Qantas Staff Perks

[Chucksta]

Does anyone know what perks Qantas staff get?

eg: Subsidised travel etc??

Do staff members still earn QFF pts and SC on flights??

Chucksta

 

[littl_flier]

Thinking of dating a FA Chucksta?

Travel is at 10% of Full Cost for each class (ie. 10% of the most expensive Y, J or F class fare). Catch is it's all standby (supposedly) and there are no SC's or FF's involved. Staff must adhere to a policy too which outlines a few things including dress.

I believe there are also discounts of QP memberships etc.

 

[Danger]

Long service kicks in after eight years at which point the employee receives two round the world business class tickets for his/her trouble.

 

[SeaWolf]

I think a number of these benefits only apply to staff who are directly employed by QANTAS. If they're employed by MAM the benefits are less generous.

 

[MelUser]

My friend is a QF FA and she and husband travel J when on holidays. They do occasionally get bumped down to Y. Does anyone know whether a passenger requesting a points upgrade from Y (or B or H etc) to J will take priority over a staff member and/or family on holidays in J (Assuming that they have only paid 10% of airfare [that is are in Staff Code "standby"]).

 

[Alanslegal]

A colleague at work, is the wife on a QF engineer and they are entitled to 10% of the full priced fair but are placed on 'standby' and generally do not know if they are successful in getting seats until very very very close to the requested flight dates. She has told me their earliest notice of a seat was a week prior to the flight.

They do not earn SC or FF points, but then again, she said they didn't need to as they fly so frequently, ableit at weird times, and cheaply that they do not require to maximise points or SC.

At first I thought this was great, 10% of the price, but given it would be hard to plan annual leave etc given the unexpectancy whether you will be offered a seat or not.

 

[Standby]

My friend is a QF FA and she and husband travel J when on holidays. They do occasionally get bumped down to Y. Does anyone know whether a passenger requesting a points upgrade from Y (or B or H etc) to J will take priority over a staff member and/or family on holidays in J (Assuming that they have only paid 10% of airfare [that is are in Staff Code "standby"]).

I have a mate who works at BNE apt (sadly i rarely travel thru BNE so he hasnt been much help). Yes Dom staff can buy a standby J seat at when the flight closes the standby pax get allocated remaindering seats. The down side Dom is if they pay the extra for J and the cabin is full they dont get any refund back to the Why fare.
Internationally staff have to either have more than 7 yrs service or be above a certain job grade to get access to J/P travel on leisure.They olnly get confirmed into J once all the points upgrade pax have been done. Again pretty much standdy but if you dont get the upgrade you do get a refund of the diff between J and WHY. I have noticed many comments about how hard it has been to get on a flight lately and upgrades are tougher too as planes more full...the bottom of the foodchain in this regard is the staffer,Many dont bother apparently Domestically with their discounts any more with a bit of planning they travel DJ and JQ on sale fares ...a perk is only a perk when U get it

 

[Platy]

Yeah, fine staff get cheap seats as part of their package (In some cases) BUT such subload staff are SUPPOSED to be at the end of the queue, but I have certainly had many eperiencs of failing to get a domestic upgrade when there are subload staff in J.

I have also had experiences of them getting favoured seating in preference to real customers.

I have also personally witnessed such staff being allocated boarding passes well in advance of the flight departure here in CNS.

I have also been denied a FULL FARE J seat on a SYD-CNS only to find J full of staff.

So whatever the system is supposed to be in actuality real customers are suffering disadvantage - possibly through mates helping out mates on a local level.

The fact that QF management sit back and let this cough happen is one of the reasons I dislike QF so much.

 

[NM]

My friend is a QF FA and she and husband travel J when on holidays. They do occasionally get bumped down to Y. Does anyone know whether a passenger requesting a points upgrade from Y (or B or H etc) to J will take priority over a staff member and/or family on holidays in J (Assuming that they have only paid 10% of airfare [that is are in Staff Code "standby"]).

QF Staff travel is supposed to be a "space available" basis. QF FF points upgrades are generally processed somewhere between 24 hours and 12 hours before departure. At that point, the staff travel bookings should be considered. However, the yield management gurus that sit a dark room and make the upgrade decisions will often keep some number of business class seats available for last minute bookings, changes and displaced/misconnected passengers.

So when the staff traveller turns up at the airport having paid for a J seat on a space-available basis (known as an Industry Discount fare, often an ID90) the upgrade wiatlist has already been processes and is unlikely to be altered. So if those J seats that were kept available for last minute purchases, changes, displaces or misconnected passengers are still available, then the staff traveller will get them.

So its not a mater of one getting priority over the other. Its a matter of the timing of when the request (upgrade or staff travel seat) is processed and how the yield management department decides at the time.

 

[Platy]

Well, NM, I think you have just proved my point. Qantas is FAILING to manage a system/situation in which real customers always get priority over staff. If, as you inform there is an obvious reason for this in the way the system is set up, clearly that system is incompetent at delivering the best outcome for customers.

Personally, as a real customer of the airline, paying for and managing my own travel, bringing the airline sufficient business (mostly on domestic travel) to remain WP for some years, I find that totally unacceptable.

Not do I accept, as a customer of a product, an argument of "well mate, that's the system and the way they do it, so you might as well put up with it".

The frequent flyers I speak to only put up with this sort of cough from QF and continue to use them only because of the frequent flyer scheme, if at all. (The poeple I mostly know are small business owners who make their own travel choices and so are not bound by employer travel polciy).

 

[Platy]

PS. What I have been told by QF management is that staff seats are only assigned at 30 minutes before a flight so customers SHOULD get priority in a situation where they are attempting an on departure upgrade for a domestic flight. My point is that this clearly is not the case in practice so either the Qf management don't know their own system or won't admit/accept/remedy its abuse - in any case this is to the detriment of the customer.

 

[milehighclub]

Yes Dom staff can buy a standby J seat at when the flight closes the standby pax get allocated remaindering seats. The down side Dom is if they pay the extra for J and the cabin is full they dont get any refund back to the Why fare.
Internationally staff have to either have more than 7 yrs service or be above a certain job grade to get access to J/P travel on leisure.

The difference from Y to J domestically is about $10-$15 dollars so it's hardly heart breaking if you don't get the upgrade. J class travel is available to all staff domestically, internationally after 7 years of service and First is for Captains only.

I believe there are also discounts of QP memberships etc.

I'm not aware of a QP discount, but if there was it would be useless since you cannot access any lounge on a staff travel ticket unless the guest of another passenger.

As mentioned - staff travel is always standby - if you check in too early they can and do tell you to come back later. Even if they are spare seats in any cabin you can still be refused staff travel.

Also if you do see staff onboard they could be on duty travel. Yes, most duty travel is in J, but don't forget the company is paying for that staff memeber to travel J - just happens to be the company is an airline - it's no different if your company also gives you J class travel.

 

[serfty]

FWIW, when Qantas staff have to fly as passengers for work reasons (out of 'hours', positioning, etc.) with a few exceptions, they must fly in uniform and travel in business/first class. I believe this is part of their award conditions.

The other thing is that Qantas staff in CNS have a reputation for bending the rules when looking after "their mates".

 

[Platy]

Yes, Serfty, staff being repositioned etc count as DUTY staff, whilst those on staff travel count as SUBLOAD.

I have had my problems with the SUBLOAD staff gaining priority, who should be the lowest priority when assigning seats and seat numbers.

Glad to hear I am not the only one who thinks the rules are bent in CNS.

Incidentally, I personally don't think that airline staff should be conveyed in FIRST class. It dilutes the product when half the cabin is staff and only half paying pax.

Finally, many cabin crew I speak to don't have a clue how much real customers are paying for premium cabins - extra cheap flights and free duty travel in J can only worsen their perceptions of the value of the product they are supplying.

 

[MelUser]

I have a mate who works at BNE apt (sadly i rarely travel thru BNE so he hasnt been much help). Yes Dom staff can buy a standby J seat at when the flight closes the standby pax get allocated remaindering seats. The down side Dom is if they pay the extra for J and the cabin is full they dont get any refund back to the Why fare.
Internationally staff have to either have more than 7 yrs service or be above a certain job grade to get access to J/P travel on leisure.They olnly get confirmed into J once all the points upgrade pax have been done. Again pretty much standdy but if you dont get the upgrade you do get a refund of the diff between J and WHY. I have noticed many comments about how hard it has been to get on a flight lately and upgrades are tougher too as planes more full...the bottom of the foodchain in this regard is the staffer,Many dont bother apparently Domestically with their discounts any more with a bit of planning they travel DJ and JQ on sale fares ...a perk is only a perk when U get it

I'm not sure that (internationally at least) it is correct to say that staff come after points upgrade passengers.

Upgrade requests on QF close 24 hours before flight departures so any of the following would free up J seats for staff:

(1) J passengers changing flights or no showing.
(2) Points upgraded pax changing or no showing.
(3) Any spare seats left after upgrades which the load management people in Mascot have decided should remain free (for whatever reason)

These empty J seats are never available to points upgrade request passengers who have been denied and therefore all become available to staff who are on standby.

Perhaps the US system of having the gate agent assign J seats to those wishing to use points and actually being at airport is better than the current QF system. Except that there would be a lot of begging in QC and at the gate which one sees on US airlines and LH. In fact I was on a LH flight last year awaiting boarding at the gate and an announcement was made that there were no seats left in J and would people please stop approaching the gate desk asking for one!

 

[drron]

It has been interesting travelling AA on this trip.On 2 segments(DEN-DFW,DFW-ATL)there were AA staff in uniforn relocating and they were all seated in coach.On both sectors there were empty seats in first.

 

[serfty]

It has been interesting travelling AA on this trip.On 2 segments(DEN-DFW,DFW-ATL) ... On both sectors there were empty seats in first.

Admittedly, I have only travelled AA 12 times but I have not seen a spare seat in First class on any of these flights.

 

[milehighclub]

FWIW, when Qantas staff have to fly as passengers for work reasons (out of 'hours', positioning, etc.) with a few exceptions, they must fly in uniform and travel in business/first class. I believe this is part of their award conditions.

You don't have to travel in uniform - you can wear business atire but are required to have your uniform in your bag in case your suddenly required to work.

Edit:
Just to add - to allow for last minute upgrades, when travelling domestically we are checked-in in economy, then must proceed to the service coutner to get a regrade - and most of the time they only do it just before boarding starts.

 

[NM]

Well, NM, I think you have just proved my point. Qantas is FAILING to manage a system/situation in which real customers always get priority over staff. If, as you inform there is an obvious reason for this in the way the system is set up, clearly that system is incompetent at delivering the best outcome for customers.

Personally, as a real customer of the airline, paying for and managing my own travel, bringing the airline sufficient business (mostly on domestic travel) to remain WP for some years, I find that totally unacceptable.

Not do I accept, as a customer of a product, an argument of "well mate, that's the system and the way they do it, so you might as well put up with it".

The frequent flyers I speak to only put up with this sort of cough from QF and continue to use them only because of the frequent flyer scheme, if at all. (The poeple I mostly know are small business owners who make their own travel choices and so are not bound by employer travel polciy).

Well, as with most things in life, there are multiple ways to look at the situation. By not filling the premium cabins with upgrade, QF has in fact left the way open for the paying passengers (i.e. those paying for the premium cabin with $) to make last minute bookings or changes, and they have provided the flexibility to accommodate their loyal high-value customers in the premium cabins for which they have paid in the even t they have misconnected or been otherwise displaced. If they made available all of the unsold premium cabin seats for upgrades at the 24 hour mark, then those upgrading free-loaders (of which I like to be one whenever I can) could be preventing paying high-value customers from travelling with Qantas.

So that would mean you would I either prefer QF to not keep some seats available for last minute sale or for premium cabin flexibility, or you would like them to continue processing upgrades at the gate until the doors close. Now having travelled on AA in the LOTFAP many, many times, I find the whole gate upgrade process to be something worth avoiding. So please, Qantas, don't go down a similar path to AA where people are queuing at the gate service desk to look for upgrades, and then rarely having a flight depart where the premium cabins are not 100% filled.

 

[QF WP]

Ah, thanks for taking me back to 1992/4 when I was engaged (then married) a QF CSA at BNE Intl adn then going out with a QF Intl FA in 2000.

From my recollection, there were two "fare types" - QEA and QEB. I think "A" was life partner or spouse, "B" I think was nominated person (mostly immediate family member).

There were two classes. NM pointed out the ID90 and there was also ID75. I remember BNE/SYD/BNE was $48 on an ID90. Bit hazy whether ID75 was positive space or not. Certainly every time I flew, I was on ID90 (with my wife) and had the pleasure of being offloaded a couple of time (ADL my best memory, when I was due in BNE for a board meeting - thankfully it was changed to the PM)

Apologies for being a bit rusty...I'm not sure of all my info but I'm happy to be advised any changes.