Have you Stuck with QF?

[kermatu]

It was mainly the food experience I was interested in (I am very food focused) and also things lke running on time, not beng downgraded etc. Just had my flight to Sydney today cancelled - not a biggie, just an hour move but it would be nice just once to fly the flight I booked! I just hope they leave our flights to Cairns in a couple of weeks alone, as that has complications with limousine transfers to Port Douglas

I'm flying to MEL later today - also noticed several SYD flights cancelled.

 

[JohnK]

I know they have to do these schedule changes, if they are not getting the loads you need, but I just don't find a shift of 3 hours acceptable.

You are not having a lot of luck flying out of CBR. I don't quite understand how an airline can say sell seats on a 168 seat aircraft and closer to the flight find they have only sold 110 seats so either merge 2 flights into one or cancel the flight and replace it with a 100 seat aircraft and then inconvenience those without status or "not so important".

This is something I would expect from Tiger or Jetstar not Qantas.

However airlines seem to have the right to do what they like and treat their passengers with contempt and we just have to suck it up...

I received an email yesterday from Virgin regarding an OOL-SYD flight in July. The flight has been pushed back another 20 minutes and not due into SYD until 10:00pm. When I booked this flight I could not get onto earlier flight as the airfare was some ridiculous price on would pay to go to SE Asia and now find myself arriving into SYD even later than planned.

Yes I know for now it is only 20 minutes but with limited alternatives I have no choice.

 

[Awesom Andy]

Just had my flight to Sydney today cancelled

There was a strong westerly blowing in Sydney this morning, and the single cross wind runway was (and still is) in operation. Some flights are bound to be delayed/cancelled and it's really the luck of the draw.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I am sure it is exacerbated today. Sitting at the airport now and large numbers of flights are cancelled or running late (including our new one). However cancelling of flights out of Canberra is a normal thing. They run hourly schedules and then cancel and combine passengers depending on loads.

 

[Groundhog]

I have stuck with QF. I am a loyal fan and have been treated well.

A couple of years ago i experimented with being Gold on both QF and VA to see if the grass was greener. As 80% of my travel is domestic i though i would see which best suited "ME" and my travelling habits and the result was Qantas. I have been a WP with QF for a couple of years now and have now dropped back to Red for VA. I dont mind not being a VA Gold anymore and neither seemly do VA.

Everyone has their own favourite and mine is QF. Most of my staff fly VA and dont understand my loyalty, but i dont care, i am happy.

 

[Fantic125]

Two years ago moved all my personal domestic travel from QF to VA as a result of QF FF 'enhancements'.

In that time I've flown 76 domestic flights, of which 30 have been QF due to work preference. From January this year we have been given the green light to use VA for work flights, so apart from 2 QF flights in Jan (which were booked in December) 13 of my 15 flights this year to date have been VA by choice.

 

[laffer]

I can vouch for what flying mermaid is saying about CBR. I have had to fly there a bit for work lately and cancellations are common. I shifted to VA for a while and found the same.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I can vouch for what flying mermaid is saying about CBR. I have had to fly there a bit for work lately and cancellations are common. I shifted to VA for a while and found the same.

Yeah Mr FM suggested we swap to VA, but I have been looking and they seem to be just as bad. It has been like this for years . It is not too bad in peak hours - say prior to 9 and after 4 on weekdays, but middle day and weekends are just hopeless.

 

[kermatu]

Yeah Mr FM suggested we swap to VA, but I have been looking and they seem to be just as bad. It has been like this for years . It is not too bad in peak hours - say prior to 9 and after 4 on weekdays, but middle day and weekends are just hopeless.

Hard to get the 717s on a weekend too (a more preferred aircraft to me but also the only chance of J connections for international -- wasted SCs!!).

 

[marki]

Ok my turn, all this happens today By the way, rang CC ( QF) requesting some sort of Compo for the downgraded flight ( due to operation reasons) the flight was delayed and missed my connection to NYC! And flew economy instead.
For this was granted SC to reflect a First flight, and 10000 points ( originally only 5000) !
Lukewarm but better than nothing, ?

My flight to Adelaide full looking and no economy seats with only some middle seats free.
only so upgraded for 5000 points so greT!

Also happy with the in house offering today great Mexican rather or something !!

Good wines

So Qantas are trying !!!

Plus one to QF

 

[medhead]

Been flying incognito with Qantas recently, in row 4/6 seats that are available to platinum+, due to booking with platinum status and then switching to non-status FF number. The difference in warmt to me (being nothing according to the crew's printout) and those around me is stark. Everyone getting mister this, Miss that - I greeted with something that is almost "Whatdya want?", with a slight monty python french sneer at the end. (think "you english K-nig-ht")

 

[marki]

Had no idea but round the world booking going u get stuck with 3 pieces rule for luggage, not the 70 kg rule if flying F. Even via Europe. Well it happened to me anyway that's minus one for QF . If you have 4 pieces all under 70kg. I know this is a third world problem but crucial for those that fly in this class for work.

 

[yachtbarnestormer]

I am leaving for Virgin. After 10 years at Gold, and 2 at Platinum before that, I was shown a message all year on the log in that said I had been awarded Gold for another year on my end of May anniversary. Suddenly overnight they dropped me to Silver and when asked, could not really care less. Time to move on.

 

[ozmuzz]

I am in the best position - Lifetime Gold with Qantas and Platinum with Virgin, so I can choose. Qantas does not value the customer experience any more. The A380 was good when first introduced, but cramming more seats into the upper deck and reducing the toilets undermined the premium product. I find myself flying Virgin more often than not, and I haven't flown Qantas to the USA in over 3 years (2 trips a year). That being said, Virgin has regressed back to its roots recently with pathetic attempts at catering on domestic flights.

Ozmuzz

 

[Julles18]

Only fly QF if it suits. Been a lifetime member since 1989 and a lifetime gold but constant erosion of loyalty program benefits has sent me across to Virgin. Easier access to FF seats, cheaper service fees, a face at the gold status + counter and the priority lane directly on to the concourse from the lounge in Melb definitely makes it a much better experience for me.

 

[kongteh]

Agree with the observations that the Red Roo has lost some of it's shine... perhaps in response to market forces or they have a CEO whose only prior experience in running an airline were with low cost carriers. I mostly stuck with them in the last two years just to get my lifetime Gold status. Now that I have it, my loyalty is to best Value-for-Money. Am not sure if Virgin Australia is the right competitor in the same vein as Ansett, as they're not even an alliance member of Star Alliance, which makes accessing international lounge a challenge. I will be travelling to North America soon and will be using a combo of OneWorld and Star Alliance airlines - I've just re-joined SIA's FF program so that I can earn Star Alliance status and points - not sure if I want to transfer these to Virgin Velocity though.

 

[BAM1748]

I am leaving for Virgin. After 10 years at Gold, and 2 at Platinum before that, I was shown a message all year on the log in that said I had been awarded Gold for another year on my end of May anniversary. Suddenly overnight they dropped me to Silver and when asked, could not really care less. Time to move on.

The greener grass........best of luck.

 

[David O'Brien]

I have just changed to Gold on QF.
About 2.5 years ago we moved to Australia and I had to make a choice. I'm a plane nerd (have a Private Pilot's License myself) and so sat down and analysed the two main carriers.

I knew I'd be traveling to the US and Europe a bit (around 3 US trips and 1-2 Europe trips a year) and I knew I won't be able to afford booking straight Business, so I had to look at the Economy offerings.

The one main reason I went with QF and not Virgin was the A380 and QF's Economy seats upstairs. I'm not tall (1.67m) so Economy is not the worst thing for me. However I didn't want to fly T7 (Virgin) on all my trips.
There were people saying that I could use Virgin and just book their partners (that fly A380), but that's not me. Why should I send my money to a company that is not Australian? (if I can't help it or it's just too hard, I apply this to most of my life)

Maybe I just still don't fly enough compared to others to feel the pain others feel, I'll probably only do around 30-40 domestic flights a year and I think QF was a good choice. They've got a good network, good planes and not the worst service. Also their European partners (OneWorld) are airlines I like to fly with.

So, for now, I'll stick with QF.

 

[FirstClass]

I guess a further category that would be of interest to QFF is that comprised of members who are becoming increasingly dissatisfied and thus contemplating a change.
Obviously that's a time-consuming exercise involving countless permutations dependent upon one's current travel patterns etc.
For what it's worth, the change in QF principal Europe-bound hubs from Asian to Middle East ports has made the roo a much less useful supplier in my own case.

 

[ronone69]

Hedge your bets. I fly with QF domestic, to the US and occasionally to Asia. I fly SQ to Europe and the UK and often within Asia. SQ makes it easier to use my points for international travel. Virgin can't offer me both domestic and international unless I want to only travel to the USA. Their connection and poor points transfer to SQ makes them not worthwhile.