This is dinner on QF CNS - SYD

[Popeye]

16:55 departure

Flight details clearly say dinner.

View attachment 135241

That what the CSM said .. We are pleased to serve you DINNER

 

[blackcat20]

Must let QF know. If it happens once or twice no big deal but if on regular basis this is misleading advertisement.

We let them know, they weren’t interested.

 

[boomy]

We let them know, they weren’t interested.

Hopefully enough pax raise the issue to make then interested.

 

[Popeye]

We let them know, they weren’t interested.

If enough people walk away ... they will have to listen

 

[juddles]

.....

If an airline wants to go to a low cost model they are free to do so......

Please do not even say this! Both VA and QF have already moved their "premium" lines closer to LCC's with such things as downgraded meals as the OP experienced. It is consumers selecting by sheer pricing which drives the perpetual need to cut costs (and thus service). I fear that we are on a downward path where consumers drive the price down so far service will diminish even more as the airlines try to break even. I fear the day when in Australia we are left with a couple of LCC's and nothing more. Everyone will be whinging that they have to pay for food and drinks, but they will also be whinging as to why LCC (A) "rips you off" by charging $50 SYD-MEL, when LCC (B) only charges $49.....

Edit, BTW I express this fear through experience - in Chile LATAM, the most premium airline in South America, due to pricing pressure by LCC's now does not even have domestic lounges for elite travellers. I am "Black" with them (One World Emerald or QF WP equivalent) yet if I want a water or a coffee on a domestic flight I have to BUY it!! Please let's not QF suffer the same.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It is consumers selecting by sheer pricing which drives the perpetual need to cut costs (and thus service).

But is it though? If QF charges $115 MEL-SYD and they increase that to $116 and provide a full hot meal, will it drive consumers away in droves? And to where?

QF charges more than other airlines to fly to Europe but seems happy with their load factors. So price doesn't necessarily seem to be an issue with its customers.

I agree that going too far to the right (no free food and drink) would be a deal breaker. BA did this for Europe and I no longer fly them except from LCY which still provides full service, for free.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

What's the difference between the $184 QF airfare, $155 VA airfare, $130 JQ airfare or the $88 TT airfare? Food and beverage should be included and decent quality right? Otherwise I cannot see why there's $29 difference.

Where's KPC? He can give you an interesting insight to a recent TT SYD/MEL flight.

 

[juddles]

But is it though? If QF charges $115 MEL-SYD and they increase that to $116 and provide a full hot meal, will it drive consumers away in droves? .....

Do you really think it costs a dollar?????

 

[Popeye]

Do you really think it costs a dollar?????

The problem is that the difference between QF and what JQ offers is narrowing. This is by design... this has been the plan for a long time and is a long slow softening up process. Prediction is that you will have JQ style service albeit under a QF banner eventually .... all about lowering costs.. Ryanair hear we come

 

[juddles]

I agree that airlines talk up their product, but consumers expectations seem to have no bounds. One gets a 1000km flight on a million dollar aircraft and expects dinner during a 2 hr trip that cost a hundred bucks. You get a half hour Uber ride for half that, it moves you only 40km, but we expect no dinner .

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Do you really think it costs a dollar?????

For sure... working on the basis that there's already 50c to $1 allowed for catering. An extra $1 would get you a proper hot meal. You can look at Lite'n'Easy, Lean Cuisine, Aldi, Woollies brand... all sorts of hot meals that retail for just a few dollars in the supermarket. Now half that for bulk buy and wholesale, and you have a more substantial hot meal for $1 extra. Even superfood 'healthy' meal bowls (with kale and other 'ancient grains' are only $4 in the supermarkets, full retail.

Granted - if the airline provided no catering at all, the cost of meals can be significant... purchasing, storage, transport to the airport, loading, heating, waste disposal. But QF already provides that, so the incremental cost isn't going to be too big.

 

[juddles]

For sure... working on the basis that there's already 50c to $1 allowed for catering......

where do you get this from??? It is nonsensical!

 

[mannej]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t Q Catering been offloaded to Dnata?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I agree that airlines talk up their product, but consumers expectations seem to have no bounds. One gets a 1000km flight on a million dollar aircraft and expects dinner during a 2 hr trip that cost a hundred bucks. You get a half hour Uber ride for half that, it moves you only 40km, but we expect no dinner .

Again... this is all part of the business model to make money. It's just part of competition. Airlines introduce new aircraft to save fuel, save maintenance, and as an added bonus they can use marketing to appeal to passengers and attract more business. It's not for the passenger to be 'appreciative' in anyway that the airline is doing us a favour by introducing the 787/350 etc. Airlines will do whatever it takes to make money. The passenger comes second in that equation. But if an airline chooses to market 'dinner' in order to attract customers, the customer should expect dinner. Not sit back and think, 'hey, I didn't get what's promised but that's ok, the airline is paying off their new 787'.

The costs of an uber providing a hot meal would be prohibitive in relation to the fare and journey time. Airlines have mass market buying power and all the equipment needed on board to heat it up.

 

[boomy]

I agree that airlines talk up their product, but consumers expectations seem to have no bounds. One gets a 1000km flight on a million dollar aircraft and expects dinner during a 2 hr trip that cost a hundred bucks. You get a half hour Uber ride for half that, it moves you only 40km, but we expect no dinner .

This thread has nothing to do with consumer expectations. QF advertise dinner on the OP flight. The OP did not receive dinner by QF own standards. It’s completely irrelevant how much the aircraft cost or how long the flight was.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

where do you get this from??? It is nonsensical!

On most flights in economy the 'catering' is a tiny bag of crisps or an apple. So you'd be lucky to have 10c there. Some flights might get a more substantial snack or reheated meal. The airline is paying wholesale, not retail for these. And as I mentioned above, frozen meals are pretty cheap.

Even business class I estimate the average allowed per passenger is about $2.50 - averaging out the toasted sarnie (50c?) on some flights vs the chicken breast on another (maybe a couple bucks, at most).

I'm not including alcohol or other beverages in that.

 

[juddles]

On most flights in economy the 'catering' is a tiny bag of crisps or an apple. So you'd be lucky to have 10c there. Some flights might get a more substantial snack or reheated meal. The airline is paying wholesale, not retail for these. And as I mentioned above, frozen meals are pretty cheap.

Even business class I estimate the average allowed per passenger is about $2.50 - averaging out the toasted sarnie (50c?) on some flights vs the chicken breast on another (maybe a couple bucks, at most).

MEL-traveller, forgive me, but that is all utter nonsense. A small domestic flight (737) has about 150 pax. So by your reckoning at 50c per catering allotment it costs only $75 for the flight? That would barely (if) pay for the driver of the van that approaches the aircraft. If you are going to quote costs, at least have some basis for these. And these figures appear to be comparing what "someone" can find in Woolies, then "halving" them as "it must be cheaper wholesale". I can make a coffee for about 50 cents. Do I begrudge paying a few dollars at a cafe? No. This sort of simplistic, zero-reality argument just foments stupidities in expectations - far more so than the marketing hype of the airlines themselves.....

 

[MEL_Traveller]

A small domestic flight (737) has about 150 pax. So by your reckoning at 50c per catering allotment it costs only $75 for the flight?

75 apples and 75 bags of chips for $75? Not out of the ballpark.

We're not talking about the logistics cost here. This discussion was based on expectations to provide a proper hot meal. The van is already pulling up to the plane to deliver the apple, or the sliders. So that cost is fixed. If the sliders cost a dollar, the provision of a more substantial meal for $2 is the issue.

Here's an example: Health & Vitality Green Chicken Curry 320g - ALDI Australia $2.69 is the retail price. Wholesale will be cheaper. (Excluding the cost of the logisitcs which are already there, regardless of the product being offered on board.)

 

[juddles]

This thread has nothing to do with consumer expectations. QF advertise dinner on the OP flight. The OP did not receive dinner by QF own standards. It’s completely irrelevant how much the aircraft cost or how long the flight was.

Sorry boomy, but this thread is exactly about consumer (ie the OP's) expectations. That is what he wrote. The angle about what QF advertises was introduced later.....

 

[boomy]

Sorry boomy, but this thread is exactly about consumer (ie the OP's) expectations. That is what he wrote. The angle about what QF advertises was introduced later.....

Nope, it’s about the airline not delivering the service advertised. The OP did not expect anything more or less.