Personally though I do have to admit that a big factor in my decision to come to VA were the large fees QF now places on reward redemptions, which meant I had to fork more of my *actual* money (i.e. not my bonus imaginary FF money) on flights, which made our getaways less affordable and therefore less enjoyable. I think people forget that when they place the QF program on such a high pedestal.
I wonder if they do forget it, because we often complain about it.
That is mainly why QF Y awards are not where it is at, especially long haul due to the fuel surcharges. Sometimes in those cases it's better just to pay the cash fare right up. Or have one award and one cash fare. When you have two of you travelling, the value of the somewhat inferior redemption goes up due to the absolute amount of cash you are saving.
VA long haul international rewards only make sense on EY, because VA charge fuel surcharges. I'm not sure about short haul international (e.g. New Zealand, Pacific Islands) - perhaps they don't collect fuel surcharges on these, with the resulting smaller "fees". But when VA charge fuel surcharges just like QF, then we're back on an even playing field, save for a handful of points.
There are also fees for telephone, credit card etc. but the credit card differential is only $5 per passenger, and in many cases you do not need assistance on the phone to book awards.
Certainly VA needs less points for most awards, although some are more expensive, e.g. SQ, HA, NZ on long haul.
I'm hoping that when QF open up awards on EK operated flights, they will not impose fuel surcharges on them (as EK does not impose such surcharges), which will make some redemptions even in Y attractive.
I have to say we've dragged this topic off the original track, which was about someone who was fed up with VA's current service standard. Suffice to say the OP seems to imply there was a bad track record (recently, anyway) which is making them reconsider carriers. Either that or the bumps associated with the Sabre transition have exacerbated the stuff ups...