite/seat (which is plane-specific on SQ). But travelling exSIN I got the full airport/lounge service and the food was a massive step up from the basically J food on QF, with greater (though not complete) flexibility in timing. Also excellent arrival experience (at LHR).

And it was cheaper.

It was mainly the food experience I was interested in (I am very food focused) and also things lke running on time, not beng downgraded etc. Just had my flight to Sydney today cancelled - not a biggie, just an hour move but it would be nice just once to fly the flight I booked! I just hope they leave our flights to Cairns in a couple of weeks alone, as that has complications with limousine transfers to Port Douglas