Qantas Inflight Entertainment System

[Commuter]

To be honest, I was a bit shocked by it, because it wasn't even particularly inconveniencing me - it wasn't like they had no food on board on a 14 hour leg.

I thought it was some kind of a standard procedure for them because all I said was that "Hi, this doesn't seem to be working" (they do need to know for the cabin defect log), but I also said not to worry about it because I was just going to go to sleep and I wasn't slightest bit bothered by it. Just before disembarking, the cabin crew thrusted the bottle in my hand and said "Just to say thank you for being so understanding".

At least it was a nice gesture either way. I guess it has encourage me to spend more with them than Virgin Blue (unless DJ fare is under 50% of QF, I stick to QF) because they went beyond what they needed to do. (Now I'm parting with up to $500 per week in my own money to them, so it was a good move by them, I guess.)

 

[Sheldonzo]

Hi everyone i was just wondering do Qantas flights to the US have AVOD in economy???

Thanx

 

[Wunala Dreaming]

16 out of Qantas' 30 747-400s now have the AVOD system.

Whether you get it or not depends whether you get a 744 with the system on the day of departure.

 

[maninblack]

I have had AVOD on about 6 flights now and had no problem, but...it's no big deal to me. I usually watch one movie and then listen to music or have a sleep. I think that if you are travelling up the back it is more important...because you probably can't sleep.

I have been given the old free bottle of French bubbly a couple of times, and without complaining about anything

My wife and I adopted a policy in relation to dealings with airline employees a long time. Never complain unless the matter is really serious and smile and be friendly, you will usually find that the good spirit is reciprocated.

 

[acampbel]

... My wife and I adopted a policy in relation to dealings with airline employees a long time. Never complain unless the matter is really serious and smile and be friendly, you will usually find that the good spirit is reciprocated ....

A very good policy and I concur that it is nearly always appreciated and often rewarded. I have never had (or sought) any compensation or freebie, but have certainly been given favoured treatment on many occasions.

But back to the AVOD question .... the one time I experienced this (QF2 in July) it worked perfectly. I was able to watch 2 movies with pauses for meals and toilet breaks, and then noticed in the art house section they had a Charlotte Rampling movie (Swimming Pool) that I had seen part of on SBS some months before. With only an hour before landing I was able to skip the boring bits and get straight to the rumpy scenes and denouement!

Very satisfactory, but the old lady in the next seat did look at me as if I was a pervert. Go figure!


Cheers,


Andrew

 

[maninblack]

and then noticed in the art house section they had a Charlotte Rampling movie (Swimming Pool) that I had seen part of on SBS some months before. With only an hour before landing I was able to skip the boring bits and get straight to the rumpy scenes and denouement!

Very satisfactory, but the old lady in the next seat did look at me as if I was a pervert. Go figure!

Andrew

Did you ever see a 1970 shocker called The Ski Bum. Truly confused movie but Ms Rampling was enough compensation to make me watch the whole diasaster

 

[Wunala Dreaming]

AVOD is now available on all QF 747-400s...

 

[mbeder]

Last November I had AVOD on Syd-Lax, but the old system on the Lax-Syd return. Had the old system on a recent Syd-Per flight (747) that worked OK.
A while back though, I decided to take responsibility for my own in-flight entertainment and now travel with a fully-loaded 60G Ipod video, noise-reduction headphones, mags, books, Sudoku, crosswords, etc. I know this sounds a bit too organised, but it means that I don't have to suffer through the same old Peter Switzer interviews / Adam Spencer Comedy or watch all the ads they now show - is it just me or have all the Qantas Advertorials increased lately?

 

[acampbel]

... it means that I don't have to suffer through the same old Peter Switzer interviews / Adam Spencer Comedy or watch all the ads they now show - is it just me or have all the Qantas Advertorials increased lately?

Methinks you are referring to an Adam Sandler comedy (an oxymoron if I ever heard one .... oh .... except perhaps for Punch Drunk Love, but that was Adam playing himself opposite the gorgeous Emily Watson).

During my recent inadvertent status run (SYD - SIN - PER - SYD) I experienced the full range of Qantas' offerings. Sydney to Singapore was the good old 6 movies on a 2:30 loop, Singapore to Perth was full AVOD, and Perth to Sydney had the horrible TV screen in the roof.

On the way to Singapore I started watching Marie Antoinette (nice back shot of Kirsten Dunst) then switched to The Prestige. About 10 minutes from the end the main characters were revealing all when ..... the couple beside me had to go to the toilet. By the time they had waddled out to join the post-dinner queue, I had missed the crucial scene! cough, frag, smeg!!! I had to rewatch the end of the movie the next time around, which ruined my carefully planned viewing.

On the Singapore to Sydney leg I watched Babel, and after rewinding some crucial scenes and pausing for breaks it was the only full movie I watched. I did get to FF through most of Mulholland Drive, as Naomi Watts is another of my peccadillos.

Perth to Sydney was the awful 1-channel "entertainment", with Flushed Away as the movie. It seemed like a strange choice but as it was a 6am flight I suppose that it was chosen with kids in mind, and after no sleep on the night-flight to Perth I was too tired to care. It was preceeded by a Top Gear episode that had half the plane laughing, so it wasn't all bad.

I think Qantas' problem is that once you have had good AVOD you never want to go back, so they should pull their finger out and refit all the fleet ASAP. They should be able to recoup the outlay by the higher fares people will be willing to pay.


Cheers,

Andrew

.

 

[Commuter]

I watched Snakes on the Plane on AVOD and I tried very hard not to laugh out loud. It was quite amusing but as I read here, another odd choice offered was WTC...

Oh and I noticed that the movie about the Queen still had the word "God" silenced (this was on the news and said that the movie was taken off the menu, but it was actually still available). That was odd.

 

[mbeder]

Methinks you are referring to an Adam Sandler comedy (an oxymoron if I ever heard one .... oh .... except perhaps for Punch Drunk Love, but that was Adam playing himself opposite the gorgeous Emily Watson)

Nope, I was referring to 702's Adam Spencer - he hosts the Comedy Channel on the inflight radio.
I also experienced Flushed Away on a recent trip back from Perth (Sat 2pm flight to Syd) - I also thought it was a somewhat strange choice, but I guess the kids enjoyed it!

 

[acampbel]

... Nope, I was referring to 702's Adam Spencer - he hosts the Comedy Channel on the inflight radio....

Oh .... THAT Adam Spencer! I didn't realise anyone listened to the audio channels on long-haul flights, especially the non-music channels.


Cheers,

Andrew

P.S. This is not an invitation for every sad sod to tell me how good the easy listening channel is or how they found the 2-hour interview with the ex-CEO of Company X to be faxcinating, etc.

 

[SeatBackForward]

ex-CEO of Company X

They'd be a Private Equity firm surely?

 

[ANDREW]

Hi - Just came in on Singapore - Melbourne qf10 this morning - entire entertainment system out - no radio/screen/overhead light/hostey call - whats worse is the flight had arrived ex England and their passengers on that 12 hour leg didn't have it either. At this stage the pilot said rather than hold the flight up 5 hours for it to be repaired, we would go on without it. We had an upgrade to business via points. Has anyone tackled this to achieve a part refund of points ? - as it has obviously happened before on other flights.

 

[simongr]

It is worth a call to QF as I have received both a $300 voucher for subsequent flights (by mail after I hadnt even turned the IFE on but it was reportedly broken) and $100 voucher for in flight duty free (after I had tried to use the IFE for 2 1/2 hours and finally gave up).

S

 

[jpk]

As reported over at FT, I am personally aware of the following:
- $150 travel voucher (SG, Y, SFO-SYD)
- $200 travel voucher (WP, J, SIN-PER)

I am not aware of comp for award/upgrade flights though. They may give you vouchers or they may refund some points (wouldn't count on that tho). It it was broken for 2 long sectors back to back, I am sure they are already on the case...

 

[ANDREW]

Thanx guys, sounds promising - in that case will contact FF Qantas. Rgds Andrew

 

[NM]

As Qantas will already be very much aware of it, I would expect that all passengers will be receiving something in the mail in the next few weeks. but it can't hurt to let them know immediately that you were disappointed with the lack of IFE on the flight.

I have never heard of a refund of points in such circumstances, but would expect you to receive some other form of "apology".

 

[jpk]

While the lack of IFE was no doubt disappointing, I hope you enjoyed the space, bed, meal service etc. I know I would rather be in J without IFE than Y with it!

ie: while you used a bunch of points and got a sub-optimal experience, focusing on the positives can help lessen the frustration somewhat...

JK.

 

[Alanslegal]

the only thing I use IFE for is to view the plane's location, flying route, map and time to destination............after watching Bourne Ultimatum too many times, I think it's best to get some shut-eye.....