Airline Experiences 2010

[Bundy Bear]

74 flights with a range of different airlines.

Carrier breakdown:
Qantas(38) 10 flights were in business class, business class is very nice but it is not worth the 4x times price over economy. Qantas economy is fine, row 4 is nice on the 737-800s but I don't mind the 737-400s if you can get row 5 or 6.

American Airlines(10) 9 of these flights were in first class, maybe I had low expectations of American Airlines but all flights including the flight in economy were good. American First fares are usually 3-4 times more expensive than the cheapest economy but for the status credits and mileage then if you can get a good deal I think it is worth the premium.

Jetstar(6) 1 flight in star class, not worth the money but a nice boost for the Status Credits, all others in Y including 3 flights on JQ(NZ flight). 2 economy flights made better from a visit to the first lounge before hand.

Air NZ(4), 1 was mainline and also good if you can get a seat in space +, the front few rows. the other 3 were Air NZ link, New Zealand is one of the few airlines in the world where you can turn up for check in 5 minutes before boarding, service was usually a biscuit with water and tea or coffee, flights on the Beech1900D offer no service.

Air Pacific(2) Best flights for the money in 2010, a seat in row 1 of a 747 is very nice, to be able to watch take off from both front windows, maybe I don't expect much when I am buying a dirt cheap business class fare.

Qantas(Operated by Alliance)(2) standard Qantaslink service with a decent breakfast offering, not much in Olympic Dam, very small airport, but I was there for the status credits of course.

Southwest(2) You are buying a cheap airfare on the worlds biggest low fare airline, service is a drink with a snack mix. On the flights under an hour then service is a water drink, no IFE on Southwest.

British Airways(2) Nothing much to report, a drink with a snack mix, and the cabin crew do it quickly on the short hop from London Heathrow to Amsterdam. There is no IFE on the short haul European services so take your own book or MP3 player for entertainment.

Continental Airlines(1-Charter-2 segments) It was a charter so it is hard to compare with standard continental service. Continental 757s have IFE and show a movie on the long sectors, seat pitch decent which I find better than the Qantas 737-800s.

Air Chathams(1) Jump seat, what more can I say, excellent flight experience, no service but I was there for the experience.

Royal Brunei(1) Another cheap business class airfare out of New Zealand. There is no alcohol served on Royal Brunei. The lunch service was nice, maybe I don't expect much on these cheap business class flights. IFE was decent, on par with Air Pacific and probably better than AR.

Aeropelican(1) 20 minute flight so nothing to report, it was a flight 88 miles in length, no onboard service and everything bigger than a purse had to be gate checked, as there is no overhead space.

Delta Airlines(1) No IFE on the DC9 the whole reason to pick Delta. Service on the 90 minute to New York was a drink and a snack mix.

Alaska Airlines(1), No IFE on the 737-800 but there was Gogo inflight(Wifi inflight) service was a drink(can) with a snack mix.

Aerolineas Argentinas(1) Another cheap business class airfare out of New Zealand. Snack service due to the time of day, alcohol available, probably the worst business class for hard product(seat, IFE) cabin crew ok, I was paying a economy price so I wasn't expecting much.

Virgin Blue. (0) They put me on Qantas due to the cancellation of 2 flights to Sydney in a matter of hours,hopefully they are better in 2011.

That is 2010 done.

 

[froggerADL]

133 Flights in total for 2010.

Hit WP in Feb for the first time.

Had my first 3 vsits to the SYD F Lounge. All 8 hours+. F Lounge visits in SIN (3), BKK (1), HKG (2) & LHR T4 (1) also.

QF 5 long haul Y, 99 domestic Y - occasional op-up or points upgrade.
CX 4 J short haul.
BA 1 Y long haul, 2 Y short haul.
DJ 16 Y.
Jetstar 3 Y SE Asia, 2 Y domestic.
AirAsia 1 Y.

I'd like to thank all the contributors here for helping to make those flights so much more comfortable, and profitable, with your helpful advice.

I've learnt a hell of a lot this year.

All this flying is causing me to drink far too much alcohol.

 

[elbarto]

Flying during 2010 has been limited to five trips, but enough to retain my Silver status. Overall all my flights have been pretty good, but I do have low standards

First flight of the year was in QF dom J to get silver before my year ended and since I'm not normally a J flyer I was reasonably impressed. It was easter sunday and I received plenty of easter goodies.

The next was a trip to Fiji on VA and DJ/Pacific Blue. I went with DJ because A they were cheaper than QF/FJ and B because I was bored of QF. The service and experice was fine on DJ and I was pretty impressed with VA, but at the end of it I was missing the QF experience.

The third trip was a quick day trip to Melbourne to do some shopping and get 2 QF sectors. The trip was the same as always and can't complain really

The fourt trip was a new experience for me. Longhaul J on QF. Since this was my first time flying longhaul in J compared to cattle class I lapped up the experience. Crew on the SYD-SIN leg were very good and I enjoyed the experience quite a lot. The second sector SIN-LHR was very good as well, but I can't help but feel that the LHR based crews aren't quite into it as the Australian based crews are. I noticed the same on my MEL-HKG-LHR last year and that was in Y. I wouldn't say they were bad, they just seemed to lack a but of edge I guess compared to the Australian crews.

The fifth trip of the year was on BA Citiflyer LCY-MAD-LCY in J. The big difference here is that it's Citiflyer and not BA mainline. The crew were good and didn't have much to do given that me and my travel companion were the only people in J. The return flight was just as good, it was operated by the same crew. There were more people to serve this time, but they were a repositioning BA crew. Infact I was the only person in the J cabin on that flight that wasn't a BA employee (my travel companion is a BA employee) so I was served first and given the first choice of breads from the bread basket. Again, can't really complain. BA Citiflyer do a pretty good job.

 

[dfcatch]

Was bored last night between Toronto and LA so tallied it up:

62 flights:

- 15 in F including A380.
- 22 in J (includes 4 opups: 3 QF - all CNS-SYD, 1 AA)
- 25 in whY

Carriers:

- 21 on QF
- 20 on AA
- 7 on BA
- 3 on CX
- 3 on NZ
- 3 on JQ (2 were an F-lounge run, 1 was in NZ - not flying JQ for fun that's for sure)
- 1 on DJ
- 3 on AS
- 1 on AC


QF A380 First wins most impressive.
QF SYD & MEL F Lounges win best lounges.
AA wins most improved.
BA wins most pleasantly surprised.
CX - had better expectations.
NZ - satisfied, but expected to be.
AC - satisfied, quite like their hard product and IFE.
DJ - still a long way to go.
AS - very impressed with domestic F service.
JQ - nuff said!

 

[medhead]

Well you got me.

102 flights this year

QF - 81, 5 in J including 1 op-up, 76 in Y, all domestic. J was a good experience compared to my usual Y travel even on a 734, meals were good. Domestic Y was very same-y, especially as I probably got the exact same flights just about every week. Breakfast at 6 am is a total waste of time, same with the late night snack. I think I've mentioned the beetroot chips a couple of times - but really the snack doesn't get much better but I don't mind the hot, savoury cake thing. I did get an occasional dinner flight and the meals were pretty ordinary - oily pasta, that type of thing. Edible but nothing to write home about and made me wonder why I bothered. Biggest disappointment is that I remember only a handful of cabin crew from this flying.

JQ - 3. 2 Starclass international, 1 domestic. Starclass was just fine. It is priced at the same level as full economy on QF and the bigger seat and space make it preferable to QF Y. Hence it is a winner for me. The service was good and the meals were good and the extras were great. The crew were friendly, helpful and approachable. I'm really waiting to see what they do into europe. JQ domestic - extremely average, the leg room seemed to be less than on tiger, definitely inferior to Virgin Blue. The overhead lockers also seemed to be smaller as I couldn't stack any of my bags on top of each other like on a 737, but hard for me to judge as it was only my second time on an A320. Of course, I did get to my destination and I got lucky as I was pretty much over the carry on limit (picked up an unexpected christmas present for the kids).

DJ - 17, all domestic, 1 move into PE seating by the cabin crew. Overall good. Cabin crew are professional and happy. I certainly don't miss the meals on QF, as mentioned already. I don't mind the seats, in fact I've had more empty middle seats percentage wise on DJ that QF. The Monday morning flight has been delay 30 minutes a couple of times, a poor hit rate. This is blamed on ATC at SYD. Will fly more with DJ. Another disappointment is that DJ cut a 7pm SYD-ADL flight, which was perfectly scheduled for my needs, so I'm stuck with the late 8:45pm flight on QF.

TT - 1 domestic flight. Took this to try tiger out and because of the schedule being 7:30pm SYD-ADL. It was on time, the cabin crew were great, even telling me the aircraft rego (ignoring that I got 2 different answers, at least one was correct). The seats were tight, overhead lockers seemed fine, but I had to do checked luggage on this flight. Boarding seemed to take forever and even with the tight carry on limits there was still problems with overhead space. I put this down the inexperience of the other pax. The guy in the seat next to me has been taking the flight weekly and said it was only delayed a few times mostly less than 2 hours and once over 2 hours. Overall it wasn't bad, tiger as an experience would be fine for me with the cost savings and schedule being perfect. However, the need to check luggage, because of the carry on limit with stories of strict enforcement, and the check in cut off time means getting to the airport with enough time to catch the 6:30 pm QF flight - in other words just a bit too early for me to leave work. Would fly TT again in the right circumstances.

 

[straitman]

I have no idea of all my 2010 totals but will endeavour to log them all for 2011.

 

[bossreggie]

I have no idea of all my 2010 totals but will endeavour to log them all for 2011.

+1 Bill.

14 times to NZ
6 to Thailand
4 to Europe
20 odd DOM

Most memorable was the F Class trip with QANTAS to BKK which resulted in my first ever complaint to QANTAS. (result $1,200 QANTAS voucher)

I still love EK F.

Enjoyed my 1st TT with NZ in J

Looking forward to 2011.

 

[fiscal]

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

We had a problem at LHR going to JFK when the ESTA approvals just would not work for BA to issue us our boarding passes. We had to apply for new ESTA's with just 30 minutes left before Check in closed. Luckily there was a internet terminal in a coffee shop close by, and we had some change to feed the machine. With just minutes to go we got two new approvals which worked OK, but of course we ended up having to pay new ESTA fees to boot, which was not appreciated when we already had paid for approvals from our first attempt.

Anyway, this is about Airline's, so I would, reluctantly, add a thumbs up to Air Asia X for our trip in the Premium seats from Perth to London. I say reluctantly, as these seats are limited, priced to be affordable, comfortable and a great crew. All those positives could lead to scarcity if I spread the word to far and wide, and that might also lead to price increases, which I would not be happy about<g>.

Having said those nice things, you must understand that this is still budget. You do get a number of benefits like priority check in, pillow, blankets, some free luggage rates, seat allocation choice, etc. We did not miss the extra food, or the absence of a lounge (although there is a Priority Pass lounge in KL). We had our own media player loaded with movies, and with seat power, that meant we could amuse ourselves for the whole trip is we wanted. As it happens, we had a nice sleep instead.

Baggage is now straight through for some connections, which was great for us, we only needed to transit.

So, in conclusion, I would say to anyone likely to take my seat away from me, ignore all I have said and go with someone else....

Tony

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I still love EK F.

I have been thinking of switching to EK for INT sectors myself. They have massive expansion plans, decent pricing, good reports on product and food is fine. They also have pretty much a black hole to draw on for funds too.

Check out this quote l got off the EK website about half an hour ago.

Sydney to Budapest, in Y (1 J sector) WTF?

View attachment 1608

 

[bossreggie]

Check out this quote l got off the EK website about half an hour ago.

Sydney to Budapest, in Y (1 J sector) WTF?

Yea...... I'd DEFO say do NOT book this one!

 

[ApplesHK]

About 12 flights this year, nearly all with Asian Airlines.

Thai Airways: Still the best service bar none. Even in economy you need to wave away the frequent offers of red/white wine and brandy refills. Food can be a bit variable and the only slight complaint is the consistent offering of fruit rolls with main courses out of Hong Kong. Why Thai why?
Business Class service is excellent as is the IFES.
Some planes are a bit long in the tooth still on the BKK-MEL flights. ****

Singapore Airlines: Consistently good in all areas. Efficient, on time and decent food.
Great IFES and service. Food/drink not up to Thai standards though......at least in offerings! *****

Emirates: Above average but service in economy is at times painfully slow. On a hot plane not to be offered a drink until an hour into flight was just not good enough. Under staffed. Great planes and IFES though.***1/2

Cathay: Excellent service, decent food and reasonably punctual (if you don't count mainland China).****

BA: So appalling that it is beyond description. Surly service at check-in, surly service on-board. All-up they just made the flying experience a misery. Learnt the lesson well. If they were the only airline available I'd take a boat! How does this mob stay in business? **

 

[fiscal]

Check out this quote l got off the EK website about half an hour ago.

Sydney to Budapest, in Y (1 J sector) WTF?

That business class fare is about $16000 for an hours flight. Nice work if you can get it.

 

[docjames]

Is there an error here in conversion from AED? What would 16000AED work out to in AUD?


Edit: AED20000 ~ AUD5500

 

[sunbeamrapier]

BA: So appalling that it is beyond description. Surly service at check-in, surly service on-board. All-up they just made the flying experience a misery. Learnt the lesson well. If they were the only airline available I'd take a boat! How does this mob stay in business? **

It is not surprising that BA cabin staff consistently rate poorly - they have been in a major dispute with BA management for some time. If frontline staff hate their employer, it is no surprise that this translates to indifferent service...

 

[ethernet]

15 Flights only.
My 'winner' is Air Asia X - KUL-MEL for AUD$150 all in!

In order of ranking
Virgin #1 (on Time, or close enough, expectations met)
Air Asia X (Mostly on time)
JQ 3 or 4 of flights were delayed with poor, but at least attempted communication
Tiger: 6/6 flights all late, and I swear legroom has shrunk another inch, flat out deception (plane in MEL) but CBR showing Boarding Gate 5. Drip feed bad 'late' news is their policy.

Observations: Tigers online checkin (or pay $15) even with hand luggage discriminates against under 12YO's - where mothers and families cop the extortion jig.

As stated, elsewhere 3 trips were on Virgin because same price as Tiger - actually better as I save checkin time and have more baggage and legroom.

Did NOT fly Tiger at all in Asia, as JQ and AirAsia beat them all over.
AirAsia must have some 'Vietnam' problems as I could not get a cheapish fare out of them, so 6 tickets went to JQ.

 

[sunbeamrapier]

I fly for recreation rather than business, and not nearly as often as some of those who have responded.

In 2010 I did a roundworld trip flying Virgin Australia Brisbane to LA, Delta and Continental across the US via Houston and Atlanta to Boston, Virgin Atlantic New York to London and then Virgin Atlantic from London to Sydney via Hong Kong.

Virgin Australia in Business Class to LA was wonderful, with great service, great food and very comfortable flat-bed seats. There was no lounge in Brisbane airport, which was disappointing, and the films and TV were too American for my taste and the music selection limited, but I would definitely fly them again.

Travelling first class domestically in the US is a joke. Continental were abysmal - i was astonished that I had to load, weigh and tag my own bags and was then denied access to the lounge as I had the "wrong kind" of Platinum Amex. The food, needless to say, was inedible.

Delta were better, but not much - at least I didn't have to use the machines to check in. They only have a lounge at their hub, so first class passengers get a plastic seat (if you are early) at the gate like everyone else. Inedible food again of course.

Virgin Atlantic is my favourite airline. Travelling Upper Class is a wonderful experience - flat beds (I don't mind the herringbone layout), great staff (informal but attentive and obviously enjoying their job), and a great selection of movies and music. You eat dinner in the lounge (great food) so you can sleep all the way to London and then shower and have breakfast in their arrivals lounge at Heathrow.

The Virgin Atlantic Upper Class lounge at Heathrow is huge, smart, and fun. I had sushi with my campari followed by a delicious three course meal in the restaurant before boarding. I slept most of the way to Hong Kong and then most of the way to Sydney after enjoying a brief stopover in the Virgin Atlantic lounge in Hong Kong.

After an absolutely awful experience in 2008 with Jetstar and their rude and indifferent cabin crew (I was squeezed out of my seat by an obese and aggressive passenger seated in the middle of 3 seats) I have never flown them, or Qantas, again. I fly Virgin Blue regularly enough for the points to mean something. Returning from London on this trip I had a lot of luggage and was unable to check it all the way through to Ballina. I was sure I was going to be charged extra, but the Virgin Blue staff at the Sydney International terminal were fabulous - I was not only overweight but I had two pieces of luggage and a very heavy cabin bag. No extra charges, not even a sideways glance. Thank you Virgin Blue!

I generally fly on points accrued from my credit cards. Having cancelled all the cards which forced me to transfer points to QFF, I find I have no obvious path back to Qantas since I cannot transfer points to their programme any longer. I can't say I am fussed - it was always impossible to get business class seats using points on the London-Sydney return leg.

Companies run by accountants tend to nickel and dime their customers and their crew. I noticed the change at Qantas under the previous (accountant) MD. Jetstar are as awful as Ryan Air in that respect... I also note the comments about surly BA cabin crew: it is worth remembering that BA have been involved in a bitter dispute with their cabin crew for some time. Virgin Atlantic, on the other hand, is run by Richard Branson, the uber-salesman. It shows in their product and the enthusiasm of their staff.

I will be flying to London and back again this year on Virgin Atlantic in Upper Class.

 

[nikko]

Re: Airline Experiences 2010 Singapore Airlines

My wife and I recently flew Singapore Ailines Australia - UK.

in the air SIA cannot be beaten, great seats, sin flight service and entertainment on the A380

On the ground they are cough. Service staff give conflicting advice and do not know what they are doing. They are just not helpful. we are now $2000.00 out of pocket because we followed advice from one operator, only to be told later that info was wrong.

Be careful anad CHECK EVERYTHING if you fly with these peopls.


nikko

 

[RSD]

143 goddam_ freakin flights, mostly international or overseas domestic on a wide variety of airlines - almost all for work - all booked in Y - did get some upgrades though.

My airline of the year - Air Asia - good service for a LCC, and very understanding of my needs carrying lots of expensive camera equipment.

Surprise of the year - Afriqiyah Airways - hadn't even heard of them let alone flown them and had no idea what to expect but they were quite acceptable when doing Cairo - Tripoli on a very new A332. Buraq Air were pretty decent too when doing Tripoli - Tunis on a 738.

Thank God I Survived airline of the year - Kenyan Airways - haven't improved since I last flew them in 2007, and it doesn't seem like they have done any maintenance since then either - the cabins still look like they are falling apart.

 

[yeldarb8]

In 2009 and 2010 I have been working off a multi-million mile AAdvantage point balance... It's going to take me 2011 to get back to zero. Most of my travel has been for leisure. About 39 sectors flown in 2010 mainly AA, CX, QF, and CO.

CO: OK they tagged me somehow as a high mileage flyer and offered Platinum Elite status right off the bat. I paid for 4 flights all Y class upgraded to F IAH-EWR-IAH and they were so-so. Worst part is the RIDICULOUS time it takes to get from EWR to Manhattan... can anyone spell HIGH SPEED TRAIN? Crickey you can see Manhattan from EWR but it takes an hour+ on the AWFUL monorail then NJ Transit to get to the city... Totally absurd.

QF: I flew A380 J class LAX-SYD. Don't understand what the buzz is all about. The Skybeds SUCK big time. Food was so-so. IFE not as good as CX. Crew mediocre. Note to QF... Gave you a shot to earn my TP business and you fail yet again.

AA: My "home" airline. God bless 'em. Plain vanilla but I never fly in coach and always get my favorite F seat, best connections, fantastic phone service, and the most flexible award tickets on the planet. No complaints. Joining AAdvantage 20+ years ago was my best travel decision ever. Will be happier when all the MD-80's are finally retired. In-flight Internet WiFi works very well... cheaper pricing will be appreciated.

CX: My favorite airline. All sectors in J class. Best IFE of the bunch. Best food. Best flight attendants. Best lounge experiences. NO SHOWERS AT NARITA THOUGH... OK so I go use the Admirals Club instead but note to CX.... Please get showers at Narita. Love transit through HKG. Some cabins could use a refresh.

Let's hope 2011 is a great year for flyers.

 

[simonpenny408]

HUNDREDS of flights in 2010, Some observations

QF domestically - just sleep and after 4pm have a couple of beers
New J lounges are an improvement
QF internationally - average. Food and drink OK in Y and goodish in J. Service very spotty but mostly average. Can be an eternity until someone bothers to notice a call light is on. Best practice is to physically accost a passing FA. IFE is OK. F lounges in SYD MEL set new standards of excellence and trump CX in HKG. J lounges not so much

CX peerless service. Food OK in Y,J. Wine can be a little ordinary on boad. IFE is OK. Very good at upgrades and recognising and personally greeting WPs. HKG lounges set the standard for many years and I still like them

SQ. What happened SQ? You used to be right up there with CX and over the last 5 years you've just let it slide. Why would you do that. Service on the ground has gone down the coughper and it's sliding in the air too. Food on board is OK in all classes but wine is a little ordinary esp in Y. Best practice is to order Hindu Non Veg so you can enjoy a curry for every meal. IFE is still the best though and A380 upper deck Y is one of the best Y rides around

TG. Product is a bit tired in all classes. Can't fault the service UNTIL after the meal service when the all go and hide in the galley. If you want anything you have to go to them

MH. Great service and very friendly. IFE can be terrible. Take a book.

Silk - slipping like then SIA parent but not bad for shortish sectors

KA - Dragon never disappoint me. Service is excellent. Food is acceptable in all classes. IFE - take a book.

Kingfisher - some of the best Y food in the air. I found them on time and great service. No alcohol on my flights though

BA - a disgrace. I was actually insulted several times by FAs. I had one good crew SYD-BKK all year but the rest of them don't know the first thing about customer service (even in J). I think I'm over them for good. On any sector where there is a BA/QF choice QF are now the clear leaders - which is not saying much except to show how low BA have fallen. Food/wine not great either

Air Asia/Jetstar Asia - you get what you pay for but they got me where I needed to go. No alcohol on Air Asia