QFF Ideas & Suggestions

[serfty]

...
I think the problem is not so much unrealistic expectations but that there is a contract with the airline. The airline basically says pay us $x and we'll put you on an aircraft that is going to leave point A at this time and arrive at point B, Y hours later. If I pay that fare, there is a contract that includes the timings specified when booking. Some people see no problem with an airline not meeting the conditions of a contract but then also get upset if the passenger might also seem to ignore the conditions of the contract. Sure, I understand that stuff happens but it's a 2 way street; it's a bit rich to only insist of enforcing the contractual arrangement when it suits the airline.

Hence the introduction by the EU of 261/2004.

• EUR-Lex - 32004R0261 - EN

The Airlines bitterly fought against it - IIRC even appealing to high courts etc.

I would like the Oz government to introduce a similar regulation.

Here's a pertinent excerpt from the preamble of EU 261/2004:

(12) The trouble and inconvenience to passengers caused by cancellation of flights should also be reduced. This should be achieved by inducing carriers to inform passengers of cancellations before the scheduled time of departure and in addition to offer them reasonable re-routing, so that the passengers can make other arrangements. Air carriers should compensate passengers if they fail to do this ...

...
(17) Passengers whose flights are delayed for a specified time should be adequately cared for ...

More in the intentions here:

• http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air_portal/passenger_rights/doc/2008/q_and_a_en.pdf

 

[Aussie_flyer]

No thanks.


No form of transport is perfect and there will be delays. The trick is to try and keep the delays to a minimum.

Having tight schedules just adds to the already growing number of factors that could cause delays.

I think you should use a private jet in future.

If airline didn't maximise use of the aircraft with tight schedules then we would be paying through the nose to travel. We are lucky how cheap it is to travel these days.

 

[equus]

I was lied when I went up "that my flight would be late" and they would move to an earlier flight". So a flew in a coughpy seat. I later found my original flight left on time; still carrying my golf clubs.:evil:
....
The announcers lie (or, at best, serve such dis-information) because they believe no-one cares ... How wrong they are!

In this circumstance, if the reason for the "lie" is to induce you to accept a move to a different flight for some commercial reason of the airline (like perhaps they have oversold the later flight, or need the seats for a late arriving connection), then the "lie" is probably "misleading and deceptive conduct" and in breach of the Trade Practices Act.

 

[simongr]

I think you should use a private jet in future.

How would a private jet help if the aircraft went U/S at the last minute or thunderstorms closed the airport?

 

[drewbles]

How would a private jet help if the aircraft went U/S at the last minute or thunderstorms closed the airport?

You'd use your backup Jet that travels everywhere your primary one does, of course

Thunderstorms, well, then you're up the creek.

 

[JohnK]

I think you should use a private jet in future.

Still saving.

If airline didn't maximise use of the aircraft with tight schedules then we would be paying through the nose to travel. We are lucky how cheap it is to travel these days.

How many flights does an aircraft on key routes do in a day? 8? 9? 10? Reducing one flight a day and spreading the time saved to the other flighs is not going to mean a significant increase in airfares. You will also find that some routes will not be affected at all.

And of course a lighter workload will mean less stress on resources and passengers.

Also there is also a huge difference between doing a lot of flying and commuting. I have done both and I know which one is more stressful....

 

[drewbles]

Still saving.


How many flights does an aircraft on key routes do in a day? 8? 9? 10? Reducing one flight a day and spreading the time saved to the other flighs is not going to mean a significant increase in airfares. You will also find that some routes will not be affected at all.

And of course a lighter workload will mean less stress on resources and passengers.

Also there is also a huge difference between doing a lot of flying and commuting. I have done both and I know which one is more stressful....

Not sure I agree with you there. For every segment dropped, QF are losing money. Add 1 segment per a/c dropped a day, and how many would be dropped, 70 or more?

That would then equate to say another 10 aircraft required to keep the same schedule as they have now (assuming they don't really want to change their schedule). The extra 10 aircraft then bump fares over the entire network. Of course they could drop the segments, but then the a/c are costing them more cash to keep on the ground. Those 70 or so cancelled segments are going to significantly affect the overall price of air travel.

That's how I would view it anyway. Considering current fleet logistics, they do pretty well as it is. You're always going to have the odd a/c go u/s, and weather cause issues, but be thankful we're not in the USA for weather delays. The east coast around this time of year starts becoming a nightmare, but at least the domestic carriers there have more a/c and a more extensive network to assist with such disruptions.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

How many flights does an aircraft on key routes do in a day? 8? 9? 10? Reducing one flight a day and spreading the time saved to the other flighs is not going to mean a significant increase in airfares.

Yes it is. Airlines need aircraft in the air as much as possible.

 

[JohnK]

Not sure I agree with you there. For every segment dropped, QF are losing money. Add 1 segment per a/c dropped a day, and how many would be dropped, 70 or more?

I could be wrong but I do not believe it would equate to 70 flights or an additional 10 aircraft. I am only talking about key routes that already have tight schedules already. Decreasing the frequency of flights on some routes should not require any additional aircraft.

I don't have the answers only possible suggestions. And in my opinion, and I could be totally off the mark here, it makes no difference if the once a day CNS-PER service is delayed by 30 minutes but a huge difference if 10 SYD-MEL or 10 SYD-BNE flights are delayed by 30+ minutes on any given day.

Also if departure and arrival times are not that important why do airlines publish (some times proudly) these flgures?

 

[AnonymousCoward]

If a plane did 8 segments, then removing a single segment would, presumably cause prices to go up by at least 12.5%

Additionally, that would result in about 2 hours being saved (30 minute turn around plus 1.5 hours in the air). That would add 17 minutes to each turn around period.

Is paying an extra 12.5% worth the delays that would be avoided by 17 minutes? I don't know (I don't know what causes the most delays). Would the decrease in schedule be acceptable to the public? I don't know. I suspect not.

 

[ejb]

... And in my opinion, and I could be totally off the mark here, it makes no difference if the once a day CNS-PER service is delayed by 30 minutes but a huge difference if 10 SYD-MEL or 10 SYD-BNE flights are delayed by 30+ minutes on any given day.

Depends if you are on the CNS-PER flight as I know that, other services apart from mine I don't care about. Pax would only care about their flight so any delayed plane will only bother those pax.

Also if departure and arrival times are not that important why do airlines publish (some times proudly) these flgures?

Would you be happy if airlines started advising QF*** will depart after 4pm and arrive 1.5hrs after takeoff.

ejb

 

[JohnK]

Is paying an extra 12.5% worth the delays that would be avoided by 17 minutes? I don't know (I don't know what causes the most delays). Would the decrease in schedule be acceptable to the public? I don't know. I suspect not.

Personally I feel it is worth it as the some of the alternatives to delays are purchasing flexible airfares (which double the cost of the airfare) or not to commute. I am prepared to spend an extra 25% on airfares to ensure I am not stuffed around by insignificant delays (crew member sick, passenger off-loaded as they had second thoughts, manifest could not be printed) cascading through the day. By the way these happen quite regularly and the ones that suffer are the people travelling at the end of the day.

I know a lot of the issues are weather related and not much we can do about it but there are also crewing issues and flights scheduling issues. I vaguely remember a situation a few weeks ago where we had boarded late, freight was not yet loaded and then after freight was loaded we sat there waiting for 1 crew member coming in from DRW on a delayed flight. Why should I have to wait all that time in an aircraft waiting for a delayed crew member?

Depends if you are on the CNS-PER flight as I know that, other services apart from mine I don't care about. Pax would only care about their flight so any delayed plane will only bother those pax.

I did say key routes as the volume of passgengers SYD-MEL or SYD-BNE each day far outweight the number of passengers on CNS-PER each day. And I am not saying that passengerrs on key routes are more important.

Would you be happy if airlines started advising QF*** will depart after 4pm and arrive 1.5hrs after takeoff.

Well that was going to be one of my suggestions earlier. Why bother having scheduled departure times? Just get passengers to turn up to the airport at 7:00am, 12:00 noon and 5:00pm. Then we go about allocating them seats on flights in order of importance.

Just out of interest does anyone track their own on-time performance? Official figures for QF are somewhere around 80%+ on time. Well mine are well below 50%. I guess that is life....

 

[mannej]

I don't have the answers only possible suggestions. And in my opinion, and I could be totally off the mark here, it makes no difference if the once a day CNS-PER service is delayed by 30 minutes but a huge difference if 10 SYD-MEL or 10 SYD-BNE flights are delayed by 30+ minutes on any given day.

2 things, yes it would make a difference. That CNS-PER a/c may be scheduled to run a BNE-SYD run later on that day. It would play havoc if it had later flights to do that day.

And those going CNS-PER have every right to be as on time as those doing a BNE-SYD run, so yes in the eyes of the passenger it does make a difference.

 

[sydstar]

Further to my earlier suggestion in awarding QFF points and SC's for all travel classes on JQ is this: Allow access to JQ lounge in OOL for all QP, SG and WP QFF members.

Some sort of 'limited' SC's for promo fares would be fine, and I could cope without a minimum points guarantee, but please JQ, give me a reason to choose you over DJ!

RE the lounge - for an upcoming flight OOL-CNS rtn on JQ, I will be able to access the QP in CNS, but not the JQ lounge in OOL (without paying) as a QPNB. Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous?

After all, it is well known that JQ is a subsidiary of QF, just as is JetConnect (NZ), and the 3 QFLink airlines, but seemingly QF doesn't place as much interest in the JQ pax compared to the other subsidiarys pax.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

RE the lounge - for an upcoming flight OOL-CNS rtn on JQ, I will be able to access the QP in CNS, but not the JQ lounge in OOL (without paying) as a QPNB. Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous?

No, pretty much everyone on AFF agrees with the above statement.

 

[samh004]

RE the lounge - for an upcoming flight OOL-CNS rtn on JQ, I will be able to access the QP in CNS, but not the JQ lounge in OOL (without paying) as a QPNB. Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous?

It’s not a QP though, it ceased being a QP when QF stopped flying there. It’s a JQ lounge. Now I agree that JQ should hurry up with a lounge 'membership' offering and look into providing some sort of reciprocal access to QP members, but as it stands right now, nothing in your QP membership says you should have access.

Plus, for $10 per visit (pre-booked), there’s tons of value in it.

 

[straitman]

I do not recall seeing this posted previously though I'm sure someone will point it out if it has been posted previously.

The (seemingly) simple fix to ensure the correct posting of JQ SC's and points allocations to QFF. From my reading of the forum and talking to people it seems that this is an ongoing issue.

I have an outstanding 11,000+ points and 140 SCs after nearly 3 weeks and after having scanned boarding passes for QFF. Pretty poor really. :evil:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous?

No you are not (as others have posted).

As I have recently achieved WP I no longer have this issue; but I feel for those who live on the Gold Coast who have to pay their way into the JQ lounge and pay their way into the QC (they can't earn enough SC's to get to Gold as QF don't fly to OOL anymore).

Absolutely ridiculous.

JV

 

[obsgyn]

I would like to see improvement in the transport of WP, Gold, business and first class flyers transported in a more humane way than in the cattle trucks that are being used at the moment. Qantas is showing that it does not care for its premium passengers or WP. The buses are always packed to the rafters. Some airlines are offering limousine pick up for premium passengers.

 

[samh004]

No you are not (as others have posted).

As I have recently achieved WP I no longer have this issue; but I feel for those who live on the Gold Coast who have to pay their way into the JQ lounge and pay their way into the QC (they can't earn enough SC's to get to Gold as QF don't fly to OOL anymore).

Absolutely ridiculous.

JV

It’s not hard to drive or take the train up to BNE for lounge access and SC’s, I do it all the time. I can’t imagine anyone on the Gold Coast interested in status that wouldn’t go the extra distance to get it, and occasionally OOL can be nice too, even if you have to pay $9.99 to get in, I certainly consumed more than $9.99 last time I was there