We really want to fly QF, but can't justify the price

[TomVexille]

Well there is certainly a lot I could do with 100K points, and lounge access will be nice considering we will have 3 to 4 hours to kill at SYD (driving up from CBR early that morning, since the kids are experts at stuffing around, we want as much time up our sleeve as possible)

I assume you have status on QF since you have lounge access, which would also possibly mean better seat selection. Not having to buy food/drinks at the airport will save you a little cash (assuming you don't pack ridiculous amounts of nibbles for the kids like my mum used to). and 100k points is enough for an Y return, or one way in J.

 

[Limewood]

What month/s did you want to travel in?.

 

[BD1959]

I have the same problem for Mel-LHR in January. Qf comes in at $6300, but Malaysia and Singapore is $5200. That's nearly 20% more.??

Comparing MH and QF - I'd be tempted to pay the extra 20%. Whenever I've flown MH previously, the difference has been closer to 65%.

MH downsides: A330 MEL-KUL-MEL. The J slopey bed is off-putting to most. The Y service (since you don't state which) is ... erm ... perfunctory - especially on full flights. Lounges at KUL and LHR leave a lot to be desired (I haven't tried the new FLounge in the Satellite at KUL. No J-chauffeur service ... could be worth a bob or two. Online MMB even worse than QF's booking engine (yes, it's possible!!). A380 AVOD with less choice than the A330.

MH upsides: Choice of flight times ex MEL and ex LHR. J service (if flying J) - especially the signature satays. On-demand J snacks that last the whole flight.

Regards,

BD

 

[willjd]

Comparing MH and QF - I'd be tempted to pay the extra 20%. Whenever I've flown MH previously, the difference has been closer to 65%.

MH downsides: A330 MEL-KUL-MEL. The J slopey bed is off-putting to most. The Y service (since you don't state which) is ... erm ... perfunctory - especially on full flights. Lounges at KUL and LHR leave a lot to be desired (I haven't tried the new FLounge in the Satellite at KUL. No J-chauffeur service ... could be worth a bob or two. Online MMB even worse than QF's booking engine (yes, it's possible!!). A380 AVOD with less choice than the A330.

MH upsides: Choice of flight times ex MEL and ex LHR. J service (if flying J) - especially the signature satays. On-demand J snacks that last the whole flight.

Regards,

BD

Am flying Y unfortunately. The other factor will be flight times. If QF9 is moved from 4.15pm to say 6am then would go for SQ / MH. Have flown MH Y before and found them on a par with QF. Never flown SQ but heard good things

 

[Flying mermaid]

there has always been a big difference between QF and some other airlines. It has always been about value for money for me - I have been happy to pay the premium because I perceived I was getting a better product. Have to admit I am not quite as sure as I was...... The one time I strayed outside the fold was in 2009 when we picked up an Etihad F fare to London for less than the QF J fare. I was almost a convert to Etihad but then we had an awful leg back into Sydney, with toilets failing and abysmal service in F. I returned to Qantas in relief, but reading some of the reports on here I wonder if Qantas is not losing the plot....Have my first flights with Emirates in F in August so looking forward to compare.....

 

[harvyk]

What month/s did you want to travel in?.

Looking at May or June, did the initial checks for mid May although now leaning more towards June (although QF in June is back up to $10,162 whilst AirNZ are right now sitting at $5,236)...

 

[hutch]

Qantas gets good loads to the USA, which suggest people are paying the price they are asking for. I have fares booked to the US in September which I booked for $1299 - that is a great price and is not the only time I have gotten a great fare on the Roo internationally. Granted, I have the flexibility to wait for specials before I book.

I find it somewhat odd that people expect QF to price match at the lowest price of the day. If they did that, it would be a race to the bottom. If QF is too expensive on that day, try another airline.

 

[harvyk]

Qantas gets good loads to the USA, which suggest people are paying the price they are asking for. I have fares booked to the US in September which I booked for $1299 - that is a great price and is not the only time I have gotten a great fare on the Roo internationally. Granted, I have the flexibility to wait for specials before I book.

I find it somewhat odd that people expect QF to price match at the lowest price of the day. If they did that, it would be a race to the bottom. If QF is too expensive on that day, try another airline.

If it was just me, then I would prob pay the price they are asking for a single seat, but as a family of 6 the prob is that I'm not about to spend double the price to fly with a roo on the tail. I don't expect a price match, I do however expect prices to be within the same ball park for the same sorts of flights.

QF have being saying that their international arm has been operating at a loss for years, well here is a pretty much die hard QF fan about to book with another airline because QF are going to be just way too expensive and not offer anything really substantial for the price.

 

[willjd]

If it was just me, then I would prob pay the price they are asking for a single seat, but as a family of 6 the prob is that I'm not about to spend double the price to fly with a roo on the tail. I don't expect a price match, I do however expect prices to be within the same ball park for the same sorts of flights.

QF have being saying that their international arm has been operating at a loss for years, well here is a pretty much die hard QF fan about to book with another airline because QF are going to be just way too expensive and not offer anything really substantial for the price.

Exactly. Maybe (as others have said) if QF repositions itself as a ultra premium airline then people would pay these costs. If for example i was getting 34 inches of leg room in economy and an 19 inch wide seat then i would pay the extra to fly QF over SQ/MH/EK. But currently there is little point of difference in product hence why customers wont pay extra to fly QF.

 

[ftm]

Well there is certainly a lot I could do with 100K points, and lounge access will be nice considering we will have 3 to 4 hours to kill at SYD (driving up from CBR early that morning, since the kids are experts at stuffing around, we want as much time up our sleeve as possible)

Would you not bundle the CBR to SYD flight with the flight to the US to avoid the drive?

 

[harvyk]

Would you not bundle the CBR to SYD flight with the flight to the US to avoid the drive?

Bundling the CBR-SYD flight typically adds around $200 to the cost of the flights. Not too bad if it was just me (since it comes in about par with driving and parking for the week), but with the family that comes in around the $1,000 mark... I'll certainly look at options for including the first hop, but I doubt I'll find anything which comes in cheaper or the same price as simply driving up with the family.

 

[eastwest101]

harrvk, don't knock the bus or train for maybe the CBR-SYD, I have heard from many Canberrans that the service is not bad and saves you being robbed by Car Parking fees while you are away. Maybe worth flying back SYD-CBR though, after a long transpacific flight. Though I assume you have already considered these.

But agree with you original point - QF either need to get real with their prices or as willjd says, show us the product to justify their sometimes massive premium, you can do a lot with $5K AUD in the USA. As you say - in your particular example - QF are not even in the same ballpark....

 

[hutch]

If it was just me, then I would prob pay the price they are asking for a single seat, but as a family of 6 the prob is that I'm not about to spend double the price to fly with a roo on the tail. I don't expect a price match, I do however expect prices to be within the same ball park for the same sorts of flights.

QF have being saying that their international arm has been operating at a loss for years, well here is a pretty much die hard QF fan about to book with another airline because QF are going to be just way too expensive and not offer anything really substantial for the price.

But it isn't like for like... the kiwi's are having a great special. Airlines put their seats on sales at different times, its a free market. If Qantas dropped its price to match (or come close to) Air New Zealand's sale, what happens next week if United releases even cheaper seats? Should Qantas drop its price again?

Qantas is pricing its product based on its supply v demand system. I'm a Qantas fan too, I check out there prices and if they are too expensive on the day, I do what I would do with any other purchase and check elsewhere.

On your final point, it respectfully makes zero sense. Essentially Qantas Int is losing money, but since you are loyal, they should lower their price (and hence make less money than selling the seats at the price they are advertising). That only works is Qantas does not sell the seats and based on loads to the USA, they do! Qantas is a business, the business should charge as much as the market is willing to pay. If they are charging too much, people won't buy the tickets and then they will need to correct the price.

 

[Emkay]

Qantas is a business, the business should charge as much as the market is willing to pay. If they are charging too much, people won't buy the tickets and then they will need to correct the price.

Having tried quite a few others, I keep coming back to Qantas. But I don't recall many QF flights that were the cheapest I could get. For the historic service levels, reliability, etc etc, I have always paid more and I will continue to be willing to do this. I won't pay more if those factors deteriorate because Qantas has decided to be a LCC! It's not just blind loyalty to Qantas, it's loyalty to Oz business. All the 9 cars I have owned over the years have been Australian-made (but only the best of them have also been Australian designed). I think we ought to be prepared to pay a little more for the sake of the Australian economy and to avoid total dependence on imports. We certainly have no right to bleat if Qantas goes the way of Ansett while we fly Malaysian. Nor to bleat about the demise of the Oz vehicle industry if we will only drive a BMW

 

[harvyk]

But it isn't like for like... the kiwi's are having a great special. Airlines put their seats on sales at different times, its a free market. If Qantas dropped its price to match (or come close to) Air New Zealand's sale, what happens next week if United releases even cheaper seats? Should Qantas drop its price again?

Qantas is pricing its product based on its supply v demand system. I'm a Qantas fan too, I check out there prices and if they are too expensive on the day, I do what I would do with any other purchase and check elsewhere.

So because a vendor has offered a product for a certain price, I'm not allowed to go to said vendor and ask "I want to use you guys, but I don't like the price, can you do better"? That's pretty much the basis behind negotiation. If they say no, I'll reevaluate my position, if they say yes, then I'm better off. Besides, after speaking with a QF rep on FB, it sounds like they are wanting to see if they can do a better deal for us, and if that is the case and I like what they offer, then I will chose to fly with them.

Keep in mind that half the reason why this forum exists is to discuss methods for stretching the travel dollar further.

On your final point, it respectfully makes zero sense. Essentially Qantas Int is losing money, but since you are loyal, they should lower their price (and hence make less money than selling the seats at the price they are advertising). That only works is Qantas does not sell the seats and based on loads to the USA, they do! Qantas is a business, the business should charge as much as the market is willing to pay. If they are charging too much, people won't buy the tickets and then they will need to correct the price.

It make perfect sense. How much profit do you make on a sale of $0? If your business makes no sales, then you will not be in business for very long.
Yes AirNZ are having a sale on right now, that said prior to their sale, their airfares was still $4,000 cheaper than QF. In fact, by letting QF know about my feelings on the issue rather than simply going straight to AirNZ, I've effectively given them a free-be.

Yes I'm under no illusion that my contact with QF means anything more to them than feedback from customer #62326, but in my experience of running a business, feedback about when you only just missed the mark was more valuable than when everything was peachy.

 

[harvyk]

harrvk, don't knock the bus or train for maybe the CBR-SYD, I have heard from many Canberrans that the service is not bad and saves you being robbed by Car Parking fees while you are away. Maybe worth flying back SYD-CBR though, after a long transpacific flight. Though I assume you have already considered these.

But agree with you original point - QF either need to get real with their prices or as willjd says, show us the product to justify their sometimes massive premium, you can do a lot with $5K AUD in the USA. As you say - in your particular example - QF are not even in the same ballpark....

I've done the Bus, the Train and the drive (as well as flown) CBR-SYD vv many a times. Whilst they where all options we considered I'm personally thinking the drive will be the easiest and the cheapest to deal with. If we can get a cheapy CBR-SYDvv flight we might do that instead, and there have been a couple of times I've been able to get CBR-int port (BNE / SYD / MEL) added on for free.

With the Bus, there is no easy parking near by (and a maxi-taxi from our place will eat up any savings quick smart, and no friends of ours have cars big enough to take our family), and I don't exactly like the idea of leaving my car in Kingston if we took the train (plus the train is slow, since it does the milk run between CBR and SYD).

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

Has Qantas replied to the OP?

 

[harvyk]

Has Qantas replied to the OP?

They asked me to call them when I'm ready to make the booking, which will most likely be next Friday.

 

[BD1959]

Qantas is pricing its product based on its supply v demand system. I'm a Qantas fan too, I check out there prices and if they are too expensive on the day, I do what I would do with any other purchase and check elsewhere.

So Qantas International is charging a premium and despite cut-backs in product, despite putting us through disputes which all aimed at lowering costs, it is still losing money.

Better that they keep the fares high so people - who choose based on price points - shop elsewhere, QF receive $0 revenue for those empty seats and continue to lose money, eh?

If Qantas are Soooo good at price-awareness, why all the *full planes PER-SIN* which lose money and all the *empty planes flying MEL-SIN* which continue to make money??

NB *....* AFF anecdotal evidence!!

Regards,

BD

 

[hutch]

So Qantas International is charging a premium and despite cut-backs in product, despite putting us through disputes which all aimed at lowering costs, it is still losing money.

Better that they keep the fares high so people - who choose based on price points - shop elsewhere, QF receive $0 revenue for those empty seats and continue to lose money, eh?

If Qantas are Soooo good at price-awareness, why all the *full planes PER-SIN* which lose money and all the *empty planes flying MEL-SIN* which continue to make money??

NB *....* AFF anecdotal evidence!!

Regards,

BD

But thats is my point, those flights between SIN-MEL etc are cheap... so Qantas is pricing its product to sell seats in a market where it has poor loads. If Qantas was having poor loads to LAX they would have to price their product lower. If there was evidence that Qantas was flying empty planes to LAX and still pricing themselves higher then my point is mute.