I did occur to me.. but if they were going standby they may have wound up in Y anyway and if flying positive space they wouldn't have been bumnped (I do not recall any uniformed crew in the cabin, not hat it matters).As nice as it sounds, let's be real it was probably crew. I've had multiple colleagues kicked off rev J flights to accomdate crew in recent times. They are bronze so I've been safe touchwood but QF can always make room in J where required.
All very relevant points except the core.. that these are service and culture aspects of both airline's offerings, and imo don't relate to one's status (ie the slow, inconsistent service on QF will apply if one is P1 or Silver) and I am sure PPS is very good, but when I've flown SQ in J or F with humble *G status (which SQ care pretty much zero about ) I've always had exacting service and frankly have felt that I got the same as everyone else (which is fair once onboard imo) and even if there were Solitaire PPS there it's not been obvious which is good.After a few years of obsessive chasing and achieving P1 status I have concluded the following:
1. Qantas will never have a service oriented cabin crew culture - it will always be inconsistent and unreliable. My P1 status has been acknowledged twice in 4 years and I have often had to ask for components of the service not provided
2. Little pro-active service and long delays for that first beverage offer define this airline.
3. Lots of chatting in the galleys on many flights.
4. I can now tell within 5 minutes whether the CSM has real leadership skills or is conflict avoidant (sadly more common) and will not hold their team accountable for lack of service delivery.
My recent PPS experiences with SQ were very different (in a positive way) but time will tell
The most expensive J and F out of the country and on-board service which shows little appreciation of this.
AJ will never address the service culture being highly hyper focused on the $ bottom line.
Having dropped significantly in safety rankings to below 5, one wonders if QF can play this angle the way it used to (there has been very little media discussion about this)
I am sure PPS is very good, but when I've flown SQ in J or F with humble *G status (which SQ care pretty much zero about ) I've always had exacting service and frankly have felt that I got the same as everyone else (which is fair once onboard imo) and even if there were Solitaire PPS there it's not been obvious which is good.
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My experiences echo yours, @Kiwi_Flyer. There aren't many discernible enhancements for Solitaires, but usually meal orders will be taken prior to take off, whereas for other passengers it'll be once in the air. The cabin manager will usually come and say hello, but like QF, this is dependent on the crew and can be inconsistent. SQ is consistently good with getting that first drink within minutes of the seatbelt sign being extinguished.Besides lots of op-ups to F, the main onboard benefit of SQ PPS Solitaire is first meal choices in business class. I think I also had more generous compensation when one of the seat lights wasnt working in F (other lights were still working so only a minor inconvenience and surprised they offered comp unsolicited).
Indeed, the captain told us that the first 717 went tech, the next 717 available was late and apparently couldn't be flown as it had just passed a deadline for an engineering check.The 717's are getting less and less reliable. Much as I adore them.. so many delays/cancels. Bet the staff and QF can't wait for those 220's to show up!
This is one I've had occasion to think about in the past, after ending up in a middle rear Y seat following a cancellation and the loss of my forward Y window seat.Recently I overheard a conversation onboard between FAs and groundcrew that someone in scheduling or somewhere in corporate have control over seat allocations for pax when flight schedules change. Ostensibly they have zero insight into status and seat preferences so say a 4.45 SYD-MEL gets cancelled P1, W Ps whoever (perhaps with exception of CL) get put in all sorts of seats and frontline staff then have to bear the brunt.
I'd suggest this is another item of feedback, especially at a P1 event. Get a client facing team or at least someone with knowledge of status to take part in seat allocations for disruptions.
Isn't status about loyalty to the brand and separate to the particular class being flown? If someone is P1 from domestic Y flights, are they lesser than those who achieve it via international J on the company account?Just a question, why do we think we are special @Ansett if I haven't miss read your post you were travelling in Y for what seemed to be the general whinge. From my experience when travelling J the crew used to some how recognise me and on a pre covid flight AKL-MEL I was somewhat taken back when the CSM asked if my daughter was on the flight. I replied no and she went on to detail that she had flown us to CN, HK and JP several times so they must have some records in the system.
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I personally have no loyalty to the QF brand, most of the time I sat in my preferred seat being 4C. I also ran my show for a while and most staff gained QF SG or WP at my expense, my advice to any one starting up would be to sign up to SQIsn't status about loyalty to the brand and separate to the particular class being flown? If someone is P1 from domestic Y flights, are they lesser than those who achieve it via international J on the company account?
If you are in QF 4C, are you not in a privileged position?I personally have no loyalty to the QF brand, most of the time I sat in my preferred seat being 4C. I also ran my show for a while and most staff gained QF SG or WP at my expense, my advice to any one starting up would be to sign up to SQ
Sure I have been able to get 4C since 2013 but for most of that time I owned the business and had a very flexible travel policyIf you are in QF 4C, are you not in a privileged position?