Come on Qantas!

[scruffydoo]

Being Aussie I desperately want to love Qantas and be proud of it but my god they make it difficult.

Having done roughly 30 flights in the last 12 months from Brisbane to HK split between QF and CX my observations about Qantas vs Cathay for this route only are :

Unreliable and regularly delayed (sometimes lengthy 6+ hours).
Ageing often rude and arrogant staff and crew (particularly towards Asian customers) and obesity is an issue.
Food is poor - more like a school picnic/lunch than a long haul meal service.
Service is always rushed and only ever offered 1 hot drink in 8 hours.
If you like to sit at the back be prepared for no choice of food, service always starts at the front so whatever you want will have usually run out or be cold by the time they get to you.
Usually cheaper than CX.
Seat selection is free for silver members + but CX is always paid.
Difficult to contact when overseas, local offices are regularly unmanned.
Tech seems quite good, SMS and app updates work well.

Overall I choose Cathay every time, it's a much more pleasant experience. Qantas feels like a relationship with a crazy funny uncle, when it's good it's good but most of the time it's a PIA and unreliable.

So come on Qantas, profits are good now so get a grip, it is supposed to be a flagship brand after all.

As I say this is my observations for this route only (pus a couple of domestics) so I wonder what your experience is.

 

[AIRwin]

Not only ageing crew but aircraft - B744 and an A330 with IFE from a previous era when I flew HKG-SYD...

 

[JohnK]

I don't have any issues.

Or maybe I don't notice....

 

[Spongbob]

Ageing often rude and arrogant staff and crew (particularly towards Asian customers) and obesity is an issue.

A further explanation on these two points would be helpful.

 

[Deleted member]

Being Aussie I desperately want to love Qantas and be proud of it but my god they make it difficult.

Having done roughly 30 flights in the last 12 months from Brisbane to HK split between QF and CX my observations about Qantas vs Cathay for this route only are :

Unreliable and regularly delayed (sometimes lengthy 6+ hours).
Ageing often rude and arrogant staff and crew (particularly towards Asian customers) and obesity is an issue.
Food is poor - more like a school picnic/lunch than a long haul meal service.
Service is always rushed and only ever offered 1 hot drink in 8 hours.
If you like to sit at the back be prepared for no choice of food, service always starts at the front so whatever you want will have usually run out or be cold by the time they get to you.
Usually cheaper than CX.
Seat selection is free for silver members + but CX is always paid.
Difficult to contact when overseas, local offices are regularly unmanned.
Tech seems quite good, SMS and app updates work well.

Overall I choose Cathay every time, it's a much more pleasant experience. Qantas feels like a relationship with a crazy funny uncle, when it's good it's good but most of the time it's a PIA and unreliable.

So come on Qantas, profits are good now so get a grip, it is supposed to be a flagship brand after all.

As I say this is my observations for this route only (pus a couple of domestics) so I wonder what your experience is.

Some more information would be helpful , are you flying in J or whY ? I imagine you have some reasonable level of status? Gold ? platinum? Platinum 1?
Do you code share to maximise status credits?

 

[jb747]

Ageing often rude and arrogant staff and crew (particularly towards Asian customers) and obesity is an issue.

I would not have thought that your obesity is a QF issue.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Seat selection is free for silver members + but CX is always paid.

If you are oneworld ruby or above (QF silver) then seat selection, including exit rows, bulkheads and other preferred seats are all free. Just enter your QF number into the CX booking and off you go. One of the best perks of CX.

 

[Limewood]

We normally fly Int. in J, last Sept did award flight Qantas SYD/HKG in PE, thought it was excellent food and service, then did CX HKG to JFK, old aircraft with hard seats, crew just ok, food not as good as it used to be. Have only two major complaints abut Qantas, small amount of award seats released and outrageous fees and charges for Int. flights out of OZ.

 

[Daver6]

Ageing... and obesity is an issue..

So in other words, no different to the rest of the Australian population. Why do you expect different? Why is this an issue for you?

 

[leadman]

I think the overall point is that there is a difference in service between airlines, and we have probably covered it 100's of times in posts here. Nothing really new and you can go point-by-point, and argue/debate/discuss, but upshot is there is a difference; like QF to DPS J the other day is no comparison to TG DPS to BKK, TG in my opinion much better.

Maybe what we should develop is a rating system so we all can compare on a better equal footing the airlines and service although even those can be open to interpretation, e.g. recently i was after a new lens and the ratings for it were all 4 to 5, except one reviewer. Reading his review; "great lens, easy to operate, value for money but i wanted the black not the silver one, 1/5"

 

[JohnK]

I think the overall point is that Maybe what we should develop is a rating system so we all can compare on a better equal footing the airlines and service although even those can be open to interpretation....

Exactly. Personally I don't care what an individual thinks about airline service unless there's a clear pattern something is wrong.

Nothing beats individual experience. Same goes for lounges. Same goes for hotels.

 

[drron]

But somehow JohnK you always seem to have different experiences to me.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Exactly. Personally I don't care what an individual thinks about airline service unless there's a clear pattern something is wrong.

Nothing beats individual experience. Same goes for lounges. Same goes for hotels.

Aren't these two statements contradictory?

If nothing beats individual experience, how can you not care what an individual thinks?

The problem is... if we have to wait for our personal experience (rather than relying on reviews) it could be a very expensive lesson - to the tune of many thousands of dollars in the front cabins. (Perhaps not the same magnitude in economy where at least you're still getting from A to B cheaply.)

 

[JohnK]

Aren't these two statements contradictory?

If nothing beats individual experience, how can you not care what an individual thinks?

Not sure those statements are contradictory.

If I simply read reviews on this site the HKG Pier F lounge is the only lounge to visit favoured by ~75-80% of AFFers. I'd be foolish though if I didn't try the Wing F lounge which for me is a better lounge with better choice of food for my taste.

Same goes for SQ and CX economy. My experiences are not indicative of the preference of AFFers.

Same goes for hotels. I read some reviews on hotels where I've stayed and it quite clear some of the issues raised are individual issues based on perception and nothing to do with reality.

So you can get some idea from reviews but until you've tried something you won't know. The only contradiction to this statement would be preconceived prejudices such as not wanting to travel on some airlines or visit some countries regardless of what the reviews are like.

 

[scruffydoo]

Or maybe I don't notice....

Maybe it's just this route but reliability is an issue, 12 hour delay last week coming back and 2 hours going out. In 12 months I would say over 50% have been delayed.

Why is this an issue for you?

Because some crew are clearly unable to do there jobs properly, if you're too big to fit down the aisle without bumping every passenger and can't bend down to pick something up off the floor or are 60+ and can't push the service trolley how can you carry out your tasks efficiently 'in the unlikely event of an emergency', I'm all for PC and a 'fair go' but you've got to be sensible.

If you are oneworld ruby or above (QF silver) then seat selection, including exit rows, bulkheads and other preferred seats are all free. Just enter your QF number into the CX booking and off you go. One of the best perks of CX.

Thanks, great tip, I'll try that

 

[JohnK]

Maybe it's just this route but reliability is an issue, 12 hour delay last week coming back and 2 hours going out. In 12 months I would say over 50% have been delayed.

Is this on the A330's? Does BKK and SIN have the same issues with delays?

 

[Berlin]

Because some crew are clearly unable to do there jobs properly, if you're too big to fit down the aisle without bumping every passenger and can't bend down to pick something up off the floor or are 60+ and can't push the service trolley how can you carry out your tasks efficiently 'in the unlikely event of an emergency', I'm all for PC and a 'fair go' but you've got to be sensible.

What??? This comment is just outright rude towards staff that is a bit older or not perfect model size. I fly Qantas A LOT and yes, they got sone grumpy old dragons but nowhere near as many as other legacy carriers (AA and BA, I am looking at you...). And in many cases, the older crew members are rather more experienced and quite lovely to deal with.

I’ll take that happily over certain airlines in the Middle East or Asia that fat-shame their crew members as soon as they fall out of the expected model-perfect proportions. And I’ve never experienced a single Qantas crew member who would have been unfit for their job due to body size or age. Again, to me this entire comment is just downright rude and discriminatory, nothing else.

 

[leadman]

Is this on the A330's? Does BKK and SIN have the same issues with delays?

Yes try at least a 24+ hour delay on QF24 out of BKK on the 17/2. I was transferred to EK and subsequently downgraded at the gate. Word was that EK is p$#%ed with QF for pulling out of DUB, but if so should not take it out on PAX. But that is another story

 

[stm1sydney]

The OP is under the misapprehension that Qantas is the Australian airline (and therefore he feels he should support it). Please be advised that that is just very effective marketing.

 

[Forg]

The OP is under the misapprehension that Qantas is the Australian airline (and therefore he feels he should support it). Please be advised that that is just very effective marketing.

Works on me. Always feels very homey when I see the kangaroo in an airport when overseas, even more so than the first car I saw getting off the airport bus in Edinburgh being a V8 Commodore!