What's right with Qantas?

[medhead]

I think that they are good value, compared to the price of yesteryear. Most of the reduction of services have come from the higher classes (eg dropping F on most routes) that said, they have introduced things such as skybeds for J. They have introduced AVOD systems across most of their long haul fleet for all classes (the 767 fleet is the exception). They still provide free drinks, plus refreshments or a meal (or two) on most if not all flights (flown with AA or BA lately, in Y your lucky if you get a can of coke on AA, and thats for a 5 hour flight), and there is still free booze on most services. (inc really short hops such as SYD - CBR). And whilst they don't have the "fun" aspect like other carriers do (DJ I'm looking at you) their FA's are still more oftan than not happy, and will still happily get pax additional drinks, pillows, blankets and other things if they are available on the flight.

I certainly agree that they are still good value. IMO one problem is expecting yesteryear value at today's prices. In terms of service cuts in Y I'm thinking of refreshments, they are a low cost alternative to a meal and it is getting hard to actually find flights that serve a meal, the time window for meals seems to be getting shorter. The lack of cooked breakfast, used to even get this Rocky to BNE on the flying coffin. Later bar opening time in QP, decline of cooked food in the QP.

But, yes, the value is still there if you seek it out, like joining the QFF, and ignore things like refreshment

 

[harvyk]

Hey I never said there wasn't room for improvement. I too think that the need to bring back cook meals on all flights and that QP food has gone down hill.

It's just that they are still a good airline, and they are still good value, even when comparing against LCC's, as I have many times seen LCC pax ultimately pay more for their flights than I did. I guess with QF you know where you stand...

 

[sampson]

No offence, but it seems like your 12yo need a reality check.

TG

None taken and there's no princes Medhead.

We always flew Qantas. We wouldn't think of anyone else. Until shockers. Two flights were forced to land after takeoff due to mechanical problems. Flights were left on the tarmac for at least 2 hours. Some return flights were unbearably squished, and we're certain the seats were made to be unbearably close. In short, we decided that Qantas was short changing us with exy prices for gruelling flights.

We changed. This year we flew Qantas again to NZ to open an international conference of British Commonwealth organizations, and again we preferred other airlines.

No princes happily sit for 8 to 18 hours in a rented Corrolla, a rented Nissan Sentra, a limo, Vaustralia, United, Pacificblue/Virgin to NZ, and AirNZ to SFO. Qantas simply lost the plot somewhere, and other airlines have new customers as a result.

These days, more are telling me they too fly Vaustralia and preferred it so we're on 2 flights with them.

I suppose it comes down to whether you like paying Rolls Royce prices for McDonalds.

 

[Sunhill]

I'm flying 747 on the way out and then A380 on the way home. So, let's have your good stories and make me feel a bit better!

I've never had any complaints about the service from Qantas. As many have said, it's service that you can rely on. There are no nasty tricks, no surprise costs. In most domestic flights I take, I find the fares to be quite competitive with DJ and JQ too.

In contrast, I've had several bad experiences with BA who seem quite incompetent. In fact, in the end it was basically Qantas that ended up cleaning up the mess, so to speak. Even trying to redeem the travel credit that BA gave me after one cough-up proved to be quite a tiring task. I used a bit over half of it, but let the rest expire. Not worth the effort. Their incompetence is quite evident.

As a QFF, Club Member and Shareholder, of course I'd love the airline to be all gushing and going out of their way for me – it does happen at a couple of hotels that I stay at regularly – but I know what I'm going to get, and I can rely on the airline to deliver.

 

[harvyk]

Sampson according to seat guru both QF and UA have identical seat pitch, and infact QF is slightly wider. AirNZ has the best seat pitch at between 32 to 34". VA has the widst at 18.8". Virgin Blue however has the worst seat pitch out of the list at 30 to 31", and only 17" wide. So to be honest you've just bagged out QF over being tight and cramped and then praised another airline which your more likely to have even less room in.

Of course not all airlines offer the same pitch in all their planes (AirNZ varies greatly between the 4 types) but atleast according to seat guru QF uses the same pitch across all it's types (Dashes excluded, apparently there can be an additional inch in a Dash).

As for paying for a rolls but only getting macca's, well each to our own. BTW I'm not trying to convert you, it's just you have made an observation which doesn't match up to the stats. Had you made a comment about QF's IFE (excluding A380) compared to AirNZ's, well that's a different story.

 

[Travel Guru]

These days, more are telling me they too fly Vaustralia and preferred it so we're on 2 flights with them.

I love V Australia, if they fly a destination i'm headed too, i'd choose them over any airline, their overall package, whilst still leaving room for improvement in areas is excellent.

Being a high level TA, I fly alot of different airlines, and have flown a variety of Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy, and other than Etihad, noone in 2009 wow'd me like my trip to LA on V Y+

TG

 

[Sunhill]

A small thing, but a big plus based on recent flights is a good range of funny non-US comedy available in IFE! SQ pretty much does an extensive set of US sitcoms (which I generally detest) and very sparse non-US offerings.

I second that motion! Flying back from London in July ... Are You Being Served?, Top Gear, IT Crowd, etc. Much appreciated!

 

[Oneworldplus2]

In terms of service cuts in Y I'm thinking of refreshments, they are a low cost alternative to a meal and it is getting hard to actually find flights that serve a meal, the time window for meals seems to be getting shorter. The lack of cooked breakfast, used to even get this Rocky to BNE on the flying coffin. Later bar opening time in QP, decline of cooked food in the QP.

+1
Yeah, where have the hot breaky and other meals gone? 2pm bar open in QP l think is a little bit lame. Flew from SYD to HBA a few months ago and had to go to the bar in the airport for a drink because the QP wasn't open yet.
Did SYD to ADL, 2 hour flight. Only got apple/cake/tea/coffee. Ok, granted it left SYD @0945, a salad or cold meat selection l was more thinking?
Guess they are turning the screws???

 

[anat0l]

Most people have summed it up here. It would be very, very hard to justify an assertion that QF is the best airline in the world, but in turn it would be almost impossible to justify that they are the worst airline in the world (even if we discounted all the carriers from Africa, South America and the EU's no-fly list).

QF can definitely improve on some areas, but there is no perfect airline. QF often deliver the goods and on occasion do it well. I don't fly as often (or at least a variety of flights as often) as some people here, but so far I've only had on QF:

• Only a handful of delayed services, none more than 2 hrs
• Never a cancellation, rerouting or IDB, or having to be put up in accommodation due to irrops
• Never a rude QF member of staff - at worst, they were just boring; even lounge dragons - though they may be - were not rude, just strict and uptight. Never had a rude QF FA, even in Y, and I fly a lot of domestic Y - again, at worst, they are just tired but not rude.
• Never had a very bad resolution to problems I have raised with QF

I also fly a lot of QF for work, so that shaped my choice of loyalty program. Now I find it hard to move away from it (except perhaps if I had started crediting to AA rather than QF, but I'm stuck for now). In saying that, I still wouldn't stick with QF if they were a second-rate airline.

A lot of people remember the better days of QF so for some of them, QF now is an abomination, or "the worst airline in the world" with "the worst staff". QF could really stand to refresh a sizable portion of their fleet, but their hands are partially tied on this one. Some of my friends also remark that QF FAs are very rude; once again, I have never come across a rude QF FA.

I may complain a lot but that's because I fly a lot of QF and also I am adamant that QF does still need to do better. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite, but I still believe QF is one of the better airlines in the world.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

In terms of service cuts in Y I'm thinking of refreshments, they are a low cost alternative to a meal and it is getting hard to actually find flights that serve a meal, the time window for meals seems to be getting shorter. The lack of cooked breakfast, used to even get this Rocky to BNE on the flying coffin. Later bar opening time in QP, decline of cooked food in the QP.

+1
Yeah, where have the hot breaky and other meals gone? 2pm bar open in QP l think is a little bit lame. Flew from SYD to HBA a few months ago and had to go to the bar in the airport for a drink because the QP wasn't open yet.
Did SYD to ADL, 2 hour flight. Only got apple/cake/tea/coffee. Ok, granted it left SYD @0945, a salad or cold meat selection l was more thinking?
Guess they are turning the screws???

 

[Alanslegal]

and welcome to AFF sunhill

your handle reminds me of someone I know, maybe you are the person I know LOL

if your nickname is "Sunny" and have a cousin that I call by a certain day of the week, then I know and you know me.

 

[Alanslegal]

and another round of welcome to the Originating Poster Smanfer71 .... hope Smanfer71 enjoys her flights in April and come back with some positive reviews of QF

 

[drron]

Well Smanfer I do hope you feel better about your choice.Another observation has come to me.On this thread you have seen AA panned by many and deservedly so.However I have been doing some thinking of all the sectors I have done over the last 5-6 years and I am pretty sure the best 5 cabin crews I have experienced have been on AA.Now I dont fly Y.2 of the sectors were AA international F,1 international J and 2 AA domestic F.
Again remember my advice and be nice to the crew and provide feedback to the airline if you get good service.I am not sure about QF but AA do note this.I have been told twice by staff that my previous compliments have been noted.I am positive that on my last international J sector on AA that this paid off.My meal selection was unavailable so the FA went off and came back saying she had found an F meal for me.It is these things that mean a lot.
There were 2 QF crews that were very close to making my list-both all male cabin crews.

 

[docjames]

<snip>
I am pretty sure the best 5 cabin crews I have experienced have been on AA.Now I dont fly Y.


<snip>.

That'd be why you find AA good.

I have not been in AA F for donkeys years, but I can say that in Y (recent experience) the whole experience is just not good. Particularly if you manage to be on a 767 or 757......

 

[harvyk]

drron, whilst AA may be great in J or F, try AA in Y, on say a 757, flying from say MIA to LAX...

If I go to hell when I die my punishment will be to endure that AA 757 Y flight over and over again.

 

[Alanslegal]

I think drron was trying to refer more about that if you get good service from someone/something, you should always provide feedback, rather than saying how good F or J is. And I think that karma did its course, and the recipient of good service feedback rewarded drron with even better service down the track.

Ps. I think AA in J is pretty ordinary

 

[Hvr]

Well on my last overseas trip (Nov 08) I got stranded in BKK when the airport was occupied. I was due to fly home on QF the following afternoon.

On the following Monday QF organised buses to carry us from BKK to HKT and then a flight to SIN and then home. There were hundreds of us and no bus was overcrowded. From the time we arrived at the hotel to catch the bus Qantas fed us and kept us up to date with what was happening. There were DFAT personnel and nurses for those people who needed them (there were several injured pax).

The bus trip whilst long was very well organised and with stops for food including dinner paid for by QF at a restaurant we got to HKT and the QF staff there got us onto the plane without computers and then to SIN. Channel 7 news staff were very aggressive towards QF staff trying to antagonise them and generally being very rude. The media were not interested in talking to anyone who wanted to say something positive about Qantas.

Anyone who was going to be in SIN for more than five hours was put up in a hotel/day room. I was able to get a flight back to SYD that morning and when I boarded (J class) told the FA what we had been through and how impressed I was with what Qantas had organised and how well it had been done.

Upon take off I immediately went to sleep and when I awoke the FA saw me and asked if I was ready for my meal which I had chosen upon boarding. The person sitting beside me had also come from BKK and her meal had also been kept aside. Yes this is to be expected in J but given the stressful time we had getting there it was very welcome.

Upon arrival in SYD I wasn't quite quick enough to get the last flight to CBR and the staff member at the Qantas transfer desk arranged a hotel room for me at Qantas' expense with taxi vouchers both ways. All with a smile on her face and being very pleasant about the whole matter.

At the same time Qantas arranged the evacuation of hundreds of us from BKK the tragedy of Mumbai was in progress and the exact same effort was required to get people evacuated safely from India.

I have only had one bad experience with a Qantas staff member and in the end it was all ok. The rest of the time I have been treated very well and look forward to travelling with them.

I head off on my next QF international flight on 16 Jan. I had to get the ticket reissued due to one of the flights (Circle Asia fare) being changed and another having the time changed. I completed the call in less than four minutes and the ticket was received in my email by the time I hung up.

So in my opinion there is a lot right with Qantas.

 

[Blackadder]

Good experience with the Call Centre at about 1000 today chasing up a
e-ticket for my flight to/from LAX, only on hold for around 2.5 mins and then problem rectified as I was on the phone.

 

[sampson]

Had you made a comment about QF's IFE (excluding A380) compared to AirNZ's, well that's a different story.

The seats were so close together (or seemed so) I couldn't see the IFE because the tv was too close - I have long sightedness.

In contrast, on VA and United and AirNz, no problems.

I just know how we all felt on too many flights.

As for rolls royce prices for maccas, being I don't want to pay an Angus price for a cheesburger due to Qantas fined about $100,000,000. I think the passengers ended up paying more and/or wearing the cut backs.

Would you like fries with that?

 

[drron]

drron, whilst AA may be great in J or F, try AA in Y, on say a 757, flying from say MIA to LAX...

If I go to hell when I die my punishment will be to endure that AA 757 Y flight over and over again.

Definitely not trying to say AA is great.I agree my experiences are totally atypical.
Basically clumsily trying to make 2 points-
1/ Doesnt matter what the majority think there is always someone who has a different eperience.I have heard someone say they love Tiger-and no it was not as they were being put into a straightjacket.
2/ You do to some extent form your own experience.If you want to be a DYKWIA then dont be surprised if some staff are not impressed and give you a hard time.Again if you are pleasant the chances are that you will have a better experience-unfortunately not guaranteed.
I still board an AA flight with a bit of trepidation as one of the worst FAs I have come across was also on AA.None of the QF staff are anywhere near the top of my worst FA list.