why does anyone bother with DJ?

[kkutasi]

Less pitch, no meals, no drinks, no entertainment, and now baggage charges

all to save $20 off a flight... whats the point?

I got told the other day that i couldnt even get a glass of water without paying for it. what a joke

Never again

 

[Mal]

Some say the same about Qantas. Look at their recent on-time performance.

Once onboard, you get a miserable muffin or biscuit and a drink worth $2.

Granted no baggage charges (for quite a reasonable allowance).

I believe DJ having less pitch is a myth. The pitch is as good (and in some rows better) than the pitch on the Qantas 737-800's.

As a Gold Qantas flyer, you have strong reasons to fly with Qantas. For some people, flying DJ is what they prefer for many other reasons.

 

[kkutasi]

Some say the same about Qantas. Look at their recent on-time performance.

Once onboard, you get a miserable muffin or biscuit and a drink worth $2.

Granted no baggage charges (for quite a reasonable allowance).

I believe DJ having less pitch is a myth. The pitch is as good (and in some rows better) than the pitch on the Qantas 737-800's.

As a Gold Qantas flyer, you have strong reasons to fly with Qantas. For some people, flying DJ is what they prefer for many other reasons.

Mal,

I would agree that for a 90 min SYD-MEL trip, the extras on QF are no big deal (except maybe the lounge access)... But i now fly PER-SYD-PER on a monthly basis. QF definitely provides better value for money on such flights

and i disagree with you on the pitch issue. as a 6'3 rugby prop, i can tell you with certainty that i can feel every one of the missing inches of leg room on DJ

 

[Dave Noble]

and i disagree with you on the pitch issue. as a 6'3 rugby prop, i can tell you with certainty that i can feel every one of the missing inches of leg room on DJ

With DJ, you can pay extra and get the exit row seats and avoid the crush whilst with QF, exit rows domestically are a gamble

On a 4-5 hour flight would be worth the extra $30 mayhaps

been looking at MEL-SYD on fridays recently and the DJ saving at 17:00-18:00ish was > $100 cheaper than QF. QF not worth that much more

Dave

 

[stuartfaz]

Less pitch, no meals, no drinks, no entertainment, and now baggage charges

all to save $20 off a flight... whats the point?

I got told the other day that i couldnt even get a glass of water without paying for it. what a joke

Never again

kkutasi,

Like Mal said, these things are all about personal preference. Personally I prefer Virgin over Qantas/Jetstar because I find that the service and OTP are consistently better.

As I usually fly shorter routes, and not nearly enough for status to be an issue, the things you mentioned don't affect me that much. Then again, I flew PER-MEL on Qantas recently, and while the service was good, the meal and 'entertainment' (a projector screen which kept on playing this QF ad with Deborah Hutton in it) are things I could live without. I prefer the choice on Virgin to get live2air or something to eat if I want them, and if I don't, then I save my money.

(Having said that, the onQ VOD on international flights is absolute gold.)

As for the pitch, a poster on this site posted this comparison between Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar that shows the measurements between QF and DJ aren't that different: http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...eat-diagrams-side-by-side-7313.html#post90307.

I understand your point of view (6'3", played Union in the forward pack for 5 years before I finished school [still built like a forward ]) but in all honesty, the only seat I've been really comfortable in recently is a JQ starclass seat. Between DJ and QF economy, I don't notice a lot of difference.

TT or JQ economy, completely different matter. JQAsia is something else entirely .

I agree with you that, on longer routes such as east coast to Perth, if there's not a great price difference, I'd probably look at Qantas too. For me, that's the case with shorter flights as well. I'd gladly go with TT or JQ over DJ if the price is right, and have done several times. But the majority of my flights are with DJ, just because I think they do it better.

So there's some of the reasons as to why, a lot of the time, I bother with DJ.

 

[Mal]

On a long flight like PER-SYD, I agree that QF has a few benefits over DJ.

Eg, QF tends to use international widebody planes (743 / 767) on this route, giving greater comfort from the twin aisles and larger number of toilets etc.

They provide a meal (incl lunch or dinner depending on the flight times), and the catering is of a higher standard than other domestic routes.

So for $20 on a 4 hour flight, I can see why you don't see value. But what if it was $40? $50?

At least with DJ you can pre-book exit row seats as Dave Noble indicated, pay for Foxtel and choose what you want to watch (on most planes), either bring your own meal that you like or purchase something that you fancy (I believe they have hot meals available on some PER-SYD flights - someone will correct me if I'm wrong!).

PER has one of the worst on-time stats for QF, with huge delays currently being caused by maintenance issues and the age of their planes they are using for the routes out of PER. DJ's stats are a lot better. So swings and roundabouts really.

I have my own criteria for deciding between DJ and QF based on price, where I am on my requal path with QF for WP, the length of flight and convenience/timings of the journeys. When I do fly DJ, I find the staff to be friendly and professional, the planes kept clean, the planes generally on time and the food/drink choices to be reasonably priced.

Something else I am always keeping in mind is that without DJ, it's likely we would be paying considerably more for flights, or have much stricter conditions around tickets (eg advance purchase, minimum stays etc). Innovations that DJ do influence QF greatly. So that's another reason why I support DJ.

 

[jaredr]

I have flown enough DJ BNE-MEL-BNE to manage to get to silver velocity with a previous job, now a fair bit of QF BNE-MEL-BNE with my new job. I dont notice any difference in pitch between the two, DJ service seems better and seriously, its a 2hr flight, you dont _need_ refreshments

Most of the time I dont even take the QF refreshments, jsut take a water or something. Bring one from home if travelling DJ. If you need to eat, I used to grab Red Rooster on the way to the gate.

DJ lounge is leaps and bounds above the QP as well. MEL virgin lounge is huge with so many things to do.

That said, I've stopped flying DJ purely because my new employer has a "arrangement" with QF, and the new gig gets international travel so I'm building AA status now. But for personal, I still usually pickup a DJ flight. And live2air is great, if I could pay for that on points i would be a happy man.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

It is all perspective.

My last 3 personal flights have been on JQ and all 3 have been late (the last was 90 mins late flying AVV-SYD for pete's sake!) but as business was not involved it was only an inconvenience on my time.

BUT these were last minute bookings and similar timed flights on DJ or QF were at least 60% more expensive. ALSO every flight I have snagged an exit row seat by simply asking so I feel I am about even or a little ahead.

If work pays I like to fly DJ in the exit row - this way I get seat pitch AND punctuality

 

[oz_mark]

I think the seats on DJ are thicker than the slimline jobs on QF which affects the amount of space you have, given the same pitch.

While my decision making takes into a number of factors other than price, I have tended to end up on QF but these are mostly tran-con flights, and I try to avoid the 737's there (the meals are ok, there are free beverages etc).

I have flown DJ on the east coast, and not getting a free muffin or breadsticks has not bothered me! Last time was CBR-MEL and DJ was $50 cheaper than QF, so did not see there was much to be gained flying QF.

 

[taswegian77]

My preference is QF. This way every time I fly I earn SC's, I enjoy the J and F lounges as WP member and even though award flights can be difficult to get, they are not impossible with some planning. I feel I get the service and comfort I expect and above all I feel safe traveling with QF. That is not to say I would not feel safe flying DJ. I have flown 2 sectors on DJ in my life and never had an issue with them. I also fluy a lot fo JQ (both intl and dom) an dhave no issues with them as local is quick travel and intl is all in * class. Consider me a loyal QF camper!

 

[Blackswan]

I have flown enough DJ BNE-MEL-BNE to manage to get to silver velocity with a previous job, now a fair bit of QF BNE-MEL-BNE with my new job. I dont notice any difference in pitch between the two, DJ service seems better and seriously, its a 2hr flight, you dont _need_ refreshments

Most of the time I dont even take the QF refreshments, jsut take a water or something. Bring one from home if travelling DJ. If you need to eat, I used to grab Red Rooster on the way to the gate.

DJ lounge is leaps and bounds above the QP as well. MEL virgin lounge is huge with so many things to do.

That said, I've stopped flying DJ purely because my new employer has a "arrangement" with QF, and the new gig gets international travel so I'm building AA status now. But for personal, I still usually pickup a DJ flight. And live2air is great, if I could pay for that on points i would be a happy man.

Paying for live2air with Velocity would be a great idea. Perhaps they could go further, and charge x amount of points for certain items on the Food Menu too?

I always bear in mind QF's on time performance when flying out of Perth when making my decision. Otherwise I would normally choose QF

 

[N860CR]

The service Qantas offers on domestic routes varies a lot route to route and time to time. EG: Get on a MEL-SYD at 1730 then one at 1800 and compare the differences between catering! Virgin offer the same product on every flight so you know exactly what is coming.

Entertainment... well if you disregard the 743's DJ's is a lot better. I must have seen Deb Hutton flog that beer 100 times in June and it didn't get anymore entertaining each time!

These days I do fly QF more because I'm up the front, however for economy flights there really is little to no difference between the two. I guess it depends if consistancy or a free muffin is more important to you.

 

[ozmerish]

I've flown DJ a few times this year and have to say, I didnt mind at all. Granted, they were to destinations that QF didn't serve or the schedule was better on DJ.

Access to the Lounge is via Priority Pass and I've found the BNE lounge staff very nice.

All in all, on short sector flights I would have no hesitation flying DJ again - I'd take them over JQ. I haven't noticed any pitch difference in the back of the bus.

While I will lose QF WP at the end of this month (first time in a long time I won't have it), I'll continue to fly the Red Rat while crediting to AA. As one poster mentioned - swings and roundabouts - it's what's important to you and what benefits you are after.

 

[Mal]

I always bear in mind QF's on time performance when flying out of Perth when making my decision. Otherwise I would normally choose QF

Yeah their OTP has been shocking of late. Drawing from another thread, with the stats for on-time departures from PER for QF vs DJ:

MAY
PER-SYD 62.7% (DJ 97.1%)
PER-MEL 64.1% (DJ 91.1%)
PER-BNE 68.5% (DJ 74.2%)
PER-ADL 84.6% (DJ 100%)

JUNE
PER-SYD 45.3% (DJ 93.3)
PER-MEL 50.5% (DJ 87.2) (TT 66.7)
PER-BNE 49.2% (DJ 74.4)
PER-ADL 63.0% (DJ 93.3)

Note on-time means the plane leaves the gate no more than 15 mins after scheduled time.

(Hat tip to oz_mark for the June stats)

 

[Keith009]

I am tempted to fly DJ on a future trip I'm planning just to check out The Lounge. Was researching some fares, and DJ came out $40 cheaper even with the $30 entry passes to The Lounge thrown in at both MEL and the other end.

OTOH, it's only $40 more for an extra 2000 miles on AAdvantage... No QF<400 flights on the routes and dates I was looking at though.

Perhaps I might compromise and go one way DJ and QF back the other way.

 

[NM]

Less pitch ...

I suggest you read the information posted by crazydave98 in this thread before jumping to conclusions regarding seat pitch when comparing DJ to QF.

 

[Mal]

I suggest you read the information posted by crazydave98 in this thread before jumping to conclusions regarding seat pitch when comparing DJ to QF.

That was a pre-PE post (also mentioned by stuartfaz), so things have modified slightly since then. Some of the updates are available here: Virgin Blue > Seating

but it would be nice if crazydave98 was able to update that information to show the DJ layout is still equivalent/better than a Qantas 738 to help disprove the perceived pitch issue.

 

[dajop]

My introduction to DJ a few years ago was largely thanks to heavy demand out of CBR (to MEL) late afternoon, and becoz I did not see merit in forking out lots of $$$$ to sit in 23E and have standing room at the QP. Even as I look at a planned trip to CBR in two weeks time, the flight out at the time I want is $403 on QF vs $105 on DJ. Say no more.

However, this year (after a status match at CBR, thank you very much DJ), I have travelled DJ where practical and where they are the same price or less than the Q. Usually find them quite good, find Live2Air really good value for $4.90, eg on BNE-MEL where I can actually watch for the whole flight. And really, I don't miss the lavosh dip with 20c piece sized dip.

Also, I don't mind being at the back of the plane (unless the weather is bad) as front/rear disembarkations makes it quick and painless from the front and back of the plane.

Only a couple of gripes, occassionally a try-hard comedian is let loose on the PA. No thanks (I do understand, after the decision to chase the business market, they are discouraging this, probably down to about 1 in 10 on my flights). And I do prefer cloth seats, but really doesn't make that much difference. Oh and I wish they would join * alliance (which isn't going to happen in a hurry)!!

But overall DJ is an adequate alternative to QF. And preferable to many carriers in other countries that shall remain nameless.

 

[tscharke]

after tscharke jnr came on board it didn't take us long to pick sides when flying domestically!

QF have been far more accommodating than DJ, not just in the air but the whole service! From turning a blind eye to excess baggage (our record being 115kg!), to blocking out seats, preempting assistance while in the air, allowing 6 adults access on numerous occasions to the QP under one OWE card (grandparents wanting to spend more time with jnr ) etc

 

[brett-au]

For the Qantas link flights, I have always been very impressed with the Qantas link service in minimal time (I have taken points off for evening flights into Sydney where the captain usually bolts out of his seat & through the door, milliseconds after the props stop spinning). However, the mainstream domestic flights have been more disappointing. Certainly the free icecream (I assume they still do that) SYD-PER is nice as to the bigger, faster aircraft, but for $45, I still can't go past DJ's extra leg room and front & rear boarding.