Please restore my faith in Qantas

[QuikSmart]

I'm in the Singapore QP right now, having flown in from KUL. And frankly QF could learn a lot from their Asian neighbours. The short haul lounge in KUL in simply beautiful. I enjoyed some nice champagne at the Laksa/noodle bar after having a sensational 50 min massage. Here in the QP - it's dirty pizza and cheap wine.

If there is anyone next door in the First lounge, please restore my faith in Qantas. I am a qantas devotee (formerly gold FF) but have been living in Malaysia for a year now, and enjoying MH flights back to Aus for business and pleasure. I specifically booked this series of flights (enough regain Gold in the one trip) with Qantas, but now I'm wondering whether I should stick to MH in the future.

 

[Flashback]

Do note the MH lounge is rather new, and very much so against the norm for the type of lounge that it is

I've seen some photos and read some reviews, and it looks really nice though!

 

[straitman]

I'm in the Singapore QP right now, having flown in from KUL. And frankly QF could learn a lot from their Asian neighbours. The short haul lounge in KUL in simply beautiful. I enjoyed some nice champagne at the Laksa/noodle bar after having a sensational 50 min massage. Here in the QP - it's dirty pizza and cheap wine.

If there is anyone next door in the First lounge, please restore my faith in Qantas. I am a qantas devotee (formerly gold FF) but have been living in Malaysia for a year now, and enjoying MH flights back to Aus for business and pleasure. I specifically booked this series of flights (enough regain Gold in the one trip) with Qantas, but now I'm wondering whether I should stick to MH in the future.

QuikSmart,

I can't help you with the lounge access but offer the following. I'm sure you have travelled with various airlines at different times and I'm sure that you have had good and bad experiences with all of them. I certainly have had some 'interesting' experiences with the various airlines.

Remember that the lounge access is an extra and how the airline treats you in the big picture, how important the status is and how safe they are when balanced against cost that is really important.

 

[dajop]

I'm in the Singapore QP right now, having flown in from KUL. And frankly QF could learn a lot from their Asian neighbours. The short haul lounge in KUL in simply beautiful. I enjoyed some nice champagne at the Laksa/noodle bar after having a sensational 50 min massage. Here in the QP - it's dirty pizza and cheap wine.

To be a fair comparison, you need to compare a flagship hub lounge with flagship hub lounge. So in QF terms the MH lounge shorthaul lounge in KUL should be compared to the QP in SYD domestic T3.

 

[QuikSmart]

I've been to SYD International business lounge and it's not much better than SIN, just a little bigger.

I know the F lounge is the "flagship", but I was only in the MH, short haul bus lounge and while it's small, it makes QF look "CHEAP".

Don't get me wrong, I'm a QF devotee. I flew QF for years without complaint, but when I see what the competition are doing it's hard to remain religiously loyal.

 

[QuikSmart]

QuikSmart,

I can't help you with the lounge access but offer the following. I'm sure you have travelled with various airlines at different times and I'm sure that you have had good and bad experiences with all of them. I certainly have had some 'interesting' experiences with the various airlines.

Remember that the lounge access is an extra and how the airline treats you in the big picture, how important the status is and how safe they are when balanced against cost that is really important.

I absolutely appreciate what your saying. That's why I ALWAYS flew QF in Aus (and international). I'm about to jump on QF 82 to Adelaide and hope it impresses me, coz the MH 777 service is pretty damn good. I've never seen so much legroom before! And the cabin staff are sensational.

I'm doing this whole trip (SIN-ADL-SYD-NOU-SYD-BNE-SYD-SIN) on QF to keep my status, but I wonder if it's worth worth it?

 

[Evan]

hmm, whats the MH lounge like in MEL or SYD ??? compared to QF the same, i would expect all lounges in home ports to be good (although disappointed by Thai in BKK !)

 

[straitman]

but I wonder if it's worth worth it?

Only one person can answer that question.

Please let us know when you finally get the answer.

 

[QuikSmart]

hmm, whats the MH lounge like in MEL or SYD ??? compared to QF the same, i would expect all lounges in home ports to be good (although disappointed by Thai in BKK !)

Don't know about SYD/MEL. They use QP's in BNE and ADL. Of all the QP's I find ADL is one of the most respectable. New, large and comfortable.

 

[Mal]

Qantas/BA lounge Singapore - handles around 12 flights per day (only a guess).
MH lounge KUL - Handles 60+ flights/day (again a guess).

So first off, you have a huge difference in the number of pax the lounge caters for.

MH lounge in KUL - home airport.
QF lounge in SIN - non-home airport.

So you again have differences in economics.

Then there are differences in cost of staff, food & drink costs etc.

 

[harvyk]

Don't know about SYD/MEL. They use QP's in BNE and ADL. Of all the QP's I find ADL is one of the most respectable. New, large and comfortable.

Yeah, the ADL QP is something pretty special. I have to say that compared to some of the others SYD (T3) \ MEL (T1) QP's are just another room with seats (albeit a little nicer than the ones down stairs), and I'm not a fan of MEL (T2) at all. Infact last time I flew OS I didn't bother going to the QP at Mel at all (Went Duty Free shopping instead).

But as others have said, I wouldn't use the QP as the sole reason to use or not to use QF. (Even though it's my most visited club, inc all the sports clubs in CBR combined) as the QP is only one part of your travelling experience, and one that you can get up and leave if your not enjoying yourself. Once they close the front door on the plane however..........

 

[notzac]

Yeah, the ADL QP is something pretty special. I have to say that compared to some of the others SYD (T3) \ MEL (T1) QP's are just another room with seats (albeit a little nicer than the ones down stairs), and I'm not a fan of MEL (T2) at all. Infact last time I flew OS I didn't bother going to the QP at Mel at all (Went Duty Free shopping instead).

When was the last time you were in the MEL T2 QP? It was completely revamped a little while ago - it's actually quite nice now. The old one was a bit yuck, but the new one is pretty nice (certainly much nicer than the SYD Int J QP, IMHO)

 

[harvyk]

Mid last year was the last time I went down there (To me it felt dingy and pokey). I didn't bother going there at all a couple of weeks ago. But if it has been upgraded I'll check it out next weekend.

 

[openseat]

I agree about the ADL QP. Even at the peak times it is never really crowded. Likewise the DJ Lounge at ADL is very quiet and nice.
The MEL T1 QP, on the other hand, is becoming a real pain, crowded and looking terrible with dirty carpet (at least at the evening peak and post-peak). The toilet facilities since the creation of the Business lounge have been woeful.
As for MEL T2 QP, it seems fairly good, apart from its physical location, since its refit.

 

[harvyk]

I agree about the ADL QP. Even at the peak times it is never really crowded. Likewise the DJ Lounge at ADL is very quiet and nice.
The MEL T1 QP, on the other hand, is becoming a real pain, crowded and looking terrible with dirty carpet (at least at the evening peak and post-peak). The toilet facilities since the creation of the Business lounge have been woeful.
As for MEL T2 QP, it seems fairly good, apart from its physical location, since its refit.

OK, I'll check the Mel T2 QP out next weekend. Also you can say that again RE QP @ MEL. It's being going very downhill since the business lounge opened up. (The business lounge at MEL is what the QP used to be like)

 

[sadlier]

I think our thread starter is recognising that the Asian national airlines all go out of their way to keep their FF with good old fashioned service. CX are best and SQ are not far behind.

In Australia the idea that service is a factor in airline choice went down the drain with Ansett.

Even on domestic flights I get far better service from Vietnam Airlines than I have ever got from the flying rat.

 

[anat0l]

I think our thread starter is recognising that the Asian national airlines all go out of their way to keep their FF with good old fashioned service. CX are best and SQ are not far behind.

In Australia the idea that service is a factor in airline choice went down the drain with Ansett.

Even on domestic flights I get far better service from Vietnam Airlines than I have ever got from the flying rat.

Meh. Last time I flew MH domestic the service was very ho-hum. I'd just pass it as 'pedestrian', but no higher. Notwithstanding that MH can be pretty inflexible at times, but they will never tell you why. And if you thought QF was good at weaseling itself out of things, try again.....

Perhaps times have changed.

At least with QF if you do get smiles, they are free. (Yes, I will emphasise if you do...but usually it's there unless you yourself are in a bad mood and showing it.) I will also add that if you thought QPs are pretty boring, then there are a good swag of lounges around the world (Asian ones included!) that are even more boring (and no I'm not referring to the alcohol count).

And yes MH have a great lounge - both at the MCT (newer) and the Satellite. I haven't been in, but the pictures are pretty good evidence, although there is a claim that the Satellite MH lounge looks quite droll now.

 

[dajop]

I think our thread starter is recognising that the Asian national airlines all go out of their way to keep their FF with good old fashioned service. CX are best and SQ are not far behind.

Whilst this is true, CX and SQ also screw there FF's in a way QF don't. The cheapest fares on both these airlines often do not earn points or any recognition of loyalty to the airline. At least when QF sell $979 fares to JFK someone who flies them will get at least 20,000 pts, and 120 or so status credits.

At the extreme, one could become platinum flying MEL-SIN-MEL every fortnight on Qantas, and accrue 270,000 pts in the process. In theory on SQ, if you got their cheapest fares you may end up with zero mileage and treated no better than the person next to you who is on their first SQ flight. Great reward for loyalty NOT!

Some airlines do somethings well, others do other things well. Very few provide the complete package.

 

[anat0l]

One thing that annoys QFF members - new and old - absolutely to bits is the international upgrade system. The word 'lottery' would be a much better word.

You have no idea whether you will get the upgrade.
You have no idea how many people will get upgrades.
You have no idea how many people in the cabin above you are upgrades.
You can fly with the next cabin completely empty, i.e. no one who applied got upgrades.

Cons of system: no guaranteed upgrades, even if you have status; annoying model, especially if you realise no one got upgraded and/or the next cabin is completely empty. You'll never know why it happened that way.
Pros of system: apparently this is how QF is more profitable than other airlines. Whether that is socially a good choice of running an upgrade system is moot.

 

[JohnK]

It is a little unfair to be judging Qantas because the QF/BA lounge in SIN does not have a noodle bar or offer massages. I am glad that I am Australian and do most of my flying on Qantas. There are many airlines much worse and I have no doubt Qantas is one of the best airlines in the world if not the best. Perhaps I am biased....