Platinum [member booking JQ award]

[Priscilla_A]

Hello everyone,

I am just wondering if you have same nightmare experience by having QFF platinum membership.......
I have been a QFF platinum member for 3 consective years and my points are reached up to 1,000,000.
I received an email from Qantas, offering point discount by booking award seats....so I logged in and checked.
All their offer was Jetstar flight, and did not offer any QF flight at all. I called platinum member desk and asked if they can put me on QF flight, their response was "if there is any availble seat".
So I was forced to spend my QFF to book in Jetstar flight.
At a Jetstar check in counter, there was no signed other than heaps long queue. I had no idea where the end of the queue and approached to the polo-shirt wearing Jetstar staff.
Shockingly she told me off that "there is NO priority check in, you should be on a queue!!!" At a counter, I presented my QF platinum membership card to retrieve my booking. Another polo-shirt Jetstar staff said "What is it???"
Anyway, I flown back to Australia by Jetstar flight which I expected them to treat me in the way Qantas does, with a simple meal and drinks. But all the way 8 hours flight, Jetstar did not offered anything......not even one drip of water.
My friend hopped on QF flight that I was advised that there was no available seat by QFF platinum desk. She was telling me that 12 passengers in business class on the QF flight were Qantas employee getting benefit of the staff discount!!!!
Apparently Qantas employee discount take over loyal client to Qantas.
Do you have any similar experience?

 

[samh004]

Without getting into it too much (because we all know Jetstar aren't Qantas, but Qantas often pretend they are the same), you simply need to book early if you're after an award flight. Classic awards disappear quickly in premium cabins due to limited availability, and while it is true you can get a Any Seat Award (ASA), they're not very good value, often costing hundreds of thousands of points.

What was the route you tried to book but found difficulty with, what was the class of service you were after and how close to the trip did you search? Those are some key questions

 

[RooFlyer]

Hi Priscilla_A

I'm afraid if you choose (with emphasis on choose) to take a Jetstar award flight, you choose to accept the Jetstar terms & conditions and their general coughpy way of doing things. Its a shame you had to learn the hard way what that means, but its not exactly a secret; after three years flying Qantas enough to retain Platinum, surely you have heard or noticed some things about Jetstar? Nobody forced you to do anything.

Having a business seat available on QF is not the same as having an Award seat in J available and in any case, how your friend came to the conclusion that they were staff members using a discount isn't clear.

So sorry, not much sympathy here. Stick around AFF and hopefully you can avoid the same predicament again.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Hello everyone,


So I was forced to spend my QFF to book in Jetstar flight.

This was your first mistake.

At a Jetstar check in counter, there was no signed other than heaps long queue. I had no idea where the end of the queue and approached to the polo-shirt wearing Jetstar staff.
Shockingly she told me off that "there is NO priority check in, you should be on a queue!!!" At a counter, I presented my QF platinum membership card to retrieve my booking. Another polo-shirt Jetstar staff said "What is it???"
Anyway, I flown back to Australia by Jetstar flight which I expected them to treat me in the way Qantas does, with a simple meal and drinks. But all the way 8 hours flight, Jetstar did not offered anything......not even one drip of water.

I had the same experiences with Jetstar flying to coughet last month.

They are utterly hopeless. Nothing more than cheap public bus in the sky. It should be an offence to fail to make water available free of charge on a flight of 4 hours or more.

I wont ever fly Jetstar again.

 

[RichardMEL]

Sorry Priscilla_A, but you were not "forced" to spend your QFF points on JQ. You chose to due to the promotion/offer you received for a discount award seat (which you discussed).

This is not a Platinum issue per se, it's a issue with JQ mostly, and only slightly with QFF points redemptions IMHO. For example you have not specified how close in to flying you made the award booking (1 week, 2 months? a year?) or anything.

JQ has never had any kind of priority service or anything. I'm not even certain QF elites can check in at the JQ Business Class counters (in cities that have them) - I suspect so, but am not certain. Long lines are to be expected.

As for the story from your friend re employees in J class on flight X - unless your friend worked for QF how would they KNOW for certain that it was employees? Further your post suggests/implies that your friend got a seat (in J?) on the flight - an award ticket or a paid ticket? if paid, the fact that s/he got on is irrelevant to your argument that QF would not offer you a FF award seat when you went to book your flight. They are very different things.

The staff could well have been flying NRSA, and if there were free seats why not? Again, QF willing to offer a J award seat is not related to numbers of seats available at flight departure. Those folks could have been on standby for a Y seat but got lucky - it's not really relevant imho.

Sorry you didn't get what you expected but I do feel this is (mostly) a case of "buyer beware"

you'll know better next time

 

[Priscilla_A]

Hi samh004

thank you for responding to my post.
actually I booked Sydney - Tokyo, 14 weeks prior to the traveling date.

 

[Priscilla_A]

Hi RooFlyer,

well, my friend had a chat with the flight attendant who said 12 passengers in business class were Qantas employee and their family.

 

[yohy?!]

The moral of the story is buyer beware and do your research, don't rely on a call centre fob off line

 

[RichardMEL]

So 14 weeks is only a few months. It is not unusual for there to not be seats available for redemption, specially in premium cabins, on QF flights, at this stage.

It was unclear to me if the seat you obtained on Jetstar (JQ) was in Business Class ("Star Class") or in Economy? If it was in Business, you could have checked in at the Business Class counter for Jetstar at Sydney International. I have done it (the signage is poor I admit)

here's a tip - as a Platinum, you could ask Reservations if they would put in a request to have a seat opened up. This sometimes woirks out, sometimes not.

 

[mannej]

3 months prior to travel is always pushing it to try and find a QF classic award especially in the premium classes.

There are a minimum of 52 seats in J on a 747, so is the staff traveling here an issue (let's be honest it is Chinese whispers from the FA isn't it?)?

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I'm a bit sick of this recurring meme about staff on industry discount fares taking priority over revenue pax.
Quite simply, staff travel has absolutely no impact on the availability of award or reward seats whatsoever.

 

[bsb]

LOL - 'get over it' a) you were booking a Jetstar flight and b) no one forced you and c) QF Plat desk is not Jetstar and they are not working I their system. If you have flown enough to get Platinum 3 years in a row, you should be well aware of the ins and outs of travel and you should understand that JQ is a b u d g e t carrier - what did you think would happen? They change their business model just for you?

And what on earth possessed you to book Y on Jetstar?

bottom line, you get what you pay for and your sense of entitlement suggests to me it was well deserved.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hello everyone,

I am just wondering if you have same nightmare experience by having QFF platinum membership.......
I have been a QFF platinum member for 3 consective years and my points are reached up to 1,000,000.
I received an email from Qantas, offering point discount by booking award seats....so I logged in and checked.
All their offer was Jetstar flight, and did not offer any QF flight at all. I called platinum member desk and asked if they can put me on QF flight, their response was "if there is any availble seat".
So I was forced to spend my QFF to book in Jetstar flight.
At a Jetstar check in counter, there was no signed other than heaps long queue. I had no idea where the end of the queue and approached to the polo-shirt wearing Jetstar staff.
Shockingly she told me off that "there is NO priority check in, you should be on a queue!!!" At a counter, I presented my QF platinum membership card to retrieve my booking. Another polo-shirt Jetstar staff said "What is it???"
Anyway, I flown back to Australia by Jetstar flight which I expected them to treat me in the way Qantas does, with a simple meal and drinks. But all the way 8 hours flight, Jetstar did not offered anything......not even one drip of water.
My friend hopped on QF flight that I was advised that there was no available seat by QFF platinum desk. She was telling me that 12 passengers in business class on the QF flight were Qantas employee getting benefit of the staff discount!!!!
Apparently Qantas employee discount take over loyal client to Qantas.
Do you have any similar experience?

Unfortunately you found out the hard way that Qantas status doesn't apply to Jetstar. With Jetstar you only really have one option to avoid queues and get something akin to the Qantas experience, and that's to fly their business class (which is priced around QF's premium economy levels).

Jetstar's business class is actually ok, and you'll get lounge access with your Qantas status. But otherwise, if you fly economy, there's no benefits or perks.

getting Qantas award seats is very hard. But you can often find more availability if willing top fly partner airlines such as Japan Airlines, Cathay or Emirates. Those awards carry a slight premium, but might suit your travel plans.

 

[mannej]

But otherwise, if you fly economy, there's no benefits or perks.

Apart from lounge access? The way this reads is that Y = no lounge access if in Y on JQ.

 

[TheRealTMA]

And what on earth possessed you to book Y on Jetstar?

LOL. That was my thought exactly when I read the thread as well. What other expectation could there have been?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Apart from lounge access? The way this reads is that Y = no lounge access if in Y on JQ.

Yes I could have phrased that better.

 

[FRONT ROWER]

You do raise a very valid point that Qantas do not provide availability despite a large number of empty seats which will not be sold and which are substantially going to go to their lowest level front line staff when they are still not sold day of departure.

 

[737]

Hi RooFlyer,

well, my friend had a chat with the flight attendant who said 12 passengers in business class were Qantas employee and their family.

Staff travel upgrades are only ever processed at the last minute (this could be as late as 15 mins before departure will the upgrade be 'approved'). Staff travel upgrades are processed after all commercial passenger upgrades incl points upgrades etc. I am not quite sure how the system works, but there is only ever a certain amount of seats available for upgrade and even though there may be spare seats available, these aren't always available for award bookings as these are limited in number.

The ability to travel on discounted travel is a benefit for most employees of most airlines, including the QF group, and it's not all its cracked up to be. Staff travellers can be offloaded at the last minute, may need to wait days for an 'available' seat, or even pay for full fare tickets at the last minute. I guess that's the "price" a staff traveller pays for a "cheaper" airfare in the first place.

 

[thegurio]

Staff travel upgrades are only ever processed at the last minute (this could be as late as 15 mins before departure will the upgrade be 'approved'). Staff travel upgrades are processed after all commercial passenger upgrades incl points upgrades etc. I am not quite sure how the system works, but there is only ever a certain amount of seats available for upgrade and even though there may be spare seats available, these aren't always available for award bookings as these are limited in number.

The ability to travel on discounted travel is a benefit for most employees of most airlines, including the QF group, and it's not all its cracked up to be. Staff travellers can be offloaded at the last minute, may need to wait days for an 'available' seat, or even pay for full fare tickets at the last minute. I guess that's the "price" a staff traveller pays for a "cheaper" airfare in the first place.

Sorry Priscilla, not to rain on your parade but I can back this statement up having personally traveled with a QF staffer and their family on a 5 week overseas odyssey before, on more than one occasion, and having to suffer the trials, tribulations and jubilation so far as being possibly in whY, J, and then even F as we traveled around the globe, with the assurity of being in whY with paid tickets the entire way and being REALLY happy with it lol. It seems that the alleged hearsay by the FA isn't worth a thing.. Regardless, surely JQ is JQ, and no matter which port you fly out of you'll know that... Even I know that and I fly VA...

 

[kermatu]

Staff travel upgrades are only ever processed at the last minute (this could be as late as 15 mins before departure will the upgrade be 'approved'). Staff travel upgrades are processed after all commercial passenger upgrades incl points upgrades etc. I am not quite sure how the system works, but there is only ever a certain amount of seats available for upgrade and even though there may be spare seats available, these aren't always available for award bookings as these are limited in number.

The ability to travel on discounted travel is a benefit for most employees of most airlines, including the QF group, and it's not all its cracked up to be. Staff travellers can be offloaded at the last minute, may need to wait days for an 'available' seat, or even pay for full fare tickets at the last minute. I guess that's the "price" a staff traveller pays for a "cheaper" airfare in the first place.

I don't have direct experience nor do I know someone who is a staff member etc - nevertheless I have, at least a dozen times in J, sat next to a staff member taking advantage of this arrangement.

For the most part though yes it seems random and a bit of a lottery for staff. I actually really like the fact that QF offer this service to their staff. Is a good thing to do. From a customer viewpoint, it engenders loyalty and commitment of staff which should translate to better customer service. And staff having access to J seats seems more prevalent on routes with multiple flights and alternatives, less so when it may be the last flight of the day or a pretty rare route.

But I know of one instance where staff got priority over paying pax. Several years ago was flying J for work with a colleague in Y (reflecting different ranks). Meetings finished early so got to airport and tried to move. I got an earlier J seat and asked for my preferred seat. All approved (don't think I had status at the time but was business). No luck for colleague. No problem. Get on board and at last minute the empty J seat next to me and one other are taken by a lady and approx 10 year old daughter. When I offered to move so they could sit together she told me no, she was ground crew so was lucky to get on and didn't want to make a fuss or inconvenience me.

We actually had a great chat. But if there were vacant seats, why couldn't my fully flex Y colleague get a seat (even in Y and someone else get a J seat) instead of staff?

Perhaps having the child with her was a factor. And maybe there was a last minute change from a J pax creating the empty seats. So without direct knowledge I can't begrudge this.

But in the end, what disappoints me is the staff getting a J seat when surely there are status pax (CL, P1, WP) who could be moved up as recognition of loyalty and the staff take Y.