2011 Plans now that the "enhancements" are mostly in place with QF?

[markis10]

As suggested in another thread a poll on what our members plan on doing this year as most of the "enhancements" are put into place!

Poll results have not been made public as far as who voted what!

 

[drewbles]

Not a bad thread now the dust has settled.

I've already started putting my forward flights on other carriers (Will most likely still retain WP until/if DJ join an alliance).

Flights for the QF WP Anytime Access "wake" - DJ and JQ (I know JQ is QF but it's for the F Lounge portion).
Flights to Europe: Qatar/Emirates/Singapore
Domestic flights: 2 on QF (booked pre-change announcement), rest: DJ
NZ flights: NZ (I got a *A Gold Status match and plan on using it now)
US Flights: To/From the US will stay with QF, and US flights will be all AA.

When/If DJ join *A or Scaryteam, and the much-rumoured Velocity re-launch occurs, i'll re-evaluate my options. V Australia to the US is fine, and Virgin America has rave reviews.

I may even be able to keep *A Gold and WP. This would let me have my choosing of flights.

 

[JohnK]

I am not happy but not enough to change.

I will move some international flights to SQ and use award redemptions on VS where possible.

To hard and way too expensive to aim for status on another airline or alliance.

 

[medhead]

I'm not sure how to vote. I'm going for double gold, but I think I'll be Platinum and gold by the end of the year. Solo flights will be 50/50 DJ/QF. But family flights will probably have to go to QF, I will push that boundary a bit.

I'll also investigate AA for a FF program in the longer term.

And SQ have daily ADL-SIN flights for my predicted international needs.

 

[Mal]

In my books, Qantas is on notice...

 

[Kendall Roy]

In my books, Qantas is on notice...

Calling Red Roo to the boss' office please!

 

[Princess Fiona]

Sadly I'll probably stick with QF as for my travel patterns there is no real alternative yet Although have decided that the family trip to Greece in Sep x 6 with 2 x J fares will be on EK . Any chance of a Skywards status match ;p

 

[dajop]

A very easy decision when not based in Australia and not spending much time moving around on domestic flights.

In 2009 with some effort (eg taking indirect routings on CX, some Jetstar Asia flights and a few QF flights SIN-MEL via SYD) I maintained platinum. In 2010, this latest round of enhancements were just some more of a long line of many such "enhancements" and really hard to justify trying to maintain platinum. So, after 8 years and 9 months as a WP - all qualified i.e. no comps - I now have 6 days left. WP ain't what it was in 2002 and double gold -oneworld/star is definitely more useful to me (and easier as I am now LTG on QF)

I will miss the preferential seat allocation - although I can fork out $80 for exit row on any international flights I am likely to take- probably cheaper than trying to retain WP.

Already feeling somewhat liberated!

 

[tuapekastar]

No decision from me until the dust really settles and we know just what DJ is going to do, particularly as regards J cabins, Velocity changes, and mostly a proper alliance (or suitable alternative). It's not just going to have to match QF for me, but better it sufficiently to entice me to switch (and a status match - I did not take up the offer last year - would go a long way towards helping make my mind up).

Marry that to my intended travel and see what pops out the other end.

Currently have WP till May 2012 so will not be flouncing out in a hurry!

 

[samiam]

The majority of my flying is MEL-PER.

If DJ can offer an equivalent J product at a competitive price, it will be pretty hard to justify the ~ $3.5K return spend on QF.

But then again... if QF were prepared to price match...

 

[serfty]

Nothing really has changed - I'll still continue to Pursue NZ*E and WP. No longer looking for PG as SWMBO

 

[oz_mark]

But then again... if QF were prepared to price match...

This may be a challenge for DJ. Everyone will go, 'isn't competition great?', but not change to use them. And one day the competition will go away.

 

[TonyHancock]

I'm uncertain. I have a commitment to 'er indoors to secure PG, which I will duly deliver in July, my QF year end. I already have flights booked to secure WP for 2012/2013, and will reach LTG in October this year. The former gives me some leeway to try other airlines after July, but I fear that lethargy will get the better of me. :-|

 

[simongr]

No change for me. As I can easily retain WP (maybe not PG) and have no choice on dom flights (all QF) but I can't achieve AA EXP comfortably so I will credit to QF.

My flight patterns wont change and within the confines of getting decent fares compared to *A carriers I will choose around the following criteria wherever possible:

- Can I get to LCA (to see family - hence being BA for my next UK trip)
- Can I transit via HKG (my favourite airport)
- Can I avoid Sky Bed Mk 1
- What maximises my SC earn
- cough - I haven't flown them before - that might be interesting

They are in no particular order...

QF have become a more favoured airline as the quality of food on CX has been very disappointing. BA is a choice of last resort for a number of reasons. RJ were a useful experience but I would only fly if I need to. JL I avoid ex-SYD as I think the hard product is poor. AA are an old friend who I will fly knowing that I am racking up higher SCs so I can grin and bear it...

 

[codash1099]

I'm a bit of a fence sitter. I fly OW internationally largely because of my WP status (and to retain it). Domestically, I fly QF because of QP Life and most flights are Y.

So change for me would be if:

DJ join a meaningful alliance
DJ do better than 737's ex PER for both Dom and Int
DJ upgrade their Dom Y offering - J ex PER is nice but I only use it by upgrading.

Many many moons ago, I suggested on this forum that DJ could not be neither one thing nor another - they had to pick if they wanted to be a LCC or Full Service. That still applies and oh how different things would be if they had started out as the carrier they are now trying to be.

 

[samh004]

I am happy to stay with QFF

In fact even started ramping flights up a bit more to hit a status level, as for most of last year I was Bronze.

 

[dajop]

It seems from this limited sample, impact has been negligible. In other words QF were spot on. Wonder what will be the next benefit to be "enhanced"?

 

[simongr]

I think for a lot of people the benefit removed was not one that they used and as such will have no impact on their travel plans.

The people that have switched (such as medhead) are the ones that either did use the benefit or felt betrayed by QF in both the presentation and the nature of the change.

 

[gumpy]

I must say QF did get one thing right in my opinion...

I like the breakfast menu in the Dom J Lounge...

As long as I remain WP I will continue to use QF and OW for my personal flights...

In saying that if my company policy changes to *A everything will change... I really do like AirNZ... every single flight as a GE I've had a person welcome and chat with the CSM.

 

[jsd]

V Australia tops Qantas in Overall Customer Satisfaction

Interesting figures.....

Customers of Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines are the most satisfied international travellers (89%) for the 12 months to November 2010.



Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines continue to match each others’ customer satisfaction figures, with V Australia sitting close behind on 88% for the 12 months to November 2010. Malaysia Airlines and Etihad Airways follow with 84% and 83% respectively, with Qantas and Thai Airways equal sixth on 82%. Emirates has the eighth highest customer satisfaction for the period at 81%.


Satisfaction with International Airlines used in last 12 months


Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, July 2009 — November 2010. Total using international airline in last 12 months n=3,613.
N.B. ‘Total Industry’ average also includes other international airlines not shown.
“% satisfied” is the proportion of all customers who are “Very” or “Fairly” satisfied with that Airline (on a five point scale).


Jane Ianniello, Roy Morgan Research International Director of Tourism, Travel & Leisure, says:

“Although Qantas has the largest market share of the international airlines it ranks equal sixth (with Thai Airways) in terms of customer satisfaction behind its two main rivals Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines. The satisfaction rating for Qantas is nevertheless higher than the average for International airlines, which is pulled down by the low ratings of the low cost carriers such as Tiger Airways, AirAsia X, and Jetstar.”

Brings forward the question, with V launching its services to AUH in a matter of weeks, fully opening up the Etihad partnership, as well as DJ starting to really give QF a run for their money on Domestic services, just how many AFFers are thinking about making the switch to the DJ group?