Hey Qantas, why is it that ....?

[FrankC]

...people expect to be fed on pretty much ANY flight leg within Australia?

/rant on
I don't understand the fascination with (let alone the constant whining about) airline food. I know I'm generalising, but bear with me....on a normal work day, when people aren't flying anywhere, they'lll eat breakfast around 7.30, lunch around 1, and dinner at say 6.30. In between they might have the odd glass of water, cookie, mars bar, can of V etc.

So why, when they're on a 2 hour plane flight from say MEL-BNE, do they expect food? And if they simply can't go 2 hours without jamming something in their gobs, why does the airline have to provide this? Airports are chock full of places to buy drinks, snacks and whatever portable food you could possibly imagine. If you have to eat while in the air, can't you just think ahead? Why does the airline have to find out if you need lacto-ovo, vegan, gluten-free or diabetic friendly meals?

I vote we clear the (domestic) aisles of those pesky catering carts, and put an end to people complaining bitterly about getting a cold piece of cake as opposed to a steaming hot pile of chicken & rice. Imagine the savings in catering and cleanup costs....that I'm certain our beloved carriers would pass on to our ticket prices, no?
/rant off

If I can leave work early, arrive at the airport with plenty of time before the flight, then yes, I am happy to eat at the airport and not have dinner on the plane

But when I don't have that luxury, and have to OLCI and go straight to the gate - then I would have to go hungry for a couple of hours - and by the time I arrive, the food available at the arrival airport can become very limited

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Hi All,

Thought I'd start a new thread which throws up life's little questions when flying on our favourite Kangaroo, but which probably don't need threads of their own.

Who knows, maybe Red Roo can respond to some when s/he is bored with all the important ones out there??

So, I'll start this off ....

Why is that .... I can check-in on my mobile for an exit row seat, but can't use NextGen Check-in because - according to staff - I have to be "sighted"?

Regards,

BD

This happened to us and, on enquiry, we were told that because an exit seat requires able bodied people to be able to open the door and help with evacuation, they must be able bodied - and not temporarily on crutches, for instance, and not infirm, or a youngster.

You are able to checkin & collect a boarding pass when seated in an exit row from a Next Gen self service kiosk (SSK) provided you have not already attempted to checkin online, via moible or using the Qcard reader.

If you know you are seated in an emergency exit row ie if you have been able to pre-allocate an exit seat via the QF Manage My Booking portal on the QF website ahead of time (ie not doing OLCI at T-24 hours) then you have two options for checkin:

a) If your QF tier status is PS or above, you can use the Premium checkin queue (where offered) at major cities or

b) Use the self service kiosks at the airport where during the checkin process there will be a pop-up screen advising that you are seated in an overwing exit & what your responsibilities are. You must select the 'yes' button to acknowledge after which you will receive a boarding pass just like you would for a non-exit row seat.

Other checkin methods that don't allow checkin when seated in an exit row:

Mobile checkin: In the past AFAIK you could do mobile checkin & ticket the box saying you acknowledge the exit row requirements & it would send the 2D barcode to your phone & you could either scan this barcode on your phone or scan your QF fflyer card (PS or above) at the boarding gate. I believe there has been a newer version of Altea installed that may have had an adverse affect on the ability to successfully do this.

OLCI: has never allowed checkin when seated in an exit row & by that I mean it will still show you as being checked in in the Altea checkin system but you would not receive a proper boarding pass when doing OLCI at home, just the bit of paper that says "this is not a boarding pass - see airport staff etc".

QCard reader: Used to check you in when seated in an exit despite saying "your checkin cannot be processed see a staff member" or similar etc. The CSA would need to reprint your boarding pass which displayed the popup screen asking them to verify the pax as being suitable for the exit row. Alternatively the gate agent could remove this comment from the boarding application without the need to reprint a boarding pass otherwise pax would board & get the dreaded beep at the gate.

Now the comment asking pax to see a customer service person will still appear however it does not check you in & I think this may be due to a newer version of Atlea that has been installed just as this has affected Mobile checkin.

 

[Hvr]

I actually sent feedback on this, the snack service CBR-MEL one night was just a cookie, yes just a cookie handed out by itself!

Heck even the Qantas website gives you more than one cookie.

Sounds like one smart cookie to me!! ... I'll get me coat ....


Regards,

BD

I think I should join you.

 

[juzdownunder]

If I can leave work early, arrive at the airport with plenty of time before the flight, then yes, I am happy to eat at the airport and not have dinner on the plane

But when I don't have that luxury, and have to OLCI and go straight to the gate - then I would have to go hungry for a couple of hours - and by the time I arrive, the food available at the arrival airport can become very limited

The world's full of people who think they don't have time to do anything...until they have to. "Plenty of time"? If you haven't got the 2-5 minutes it takes to stop and grab a ham 'n salad on the way to the gate, then you need to re-jig your travel planning. Yes, there will be the rare occasion where you front up to the airport and make it to the gate at the very second they're closing boarding. But I'm willing to bet if you knew there'd be no food on the plane, you'd find time in your craaazy schedule to grab some grub. If not, you deserve to go hungry.

 

[Pushka]

The world's full of people who think they don't have time to do anything...until they have to. "Plenty of time"? If you haven't got the 2-5 minutes it takes to stop and grab a ham 'n salad on the way to the gate, then you need to re-jig your travel planning. Yes, there will be the rare occasion where you front up to the airport and make it to the gate at the very second they're closing boarding. But I'm willing to bet if you knew there'd be no food on the plane, you'd find time in your craaazy schedule to grab some grub. If not, you deserve to go hungry.

Clearly you are lucky in that your business schedule allows you the luxury of having time before a flight to do this. 2 - 5 minutes before a flight to grab food? That time evaporates in one of those explosive tests alone. Let alone all the other routines associated with travel. As far as scheduling your flights, you must live in one of those cities that have more frequent flights to and fro than what Adelaide has.

 

[Turbo-g]

Why is it: I can only head East and North to use my points for upgrades, considering i'm as west as Qantas likes to go. QF re-directing to EK but not accepting points for upgrades, everything else for FF's is most welcome but heaven forbid the upgrades. Why not a couple of QF metals through Perth???

 

[juzdownunder]

Clearly you are lucky in that your business schedule allows you the luxury of having time before a flight to do this. 2 - 5 minutes before a flight to grab food? That time evaporates in one if those explosive tests alone. Let alone all the other routines associated with travel.

So make eating/food another 'routine associated with travel'. The only reason you don't do it now is because the airline does it for you. I'm so tired of people complaining about having no time in their life. I bet at least 95% of the times they fly, they arrive at the gate at least 5 minutes before boarding is even called. Don't believe me? Have a look at how many people are sitting in the gate lounges, let alone the various club lounges. Every one of those people have time to either eat before they fly, or buy something to eat on the plane.

Yes there are exceptions, rare exceptions. But the worst case is you have to go without food for a couple of hours. And like I said, if you knew the plane was going to be devoid of food, but you couldn't possibly go without eating during the flight, you'd magically find the time.

Hell, the airline could even get a food/drink vendor, like you see at the footy, to wander up and down the queue at the gate for the poor suckers who forgot.

I challenge anyone reading this and thinking I'm mad...the very next time you fly, ask yourself as you arrive at the gate lounge...could I have found the time to buy a sandwich? If you really, really didn't...then you were this close to missing your flight, surely...in which case you would've had all the time in the world to eat! If you're really able to turn up to a flight only seconds before it's too late to board, then you're obviously willing to risk missing the flight. And you should be thankful enough to have made it that the lack of food on board will be the least of your concerns.

 

[codash1099]

Why is it that when I check on the QF web site points and SC's earned on PER=DXB, I'm told there are no direct flights from PER-DXB. I can understand that they might use that for PER-SIN-LHR (no SIN-LHR flights) but why for DXB when they are selling code-shares?

 

[Kezzer]

Wondering why why why our favourite Kangaroo and so-called international airline Qantas, does not fly a single international flight in or out of Adelaide.
Why, if I want to travel overseas on Qantas do I have to fly domestic to dreadful Sydney Airport, to go o/s and then the reverse, including customs and a bus to domestic terminal to fly back to Adelaide?

 

[sjd]

This relatively minor but given all the food rant here I though I'd throw in my two bit-coin.

Why is a 17:00 departure CNS/BNE to a dinner service but a 17:05 departure MEL/BNE a snack service? Is is because people in Cairns like to eat early so they can go to be earlier? Well they could, but they will get held up landing in BNE due to traffic. Or is is because in Melbourne prefer to graze, like business people flying in from Asia at breakfast time?

 

[TheEmu]

...people expect to be fed on pretty much ANY flight leg within Australia?

/rant on
I don't understand the fascination with (let alone the constant whining about) airline food. I know I'm generalising, but bear with me....on a normal work day, when people aren't flying anywhere, they'lll eat breakfast around 7.30, lunch around 1, and dinner at say 6.30. In between they might have the odd glass of water, cookie, mars bar, can of V etc.

So why, when they're on a 2 hour plane flight from say MEL-BNE, do they expect food? And if they simply can't go 2 hours without jamming something in their gobs, why does the airline have to provide this? Airports are chock full of places to buy drinks, snacks and whatever portable food you could possibly imagine. If you have to eat while in the air, can't you just think ahead? Why does the airline have to find out if you need lacto-ovo, vegan, gluten-free or diabetic friendly meals?

I vote we clear the (domestic) aisles of those pesky catering carts, and put an end to people complaining bitterly about getting a cold piece of cake as opposed to a steaming hot pile of chicken & rice. Imagine the savings in catering and cleanup costs....that I'm certain our beloved carriers would pass on to our ticket prices, no?
/rant off

And I for one would welcome that with open arms (and a closed mouth)!

Seriously, if I'm flying to I dunno, Bali, Hong Kong, London or LA...feed me, and feed me good. But wanting a hot meal (or even a cookie FFS) on CBR-MEL? Wow...talk about first-world problems.

The world's full of people who think they don't have time to do anything...until they have to. "Plenty of time"? If you haven't got the 2-5 minutes it takes to stop and grab a ham 'n salad on the way to the gate, then you need to re-jig your travel planning. Yes, there will be the rare occasion where you front up to the airport and make it to the gate at the very second they're closing boarding. But I'm willing to bet if you knew there'd be no food on the plane, you'd find time in your craaazy schedule to grab some grub. If not, you deserve to go hungry.

So make eating/food another 'routine associated with travel'. The only reason you don't do it now is because the airline does it for you. I'm so tired of people complaining about having no time in their life. I bet at least 95% of the times they fly, they arrive at the gate at least 5 minutes before boarding is even called. Don't believe me? Have a look at how many people are sitting in the gate lounges, let alone the various club lounges. Every one of those people have time to either eat before they fly, or buy something to eat on the plane.

Yes there are exceptions, rare exceptions. But the worst case is you have to go without food for a couple of hours. And like I said, if you knew the plane was going to be devoid of food, but you couldn't possibly go without eating during the flight, you'd magically find the time.

Hell, the airline could even get a food/drink vendor, like you see at the footy, to wander up and down the queue at the gate for the poor suckers who forgot.

I challenge anyone reading this and thinking I'm mad...the very next time you fly, ask yourself as you arrive at the gate lounge...could I have found the time to buy a sandwich? If you really, really didn't...then you were this close to missing your flight, surely...in which case you would've had all the time in the world to eat! If you're really able to turn up to a flight only seconds before it's too late to board, then you're obviously willing to risk missing the flight. And you should be thankful enough to have made it that the lack of food on board will be the least of your concerns.

Wow! Talk about completely missing the point!
I don't know why I'm even bothering to respond to this drivel but I have three words for you: Low Cost Carrier.
Stick with Tiger & JetStar, juz - we'll all be much happier!
Thanks. :idea:

 

[mannej]

Wow! Talk about completely missing the point!
I don't know why I'm even bothering to respond to this drivel but I have three words for you: Low Cost Carrier.
Stick with Tiger & JetStar, juz - we'll all be much happier!
Thanks. :idea:

There is no need to quote every single post...

 

[pugwombat]

Why is it that every year when it comes time for my wife's Qantas Club spouse membership to expire, there is no reminder sent. Qantas staff rudely claim that it has been.... but it never has been and I don't expect it ever will. Once I had to pay another joining fee for her. Now I just keep it in my diary so they don't stiff me again.

 

[Pushka]

Why is it that every year when it comes time for my wife's Qantas Club spouse membership to expire, there is no reminder sent. Qantas staff rudely claim that it has been.... but it never has been and I don't expect it ever will. Once I had to pay another joining fee for her. Now I just keep it in my diary so they don't stiff me again.

Has she checked her profile? It may be that she has de-selected the receipt of (non ticket) emails from Qantas. And I'm guessing you check the junk folder?

 

[pugwombat]

Has she checked her profile? It may be that she has de-selected the receipt of (non ticket) emails from Qantas. And I'm guessing you check the junk folder?

We always check the junk mail folder and it hasn't been spotted there. I just checked settings and membership emails haven't been turned off. Still a mystery.

 

[Rebekkap]

So make eating/food another 'routine associated with travel'. The only reason you don't do it now is because the airline does it for you. I'm so tired of people complaining about having no time in their life. I bet at least 95% of the times they fly, they arrive at the gate at least 5 minutes before boarding is even called. Don't believe me? Have a look at how many people are sitting in the gate lounges, let alone the various club lounges. Every one of those people have time to either eat before they fly, or buy something to eat on the plane.

Yes there are exceptions, rare exceptions. But the worst case is you have to go without food for a couple of hours. And like I said, if you knew the plane was going to be devoid of food, but you couldn't possibly go without eating during the flight, you'd magically find the time.

Hell, the airline could even get a food/drink vendor, like you see at the footy, to wander up and down the queue at the gate for the poor suckers who forgot.

I challenge anyone reading this and thinking I'm mad...the very next time you fly, ask yourself as you arrive at the gate lounge...could I have found the time to buy a sandwich? If you really, really didn't...then you were this close to missing your flight, surely...in which case you would've had all the time in the world to eat! If you're really able to turn up to a flight only seconds before it's too late to board, then you're obviously willing to risk missing the flight. And you should be thankful enough to have made it that the lack of food on board will be the least of your concerns.

So here's the solution - you stick with flying LCCs, and those of us who appreciate being fed on board will stick with flying Qantas.

In my previous job, I was largely travelling with my boss, going from meeting to meeting, usually without time to grab any actual meals. I generally got time for breakfast, as I just got up early enough to eat. However I frequently didn't get lunch, and we often got to the airport as the flight was boarding. Not a matter of me not being organised, but a matter of being at the mercy of someone else's (very) packed schedule. When you're on the road all week, it's not like you can BYO snacks. I for one am grateful that Qantas serves food.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So make eating/food another 'routine associated with travel'. The only reason you don't do it now is because the airline does it for you. I'm so tired of people complaining about having no time in their life. I bet at least 95% of the times they fly, they arrive at the gate at least 5 minutes before boarding is even called. Don't believe me? Have a look at how many people are sitting in the gate lounges, let alone the various club lounges. Every one of those people have time to either eat before they fly, or buy something to eat on the plane.

Yes there are exceptions, rare exceptions. But the worst case is you have to go without food for a couple of hours. And like I said, if you knew the plane was going to be devoid of food, but you couldn't possibly go without eating during the flight, you'd magically find the time.

Hell, the airline could even get a food/drink vendor, like you see at the footy, to wander up and down the queue at the gate for the poor suckers who forgot.

I challenge anyone reading this and thinking I'm mad...the very next time you fly, ask yourself as you arrive at the gate lounge...could I have found the time to buy a sandwich? If you really, really didn't...then you were this close to missing your flight, surely...in which case you would've had all the time in the world to eat! If you're really able to turn up to a flight only seconds before it's too late to board, then you're obviously willing to risk missing the flight. And you should be thankful enough to have made it that the lack of food on board will be the least of your concerns.

obviously passengers in the USA do exactly as you say... the vast majority receive no meal service and will grab fast food or a sandwich before they board or while in transit. so of course it can be done.

but that's not the point.

from a competitive point of view, Qantas differentiates itself by offering snacks or meals along with a beer or wine and a cup of coffee. the cost-benefit analysis for QF obviously comes down in favor of the meal.

from a passenger perspective, it is convenient and comforting. and one less thing to worry about.

qantas wins. passenger wins. why upset the apple cart?

(and by the way... it's not a matter of me complaining i have no time in my life... I'm just LAZY!!!)

 

[clarksnow1]

Hey Qantas
Why have you cancelled all flights between Hong Kong and Perth. I have travelled to Hong Kong 15 times since April in Business Class and have travelled with Cathay or Singapore Airlines. There was demand for this route and then you cut it off after the Emirates Alliance.
Regards

 

[elbarto]

Why is it that the SSKs give you a coughpy piece of paper as a boarding pass instead of the cardboard ones like they used to? I'm slightly nostalgic you see and like the cardboard ones.

 

[amaroo]

Why do you think it's acceptable for customers that purchase tickets months in advance will be happy to swing it till T48 or less to arrange/confirm/secure the correct type/No of vehicles for chauffeur transfers?