Let us know your most outrageous thoughts on any topic about flying

[Matt_01]

Well @juddles topic has been started, time for the fingers to start firing. I am sure I will chime in again.

 

[Forg]

Heh heh heh ...

*reclines seat back, pours glass of single-malt & watches*

 

[juddles]

OMG, so much to write, but so little time!!

I hope this thread will be taken in the spirit that I had conceived it in - fun, not conflict.

Let me think which of so many thoughts to unleash first.......

 

[Matt_01]

@Forg managed to start it off befor I got the chance. @juddles I fully agree with the ‘fun, not conflict’ anything can be be tabled and we can self moderate.

 

[juddles]

The first thought is so clear it is a no-brainer. I am absolutely sick of the bleatings of non-status pax. They constantly complain because of all sorts of trivia. They pay absolute peanuts for the ability to travel around the globe with freedom, but then they want to complain because they were not treated like royalty. They want to complain that they have to wait on hold for a phone call they want to make to the airline. They don;t ever stop to ponder the reality that it costs the airline twice as much to field their call as what they actually paid for the bloody ticket!!!

 

[Matt_01]

*reclines seat back, pours glass of single-malt & watches*

Trust it is a good single-malt.

 

[Matt_01]

The first comment I would make is about ‘status running’, why would anyone actually spend money to do this. Why would one put themselves through flights that do not need to be taken to gain status that is most likely over hyped/ marketed. After you have been to one F lounge they are all the same.

 

[juddles]

The first comment I would make is about ‘status running’, why would anyone actually spend money to do this. Why would one put themselves through flights that do not need to be taken to gain status that is most likely over hyped/ marketed. After you have been to one F lounge they are all the same.

This truth is even more real with AFF members - they should know in advance with the ample availability of member experiences that SC runs are almost always nonsensical. Take for example the desire of so many for such things as LifeTime Gold. To get this status you have to travel a hell of a lot. Most who earn this LTG thing are exalted members of that WP club, or higher. So the actual reward you get for many years at high level, is to be humiliated for eternity with something that is completely unappealing and far less than what you have become used to. It is incredible the power of marketing that makes such concepts seem appealing.

 

[Forg]

Trust it is a good single-malt.

Unfortunately it was only a hypothetical one ... had half a bottle of Gage Roads Old Money (bourbon-barrel aged Russian imperial stout @13%ABV) with a houseguest for dessert ... intend to imbibe juddlesposts(tm) as an alternative.

May I venture an uninformed suggestion for status runs? I suspect those are people for whom flying still holds a slight whiff of the magic which was there before it became such a regular occurrence, and doing it just because they want to (ie. rather than because they have to) pushes the experience back towards ‘interesting’. Then add to that the attraction of the game, playing the status game because it’s there to play. I understand players of that game more than I understand how anyone can spend more than about 2 minutes in front of a poker machine.

 

[juddles]

Yet others complain that their seat selection was trumped by a higher status pax. Or that high status passengers are dealt with in a way that surpasses their experience. The fact that they spend a grand a year on an absolute bargain discount flight that is revenue-neutral to the airline does not seem to compute in their world. They are aggrieved that the person who spent $50,000 with the airline gets some sort of slight preference. And as for CL's with Qantas, who have the capacity to influence many 100,000 dollars or millions, with airline spend. How dare they get a private lounge where we, the masses, cannot enter also and hound them about any issue we feel is important at that moment.

 

[Forg]

I might not be reading enough of AFF, but I’ve not actually seen that attitude ‘round here enough for it to register with me.

Do you mean outside of AFF?

I mean a big proportion of this forum is about maximising one’s own travel Stuff, which can only work if you’re de-maximising others’ ...

 

[juddles]

I might not be reading enough of AFF, but I’ve not actually seen that attitude ‘round here enough for it to register with me.

Do you mean outside of AFF?

I mean a big proportion of this forum is about maximising one’s own travel Stuff, which can only work if you’re de-maximising others’ ...

Forg, sorry, but you are making comments that are reasonable. That is entirely off-topic within this thread.

 

[juddles]

It has occurred to me that I can make a statement that would be received as completely outrageous, yet involves only three words.

I like Qantas.

 

[Forg]

I doubt that. Now we know who one of the paid social-media ‘fluffers’ is ...

[Is that better?]

 

[Matt_01]

Forg, sorry, but you are making comments that are reasonable. That is entirely off-topic within this thread.

I doubt that. Now we know who one of the paid social-media ‘fluffers’ is ...

Is that better?

Let’s be nice as outlined in post 3 and 4 above.

 

[juddles]

I doubt that. Now we know who one of the paid social-media ‘fluffers’ is ...

[Is that better?]

Oh my God. I have been identified! I must confess that i am on the QF payroll. Until I was found out, this lurk was rewarding, both financially and in satisfaction. It was an easy gig - every waking moment of my life I just had to tweet something like "loving the new QF economy seats - they are smaller but the moodlighting makes everything so much better". Such an easy way to earn dollars.

 

[juddles]

Let’s be nice as outlined in post 3 and 4 above.

Now you are being reasonable, and equally off-topic!

 

[harvyk]

Just a comment on the status runs. I don't believe there are too many WP's who will do a run just to get to LTG 2 months earlier. But it is entirely possible to do a SYD-MEL vv once a fortnight for an entire year and yet still remain firmly in the realms of the silver. A status run is sometimes a necessary "evil" to take you just that little bit higher, and start getting the goodness that comes from being at a higher status, including quicker earning of points, lounge access, and higher up the pecking order for upgrades (and thus being able to use those points).

Plus given that at least with QF, all status is easier to keep than earn the first time, that status run to gain a foothold in the next level up might be enough to tip the scales. About 10 years ago I did 50 sectors in a single year and yet remained firmly a PS. They where all short haul red-e-deals, I think I got something like 550SC's. Well short of the 700 to make SG, but certainly frequently enough that the QP was my most frequently visited "club". The thing that annoyed me a little was there where people out there who where flying very little, and yet higher status than me simply because of the fare class they were in. Something else that annoyed me was I was dedicating all my spent to QF, and yet there were those who were struggling to get their minimum 4 flights who had higher status.

Don't for a second think that status has anything remotely to do with amount of time in a plane, and don't for a second believe that there is not advantages to doing SC runs, if nicely timed.

Finally, for some of us, we love flying. Any excuse will do, and the magic is still there.

 

[juddles]

harvyk, I get the loving of flying. I also understand that status can seem important. But in my humble opinion a status run has to be a mathematical equation. IE that the benefits to be obtained outweigh the extra cash spent. I have only seen evidence of the is equation a couple of times in many endless posts regarding this.

 

[harvyk]

My outrageous thought (apart from the status run discussion above), I want my in-flight meal damn it!!!!!!
If I had wanted to eat on the ground first, there is every chance I would have gone to a restaurant offering exactly the food I wanted, rather that take my luck at the lounges buffet. (No this isn't an excuse for airlines to skimp on the lounge food).

For me at least, flying time is down time. I'm in a seat, I can't just go and do things, so what better excuse than to have something to eat, get a drink and watch a movie? Meanwhile time in lounges can be very productive. I can move around, I have immediate access to Internet and phone calls. I have ample space to really stretch out and sit at a comfortable desk, rather than attempt to make good with a tray table (yes even in J). IMHO airlines have it all wrong, they should be encouraging people to get that final piece of work done in the lounge, and the relax over dinner on the flight.