Airline Experiences 2010

[Double-D]

I am fairly new to this forum, but have enjoyed reading people's experiences and questions throughout the year. I thought I would share my overall personal experiences of airlines I have flown this year.

I fly a lot. I averaged an international flight every 2 weeks in 2010. Various airlines through out the world, all classes. So I feel I have a fairly good picture of what is out there in 2010, particularly in the One World Alliance. In summary.

BA Y, Y+ and J. Approximately 8 segments. Overall the service ranged from good to terrible. Worst memory was being told off by cabin crew for daring to request another US landing card after making a mistake on my first attempt. I think I got the cabin crew on a bad day. But mostly crew were efficient but never friendly. Food was always decent on all classes and on time performance was spot on. I would avoid the 773's as many have IFES not on demand.

QF F,Y,Y+ and J. Approximately 12 segments flown. A step up from BA. Food and Service was better as was the IFE. No real complaints, but at the same time no wow factor either. I kind of expected a little better from F in the A380. On one occasion I had assumed you could order food on demand, but the flight attendant seemed annoyed when I did ask her, only to be told that food was being cooked and served on a schedule and not on demand, which I found strange?

CX Y and J. Approximately 6 segments flown. By far the best service. Cabin crew could not do enough to help. And at times even after refusing food, they would insist and bring me snacks. Always smiling and warm. Let down slightly by the catering not as strong as BA or QF surpisingly. But their IFE was superior.

AA. F and Y. 3 segments flown. Below par. Catering was average, as was the service and their IFES was sadly lacking in choices. But no real bad experiences either. Vanilla.

SQ. Y. 10 segments flown. Great reputation. Yes their cabin crew will hop on one leg if you ask them to. But catering was average and surprisingly IFES not as good as advertised. BA and QF probably better in this department and definitely CX. But cannot fault the service.

Lan Chile. Y and J. 4 segments flown. See AA. Copy and paste basically. On one occasion the J bathroom was out of service so had to use the Y bathrooms at the back. On my way back to my seat as i parted the curtain I basically got tackled by a lady flight attendant as she was holding me asked me what i was doing and where i was going. i pointed to my seat, and the look of horror when the penny dropped that i was in J, was priceless. i took it in good humour and felt sorry for her when she apologised for the 20th time. Told her to relax and not worry as I looked dodgy anyway!

V Australia and SAA. Y and J respectively lumped together unfairly perhaps. But only because both sets of cabin crew seem to have been on the job for a total of 1 day. Friendly and enthusiastic, but I would get the feeling that in an emergency crew would roll into the fetal position and cry. IFE and catering on V was fantastic IFE and catering in SAA poor.

Other airlines flown, Turkish Y, Aegean J, Iberia Y, Garuda Y and Malaysian Y. All surprisingly good with the exception of iberia which was not suprisingly bad.

Will be flying some middle eastern airlines in 2011 so look forward in comparing.

Happy to hear people's thoughts on above agreements or disagreements etc.

Cheers

 

[RB]

An interesting read Double-D. Good to get thoughts from a frequent flyer. I had a similar experience on V Aust re the US landing card.-I got the impression that the card setout causes a lot of stuff-ups.

 

[Double-D]

Thankfully the US landing cards are no longer required for Australians. The ETSA on line registration is sufficient these days.

For those still requiring to fill them out, the best way I found was bottom up otherwise you can misjudge the lines to be filled.

 

[harvyk]

My experiences this year was all Y, no upgrades for me

For me I flew QF \ CX \ AA.

QF - Some flights where good, some where bad... Food was good \ IFE (on the B747 services) staff where friendly enough. Worst flight of the year is a AKL-SYD where the seat was broken.

CX - First time flying with CX, both flights on B777 service (one B772 and the other a B773) staff where very friendly, the PVG-HKG flight was delayed by an hour, on check in they gave me a meal vouchure which surprised me a little. Only problem was on the shorter flights they had their IFE system on a loop (still with 40 or so channels) rather than proper AVOD. A little annoying when all the channels had finished but they hadn't reset the system.

AA - The surprise of the year. After last years experience with AA, where I know if I go to hell when I die, I'll simply be placed onto a never ending version of my MIA-LAX flight from last year, this time around the staff where friendly, and being able to get onto an earlier flight at SFO by being placed onto standby (with my original booking still in place) was a godsend. At LAX the AAngels where much nicer to deal with than the QP employee at the LAX T4 QP...

AA certainly win the most improved award for this year.

 

[StevePER]

23 flights for me this year. The best would have to be CX (DPS-HKG in J) followed closely by SQ (HKG-SIN in J). Both are memorable because of the absolutely fantastic crew, particularly CX. The only let-down was the coffin seats.

Worst: Pacific Blue PER-DPS. This flight is poorly timed in my opinion (19:40 departure, 23:20 arrival). Stuck down the back with noisy kids who kicked our seat, waking up our own child not long after we got him to sleep. No Live 2 Air on this aircraft, and minimal crew interaction.

Most surprising: No infant seatbelts on Asiana for either domestic (Y) or international (J) flights. And I found their J service was below expectations.

 

[Fantic125]

100 flights for me this year, mostly international and all Y.

QF 36, CX 14, AA 9, CO 5, SQ 4, UA 4, LA 4, CA 3, OZ 3, NZ 3, IC 2, JL 2, NH 2, KA 1, AI 1, BA 2, LH 1, EI 1, BR 1.

To summarise service levels (from my perspective);

QF & BA varied from good to average, with average mainly being on the routes with high traffic, so no real surprise.
CX, SQ, NZ, JL, NH, OZ & AI all were reasonably good - in the main the crew were attentive, responsive and efficient.
AA, CO, UA were fairly similar to EI, CA, & KA - budget airlines, pay for everything and average service.

My best airlines for the year in terms of service level; LAN (LA) & Evergreen (BR)!

 

[tuapekastar]

Interesting Double-D, thanks for starting the thread.

I'm a leisure flyer hence don't fly anywhere near as much as a lot of people here but this year was my 'biggest' by far.

41 flights: I won't go into detail about each flight except to say perhaps I'm not as discerning as some because I cannot recall a particularly good or bad experience (aside from what you would expect from different cabin classes, and perhaps certain airlines) - I was happy enough with all my flights. I would not consider myself a demanding passenger - if I get polite and appropriate service (and I did) then I'm easy to please (though I did have a very sore @rse on the AA 757 from DFW-ANC - what an uncomfortable (F) seat, which I was happy to read they are replacing).

There were certainly minor variations - I can see why CX service is sometimes seen as 'forced' or 'robotic' for example, and why people say AA premium cabins have the err, more experienced FAs - but nothing that was outrageously good or bad. I had to ask the AA F FAs for the second glass of wine from LHR-LAX but after that I couldn't stop them. . I eventually, well into the 11 hour flight, had to say "no more" - the FA actually said "so, you're throwing in the towel".

QF was fine (the CSM on an AKL-SYD flight had the uncontrollable giggles over a pax who had 'lost his wife' - she even announced it over the PA and asked if anyone found her to return her - it was done in good spirits and the guy in question was next to her and 'in on it' - it actually made the delay in finding her bearable. BA, AY, JL, in fact all of them were fine. Perhaps having now had this eclectic mix of airlines and cabin classes I will notice the differences more in future.

For the record:

19 x QF (14Y, 4J, 1F)
8 x AA (2Y, 1J dom, 4F dom, 1F int)
7 x BA (4Y, 3J)*
2 x CX (2J)
2 x NZ (2Y)
1 x JL (1J)
1 x AY (1J)
1 x OA (1Y)

*2 of these Y flights were BA flight numbers on a Flybe plane operated by Loganair :shock:

Looking forward to next year!

 

[ab156]

100 flights for me this year, mostly international and all Y.

QF 36, CX 14, AA 9, CO 5, SQ 4, UA 4, LA 4, CA 3, OZ 3, NZ 3, IC 2, JL 2, NH 2, KA 1, AI 1, BA 2, LH 1, EI 1, BR 1.

To summarise service levels (from my perspective);

QF & BA varied from good to average, with average mainly being on the routes with high traffic, so no real surprise.
CX, SQ, NZ, JL, NH, OZ & AI all were reasonably good - in the main the crew were attentive, responsive and efficient.
AA, CO, UA were fairly similar to EI, CA, & KA - budget airlines, pay for everything and average service.

My best airlines for the year in terms of service level; LAN (LA) & Evergreen (BR)!

Sorry, i know it is not the point of the thread but how does one manage to do that much travel and not score a comp or points upgrade? Respect... that is hard yards!

 

[Postcode]

Very interesting topic and thanks for posting.

My experiences this year..

QF J and Y longhaul. I enjoyed the A380 flights in J. So quiet. Cabin crew keen to show the bells and whistles of the experience then disappeared. Ask for a beer or wine and they do the Houdini impersonation. Y was very unpleasant to say the least. Poor service when I needed help. Cramped and oversold. Complaints to QF took weeks to reply with resulting promises from them which never materialised. It was to be my last paid QF flight and the end of about 16 or more years of being a QFFer. I was so relieved that one QF booked flight was replaced by CX metal and crew due to the shortage of planes. Wonderful. On domestic J flight I had a massive headache while looking and feeling dreadful, so for was not even offered a drink of water until the descent.

CX J class. All in coffin seats which I am liking more and more. A bit cramped but private. Service wonderful. Attentive, polite, and quick service from the FAs who I found were so approachable and friendly when I walked in on them during their meal break. Great product. IFE has a great variety and I never even needed to reach for my ipod. Storage opportunities of things needed on the flight a bit tight. Overall perhaps the best OW airline I've travelled on.

AY J class. I have used Finnair many times due to their costing but they are catching up with other airlines in regards to fares. Service OK to good but a bit too business like if that makes sense. Just a bit cold. Food good. Wines good. IFE improving but bring something to occupy yourself if, like me you don't sleep on a plane. I was stuffed around with seating after AY decided one of their elites was more worthy of the seat I requested when I booked and was the first to book in the J cabin on an Embraer. Lounge staff in HEL are wonderful.

IE in general Y class. I've flown them before and liked them very much. I had two flights with them this year and this is one low cost airline who can show the others how to treat a customer. Yep, if you want a certain seat it costs a bit, so does luggage - I was over by 5 kg on what I had paid and all I got was a pleasant smile. Food good for the price if you need it, not that I did, no IFE, but FAs and ground staff so helpful. I paid Zero euros for both flights, just paid for taxes, seat allocation and luggage. Bargain.

BA in Y. It felt more like a LCC than IE. Ground staff at LHR who were less than helpful on how to find the T5 lounge. Late with no explanation. It happens with all airlines. Old plane. FAs who couldn't wait for the flight to be over. Food offered to me was returned immediately. Expedia.com.au much cheaper to book than the BA site on the flight I took.

MH on some domestic flights in Malaysia. Old 737s which I booked online for next to nothing. Food served on even the shortest flight. I couldn't see QF staff coping with what the MH FAs did. No IFE which didn't worry me. I even scored Exit rows on all flights despite never having flown with them before. I'd like to try their international product.

AF in J. Wonderful experience. It was like arriving in CDG way ahead of time. Food, wine, and entertainment with helpful, polite and friendly FAs. I believe the Y class experience is something else though. Costs of flights quite competitive. AF in Y domestic was inexpensive to book online ahead of time. Even cheaper than travelling by advance purchased rail. Service good but it was a shortish flight.

Wow looking forward to my flights booked and not yet booked in 2011.

 

[Flying Fox]

I like this thread.

.... On one occasion the J bathroom was out of service so had to use the Y bathrooms at the back. On my way back to my seat as i parted the curtain I basically got tackled by a lady flight attendant as she was holding me asked me what i was doing and where i was going. i pointed to my seat, and the look of horror when the penny dropped that i was in J, was priceless. i took it in good humour and felt sorry for her when she apologised for the 20th time.

I had a similar experience on QF but simply laughed it off. I thought it was funny too.

My additions are -

QF F (747-400) - Loved it totally (as I normally fly Y) and had amazing experiences in the SYD Flounge and on-board. Flight crew couldn't do enough to please Me and the Mrs. Made us feel like royalty and have spoilt us for life

SA Y (737-800) - Did a few flights within Africa and the crew worked their butts off. On one particular 4 hour flight they did 3 rounds of drinks & nuts, hot meal round, tea & coffee round and then another round of drinks. Then immigration & customs cards.

SA J (A340-300) - Did JNB-PER and was disappointed by the male attendant. He did what he was required to do and probably by the book but anything else was a pain. I received a broken ammenity kit and asked for a replacement which was met with a 'humph' and said kit was replaced. Champagne glass had chip which I turned around to drink from the safe side to avoide the 'humph'.

The breakfast omelette was so greasy that if we ran out of fuel, we could have squeezed the omelettes to get us home!

Must say that I liked their flat J seats and thought that they were better than QF Skybed Mk1 (even if you do seem to sleep high off the floor).

Other than that, everything was as expected.

Many thanks to the couple of awesome QF domestic crews that did so much and really put a smile on my dial (feedback provided to QF)!

Thanks everyone for the happy travels and may your 2011 travels be just as safe and populated with the occasional OpUp!!!

Flying Fox

 

[anat0l]

Go get a drink everyone. I had 50 flights this year.

• QF: 17 flights - Y10, J7; 3 operational upgrades (2 domestic, 1 international).
  In domestic and international J, it was difficult to fault QF on any of the service. Even on the sometimes badly serviced BNE-HKG route that I was on (or any ...-HKG route), the crew did their jobs very well. Nothing over the top spectacular, but not rude either. I probably don't fly enough. Or I'm just that lucky.
  Food is at minimum acceptable, although I guess I'm lucky not to have a flight during the season where they serve the pasta with broccoli and ragu (with no meat). International J meals were tasty and I don't know why the big bawl over Skybed. Got CSM greetings on my 2 international flights and a few of my domestic ones too.
  QF were great to streamline accommodating me on a subsequent flight when I was sure to misconnect. The bag didn't make the same flight I was on, but when things like this happen it'd be a bonus if the bag makes it.
• CX: 9 flights - Y1, J8.
  Most of these flights were a J SE Asia status run. I still don't like herringbone (this is not just CX - it's any carrier with them), so I'm glad that CX is changing their product. In saying that, most of the run was on regional product anyway, which is your run-of-the-mill face-forward recliner seats.
  CX J meals are quite tasty and are relatively generous. Although, after eating quite a few of these meals in within a week, you very much get sick of the richness (wholesomeness?) of the food. Every CX FA in J (at least) carries a copy of the manifest with them, so they will almost always address you by name.
  CX J champagne is anything between just acceptable to dreadful (I'm talking about Deutz).
• JQ: 5 flights - Y4, W1.
  Can't say much about these JQ flights - they were all either JQ3 or JQ35 tag flights (F Lounge runs, of course ). Good to see on some tag flights the Star Class service is full selection rather than just choice-of-3-snacks.
  One thing that continues to annoy me to ends is that JQ (international) do not open check-in at the 3 hour mark. The best they have done is 20 minutes late. You still need to arrive at about 3h 20min beforehand anyway to beat the crowd that'll form in waiting for check-in to open.
• SQ: 4 flights - Y4.
  First time I've flown SQ in over 8 years. Y service is very good, but unlike some other reports I wouldn't say they do everything they can and more. They just go about their tasks very well and efficiently. When you start to talk to some of them, you can see the frustration of the job start to blare through in some cases; it almost looks like "Am I off-duty for a moment? Thank God! I can stop putting on this fake smile!" - OK that's an exaggeration, but sometimes it's good to talk to FAs as if they were regular, honest human beings.
  SQ food is boring but it has good taste. They also do regular drink (water/juice) runs.
  I got to sit at the exit row in the upper deck of a SQ A380. Brilliant seat; leg room was superb.
• UA: 3 flights - Y1, J1, F1; 2 sponsored SWU upgrades (1 domestic, 1 international).
  First time flyer on UA. Got to sample international J and Y on old 777 and domestic F on 757. The old international J is a 150-160 degree recliner, cf. new J which is fully flat. Nevertheless, comfortable enough to sleep in (OK, helps if you're tired). FAs are quite, err...experienced...but were courteous.
  Food even in international J looked pretty boring and I'm not sure if it goes down a treat either. The Japanese meal I had on UA J was quite appetising, however. Y meals look rather more paltry.
  Domestic F was underwhelming. The flight was 1h 20min and all I got to do was sit in a bigger leather seat and choose between wave chips, chocolate or nuts. There was a full bar available, though.
  I wouldn't mind trying UA premium again but on the new product. It's not on the top of the "must try" list, however.
• CO: 2 flights - W2.
  Star Mega Do 2 charter flight. Comfortable 753 compared to the DE 753 used for SMD1.
• DJ: 2 flights - Y2.
  I hadn't flown DJ since 2008. Had no choice as work booked it at last minute, and QF fares were a sizeable amount more expensive.
  Nothing wrong with DJ, although their staff (both on the ground and in the air) could be a bit more professional. For most of the DJ staff I interacted with, it felt like I was dealing with a teenager or someone working in a supermarket or fast food chain more than I was having a professional interaction.
• FJ: 2 flights - J2.
  Although FJ have dated 747s (they used to belong to SQ from my guesses) and their J uses the much dated 150 degree recliners, the service on FJ J is very friendly.
  The lunch service they have is rather boring but breakfast is multi-course and considerably generous.
• LH: 2 flights - Y2.
  LH Y feels so cramped - I don't know why it is when LH and QF have the same pitch, but I survive fine on QF even in non-premium rows. LH Y bulkheads are even worse - don't sit in them unless you are short (I'm 175cm tall).
  LH food can sound uninteresting and presented equally so, but it does taste good. Breakfast pack with the stock standard cheese sandwich is expectantly boring. No amenity kits in Y.
• US: 2 flights - Y2.
  Not much to say about US. Think DJ except pitch is slightly better and non-alcoholic drinks (including water) is free of charge.
• B6: 1 flight - Y1.
  Was looking forward to trying their Terra Blue Chips, but since I chose an "express" service, there was only nuts or chocolate available. Good aircraft and crew apart from that.
• ZL: 1 flight - Y1.
  ZL are pretty strict on luggage allowance. Still don't know how we ended up being 75 kg too heavy for take off if even on a full aircraft everyone stuck to their luggage allowance. We probably should have just offloaded 1 pax and their baggage and be on our way, rather than stuff around delaying OTD waiting for volunteers to have their bags offloaded / couriered the next day.

Some other miscellaneous observations:

• QF F Lounges still great, especially MEL.
• CX Lounges in HKG are great. So is the NH lounge in NRT T1.
• Lounges without showers suck. There isn't a single *G lounge in SIN which has a shower. OK I lie, SATS Premier in T2 has just one. Waiting list fail on that one. Perhaps the only saving grace for having WP anytime access.
• The upgrade "game" in the USA is ridiculous. You get so many gate lice and people eagerly/furiously/insistently/threateningly accosting the gate agents for checking on their upgrade status, even if they are #18 on the list with 1 seat remaining. Gate agents put up with a lot over there. In some ways I don't mind that they have powers to report someone to be detained or offloaded.
  The only good thing is that the upgrade process and ranking of pax in the USA is both transparent and pretty much a regimented, fixed, justified process (which works 99.9% of the time).
  Truly, who pays for domestic F in the USA (except for perhaps QFF KUPP / *A HUPP runners)? Especially if you are a say UA 1K or AA EXP and you get an upgrade almost all the time (and you make a point of registering your intense disgust with the airline every time you do not get upgraded).
• Other ridiculous things about the USA FFPs and air travel include:
  • Making points too easy to amass through merely purchase (i.e. not flying, just buy points)
  • Making it waaaaay too easy for non-elites to access premium seating (someone who is a nothing member for less than a month can purchase points and access F seat inventory, on a partner airline no less. What the hell???). Naturally I'm getting sick of all the complaints, wailing etc. from people who are previously used to being able to see it and book it to now seeing inventory being denied or blocked by airlines. All I have to say is, well, "sucked in".
  • The war for overhead locker space is very real, even in premium classes. Board early, everyone; don't stay in the lounge for that extra drink.
• Even though we are trying to go more towards paperless, I still find myself doing and/or requiring to print off hotel confirmations with addresses etc. Mainly for customs/immigration purposes (i.e. where are you staying, blah blah blah).

Next year's travel I see as being light, with a lot of my time devoted to finishing my PhD (for those in the know, write-up stage and preparing for defence is the true test and real PITA). Hope to go travelling at the end of the year, for a while.

Also on the hunt for a new *A FFP for life after BD. Currently my gravitating is towards OZ, A3 or TK. AC is out of the question (now has minimum metal mileage requirement).

 

[Dee Thom]

Not having added to many flights this year, two things stood out for me.

1) UA internal flights, LAX/SFO, and SFO/PHX both on an A320 in Y, but upgraded at the A/Port to Y+, which to me was wonderful. The service by all the "experienced" staff was great, which was also an improvement to my previous flights the previous year, so an extra * for UA.


2) QF BNE/LAX/BNE in J also suprising in regard to crew, they were extremely efficient and friendly both ways, shame QF couldn't supply crew of this quality on all flights.

I won't mention my thoughts on Jetconnect BNE/AKL/BNE service, or equipment.

Cheers Dee

 

[mark62]

Mainly done trans-tasman and SYD-SIN routes this year in Y class and 2 main observations:

1. For trans-tsaman was blown away by Emirates. Much superior equipment, IFE and F&B to Qantas and Air NZ. But Air NZ comes second and is ahead of QF. Frankly I am quite sick of the mushy slop that passes for a meal on QF

2. For SYD-SIN QF are more competitive (with SIA) but SIA still ahead in terms of quality of F, and more so with B. One example - QF seem to have stopped pre-dinner drinks service whilst SIA still offer it. Not much to choose between them in terms of IFE. SIA have much better schedule with 3 flights spaced out during the day

 

[PineappleSkip]

If memory serves me right...

PX about 30 flights in Y, about 6 in J. Very friendly full service, But food is ordinary and service is erratic, varying between reasonable and total shambles. On time departures - occasionally. All these were intl. Most to BNE or CNS,but a couple SIN, HKG

CG 2 flights Y, not enough sample to comment. Very glad to use the charter terminal and not the chaos that is POM domestic terminal.

QF about 10 flights in Y and Y+, still enjoy the Y+, best such I've done. Int'l Y is not what it used to be, not very impressed with meals. Qantaslink POM-CNS is the relative LCC option, and feels like it. Red Roo please shoot whoever thought 0540 departures from CNS intl were fun.

BA 1 F sector, 1 J. Gotta love that Concorde Lounge at LHR

Em tasol!

 

[Hvr]

About 40 flights this year and a couple of firsts:

A380 in first class, just amazing and well worth doing at least once in your life.

Circle Asia fare meant I also flew on CX and JL business class, both their regional products but a good experience.

Three overseas trip in one year, all self funded.

Long haul CX Y in the non-reclining seats, thank goodness they are going. The CX J 'coffins' on the other hand I really like.

Jet* Star Class, an interesting experience which I enjoyed and tipped me over to platinum for the very first time.

Roll on 2011, already have 17 flights booked.

 

[Ric]

Around 50 flights this calendar year.
QF - 5 flights 3J 1 LHR-HKG, 2 HKG-SYD-HKG, 1Y+ HKG-SYD (pts upgrade), 1Y SYD-HKG . Observations as per the others. Service is a bit like a Russian Roulette. My Y+ service was better than my J! Food is so, so...Neil Perry:shock:!
SQ - 2 flights J. Service and food cannot be faulted. SQ SIN J lounge (T1) looking tired and full but food selection beats QF J lounge hands down.
CX - 19 flights 11Y 8J (all ops up...Hello QF??) Again, service cannot be faulted. Food in J also cannot be faulted. Food in Y can be better!!! (though this are mostly short regional flights MNL-HKG-MNL). Glad that The Wing is being renovated.
KA - 4 flights 2Y 2J (ops ups...hello again QF!) All HKG-PVG-HKG. Just love the Haagen Daz ice cream for desserts!
AK - 4 flights 4Y CRK-BKI-CRK. No delays, no service.
5J - 6 flights 6Y 4 MNL-CEB-MNL, 2 MNL-BKI-MNL Ditto no delays, no service
PR - 4 flights 4Y 2 MNL-SGN-MNL, 2 MNL-HKG-MNL. Passable service. Didn't not try the food!
MU - 1 Y Enough said! Cannot wait to get out of the plane soon enough!!:shock::shock:
HU - 1 Y ditto
ZH - 1 Y ditto
CI - 1 Y ditto
FM - 2 Y ditto

Above are both business and leisure flights but self funded by own business and own back pocket.
For 2011, planning to cut down on the short regional flight and do a bit more long haul leisure flights.

Happy travelling for 2011

Ric

 

[docjames]

QF
Dom Y 27 (paid)
Dom J 8 (all points upgrades or JASAs)
Int Y+ 3 (paid)
Int J 3 (2 points-up, 1 op-up all from Y+)
Made Gold for the first time after a few years @ Silver.

Recurring delays were an issue for me this year - on time % overall would be around 50%. Applied both domestically, but also the international ones were 7 out of 8 sadly. Reasons including: "We need to add more fuel", after starting roll and then pulling off runway we had to "repair compressor / warning light", another way "PA system not working" - on a plane that had deadheaded in from SYD (wtf - shouldnt this have been noticed beofre it left SYD??), "total shutdown of all electircal controls and we have to totally reset everything" (again, confidence inspiring....).

Some of the domestic delays were non-specific, but it probably relates to the fact a lot of my domestic flights were late in the day - QF should see the pattern and be able to "compensate" in their scheduling.

One domestic cancellation.

My thoughts include:
1. Problems happen, and QF look after me better than some airlines, but, there seems to be a lack of process for dealing with "common" problems. A cancelled BNE-SYD flight should not be so uncommon that the scrum and mess that resulted shouldnot have occurred.
2. I'm OK to be late if I get there safely. But there also seem to be other airlines that are safe and get me there on time.
3. Crews are still hit and miss, but seem more hit than miss now (a year ago it was the other way around).
4. I'm sorry that mrsdoc and I consumed all the steamed pork buns in the HKG J lounge. We had to eat to try and stay awake because it is soooooo dark in there.

Overall I still cant shake the feeling that QF are ramming that they're "premium" down our throats, but the experience is often far from premium. This disconnect is a problem.


BA
Y 2 (LHR-CDG ret)
Perfectly on time despite being in the middle of Cabin attendant strike. Contrast with my QF on time performance.....
Also the BA T5 lounges just kill QF J lounges anywhere for food and facilities. Sure, they're huge, but that means you can always find a seat. The T3 lounge is pretty average.


AA
F1 (BOS-LAX) - AA eVIP u/g (thanks to you know who!)
J1 (LAX-JFK) - AA eVIP u/g (as above!)
Y1 (LGA-BOS)

AA is a totally different airline in J or especially F. It's still rubbish in Y. Their terminals are also terrible, and the lounges are very hit and miss. LGA terminal is so terrible I dont even know where to begin, but at least passing through it is quick. Unlike JFK.


I still hate transitting LAX, it's still hit-and-miss on how hard it'll be on any given day/time. The OW lounge in T4 is bad. Too small for starters, terrible decor, but at least a decent view out.

 

[Boris spatsky]

Ok my two cents worth.

Plenty of flying this year.

QF mainly, also CX, JL, BA, SAS, Ryanair, Cimber Sterling, Wizzair, Iberia, Air Vanuatu, QF Jet connect int'l.

Thoughts:
QF F, J international is still superb. Very happy to be FF with them. Frequently can't fault trips to US or Europe. Did have one terrible flight SYD-HKG in Y with mrs and baby where crew denied us the vassinette seat (even though WP!), and when the baby cried for 5 hours straight because it couldn't sleep, they abused and harassed me. My worst flight ever and took 10 years off my life. Ideally wanted to say "I told you so".

CX. First time, HKG-CDG. OK but old 744 and not comfy. Food awful, crew awful. Toilets all overflowing after 10 hours and absolutely disgusting. Not impressed at all.

JAL int'l in Y. Fantastic new 777s, awesome food, great crew. Very enjoyable.

BA Europe in J. Very average, certainly nothing to write home about.

SAS Europe in J. Very very nice, great lounge at LGE, super service. Seat is only economy seat but still ok really nice Scandinavian food.

Ryanair. Paid £0 for flight to Dublin. On time, new 738. No service, awful pitch, but got there safe for next to nothing. Again? Yes!

Air Van in Y. The surprise if the year, great service, great food, newish 738. Just needs some IFE.

AA. US Dom in F and Y. I fly about 30 AA sectors a year and hate almost every one. Terrible. The o ly OK leg is MIA - LAX on 767. Just horrible usually.Also fly Delta and just as bad. American Eagle terrible too.

QF domestic. Still a great product. Don't like Dash 8 of any description, even new Q400s. Also flew Alliance F50 on QF codeshare and hated it.

 

[KrugBoi]

Qantas
Domestic Y: about 10 trips mainly between Sydney and Melbourne in the 1st half of year. On some of my trips, we took advantage of our Platinum Status and flew JQ wherever we could on their international flights to use the First Class Lounge. Still the best lounge experience overall for me ever!!

International Y: On the A380 from Melbourne to LA. What a totally underwhelming experience - crew were disinterested and virtually disappeared the whole flight. After flying Prem Y last year (where it was so good), this sector was so so. Particularly noticed the cutbacks in service - no hot towels at all during the 14 hr flight, no separate drinks service before lunch and the snacks were pretty miserable in the self serve bar. QF flight LA - NYC on 744, the crew were scary. Nothing against age or anything, but they just gave the impression they were working under duress. No smiles or anything but just jaded.

Agree with some of the other comments - Qantas is definitely coming across as more low cost than a premium airline with all their cutbacks.

Cathay Pacific
Regional Y: Have also noticed a cutback in food offerings but still consistently high in service. Food is OK but was annoyed with their IFE. On flights less than 2.5hrs, there is no movies screened but only TV shows which finish after about an hour. There is no replay. Compared to Singapore Airlines, they show AVOD even if there is no enough time to finish the movie.

International J: 2 excellent daytime flights. Really enjoyed the service and 'coffin seats'. Food is OK, can't really say it is one of my favourites - prefer QF and BA. Can't wait to try their new seats.

International F: Flew from NYC to HKG. It was far from perfect and quite disappointing to say the least. Definitely noticed the cutbacks here - food, service, amenities. My seat was also broken and the cabin was full. Was offered vouchers for duty free and received an upgrade voucher after I wrote in complaint letter. Excellent customer service.

The HKG lounges are excellent and a great way to start the flights. Also visited their new Cabana Lounge which has a great view of the tarmac. Small and crowded when we were there.

Malaysian
Regional Y: Excellent customer service and food. We really liked their commitment to the environment with their specially designed cardboard meal boxes.

AirAsia
Regional Y: We've done about 20 flights with AirAsia and they are fantastic!! The best LCC around. Staff are friendly and courteous and the flights are pretty much bang on time. We always book the 'Hot Seats' so we can board first and choose either first row or exit row. Another plus is being allowed to buy extra baggage (up to 30kg). Not sure if I would fly them long haul but for a 3hr flight or less, it is perfect. Considering as well that their airfares are often 30% cost of other airlines.

Hate the KLIA terminal and the immigration/ customs. There is always long queues and the staff are not very friendly.

Thai
Regional Y: A couple of flights with them - consistently good service.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I didn't keep a tally of my flights, but probably around 50

QF (J and Y)
Jetstar (Y and *Class)
Thai (Y)
National Jet (Y only service)
Air Pacific (J)

A few smaller operators out of WA for FIFO work
Skywest
Network Aviation
Alliance


--Notes--
Thai in Y. Good service and better than what l expected. IFE screen was a fair bit bigger than QF, but it did freeze twice and the contrast isn't good during the day as QF's product. Food was average-good, however some salads were already wilting. :shock:

QF, no complaints got me from A-B. Like the Next Gen check-in where available. Still no op-ups (ever)

Jetstar Star Class. No lounge at coughet (misleading advertising l feel on that front). Seats were comfy but the service wasn't the best. I thought that they were constructing the titanic at the front galley on a Red Eye return. Terrible if you wanted to get any shut eye.

Worst connecting flight combo. Flying Network for 3+ hours (where you can't even stand) and then having to wait 3 hours before l could check in (bag drop) at PER for a Jetstar Red Eye flight to SYD. I wanted to kill myself after that. Yikes. The Jetstar 2 hour check in limit is a joke.