A trio of domestic carriers being sampled

[Paddy55]

Just some impressions of our main domestic carriers over this week and next.

Flew SYD-HBA vv on Virgin
Next will be SYD-OOL vv on Jetstar , and finally
SYD-MEL vv on Qantas :?:

This is mainly cattle class and below so no photos, menus, etc but a few comparison observations of the BIG THREE.

Preamble

Generally fly QF, however as they have greatly reduced / abandoned Hobart and Gold Coast I needed to look further afield for these business trips.
For me Virgin had the better schedules into and out of Hobart for my appointments even though I missed out on the status matching promo. :evil:

Never even thought of using anyone but JetStar for Gold Coast - I don't know what got in to me!

SYD-MEL on QF is an old habit, but I'm really interested to see how the staff I encounter are up/down in light of the recent Joyce-sterization of QF

("Joyce-sterization" verb, to cut the unions and Govt off at the knees through swift and risky action, while diminishing product quality, WP benefits, but still managing to boost one's own salary a tad)

Booking

As a QF Plat I'm familiar with the QF web site and find it pretty easy to traverse.

Must say Jetstar's web site has improved of late - easy to navigate. Selecting to/from cities on the web site is a snap give the 'point and click at a box full of airports' device.

Virgin pretty straight forward although the separate web site for their FF scheme and inability to mobile checkin (except in SYD, MEL and BNE a little inconvenient

Virgin SYD-HBA

Went through the special entrance in SYD as was travelling Premium Economy to HBA. Excellent first impression. Friendly staff and love, love, love the separate security screening. While there enquired of status matching and they did match my WP status! . Very impressed. Lounge itself is a bit old and tired, and probably handling more visitors than usual these days.

PE on the ERJ190 PE didn't look much different to Y. I must say I prefer leather seats over cloth any day. I was greeted by name each time, offered water, a sandwich, etc.

Virgin HBA - SYD

Again an ERJ190 although sitting 6 rows further back in Y. A little less leg room than PE. 2 x 2 seating is nice and preferred to 3 x 3. On a flexi fare so apparently the reason I received a wrap & beer and so I didn't have to fight for my credit card to pay for purchased food. That is a big negative over QF Y for me. Several cabin crew recognised my travelling companion from the day before and gave the impression they were happy yo see us again... and talk to us.
As a side note the Hobart terminal is looking very drab these days. No lounge for Virgin, and I suspect no room for a lounge, either.

Virgin overall.

While Virgin have made all sorts of progress in their transformation from a pure LCC to fullish-service airline there is some way to go in both there hard and soft product.

However, there is one place where they beat QF hands on, and that is staff attitude, and the consistency and genuineness of that attitude. It doesn't matter whether it's the check in staff, the lounge staff or flight folks, they all look like they are happy to do what they do. They clearly enjoy their work, are happy that customers are there... it all adds up to great service and overcomes any deficiencies in the hard product.

When they get the hard product up to scratch, and if they can ditch the purchase of food in Y thingy, for me, QF is in for a real fight.
Who knows, QF might respond to the new competition, but I don't think they know how to any more.
Interesting to ponder what would have happened to both QF & Virgin is John Borghetti had got the top job at QF... :shock:

More next week


Paddy

 

[TonyHancock]

I just did the JQ35 run today and have to say the Jetstar experience was ordinary.

Having a few minutes to spare I popped into the VA/DJ lounge for a spot of ATA. The saff were welcoming and absolutely charming. I had a swift beer and set off. All in all I am very impressed by the staff attitude.

 

[Noob]

Staff attitude is Virgin Australia's biggest asset - and the Virgin representatives on this site are true evidence of this.

Hard product can be fixed and improved, but the team spirit which flows through Virgin can not be bought. It is this which provides Virgin with the solid foundations to become a truly world class full service airline.

Great report, I will look forward to the next parts - these comparisons are very interesting!

 

[Mattg]

Interesting that they recognized your companion from the day before. I recently flew HBA - MEL with QF, then had the same crew on a MEL - CBR flight less than an hour later. None of them seemed to remember/recognise me or the people I was travelling with. Or if they did they didn't say.

 

[Paddy55]

Interesting that they recognized your companion from the day before. I recently flew HBA - MEL with QF, then had the same crew on a MEL - CBR flight less than an hour later. None of them seemed to remember/recognise me or the people I was travelling with. Or if they did they didn't say.

... and don't the positive and the negative make a difference!

 

[MarkD]

I am the same, I blend in, nobody remembers me. My wife on the other hand is a bit easier on the eye than myself, so is often remembered, that may be the case.


Sent from my iPhone using AustFreqFly app

 

[rlarosa]

Thanks for the TR! I think you've hit the nail on the head - I flew to MEL and back last with with VA and it is definitely the staff attitude that makes the difference. Smiles, welcomes, and just a level of general politeness. I don't expect to be treated like royalty - heck I only paid 250 bucks for the flights, but the general level of pleasantness over disinterested & fed up QF staff is really noticeable.

Rob

 

[Paddy55]

Well, to part 2 of my domestic carrier trip report:

Sunday and Tuesday I flew SYD-OOL vv on Jetstar.

Booking

Thought the web site pretty easy to use, although my flight to OOL was cancelled, and then the replacement flight departure time changed.
The advice via email was pretty straight forward, and I was given a couple of alternatives for replacement flight to choose from. I was amused that, when advised of the departure time change the only option provided was to "Accept the Change" :shock: ... ah well, I had the illusion I was in control!

Having had Seat 1D allocated I wasn't allowed to check-in on line as it was an "Exit" Row.

Jetstar SYD-OOL

Checkin was smooth on Sunday at 11:30am. Pretty quiet at checkin and in the QP. Checkin staff were pleasant and engaging - a good improvement on the experience of several years ago.

Quiet, uneventful flight on standard A320 - plane full as a boot!

As an aside it was a 20-30min wait for a cab at OOL - one would pop by every now and then and, with most of them mini-vans, were able to pick up multiple bookings for each trip - my minivan carried 6 fares and we each paid 75% of the meter... a nice little earner for the lucky drivers.

JetStar OOL-SYD

Experienced the lounge in OOL as a WP and it was a pleasant and quiet escape from the terminal. (and I must say the newish terminal is a vast improvement of the old). The food on offer was pure low brow Jetstar - sausage rolls, mini pies being the highlights. However it is a bargain at, I think, $15 per visit for non-WPs.

Our 1 hour flight took 2.5hrs with a storm passing through SYD shutting the airport for 90 mins. Again, I was in 1D so, with head in iPad, not much inconvenienced, and the descent and landing provided real entertainment with a fair amount of applause upon landing.

JetStar overall

I was pleasantly surprised by the JetStar experience, although I had very low expectations. Terminal staff were pleasant and communicative, etc, etc, etc. Flight staff were very pleasant... to each other, and a lot less communicative to us mere passengers... in fact it took the bumpy descent for the stews at the front to start talking to the Row 1 punters, and they then showed they were 'real' people.

However I think Virgin staff do have the edge.

Now I was travelling to MEL tomorrow, however I've cancelled that trip so next will be QF to PER and back week after next. Won't be a fair comparison as I'm hoping to win at the upgrade lottery on the day and travel in nice comfy Skybeds... but it will provide an opportunity to rant about the lack of upgrades available at time of booking!

Paddy