I think I may have been brainwashed... I'm flirting with the enemy now!

[bronzed and ready]

So I have painfully achieved Qantas SG through domestic economy Red Deals from Qantas.

I do the Brisbane to Melbourne commute 3 times a month on Qantas and now that I have been Gold for about 3 months, I think i may start flirting with the enemy (Virgin)

I have never spent a dollar of my hard earned money on Virgin but did do a Singapore Airlines miles redemption and experienced their product

Yes, it is pretty terrible for a non-status member. Shoved down the back of the plane, no inflight entertainment, no lounge and no baggage

I vowed never to fly them again as the airline just screams low cost.

Automated announcements add no personality, pay for food and one of my first flights with the big V, some business woman decided that because the seat in between us was free, she could put her legs up.

Seriously, disgusting. I had to poilitely move to another seat because of her.

I have just received a Status Match from Virgin and cant wait to try their product as a freshly minted Gold.

The lounge is a benefit cause airport are boring after travelling every second week
Priority baggage seems to always work on Virgin. (witnessed loaders specifically holding priority bags to be loaded last)
Priority boarding is open for Gold members

I think I might move my business to Virgin since I wont qualify for Qantas Platinum by the end of the year.
I can't believe I am even considering Virgin since I worked so hard for Qantas.

But I kind of got bored of the meatball penne which I have had about 6 times plus the priority baggage never works.

At least I can use my Qantas Status on international flights!

 

[leemin]

Interesting to note that status matches are still happening here and there

But I kind of got bored of the meatball penne

I hope you're not relying on this aspect being significantly different with the enemy! :/

 

[drross]

interestingly my wife perfers Virgin and any flights i've had since status match last year have been fine... priority baggage definitely works better with virgin.. qantas is hopeless in that regard.

 

[Pooch]

Apologies if there's another more appropriate thread ... I couldn't find it if it exists! Is anyone else frustrated with the contact responses (or lack thereof) from QF? As a WP for some years, I've found their lack of response and courtesy to emailed inquiries appalling. I took the V status match to WP and have maintained it for a further 12 months while watching what was happening with QF - their discourtesy and apparent unwillingness to redress issues has finally tipped the bucket for me ... once I've run out my current bookings I'm off to Virgin permanently ... OK, I feel better now having got that rant off my chest ...

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I have just received a Status Match from Virgin and cant wait to try their product as a freshly minted Gold.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but are DJ offering status matches at the moment?

 

[Ausbt]

are DJ offering status matches at the moment?

Yes I think we are all wondering that! What's going on bronzed? I've basically made the switch to DJ now and I'm pretty happy. I do feel if I had of gone for Plat with Q it probably would have offered up a few extra benefits (I don't really feel there is much difference between Plat and Gold DJ) but consequentlyu SGs are much better looked after at DJ. I'm aiming to keep SG at both as my personal international travel may still be with Q.

 

[serfty]

A DJ industry person making a presentation at the HSP June event indicated status match requests they receive are judged on a case by case basis. This is different from the "free for all" of a year ago.

 

[straitman]

Apologies if there's another more appropriate thread ... I couldn't find it if it exists! Is anyone else frustrated with the contact responses (or lack thereof) from QF? As a WP for some years, I've found their lack of response and courtesy to emailed inquiries appalling. I took the V status match to WP and have maintained it for a further 12 months while watching what was happening with QF - their discourtesy and apparent unwillingness to redress issues has finally tipped the bucket for me ... once I've run out my current bookings I'm off to Virgin permanently ... OK, I feel better now having got that rant off my chest ...

Go Pooch:!:

 

[Pooch]

Go Pooch:!:

Hmmm, coming from you Bill I wonder .... go as in "out damned spot out I say [woof]" :shock: or "you go get 'em girl" go

Seriously ... are others planning on jumping ship or are we rusted on to QF? It's ridiculous but I do feel somewhat nervous about this decision but I am honestly so ticked off at the moment, and have had such excellent service/experience with V ... sigh ...

 

[serfty]

Hmmm, coming from you Bill I wonder .... go as in "out damned spot out I say [woof]" :shock: or "you go get 'em girl" go

Seriously ... are others planning on jumping ship or are we rusted on to QF? It's ridiculous but I do feel somewhat nervous about this decision but I am honestly so ticked off at the moment, and have had such excellent service/experience with V ... sigh ...

If you have enough travel, it may be the go to get the best of both.

I stopped being completely faithful to Qantas 5 years ago - my Air NZ status holding me in good stead in combination with Qantas.

Now it's even better with that *GE status being reciprocated on DJ.

 

[RWJ777]

After the 'men travelling alone are paedophiles' policy by Virgin (as revealed in today's SMH) my flirtation with VA will be short-lived; I'm going back to qantas!

How I insulting and stupid of VA.

 

[travelislife]

After the 'men travelling alone are paedophiles' policy by Virgin (as revealed in today's SMH) my flirtation with VA will be short-lived; I'm going back to qantas!

How I insulting and stupid of VA.

I think you'll find Qantas have a similar policy it just isn't publicly known. So maybe it is off to TT and JQ who don't carry UMs! It is just an unfortunate incident as usually it would all be sorted through the proper seat allocations before anyone steps foot on the plane.

 

[Deleted member]

Until VA rebrand as anything other than a LCC , i am staying with QF.

 

[Warks]

I vowed never to fly DJ again in a rant on here about 9 years ago (think I had another username then) but have just requalified SG after they comped me last year. Started flying with them as they do SYD-TSV direct for half the price of QF who go via BNE with a 1.5 hour stopover making it 2.5 hours vs about 4.5.

My barrier to flying DJ was the lack of lounge access, priority check-in, favoured seating and priority baggage. I do miss the meals sometimes but when I fly QF I realise I don't miss having a table full of mess for much of my flight.

The lack of a lounge in TSV is NOT good though, especially as the flight home has been delayed by 2 hours on several occasions.

I dunno, for other routes if there's only a few bucks in it I'd still probably go QF.

 

[drross]

Not sure where they would put the virgin lounge in Townsville but it would be great to have one there!

 

[straitman]

After the 'men travelling alone are paedophiles' policy by Virgin (as revealed in today's SMH) my flirtation with VA will be short-lived; I'm going back to qantas!

How I insulting and stupid of VA.

I think you'll find Qantas have a similar policy it just isn't publicly known. So maybe it is off to TT and JQ who don't carry UMs! It is just an unfortunate incident as usually it would all be sorted through the proper seat allocations before anyone steps foot on the plane.

Have you looked at the Qantas policy?

I will be very surprised (though I'm happy to be) if the Qantas policy was significantly better. It's just that DJ have the bad limelight on this topic rather than Qantas.

 

[Comoman]

As I mentioned on a previous thread QF have a similar or identical policy for UM's. I know for a fact.

It's one of those things that's just not publicised. RWJ777 I"m afraid you're going to be a little disappointed.

 

[jdp]

I am a Discount-Economy Platinum (and damn near a Discount-Economy P1 last status year which I would strongly recommend against attempting), flying a few times a month domestically and 4-6 international per year. Almost always with Qantas.

I started flying for business with Qantas in 1996 and have stuck with them through an ever-decreasing service level, having mostly held Gold status through that period. Mostly the reasons I stuck with Qantas were timetable related - living in Adelaide means my early experiences with Virgin were one flight in the morning, one in the afternoon, and if you missed your return flight home you got sneering rudeness at the counter rather than any help whatsoever. So after some excruciatingly late flights and atrocious service I left Virgin Blue to their LCC goal and moved back to Qantas.

Last year when the status match offer came through I applied and got my tags, but again due to timetable I ended up only flying with Qantas, however recently where times are more flexible I've started giving Virgin a chance on domestic flights. Not quite enough to retain the status, I've just had the nasty emails come through but my next couple of months flights are mostly international routes that Qantas serves better so I won't be retaining it.

What I can say from my recent experience with Virgin is they've come a very long way from the Virgin Blue days. The flights were all on-time, the aircraft clean (are you listening Qantas?), the seats comfy (I find the latest Q-J seats extremely uncomfortable), and the experience pleasant. The lounges were clean although dark in the same way nightclubs are dark (to hide the stains) and understaffed. I had to leave one lounge (Melbourne iirc) early as it was absolutely freezing inside, and the coffee machine was on the blink. I know it's a petty thing but purple velour doesn't scream "open for business" like I suspect Virgin thought it would. Maybe not the type of business they were aiming at.

Overall the main complaint was it felt very LCC still - the planes have that Fisher Price plastic divider and little toddler gate keeping us proles from the important people, the FA's Strine was grating - I was "aksed" to put on my seatbelt, and everything seemed to be running on half-roster everywhere from the counter to the lounge to the gates to the cabin.

One issue I have is 2/3'rds of my flights are ADL-PER, which can take 3.5 hours Westward, which Qantas provides meals and snacks for included in the ticket (which is paid for by my employer). If I need to buy a meal it's out of my pocket and that will add up over a year of travel. A small thing but still significant.

I will say however that Virgin have always delivered my priority tagged bags up front, whereas it's so hit and miss with Qantas - around half the time they're the last to come out - that I've organised my travel around avoiding ever checking in bags on a domestic flight.

I would fly with Virgin consistently if they improve their timetable, fix the Jetstar feeling of their cabins, and provide meals with the ticket - as they're frequently more expensive than the Qantas flights anyway.

BTW - company policy says I always fly cheapest ticket, but usually on international flights I get a friendly visit from the CSM about an hour after takeoff. Never ever on a domestic flight - they must have removed that policy long before my time. Also I've not had a free upgrade on a Qantas flight in over two years (must have scrapped that policy), and have never in 15 years had an international upgrade - points or free. The CSM visit is nice, and they usually bring something nicer to drink from the front of the plane plus an Express Pass if you ask nicely.

 

[JohnK]

Is the grass really that much greener on the other side and I have missed it?

Automated announcements add no personality, pay for food and one of my first flights with the big V, some business woman decided that because the seat in between us was free, she could put her legs up.

Seriously, disgusting. I had to poilitely move to another seat because of her.

Quite easily fixed with a "Do you mind please!"

The lounge is a benefit cause airport are boring after travelling every second week

I agree but after commuting for 4+ years you learn to get to the airport as close as possible to flight time without risking missing the flight. The less time I have to spend at the airport the better.

Priority baggage seems to always work on Virgin. (witnessed loaders specifically holding priority bags to be loaded last)

This happens on Qantas as well.

I would really love to know everyones definition of priority baggage.

Assuming there are 20 Platinums, 20 Golds, 20 Silvers, 50 Bronze. Not every bag can come out first on the carousel. If my bag is in the first 50 bags out then i am happy.

But I kind of got bored of the meatball penne which I have had about 6 times plus the priority baggage never works.

What do you think you going to get on Virgin?

 

[Warks]

What do you think you going to get on Virgin?

Nothin'!

I contemplated buying a 'meal' for the first time recently as it was about a 1245 flight and I'd not eaten. When I saw I'd be paying $10 for a cold soggy whatever I decided to wait until dinner at home! If it's going to be a cold soggy whatever I don't want to pay more than $6!


And is it just my ears or the sound system on every DJ plane but does the woman in the safety announcement have the worst lisp since Ita Buttrose?

"We have thix exitth on our theven thix theven thix hundred!"