Qantas Business Class QF 93 / QF 94

[pippilongstocking]

My Husband and I recently flew Melb - Lax return.

Now on the way over the dividing screen between our two seats was stuck in the down position.
Not such big deal as I was with Mr Pippi ( may have been if travelling solo) .....However, I still like to put the screen up,
especially when sleeping as he often watches the TV screen. Actually, I like it up a lot....haha, I like my quiet time !!

On the return leg, we were delayed for 2 hours, and as I didn't eat in the lounge ( we had a late mexican lunch, as you do in LA )

So, by the time we got on I was ready for a drink and some food.

Now, apart from the in initial compulsory champagne on boarding, it was almost 2 hours before we were offered another drink....ARRHHHH

Then, the most embarrassing thing happened. The flight attendant walked past asking for our dinner orders.

I said I would like the soup and the pasta..... In a loud voice she responded, " You want a starter and a main??"

Really, yes I did.

Needless to say, she never offered me another thing, drink or food.

Am I missing something here about Qantas service ??

Pippi

 

[jpp42]

That's the "Qantas scowl." Might not be taught in ground school, but certainly the new flight attendants learn it in on-the-job training from the existing ones. Many other airlines have much higher service standards. People fly Qantas because of the safety record, or the schedule, or the loyalty benefits, or whatever - very few would choose it due to customer service!

I would think it is normal to expect a starter and a main in business class, but don't expect Qantas to be consistent on anything.

What did you actually get by the way? When you say you were never offered another thing, do you mean you weren't given choices? I don't quite understand that comment. Surely you weren't denied all food just because you wanted more than the FA thought you should have? But then again, nothing will surprise me about Qantas when it comes to poor customer service.

Incidentally, the long delay before serving meals is another Qantas hallmark - I can't imagine why they do this, as it must be universally hated by passengers, but it seems to be deliberate. Other airlines start heating the meals immediately upon reaching 10,000 feet so they are ready to serve within 30 minutes after that, whereas Qantas takes at least 90 minutes for the same operation. This is especially galling in business class on shorter overnight flights, where you want to take as much advantage of the expensive lie-flat beds as possible. The real solution is to just eat in the lounge or airport and give up on the in-flight meals altogether. Get a good eye mask and earplugs and you'll blissfully sleep through and won't have to worry about how poor the service is!

 

[pippilongstocking]

That's the "Qantas scowl." Might not be taught in ground school, but certainly the new flight attendants learn it in on-the-job training from the existing ones. Many other airlines have much higher service standards. People fly Qantas because of the safety record, or the schedule, or the loyalty benefits, or whatever - very few would choose it due to customer service!

I would think it is normal to expect a starter and a main in business class, but don't expect Qantas to be consistent on anything.

What did you actually get by the way? When you say you were never offered another thing, do you mean you weren't given choices? I don't quite understand that comment. Surely you weren't denied all food just because you wanted more than the FA thought you should have? But then again, nothing will surprise me about Qantas when it comes to poor customer service.

Incidentally, the long delay before serving meals is another Qantas hallmark - I can't imagine why they do this, as it must be universally hated by passengers, but it seems to be deliberate. Other airlines start heating the meals immediately upon reaching 10,000 feet so they are ready to serve within 30 minutes after that, whereas Qantas takes at least 90 minutes for the same operation. This is especially galling in business class on shorter overnight flights, where you want to take as much advantage of the expensive lie-flat beds as possible. The real solution is to just eat in the lounge or airport and give up on the in-flight meals altogether. Get a good eye mask and earplugs and you'll blissfully sleep through and won't have to worry about how poor the service is!

Yes, you are correct. It was a scowl, like I asked her to cook the meal herself. Haha

But not offered anything else, I meant after my soup and pasta, I was not offered anything else
Another drink.... no
Dessert..... no
Tea / coffee.... no
Nightcap at all.... no

so, I did exactly that, put my mask on, took a little pill and slept till breakfast.
Which I did get.... haha

But I must say, it really works in their favour in that I felt I would have been really imposing if I had asked for anything else.

I’m flying Emirates in May. I will
Look forward to that ( hopefully I won’t get quizzed on my food choices !! )