Qantas Platinum One experiences?

[RichardMEL]

As nice as it sounds, let's be real it was probably crew. I've had multiple colleagues kicked off rev J flights to accomdate crew in recent times. They are bronze so I've been safe touchwood but QF can always make room in J where required.

I did occur to me.. but if they were going standby they may have wound up in Y anyway and if flying positive space they wouldn't have been bumnped (I do not recall any uniformed crew in the cabin, not hat it matters).

anyway I suppose the point was that a customer was given proactive treatment. Yes, you'd expect this for P1 and it used to be a thing, so it's nice to know it still can be.

(and no, I do not forget ORC, though it's a bit moot really given I already have the 1800 for rollover and extension so.....)

oh and today flying OOL-SYD-MEL, OOL-SYD was delayed (late inbound 717) at the gate I was told by, I assume, supervisor, they'd been trying to call me to offer me the direct OOL-MEL. I was happy to go via SYD anyway and all worked out fine (SYD-MEL copped a delay anyway).

so that seemed to be an airport operational decision rather than coming from VIP Team. Was quite surprised when the bloke clearly recognised my name and commented.

 

[IANASSUM]

After a few years of obsessive chasing and achieving P1 status I have concluded the following:

1. Qantas will never have a service oriented cabin crew culture - it will always be inconsistent and unreliable. My P1 status has been acknowledged twice in 4 years and I have often had to ask for components of the service not provided
2. Little pro-active service and long delays for that first beverage offer define this airline.
3. Lots of chatting in the galleys on many flights.
4. I can now tell within 5 minutes whether the CSM has real leadership skills or is conflict avoidant (sadly more common) and will not hold their team accountable for lack of service delivery.

My recent PPS experiences with SQ were very different (in a positive way) but time will tell

The most expensive J and F out of the country and on-board service which shows little appreciation of this.

AJ will never address the service culture being highly hyper focused on the $ bottom line.

Having dropped significantly in safety rankings to below 5, one wonders if QF can play this angle the way it used to (there has been very little media discussion about this)

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to your first post @IANASSUM . Don't leave it so long next time

 

[RichardMEL]

After a few years of obsessive chasing and achieving P1 status I have concluded the following:

1. Qantas will never have a service oriented cabin crew culture - it will always be inconsistent and unreliable. My P1 status has been acknowledged twice in 4 years and I have often had to ask for components of the service not provided
2. Little pro-active service and long delays for that first beverage offer define this airline.
3. Lots of chatting in the galleys on many flights.
4. I can now tell within 5 minutes whether the CSM has real leadership skills or is conflict avoidant (sadly more common) and will not hold their team accountable for lack of service delivery.

My recent PPS experiences with SQ were very different (in a positive way) but time will tell

The most expensive J and F out of the country and on-board service which shows little appreciation of this.

AJ will never address the service culture being highly hyper focused on the $ bottom line.

Having dropped significantly in safety rankings to below 5, one wonders if QF can play this angle the way it used to (there has been very little media discussion about this)

All very relevant points except the core.. that these are service and culture aspects of both airline's offerings, and imo don't relate to one's status (ie the slow, inconsistent service on QF will apply if one is P1 or Silver) and I am sure PPS is very good, but when I've flown SQ in J or F with humble *G status (which SQ care pretty much zero about ) I've always had exacting service and frankly have felt that I got the same as everyone else (which is fair once onboard imo) and even if there were Solitaire PPS there it's not been obvious which is good.

The real benefits (if any) with P1 is almost always everywhere but in the cabin (rarely I have been offered a first choice of meal option but this has not been that important to me - specially on domestic - others views on this will vary of course). The real benefits have been with increased reward availability, better access to release of seats, far far better treatment (but not always - because "consistently inconsistent"(tm) - usually - during irrops - as my experience just the other day posted above shows, the phone priority which has been a godsend over the recent troubles, and the other odds and ends (I don't include the random event invites, CL invites etc as I consider that separate and not terribly reliable).

so this post, imo, probably should go elsewhere. The service aspects - specially slowness in international J as example - has been a long runniung bugbear for many and is addressed in a few threads in this forum. Other service aspects are absolutely worth bringing to light with the inconsistent nature of application in my humble view anyway. Just don't think they are really related to status.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

I am sure PPS is very good, but when I've flown SQ in J or F with humble *G status (which SQ care pretty much zero about ) I've always had exacting service and frankly have felt that I got the same as everyone else (which is fair once onboard imo) and even if there were Solitaire PPS there it's not been obvious which is good.

Besides lots of op-ups to F, the main onboard benefit of SQ PPS Solitaire is first meal choices in business class. I think I also had more generous compensation when one of the seat lights wasnt working in F (other lights were still working so only a minor inconvenience and surprised they offered comp unsolicited).

 

[Peasant]

Besides lots of op-ups to F, the main onboard benefit of SQ PPS Solitaire is first meal choices in business class. I think I also had more generous compensation when one of the seat lights wasnt working in F (other lights were still working so only a minor inconvenience and surprised they offered comp unsolicited).

My experiences echo yours, @Kiwi_Flyer. There aren't many discernible enhancements for Solitaires, but usually meal orders will be taken prior to take off, whereas for other passengers it'll be once in the air. The cabin manager will usually come and say hello, but like QF, this is dependent on the crew and can be inconsistent. SQ is consistently good with getting that first drink within minutes of the seatbelt sign being extinguished.

I received a $150 voucher recently after telling the Leading Stewardess my main course was decidedly mediocre. Generous unsolicited compensation I thought.

 

[RichardMEL]

There's no contest of course between SQ and QF (and many others, let's face it) when it comes to service standards and overall consistency. Back in the day the word used to be "robots" but whule that referred more to perhaps the strict by the book rule abiding and perhaps lack of individuality in some crews (which personally I never have experienced... specially in F/Suites) but the other side of that term is all about the service standards being followed to a T and you get that reflected in the pax experience.

I can't comment on compensation or whatever given though it's nice to hear of curse. There is probably a manual of rules for what is given and when etc though. As in what may seem more proactive or unexpected is perhaps prescribed. Either way good outcomes.

 

[Ansett]

Ok some feedback over the latest's flights.

MEL-AKL No Greetings nothing.
AKL-SYD - No Greetings Nothing
MEL-SYD - No Greeting Nothing _ Major Flight delays and nothing from VIP ended up sorting it myself
SYD-CGK- Quick hello asked if I could have a scotch after take off Nothing and no further contact. Was told they don't carry Scotch on board.
SYD-MEL - Nothing Flight cancelled had to sort it out when I arrived and lost my upgrade - Nothing from VIP.

All above were in Y

CGK-SYD - Very friendly greeting and chat with CSM- Signed Postcard and thank you. Scotch straight after take off- excellent service through the flight and a warm goodbye and thank you prior to landing.

The above was in J

It was the exact same crew and CSM on the flight up and back to Jakarta - I asked if she remembered me from the flight up and its good to see that Qantas has now started having Scotch on Board as they don't normally have it . There was a slight blush and an apology.

Consistently Inconsistent

 

[defurax]

Last night my CBR-MEL was delayed from 8pm to midnight departure (it happens), but what I couldn't believe is that at some point the 717 config changed from J/Y aircraft to Y only aircraft and I went from 4C to 13E. A middle seat, in an half empty aircraft. I'd really like to know how the computer can move a P1 to a middle seat...

 

[RichardMEL]

The 717's are getting less and less reliable. Much as I adore them.. so many delays/cancels. Bet the staff and QF can't wait for those 220's to show up!

 

[defurax]

The 717's are getting less and less reliable. Much as I adore them.. so many delays/cancels. Bet the staff and QF can't wait for those 220's to show up!

Indeed, the captain told us that the first 717 went tech, the next 717 available was late and apparently couldn't be flown as it had just passed a deadline for an engineering check.

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

Recently I overheard a conversation onboard between FAs and groundcrew that someone in scheduling or somewhere in corporate have control over seat allocations for pax when flight schedules change. Ostensibly they have zero insight into status and seat preferences so say a 4.45 SYD-MEL gets cancelled P1, W Ps whoever (perhaps with exception of CL) get put in all sorts of seats and frontline staff then have to bear the brunt.

I'd suggest this is another item of feedback, especially at a P1 event. Get a client facing team or at least someone with knowledge of status to take part in seat allocations for disruptions.

 

[nutwood]

Jump back a few years and I flew QF domestic for solidly pragmatic reasons. They got me to my destination in a consistent, reliable manner at an honest price. Because I fly a lot and double SC's were a bit of fun, I found myself at P1. Apart from the occasional (very occasional!) upgrade and a Xmas gift, the only benefit was the phone service when a problem arose. The last few years, nothing. I haven't had a complimentary upgrade since 2019.
I stuck with Qantas through most of Covid but the flight delays and cancellations just wore me out.
Current reality, I'm flying VA. I'm up to 2170 SC's. Haven't had a cancellation yet although one flight was 30 minutes late. They have yet to lose my luggage (every third QF flight). I get priority boarding where I simply walk on the plane and sit down before general boarding. I'm still interested in flying QF but struggling to make it work. Recent job in Albury; QF $900+ one way, ex LST. I flew VA Business to MEL, hired a BMW X5 (only thing available!), drove to Albury, stayed overnight and had a good meal, drove back to MEL, flew J home and still got change from the one way QF economy flight. How can that work?

 

[dairyfloss]

Recently I overheard a conversation onboard between FAs and groundcrew that someone in scheduling or somewhere in corporate have control over seat allocations for pax when flight schedules change. Ostensibly they have zero insight into status and seat preferences so say a 4.45 SYD-MEL gets cancelled P1, W Ps whoever (perhaps with exception of CL) get put in all sorts of seats and frontline staff then have to bear the brunt.

I'd suggest this is another item of feedback, especially at a P1 event. Get a client facing team or at least someone with knowledge of status to take part in seat allocations for disruptions.

This is one I've had occasion to think about in the past, after ending up in a middle rear Y seat following a cancellation and the loss of my forward Y window seat.

It would be great if there was a way for pax - even if it were just the top FFs - to define preferences in the event of disruption. Depending on route frequency, I would rather sit out the backlog and fly comfortably later on, than be jammed in down the back of the next cab off the rank, but then there's also people that were bumped that want or need to get out right away, and will take anything they can get.

Wishful thinking, I know, but somewhere in between what the airlines do, and what pax desire is an answer. I don't envy the guys & gals trying to run this part of the operation!

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[RichardMEL]

As related in the other thread about requesting rewards...

Called today about 1pm. No hold time for HBA. Agent was amazing (he said I was his fall call today.. maybe that's why?! lol). I started with "I expect this is mission impossible but can you see..." and what do you know.. F seat release approved on the spot for QF11 SYD-LAX in September (he even had two dates approved so I could chose?!) and got return later in Sep also approved instantly

(I'd note he also said if it didn't come through instantly he could put it through and see if it would be approved - which while he did not say 'manual review' it was implied - and I had thought that was even gone for P1?)

Anyway he was super proactive too - as above he got two dates for me (I'd indicated the two dates because they had >A3 showing in EF and while I thought it slim, I thought potentially a chance for P1 rather than ask for a flight showing F3 A0 which would be plainly a waste of time).. he also looked up some other things as I mentioned my intended destination was ATL, but as expected there was next to nothing on AA available, but even still he looked at several options and the days around my F flights too - without me even asking - and he did find one that might have worked but it was on my friends birthday which was the point of the trip, so that was not going to happen ) so I just said well I'll figure out a revenue ticket or something (and work it to NOT have some sort of multiple booking/delay caused missed flight type snafu!).

The service was both quick, professional yet friendly and understanding, and everything went like clockwork. Honestly I was so shocked that the F seats came through that the rest I was a little unprepared for lol. I was very impressed. I know this is what we should expect from the day to day but we all know how things can be... so it's about 50/50 thankfulness on my part for the droid approving the releases and the very proactive agent.

P1 may not be worth chasing but boy it can have its real perks when you have it and could really use it!

 

[Matt_01]

Just a question, why do we think we are special @Ansett if I haven't miss read your post you were travelling in Y for what seemed to be the general whinge. From my experience when travelling J the crew used to some how recognise me and on a pre covid flight AKL-MEL I was somewhat taken back when the CSM asked if my daughter was on the flight. I replied no and she went on to detail that she had flown us to CN, HK and JP several times so they must have some records in the system.

 

[nutwood]

Just a question, why do we think we are special @Ansett if I haven't miss read your post you were travelling in Y for what seemed to be the general whinge. From my experience when travelling J the crew used to some how recognise me and on a pre covid flight AKL-MEL I was somewhat taken back when the CSM asked if my daughter was on the flight. I replied no and she went on to detail that she had flown us to CN, HK and JP several times so they must have some records in the system.

Isn't status about loyalty to the brand and separate to the particular class being flown? If someone is P1 from domestic Y flights, are they lesser than those who achieve it via international J on the company account?

 

[Matt_01]

Isn't status about loyalty to the brand and separate to the particular class being flown? If someone is P1 from domestic Y flights, are they lesser than those who achieve it via international J on the company account?

I personally have no loyalty to the QF brand, most of the time I sat in my preferred seat being 4C. I also ran my show for a while and most staff gained QF SG or WP at my expense, my advice to any one starting up would be to sign up to SQ

 

[nutwood]

I personally have no loyalty to the QF brand, most of the time I sat in my preferred seat being 4C. I also ran my show for a while and most staff gained QF SG or WP at my expense, my advice to any one starting up would be to sign up to SQ

If you are in QF 4C, are you not in a privileged position?

 

[Matt_01]

If you are in QF 4C, are you not in a privileged position?

Sure I have been able to get 4C since 2013 but for most of that time I owned the business and had a very flexible travel policy