It's true that some airline passengers can be incredibly demanding but Asian airlines don't seem to have problems coping in such situations.
The QF staff aggressiveness and arrogance rolls to a different drum.
Why are so many Australians obsessed about patronising QF when so many of the staff seem to have an attitude that passengers are an 'inconvenience?'
I agree with your observations and will attempt to answer your question.
(1) Some misplaced loyalty left over from the days before privatisation when QF was a truly national airline. Remember the "I own an airline" t-shirts?
(2) Purely practical reasons for those of us who fly frequently on both domestic and international routes. VA simply doesn't have the same level of agreements with other airlines which deliver the consistent, hassle-free benefits which OneWorld delivers.
If you can afford to do ALL your flying in premium cabins, (2) probably doesn't matter too much.
However if you have to fly economy sometimes, status benefits are useful. Lounge access in SIN, HKG or DXB can make a trip to Europe in Y much more bearable.
As can priority check in, extra baggage allowance, priority baggage and access to fast track security lanes - especially in Europe where the "green lanes" are often almost like a second airport within an airport (such as in MAD).
Recently I flew to Paris with a friend for whom a premium cabin simply wasn't an option.
Rather than abandon him I was able to make our trip in cattle class bearable with these benefits.
Although to be honest I am leaning towards using OneWorld partners such as CX for international travel from now on.
As you observe, the service is just so much better.
My sister in law would be struggling to break 5ft 1 and managed to catch a couple of flights last month without being tossed off the plane. Wonder what sister in law did differently.
