What (if anything) makes you loyal to an airline? In my case QF

jenib

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Posts
155
I've been thinking lately about why I still like Qantas (not exclusively) despite some recent events (some of which have affected me). Here is my list (in no particular order):
  • I like the idea (and safety?) of my country having an airline that can be called upon in trouble to get me out
  • spending my money on an Australian company rather than elsewhere
  • safety record
  • status and the perks from flying extensively with the airline (QF LTG, WP)
  • family memories - my parents flew extensively with QF and on occasion gifted me with points and lounge access
  • work memories - first os work trip in J (what a revelation!), and a couple of upgrades to F on A380
  • the A380
  • F lounges in particular cities
  • onboard service - not flashy but real
  • getting on the plane in an overseas city and immediately feeling that I am home
  • QFF program and the ability to earn and use points
I am a bit worried by recent events and I do fly with other airlines (e.g. Finnair, JAL, BA.....). I don't think the soft product is up to scratch. Australia is a small country with a relatively small airline in global terms but I hope we are able to keep up the service.
Thoughts?
 
Qantas for me is a little like Mercedes … a product priced at the high end of the market which of course I’d buy and/or give my loyalty to if I had the money, or if it were other people’s money I were spending. So while I’m neither into Qantas bashing nor Qantas hagiography, the reality is that they’ve priced themselves out of the market for this consumer, anyway. I’ve flown Qantas plenty of times over the years, but I think the last time I didn’t use points was something like 2017.

So why am I “loyal” to Virgin? I don’t consider it loyalty; I consider it transactional. They give me stuff I want for prices that I consider more-or-less reasonable. Fly Ahead, free extra legroom seats, internet (when it works), call centres where I’m not on hold for hours and where the people I talk to know what they’re doing more often than not, and a loyalty programme whose points are relatively easy to earn and which has availability for the flights and destinations that I want.

Qantas isn’t for everyone (it’s not for me, sadly), nor is Virgin for everyone. But I’m comfortable giving my money to Virgin and yes, whether they treat their workforce fairly and with dignity is more important to me than which country their owners are citizens of. I don’t want to be controversial or to imply that I’m taking the higher moral ground: that’s simply my thinking, rightly or wrongly.

But I do understand that you get what you pay for.
 
Read our AFF credit card guides and start earning more points now.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Qantas for me is a little like Mercedes … a product priced at the high end of the market which of course I’d buy and/or give my loyalty to if I had the money, or if it were other people’s money I were spending. So while I’m neither into Qantas bashing nor Qantas hagiography, the reality is that they’ve priced themselves out of the market for this consumer, anyway. I’ve flown Qantas plenty of times over the years, but I think the last time I didn’t use points was something like 2017.

So why am I “loyal” to Virgin? I don’t consider it loyalty; I consider it transactional. They give me stuff I want for prices that I consider more-or-less reasonable. Fly Ahead, free extra legroom seats, internet (when it works), call centres where I’m not on hold for hours and where the people I talk to know what they’re doing more often than not, and a loyalty programme whose points are relatively easy to earn and which has availability for the flights and destinations that I want.

Qantas isn’t for everyone (it’s not for me, sadly), nor is Virgin for everyone. But I’m comfortable giving my money to Virgin and yes, whether they treat their workforce fairly and with dignity is more important to me than which country their owners are citizens of. I don’t want to be controversial or to imply that I’m taking the higher moral ground: that’s simply my thinking, rightly or wrongly.

But I do understand that you get what you pay for.
Good points - I agree with treating their workforce fairly and with dignity. I extend that to their customers which is why I won't fly some airlines regardless of price and service

Thanks
 
Well my favourite airline has been JAL for the last 23 years. Although I joined their loyalty program I never earned a point in it. All JAL flights were credited to AA as I got better value thee and many upgrades to F.

So how did I come to fly JAL? Well in 2002 our son moved to the USA. By that time we had flown J so Mrsdrron wasn't going back to Y. On QF J from BNE to JFK via LAX was $13000. JAL from BNE to JFK via NRT was $6600. On top of that every now and then JAL would have a 2 for 1 sale. It was a no brainer.

In those days JAL was not a part of OW. Now you could get QFF points from BNE to NRT but not NRT to JFK. You could though get AA miles all the way. We flew 2 to 3 times a year to visit our son so the AA miles grew quickly. We fairly quickly got enough miles to get J awards NRT to USA. So after boarding the and sitting in our J seats a gate agent came on board and said we will have to move. Mrsdrron was about to explode but I quickly pacified her because our new BPs had row 2. Yes our J awards were upgraded to F. Therefore that became my loyalty program.

So why was JAL my favourite airline? Well the got lay flat seats in J before QF. The food was excellent as were the wines. The crew were great. Mind you at that time I could actually speak Japanese though my writing was better.

However how JAL looked after their staff was quite amazing. This is an example.
1752934013106.jpeg

This was in 2009 in the aftermath of the GFC.
Their CEO now is a woman who came through the ranks as cabin crew. A year ago after she had been CEO for 3 months the female cabin crew really loved her when I questioned them. Two of them had met her.

So in my book JAL treats their staff much better than QF.
Sadly it is very unlikely I will fly JAL again.
 

Become an AFF member!

Join Australian Frequent Flyer (AFF) for free and unlock insider tips, exclusive deals, and global meetups with 65,000+ frequent flyers.

AFF members can also access our Frequent Flyer Training courses, and upgrade to Fast-track your way to expert traveller status and unlock even more exclusive discounts!

AFF forum abbreviations

Wondering about Y, J or any of the other abbreviations used on our forum?

Check out our guide to common AFF acronyms & abbreviations.
Back
Top