Status and Service Discrimination

[tgh]

There has been a short discussion on another site where a customer complained about overt discrimination in QF Long Haul J on account of the OP's Upgrade status.
I'm a point hoarder and have flown quite a few long haul legs in QF J with no obvious discrimination on account of my status .. or my ticket origin.

My questions are :

Does the flight management have full information in terms of the status of the customer and the type and origin of the ticket ?
Does QF , as a function of inflight management policy ,or as a by product thereof, discriminate:
(a) On account of the Status of the passenger ?
(b) On account of the ticket type and origin. ( ie gate upgrade) ?

 

[pauly7]

There has been a short discussion on another site where a customer complained about overt discrimination in QF Long Haul J on account of the OP's Upgrade status.
I'm a point hoarder and have flown quite a few long haul legs in QF J with no obvious discrimination on account of my status .. or my ticket origin.

My questions are :

Does the flight management have full information in terms of the status of the customer and the type and origin of the ticket ?

Status - yes plus special notes on VIP's
If the ticket is an ODU (Dom) - yes
If the ticket is a last min op up - Unsure because it can print out as catering not assured but that can apply to people moving/booking onto flights at the last minute
Origin of ticket (points or relative dollar paid: don't think so


Does QF , as a function of inflight management policy ,or as a by product thereof, discriminate:
(a) On account of the Status of the passenger ?

Yes but not significantly (except when a high status pax is in Y for example I guess) and this is well talked about on this forum non stop 24/7.

(b) On account of the ticket type and origin. ( ie gate upgrade) ?

Don't think so unless it says catering not assured in which case you should be served last.

 

[porkbelly]

Who are considered VIPs?

 

[ReLoad]

There has been a short discussion on another site where a customer complained about overt discrimination in QF Long Haul J on account of the OP's Upgrade status.
I'm a point hoarder and have flown quite a few long haul legs in QF J with no obvious discrimination on account of my status .. or my ticket origin.

My questions are :

Does the flight management have full information in terms of the status of the customer and the type and origin of the ticket ?
Does QF , as a function of inflight management policy ,or as a by product thereof, discriminate:
(a) On account of the Status of the passenger ?
(b) On account of the ticket type and origin. ( ie gate upgrade) ?

Define Descriminate? Do you mean giving greater service to some pax more than others? Or less service than the minimum to others?

It's much easier on board to give a person a little bit of extra attention. I.e the CSM saying, "let's look after 18A today he is a VIP/CL" than saying; now 23J, 19F, 32K, 29B are beep at the gate schmucks so less red wine for them" etc.

 

[Bjet]

There was a couple in front of me at Y. They are a high status and also flight attendants know them very well.

Then flight attendant gave more bottle of waters than the rest of Y and also a bottle of wine from Business class with wine glasses for them to drink.

 

[ReLoad]

There was a couple in front of me at Y. They are a high status and also flight attendants know them very well.

Then flight attendant gave more bottle of waters than the rest of Y and also a bottle of wine from Business class with wine glasses for them to drink.

If that is discrimination, then that happens on the vast majority of at least intl flights.

The definition to me is that is someone getting less than they are entitled or rather someone is getting more because of other factors?

 

[porkbelly]

I once flew SYD to London return in J with full paid fare, I was a gold. On the way back, I had two carry-on luggage as I had done some shopping and put both of them in the overhead locker above my seat. When the guy next to me came onboard, who's on first name basis with the FA, he complained loudly "Somebody took my space!" The FA then made me remove my bag from the locker. The guy, after being satisfied with his entitled space back, sat down next to me and said "you have a lot of stuff, don't you?!" in a pompous way. Needless to say, the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. FWIW, I am young looking Asian female, and the other guy is an old white guy.

I received better service from the CSM when I was a WP, and used points to upgrade from PE to J between HKG and SYD.

 

[serfty]

As far as I can tell, the passenger manifest indeed specifically indicates whether an op-up or not.

Points upgraded PAX appear have no such indication and are treated the same as revenue PAX.

 

[maninblack]

In the case of paid tickets cabin crew do not know what fare basis you have purchased and I doubt they care. As an LTG and OWE I find that service on QF international is of such a mediocre standard I would hate to think that lower status passengers could actually receive service that is any worse than what WP's get. If my last 3 QF trips are any example then any further decline in standards would result in us seeing the FA's actually sleeping in the galley, yawning in your face and throwing your food and drinks at you. PS, that's in J, hate to think what it's like in Y

 

[JessicaTam]

There was a couple in front of me at Y. They are a high status and also flight attendants know them very well.

Then flight attendant gave more bottle of waters than the rest of Y and also a bottle of wine from Business class with wine glasses for them to drink.

I have had that and I am a lowly WP. (I don't think I have ever used 'lowly' and 'WP' in the same sentence before).

So you don't have to be VIP to be treated well.

 

[Pushka]

FWIW, I am young looking Asian female, and the other guy is an old white guy.
.

And this is important because?
They do state if you have 2 carry ons then one has to go under the seat so it's maybe a good thing they are enforcing that? I'm a little peeved when I just have the one carry on and I can't even get that up top because others have more and taken up the space.

 

[Happy Trails]

And this is important because?
They do state if you have 2 carry ons then one has to go under the seat so it's maybe a good thing they are enforcing that? I'm a little peeved when I just have the one carry on and I can't even get that up top because others have more and taken up the space.

Assuming she was on QF, there would have been no under-seat storage in J.

 

[boomy]

I have had that and I am a lowly WP. (I don't think I have ever used 'lowly' and 'WP' in the same sentence before).

So you don't have to be VIP to be treated well.

I have had that as well as P1 and I must admit it felt a bit awkward to receive a bottle of wine as gift after drinking J wine the whole flight.
I don't think Y pax should be treated better then J pax, no matter what's their status.

 

[Sprucegoose]

There was a couple in front of me at Y. They are a high status and also flight attendants know them very well.

Then flight attendant gave more bottle of waters than the rest of Y and also a bottle of wine from Business class with wine glasses for them to drink.

thats quite normal. Discrimination not at all.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I once flew SYD to London return in J with full paid fare, I was a gold. On the way back, I had two carry-on luggage as I had done some shopping and put both of them in the overhead locker above my seat. When the guy next to me came onboard, who's on first name basis with the FA, he complained loudly "Somebody took my space!" The FA then made me remove my bag from the locker. The guy, after being satisfied with his entitled space back, sat down next to me and said "you have a lot of stuff, don't you?!" in a pompous way. Needless to say, the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. FWIW, I am young looking Asian female, and the other guy is an old white guy.

I received better service from the CSM when I was a WP, and used points to upgrade from PE to J between HKG and SYD.

i can see (feel) your point. Young Asian females are quite sharp so you would have comeback with some retort to put the old fella in his place.

You need to deal with these situations while on foot and not stew over them.

 

[legroom]

J pax is ENTITLED to two pieces of carry on as per QF's policy (http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/carry-on-baggage/global/en)

2 x 115cm (45in) bags or
1 x 115cm (45in) bag plus 1 x 185cm (73in) non rigid garment bag

The quote "one in locker, one under the seat in front of you" is only announced at the back of the bus AFAIK. Never heard that in J (or F).

I'd be peeved if the FA asked me to do that to accommodate the latecomer.

There is nothing on the ticket or in the T & C stating that your carry on will be in the overhead locker right at your seat (would appreciate correction with gratitude).

He was late; He should be asked to accommodate, not the other way around.

Hasn't he ever heard 'first in, best dressed' [prior tempore, prior jure] ??

I'd probably ask 'why' first.

I once flew SYD to London return in J with full paid fare...... he complained loudly "Somebody took my space!" The FA then made me remove my bag from the locker.....

 

[Awesom Andy]

I once flew SYD to London return in J with full paid fare, I was a gold. On the way back, I had two carry-on luggage as I had done some shopping and put both of them in the overhead locker above my seat. When the guy next to me came onboard, who's on first name basis with the FA, he complained loudly "Somebody took my space!" The FA then made me remove my bag from the locker. The guy, after being satisfied with his entitled space back, sat down next to me and said "you have a lot of stuff, don't you?!" in a pompous way. Needless to say, the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. FWIW, I am young looking Asian female, and the other guy is an old white guy.

I probably would've said something like, "why? who the *beep* do you think you are?" as my first reaction, and in some ways, I would probably suggest others to do the same, even if you aren't a young looking Asian female.

 

[tgh]

gosh this has got away..emotive subject it seems
Thanks Pauly for the dot point reply.
I guess there will always be situations that irritate, however it seems to me that a fairly ticketed/paid customer should receive no less than the expected/advertised service.
If a higher status customer gets some goodies on top.. fair enough imho.

 

[Bjet]

I'm sorry, there might be misunderstanding. I am not complaining about it's fair or not. I am talking about what I have seen them as a "witness". I like to observe what the flight attendant were doing in the plane as I have always wanted to be a flight attendant one day. lol. That's my dream!

When a high status pax asked flight attendant for a water, he gave two bottles of water but a pax wanted one. I was hoping that he would give me another one. Then I asked him for water please. He gave me a cup of water. lol

 

[Pushka]

Assuming she was on QF, there would have been no under-seat storage in J.

There is on the "ground" storage though? Well, there was on my flight.

Even DomY are allowed two pieces.