The pointless pathetic penny pinching that pushes away customers thread

[medhead]

On my recent flights to Townsville, for dinner, I had the opportunity to discuss the tight wad, penny pinching efforts by Qantas that are working to destroy loyalty. The opinion was that the cost cutting is the beginning of the end for Qantas. After the latest effort today it is time to document these cost cutting efforts.

Today's effort: refusal to move me to an earlier flight on a non-flexible fare. Yes, it was non-flexible anyone whose imagination is limited to that point please don't bother to reply. The problem with this is that the competition has Fly Ahead. They will move me and last week they moved me on a cheaper fare, in fact today Qantas cost $125, and last week Virgin cost $86. So Qantas is offering a lower level of service at a greater level of cost. Even if the fly ahead disappears the service is then the same but Qantas is still more expensive. Lowering service standards to the same level does not retain loyalty, as the extra cost buys nothing. Not to mention how much 4 hours in the lounge will cost them. They've saved $30 on yield and are going to cost vastly more on lounges. (Also I'm probably most annoyed at the smug manner of the ex-T2 QP employee in delivering the news)

The business class meal situation is another cost cutting measure. The number of pieces of cutlery has been halved, one spoon, fork and knife. It used to be 2. The meals themselves

Cafe breakfast.

Late night snack in domestic Y has dived to the pathetic level

Domestic lounge wifi speed has died

Island dining disappearing for months.

Closing business lounges.


Anyone else have examples of Qantas cost cutting that makes them question the airline's future?

 

[Dmac6345]

Have been to Alice Springs twice in the last month.
The bar fridge has had a sign on it stating that "Fridge Opens at 3pm".
Always used to be 12 noon. Its a little thing, but sure it all adds up.
Unknown if this has happened at any other smaller ports.

 

[oz74]

I guess when you can't grow your revenue the only thing left to do is cut costs.

 

[danny09]

Mines abit DYKWIA ish, but still counts.

xmas 2011 & 2012 got 2 bottles of wine from QF as abit of a present, 2013 xmas, not a darn thing, unless I was the only one not to receive anything.....

 

[medhead]

Forgot to add the shrinking beer glass sizes.

Mines abit DYKWIA ish, but still counts.

xmas 2011 & 2012 got 2 bottles of wine from QF as abit of a present, 2013 xmas, not a darn thing, unless I was the only one not to recieve anything.....

My whinge about not changing a non-flexi fare is very dykwia-ish

 

[danny09]

Forgot to add the shrinking beer glass sizes.

My whinge about not changing a non-flexi fare is very dykwia-ish

I'de be pretty peaved off too actually.

 

[medhead]

I'de be pretty peaved off too actually.

I guess the annoying bit is they've trained me to expect such service by offering it in the past but have now just cut it off. Certainly can't complain about the refusal, more about the service.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

not waiving the call centre assistance fee for transactions that cannot be completed on line.

this includes bookings from countries such as Thailand and China; circumstances where partner award availability is there, but QF does not show it; and times when cities do not appear on the drop down menu.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I guess when you can't grow your revenue the only thing left to do is cut costs.

There are soo many new, untapped and high margin ways airlines could generate more revenue that don't impact the customer base in any negative way.

They say that when you're not using your own product on a daily basis you fail to see how the design could be improved.
When you're working for an airline you're not exactly using the product in a way most consumers would either... and feedback/marketing/focus groups are totally bogus and rarely produce anything meaningful. So you can almost forgive managers for not understanding their customers.

I think Qantas biggest problem is human capital.
Too many people with oldschool mentality trying things that may have worked 10 or 15 years ago but now just deepen their self inflicted problems.

"Let's cost cut out way to profitability" - said no successful CEO ever.

Time for new blood and a fresh set of eyes to solve their problems.

 

[dalereardon]

I travelled from Mel to HBA on Tuesday this week. I was told that only business class passengers (was a soon to be phased out Qantas service not QLink) can get soft drinks now - it is a short flight and we don't have time for 2 trolleys.

The flight attendant was very helpful though and went and got my wife and I a coke zero as we were in row 4 so didn't have to go far. But really cutting out tea and coffee would save more time and still allow soft drinks.

And if they raise the time from 12 noon to 3pm at HBA lounge I will really complain.

Dale.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Oh, and also...

- Lounge "cleaning" over Xmas/NY
- Cheaper headphones that fail with volume levels

 

[redslert]

Even American Airlines recognises flexibility is important to their Platinum/ExPlat.
On cheapest possible econ non-flex tickets they are more than happy to let people change to earlier flights free of charge.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I travelled from Mel to HBA on Tuesday this week. I was told that only business class passengers (was a soon to be phased out Qantas service not QLink) can get soft drinks now - it is a short flight and we don't have time for 2 trolleys.

The flight attendant was very helpful though and went and got my wife and I a coke zero as we were in row 4 so didn't have to go far. But really cutting out tea and coffee would save more time and still allow soft drinks.

And if they raise the time from 12 noon to 3pm at HBA lounge I will really complain.

Dale.

how did you experience compare with this, lifterd from the QF website on 'regional economy':

[h=2]Onboard Dining[/h]Experience a premium meal or refreshment pack on all QantasLink flights, with catering menus rotated every 4 to 6 weeks to ensure a fresh menu at all times.
Beer and wine is offered complimentary after 4pm on all QantasLink flights, although in Western Australia these options are only available for purchase after midday.
QantasLink also provides special meal options on Boeing 717 aircraft and a vegetarian special meal option on QantasLink Dash 8 aircraft.

 

[TomVexille]

Too many people with oldschool mentality trying things that may have worked 10 or 15 years ago but now just deepen their self inflicted problems.

I think that's more of an Australian attitude than just Qantas

 

[Steelo]

Although a loyal Qantas customer - who enjoys the benefits of being a frequent flyer. I can understand that they have to re route flights and as I fly regularly from Nth Qld to Melbourne I accept this - but why does the quality of service have to go down with it. Last week on flight from MEL-BNE- CNS I was served a tomato dip on the first leg then an awful boxed meal - described as light and healthy on the BNE-CNS leg. Light and healthy - how do you arrive at that description when 80% of the meal box consisted of chopped up potato. They were only serving one type of white wine (sav blanc). Platinum customers were treated (on one leg) with a treat - they got offered a bottle of water before the other customers. The Business Lounge in Brisbane was serving up some brown muck - ie mince thickened with enormous amounts of some form of starch - and the lounge was quite dirty. To make the experience worse - they fly old 737's - with screens that are either too small or easily affected by light - so you get little entertainment access. The interiors of these planes are tired and grubby. What frustrates me most is that these routes are usually close to capacity.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Apparently Baileys as a drink option is about to be phased out for domestic business class.

 

[zainman]

Even American Airlines recognises flexibility is important to their Platinum/ExPlat.
On cheapest possible econ non-flex tickets they are more than happy to let people change to earlier flights free of charge.

Correct me if I am wrong but AA also don't charge any fees for date changes and cancellation/booking of award tickets for their elite Frequent flyers. Anyway, AAdvantage vs QFF is a no brainer.

QF please make JL/MH award availability bookable online

 

[hotpaws]

Have been to Alice Springs twice in the last month.
The bar fridge has had a sign on it stating that "Fridge Opens at 3pm".
Always used to be 12 noon. Its a little thing, but sure it all adds up.
Unknown if this has happened at any other smaller ports.

As a semi regular user of ASP airport, it was always great to sneak in a quick drink before the ADL departure at 12.40. It sort of compensated for the fact that there was rarely any room to sit down, and the food offering a joke. With most flights departing around this time, delaying the fridge opening until 3pm will be a huge saving to QF. By my checks, there is one flight to Darwin and one to Cairns departing after 3pm, so 2 of 7 flights or so that have access to the "Bar" Just crazy.

 

[yohy?!]

As a semi regular user of ASP airport, it was always great to sneak in a quick drink before the ADL departure at 12.40. It sort of compensated for the fact that there was rarely any room to sit down, and the food offering a joke. With most flights departing around this time, delaying the fridge opening until 3pm will be a huge saving to QF. By my checks, there is one flight to Darwin and one to Cairns departing after 3pm, so 2 of 7 flights or so that have access to the "Bar" Just crazy.

time for a jailbreak on the drinks fridge methinks!

 

[yohy?!]

I only took a few QFd flights in 2013 - mainly to requal with double status credits.

All in J though and the contrast from a year prior was stark - the variety and quantity at food for both meals and refreshments is now similar to international PE (ie substantially reduced). Lounge food is also ridiculous and seems to have reverted to DJ 'The Lounge' standards.

Service seemed more rushed and less friendly - god help anyone paying full price for Dom J!

My last QFi flights were actually ok in PE - although as I understand it, my ability to order from the J main plates likely meant someone in J went hungry! Trying out BA WTP soon and will be interested to compare.