QF vs CX

[raleyoz]

Well with my first journey with CX from ADL to JFK return i have lots of comparisons to consider over the offering with QF.
Being a WP and over the past 2 years a huge supporter of QF, my support came to an abrupt end over being made to pay an additional $780 just to sit in a seat that i have been getting for free since i started, 32A/K, or actually anything in Row32, in the A380.
So i took my protest to CX, i have flown before with CX but back in the days when i was but a noob!
Here is my (trying to be) unbiased comparision

Status
Firstly i tried to status match my WP to MPolo, hoping for Diamond , expecting Gold, but i was gobsmacked when i was offered only silver. In short i told them to not bother as after this trip i was effectively Silver anyway. Bizarrely enough they said that i need to present my WP card and they would honor all of the Emerald benefits , which is kind of weird, but in effect gives me Diamond anyway!! -- at first this was a -1 to ;CX but actually a win, i think, no winner here!

Price
ADL-HKG-EWR/JFK return
QF $3100 + $780 for good seat (not exit)
CX $2100 and pick of the seats
BIG win for CX here

Plane
QF = A380/B747
CX = 330/777
before flight this was a -1 to CX , after the flights the CX planes were pretty good, did not feel that i was amongst the masses, would do again. i will give 1/2 a point to QF for the bar in the A380, having an option on a plane is great

Time/Schedule
QF usually this is 2hr to syd, 2hr layover, 15 to LAX, 2 hrs layover, 5/6 hours to JFK - 26.5 hours, 3 planes
CX 8hrs to HKG, 4 Hr layover, 15Hrs to JFK 27 hours total, 2 planes
no winner here

Score check QF = 0.5, CX =1


Airports & Lounges
QF SYD/MEL & LAX, Well sydney airport is a major letdown, catching a bus to get from Dom. to Int. is embarrassing. yet the F Lounge is fantastic, LAX F lounge is pretty good too
CX HKG, in my opinion the best airport in the world, i have 5 lounges to choose from the New Pier is real nice, the Wing is excellent, (first time in a cabana this trip), even the QF lounge is available to me and that is nice too.
+1 to CX 

Staff
QF wins here, hands down
CX staff read from the manual, and have no real understanding of how to manage a situation;
QF +1

OpUp's
QF never in over 100 flights
CX 2 OpUp's in 4 flights one Y to PE and one PE to J
CX +1 here, ( should be +2)

Onboard
QF
Y Seats not bad, food i think for Y is good, Wine is average
PE only just a bit better, and that is just, food is OK, wine is Average
J the skybed mark 1 ,2,3,4,5 , or as i call it the banana bed, horrible to sleep on. Food is good, wine is Good

CX
Y seats cough, cushioning hard and uncomfortable , my actual seat row 30 was "aweful", due to poor design it becomes an alleyway to access the other side of the plane to get to toilet, got woken up all night from people bumping legs, food was average , wine was even worse
PE seats were nice and felt like i had plenty of legroom , food was nice and wines average
J seats fabulous, best sleep i have had on a plane ever, Food was poor for J standards, wine was nice , but only 2 choices

Y to QF
PE to CX
J to CX

Score check, QF = 2.5, CX = 5


Summary, i would fly CX again for sure, but the thing that i miss from QF is the Onboard staff and being able to talk to them and know they understand a situation. not have the person standing there with a glazed look on their face.
The price is a huge factor which is where QF bombed for me, and the loss of seat selection has killed another reason to stick to them.
I can see i will get frustrated with CX, but i will have to deal with that from now on
Sorry Red Roo but you have forced me to consider everyone else now

 

[Hvr]

You really need to format your post to make it legible. (see you've done that )

One thing I could (vaguely) read was that even on a CX flight you were surprised you could obtain OWE benefits.

This has always been the situation that you can credit to one airline and receive alliance benefits issued by another airline.

 

[clazman]

I prefer CX over QF J any day of the week

 

[raleyoz]

You really need to format your post to make it legible..

yes sorry i have a problem when i post i lose all of the formatting , big Pain in the cough, i think i have fixed it ,but it is a glitch somewhere

 

[clazman]

First time I read this post it contained html and couldn't read, after my post it rendered it in a readable format

 

[raleyoz]

One thing I could (vaguely) read was that even on a CX flight you were surprised you could obtain OWE benefits.

This has always been the situation that you can credit to one airline and receive alliance benefits issued by another airline.

I thought this was only if you used the FF number associated with the status, so if i was building up my AA status and i was only gold and that was the FF program i was crediting too then gold benefiit were all i could recieve, or i could be wrong

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Insightful report and you have some valid points based on your experiences on these flights.

What do you think your scorecard would look like if all in biz class on both airlines?

A match to silver is funny but cx don't invest in junk matches these days. They want proof you will be profitable to the company. If you were to have biz/first class flights booked ahead and had a stack of Asia miles ready to switch over I'm sure that becomes more compelling for them to issue a diamond card. But in saying that cx diamond is essentially qf p1 minus all the events/invites and silver currently has lounge access.

Also you're always going to get more upgrades on cx because there's not many diamonds on hkg-au route compared to Syd/mel-lax which is full of super elites on qf.

If you're doing my multiple overseas trips each year (especially in Y) you're almost certainly better off flying another airline and crediting to another FFP.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I thought this was only if you used the FF number associated with the status, so if i was building up my AA status and i was only gold and that was the FF program i was crediting too then gold benefiit were all i could recieve, or i could be wrong

Never had this problem. From what I read on forums this is a Qantas only 'rule'. I can only think of 1 reason a carrier would want to have this restriction.

 

[Happy Trails]

Never had this problem. From what I read on forums this is a Qantas only 'rule'. I can only think of 1 reason a carrier would want to have this restriction.

I believe it's only intended to apply to QF vs EK, but I dare say lounge staff may see it differently.

 

[mannej]

There has been anecdotal evidence that lounge staff are also applying this when one wants to use benefits from accrued status from one carrier, but credit to another program (QF and AA springs to mind).

 

[OATEK]

I have posted elsewhere that back in my pioneer days I moved from CX Y to QF Y because of the horrible shell seats. On my last trip in April had CX and QF J on the A330s, and CX won hands down although it was the QF droopy bed. I agree with many that QF service is very good. in part because of their understanding what you are trying to get at. But in just about every other way, and especially the breakfast offerings, CX gets the nod.

 

[raleyoz]

In J, it is a non event, CX easy winner

 

[raleyoz]

, and especially the breakfast offerings, CX gets the nod.

The breakfast I had in CX J this morning was very average, in fact worse than Y

 

[yohy?!]

Good insights, I do tend to agree about Cx junior staff being less polished although that is pretty unusual in CX j where they run a very tight ship.

 

[clazman]

think we can all agree CX & QF J kills AA

 

[samh004]

Status
Firstly i tried to status match my WP to MPolo, hoping for Diamond , expecting Gold, but i was gobsmacked when i was offered only silver. In short i told them to not bother as after this trip i was effectively Silver anyway. Bizarrely enough they said that i need to present my WP card and they would honor all of the Emerald benefits , which is kind of weird, but in effect gives me Diamond anyway!! -- at first this was a -1 to ;CX but actually a win, i think, no winner here!

It would actually be beneficial to gain Silver before the trip... as CX's system resets every time you hit a new level... so from 0 to 30k you get Silver, at which point your year resets and you need to earn 60k (not another 30k) to hit Gold, at which point your year resets again and you need 120k miles for Diamond. So that Silver match would have spared you 30k miles on the way to Gold.

Never had this problem. From what I read on forums this is a Qantas only 'rule'. I can only think of 1 reason a carrier would want to have this restriction.

Funny you mention this, my dad recently asked to be status matched to Qantas, from MPC Diamond... and was offered Gold... but the flights he had attempted to credit to QF (CX flights) hadn't been properly switched to his QF number in the CX lounges, if that makes sense. He'd entered under his MPC Diamond and asked to switch the numbers, and CX didn't. He's in the process of having them un-credited so he can credit them to QF instead.

As for why he sees more value in QFF over MPC, I don't know. But it seems QF was happier to help him, and CX tried hard to hinder him

 

[MEL_Traveller]

...but the thing that i miss from QF is the Onboard staff and being able to talk to them and know they understand a situation. not have the person standing there with a glazed look on their face.

try flying Qantas economy class, without status. I'm not sure the difference between CX and QF is that great.

 

[NM]

A well thought-through analysis based on your own personal experiences and expectations. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Very insightful.

 

[OATEK]

The breakfast I had in CX J this morning was very average, in fact worse than Y

Worse than cafe Breakfast, the spinach dominated, baked egg rubbish I had on my last QF J?

 

[ellen10]

Thanks for sharing your experience.
We will be flying J, QF SYD to JFK and then returning CX.
This will be our first flights with CX
Looking forward to the experience.