Is QF Uncompetitive ?

[Alanslegal]

An interesting analogy. I made a similar observation, except to say if EK & QF were female. EK would be Dame Edna and QF Madge Allsop !!

I had to Google who Madge Allsop is

 

[dajop]

I know one can fly with Emirates from Sydney to Dubai to Venice. But do Qantas planes do the same route, or do they only go as far as Rome?


Via the Emirates timetable, they used their own plane up till the 27 March for Melbourne to Dubai and then switched to the partner airline afterwards. For Dubai to Melbourne they have direct flights with Emirates planes, which I've booked.

I can't see the advantage of the QF deal with Emirates. Before Emirates provided the plane, and now Qantas does.

Qantas hasn't flown to Rome in 15 years! It only flies all the way to London, via Dubai, from both Melbourne and Sydney. But what you see when booking to Europe is that it will book you on an Emirates airplane (with a 4 digit Qantas flight number) from Dubai to many destinations in Europe (although it seems Venice is not one that has a Qantas code on it). The big advantage of this arrangement is that Qantas can offer connections to a much bigger range of cities via Dubai, whereas in the past they would have taken you to London, and then backtrack to Europe on a British Airways flight. Many considered this a pain.

As for your Venice flights if it is a 4 digit Emirates flight number between Melbourne and Dubai you will be travelling on a Qantas plane. Going to Venice Emirates offer two options - one leaving at 9:30pm and another about an hour and half later. The first flight is on Emirates aircraft, second on Qantas plane. Coming back Emirates offer two options also, one arriving back mid evening - that is on a Qantas aircraft non stop from Dubai and the other just after midnight - that is on an Emirates plane via Kuala Lumpur (it has one stop even though it is same flight number).

 

[wombatpatties]

What does the size of the pilot have to do with QF being uncompetitive?

Thank you for your comment - large airline, large profits, large airfares, large wages, large management, why on earth not large pilots?
Seems logical to me, but hey, please accept my honest descriptions of the world out there, of which the majority of QFF members seem
to be oblivious, except to whinge about ridiculous nit-picky subjects.

 

[Deleted member]

I had to Google who Madge Allsop is

OMG. I thought everyone knew.

I must be showing my age.

I told my niece tonight about desiderata. She is looking up a you tube clip right now.
One forgets how long ago our first flush of youth was ......

 

[mannej]

Thank you for your comment - large airline, large profits, large airfares, large wages, large management, why on earth not large pilots?
Seems logical to me, but hey, please accept my honest descriptions of the world out there, of which the majority of QFF members seem
to be oblivious, except to whinge about ridiculous nit-picky subjects.

If you read your OP, you didn't enjoy your QF experience due to miserable FA's (fair enough) and an obese pilot. Sorry but that is nit-picking and totally irrelevant to the topic at hand.

 

[burmans]

If you read your OP, you didn't enjoy your QF experience due to miserable FA's (fair enough) and an obese pilot. Sorry but that is nit-picking and totally irrelevant to the topic at hand.

+1, The OP can talk about anything they want but it's totally fair to point out it's irrelevant.

 

[Renato1]

Qantas hasn't flown to Rome in 15 years! It only flies all the way to London, via Dubai, from both Melbourne and Sydney. But what you see when booking to Europe is that it will book you on an Emirates airplane (with a 4 digit Qantas flight number) from Dubai to many destinations in Europe (although it seems Venice is not one that has a Qantas code on it). The big advantage of this arrangement is that Qantas can offer connections to a much bigger range of cities via Dubai, whereas in the past they would have taken you to London, and then backtrack to Europe on a British Airways flight. Many considered this a pain.

As for your Venice flights if it is a 4 digit Emirates flight number between Melbourne and Dubai you will be travelling on a Qantas plane. Going to Venice Emirates offer two options - one leaving at 9:30pm and another about an hour and half later. The first flight is on Emirates aircraft, second on Qantas plane. Coming back Emirates offer two options also, one arriving back mid evening - that is on a Qantas aircraft non stop from Dubai and the other just after midnight - that is on an Emirates plane via Kuala Lumpur (it has one stop even though it is same flight number).

Thanks for the explanation. My parents used to use the Qantas to Rome option until Emirates came along and made things much easier going more directly to Venice. And I recollect that when I wanted to go to Rome with Qantas FF points, the Qantas people put me on a Cathay flight - which should have alerted me that things had changed.

It sure would have been a pain going to London and then backtracking on another plane. The trip to London seemed never ending to me when I did Bangkok to London, couldn't think of anything worse than having to then catch another plane.

Fortunately though, Emirates offer another option for Dubai to Melbourne, Flight EK406 in early November leaves Dubai at 10.15am and is non stop to Melbourne arriving at 6.45am. I'm booked on it and have done it before. It is a long trip, I did wish I'd picked one that stopped at Singapore just to stretch my legs.

Regards,
Renato

 

[PineappleSkip]

Yes CX is much better than Qantas. So is SG!

I think the QF J hard product in the refitted A380s is comparable with CX (and EK). As for SG I tried them for the first time on Thu. Had low expectations they being an Indian LCC, which they surpassed. SpiceMax legroom well worth the 7% extra cost. But better than QF Y? That's a tough call .

cheers skip

 

[christanil]

I have been on QF J from Melbourne to LA quite a few times now.
I would still rate service and the seat design for CX > QF anyday imo.

However with CX i've only flown J from HKG to Mel and vice versa.

 

[leadman]

Just stating to do plan my next business trip; SEA then ME back to AU. All J class the fares just came in;

EK $10,100
QF $9,250
MH $4,450

Just staggering, and no way could I justify with EK and QF.

 

[JohnK]

Yes completely agree. I fly POM-SYD return each 3 weeks and Virgin offer a much cheaper fare by about AU$500 return and better customer service than Qantas. Additionally the Virgin lounges are great with their quality of food and drink. A no brainer. You cant just blame higher AU costs as Virgins hub is Brisbane and subject to the same cost structures as Qantas.

Which Virgin lounges? The international lounges or domestic lounges? The domestic lounges are nowhere near what QF offers and the international lounges simply do not exist.

I just flew BNE-AKL with VA. Cheap flight. That's all I can say. Nothing else. Just as well I had something to eat in the lounge before the flight otherwise I would have been starving on arrival in AKL at midnight. Knew better on the return leg.

By the way I am not defending Qantas. Far from it. Simply put the grass isn't always greener on the other side....

 

[verdi]

Doing some planning / snooping around for some fares for a flight between Perth & New York, and for the sake of this discussion used the dates 1/6/15 to 8/6/15

Emirates - $8,523
CX - $9,077
QF - $10,784

I want to fly QF but why would you spend the extra $2.2K for loyalty?

hi clazman - I agree that qf is uncompetitive. I too am a loyal qfer but balk at some of their prices. flew to Beijing recently and wanted to go Qantas but too expensive so chose cathay (would have used Malaysia but the missus said no). having said that however I will not fly cathay again either. the service on the plane ok but some of the staff on the ground need a wake up

 

[zoomzoom]

QF is more than uncompetitive, its exploitive of its protected position in the Australian market place, protected by government. Fuel surcharges continue when oil prices have crashed. The Chinese Govt made them cut surcharges out of HK but the Austn Govt/ACCC has done nothing. (The power of VIP treatment for MPs, paid for by the people who buy the fares) Expensive Pacific fares where there is cosy competition. An uncompetitive FF program, charging more "points" for flights than other Oneworld carriers. Credit chard fees for online purchases.

Frankly, the QF product is inferior to other "Tier 1" carriers and costs more. No wonder once travelers try another carrier they don't return to QF.

 

[ReLoad]

QF is more than uncompetitive, its exploitive of its protected position in the Australian market place, protected by government. Fuel surcharges continue when oil prices have crashed. The Chinese Govt made them cut surcharges out of HK but the Austn Govt/ACCC has done nothing. (The power of VIP treatment for MPs, paid for by the people who buy the fares) Expensive Pacific fares where there is cosy competition. An uncompetitive FF program, charging more "points" for flights than other Oneworld carriers. Credit chard fees for online purchases.

Frankly, the QF product is inferior to other "Tier 1" carriers and costs more. No wonder once travelers try another carrier they don't return to QF.

If it wasn't for those fuel surcharges you wouldn't have Qantas at all. Now that would be very uncompetitive.

 

[Deleted member]

Just stating to do plan my next business trip; SEA then ME back to AU. All J class the fares just came in;

EK $10,100
QF $9,250
MH $4,450

Just staggering, and no way could I justify with EK and QF.

I wonder how long MH can sustain that ?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I wonder how long MH can sustain that ?

I think you'll find it's a case of high prices by some airlines rather than deep discounts by others.

Australia is very expensive. The rest of the world looks cheap to us but in fact ex-au is horrendously expensive in comparison.

 

[amaroo]

I wonder how long MH can sustain that ?

They done it for a while by running "technically bankrupt" recent announcements for culling a third of their workforce, axing routes/frames will probably see them being able to do it for a few more years yet.