Time to give up on Qantas

[Brissiegirl]

When Qantas gets it 'right' they are up there with the best in the world. The problem is consistency. QF runs about 50/50 in terms of delivering either a 'good' or 'excellent' flight. The other times they seem to go out of their way to make you wish you were somewhere else.

I have always found Qantas quite superior, I was sick on a flight to Singapore last year & staff could not have been more wonderful. I was flying premium that time but on my last trip a few weeks ago they were pretty good, although it does depend on the steward. I flew economy this last time & it was okay. On the trip over, the minute the seat belt sign went out, three people in the side seats closed all their blinds & left them closed for the entire trip. This made my seat across the aisle very dark and hard to read. As it was a daytime flight I thought this was horrible & very inconsiderate. Even though I did ask one woman to put up her blind, she just ignored me. I think the stewards should be more aware of this sort of thing going on and monitoring it. Even if the blinds had only been closed for a couple of hours it would have been much nicer.

If you think Qantas are bad, try B.A. They are the pits!!!!! I flew Business to Europe with them a few years ago and that was great. Last year I flew Premium to Europe from Singapore with them & they were disgusting!. On the return trip I am still waiting for a blanket & a tomato juice which were requested & never delivered. The toilet in the front of our cabin had an occupied/unoccupied sign for us to observe but we premium customers had to go through the curtain and use the economy facilities. Airline toilets are not the nicest places, but I especially dislike the economy ones. The young stewards seemed like apprentices and were most unhelpful - we rarely saw them. They only appeared at meal time. I will never fly B.A
again - it was the most horrible experience!!!

 

[mannej]

Sorry for sounding like a broken record but the argument of sending Joyce back to Ireland is plain ignorant. Play his performance not his nationality (he is also an Australian citizen of over 10 years is he not?).

 

[Pug1]

I have been an observer of this forum for some time, and after much thought, I thought I should contribute. I have been a platinum level flier (I am not a fan of acronyms) for eight years, and gold for many years before that. I reached lifetime gold sometime ago. Those who read this forum will know what that entails in travel time away from home.

I have become increasingly disheartened at the quality of service I receive from Qantas. Like most airlines, they get most things right most of the time. However, they seem increasingly uninterested in doing more than the bare minimum, and the frequent flyer program has been devalued to the point where I cannot see any utility in making use of it.


In the past two years, I have received poor service in respect of taking award flights, and dealing with lost property. The frequent flyer program has been devalued, and redeeming most awards above premium economy on international flights is in my experience very difficult. Benefits under the scheme are now squarely directed at booking QF codeshares to the long list of places Qantas doesn't go and at my current level that translates to additional cost for no real benefit. More often than not, it is far and away the most expensive option. Efforts to contact Qantas are difficult with anything other than bookings, and queries and complaints (as others here have indicated) seem to be given a very low priority.


I direct an organization that will spend about $800K on international flights this year, with much of that going to Qantas. I imagine that doesn't mean much to Qantas' bottom line, even with Qantas International losing money. I don't know if we will be valued by other airlines, but I am keen to find out, because my loyalty to date has been repaid with disinterested service at a premium price.

I tend to agree with most of your comments and I've been a life member of the Qantas club since 1990. I've also tried to communicate some polite constructive feedback on their customer email and Facebook page, receiving standard replies telling me information I already knew. I gave up trying to use my points for a flight next year as it was too hard to get what I wanted - frustrating! It's impossible to get a direct email address for any senior Qantas people, who seem to hide from customers unless you earn a million points pa plus. Having said that, we have just returned from a trip to Japan, flying Premium Economy with Cathay Pacific (because Qantas doesn't seem to have any relationships with major tour companies), I found the standards on board Cathay a little disappointing and they seem to change their planes to suit loadings more so than other airlines. This is annoying if you are fussy about seating as we are. My wife and I both said Qantas Premium Economy was better, particularly on the A380. We wouldn't mind paying a little more for Qantas, (if necessary), however I agree it is becoming increasingly difficult to retain loyalty when you can clearly see the International Division seems to have no clear strategy and also seems to be handing business to Emirates in bucketloads. I'm retired and cannot give any airline the volume of business you obviously generate, but we will be taking at least four international trips this year, which I would have thought has some value for Qantas. Let's keep at them until they get the message or there is a clear-out of the Board and CEO.

 

[Baysider]

The greatest stupidity of it all is that what Qantas has to do to keep its loyal supporters is far less than it will have to do to get them back !

 

[smeacs]

Is it just me or does it seem here that the problem is Qantas now is not what Qantas used to be. Ie the comparison is against a product that once was. Lots of these posts say the Qantas is better than other airlines in various areas but the people who don’t like Qantas are comparing it to the airline it was in the past.

No one has mentioned any other airline getting better just Qantas getting worse.

 

[SQ421]

I have to say that as a status member of QFF (mostly Gold, sometimes WP), my treatment travelling with CX has always been infinitely better than when travelling with QF.

+1, heck I'll even add EK to that mix. Extremely good treatment flying as a WP incl. J -> F Op Up about 33% of the time.

 

[michaely]

I have always found Qantas quite superior, I was sick on a flight to Singapore last year & staff could not have been more wonderful. I was flying premium that time but on my last trip a few weeks ago they were pretty good, although it does depend on the steward. I flew economy this last time & it was okay. On the trip over, the minute the seat belt sign went out, three people in the side seats closed all their blinds & left them closed for the entire trip. This made my seat across the aisle very dark and hard to read. As it was a daytime flight I thought this was horrible & very inconsiderate. Even though I did ask one woman to put up her blind, she just ignored me. I think the stewards should be more aware of this sort of thing going on and monitoring it. Even if the blinds had only been closed for a couple of hours it would have been much nicer.

If you think Qantas are bad, try B.A. They are the pits!!!!! I flew Business to Europe with them a few years ago and that was great. Last year I flew Premium to Europe from Singapore with them & they were disgusting!. On the return trip I am still waiting for a blanket & a tomato juice which were requested & never delivered. The toilet in the front of our cabin had an occupied/unoccupied sign for us to observe but we premium customers had to go through the curtain and use the economy facilities. Airline toilets are not the nicest places, but I especially dislike the economy ones. The young stewards seemed like apprentices and were most unhelpful - we rarely saw them. They only appeared at meal time. I will never fly B.A
again - it was the most horrible experience!!!

I thoroughly agree with your comments on BA longhaul flights.
10 years ago, I was subjected to Mel-LHR in premium with no entertainment system nor reading lights. I suspect they knew of the problem before we left Mel, tried to fix it in Singapore, but kept everybody in the dark on purpose. The joke was at LHR they handed out complaint forms as everybody disembarked, but when I followed up 10 days later, they said because I lived in Australia, the communication would have to be with their people in Australia. They offered a one cabin one way upgrade after a letter from the company solicitor. Needless to say, I have not flown with them longhaul since!

 

[scheps]

+1, heck I'll even add EK to that mix. Extremely good treatment flying as a WP incl. J -> F Op Up about 33% of the time.

I haven't been on CX or EK very much but when i am on MH, it is also most certainly better.

 

[BAM1748]

Sorry for sounding like a broken record but the argument of sending Joyce back to Ireland is plain ignorant. Play his performance not his nationality (he is also an Australian citizen of over 10 years is he not?).

It's just a turn of phrase. You never know, he might leave of his own accord.

If he came form Darwin we'd be telling him to go there.

Matt

 

[juddles]

.... Obviously 15 years of continual travel and countless hundreds of thousands of $ loyalty to the QF brand is not enough to outweigh a 1 year platinum member??.......

Must agree with you there. I am not ¨in to¨ the WP greeting thing personally (mind you it is such a hit and miss thing it can be fun just trying to predict it - I have probably had it 5 out of the last 100 flights)

But a LTG member is IMHO much more worthy of a personal greeting than a vanilla WP.

Surely it isnt hard to identify your most travelled frequent flyers???????????

 

[dimsum88]

Many years ago, after yet another bad QF experience, I somewhat reluctantly switched to SQ.Within a year I was PPS. Now my card reads member for 20 years, I have very little trouble redeeming flights to Asia or Europe and their service, both on the ground and in the air is always excellent. I even have a "pps co-ordinator" for any major issues. I don't know why so many stick with QF with their men spirited attitude and B level service at premium prices. It doesn't matter what the mileage earn is if it is next to impossible to redeem flights.

 

[michaely]

Is it just me or does it seem here that the problem is Qantas now is not what Qantas used to be. Ie the comparison is against a product that once was. Lots of these posts say the Qantas is better than other airlines in various areas but the people who don’t like Qantas are comparing it to the airline it was in the past.

No one has mentioned any other airline getting better just Qantas getting worse.

We base our views, criticisms largely on our own experience. For years I was a vocal supporter of QF, I am more reticent now, and more critical too!
I think the bar has been raised in a very competitive market, and in some areas QF has been found wanting. To warrant premium prices, their service, schedule and aircraft need to be of the same higher standard.
With solid exposure to other airlines both within the AP Region and to Europe and US, I believe they need to raise their standards of service, and that is personified in the attitude of front-line staff both on the ground and in the air, and their behaviours towards their customers in the face of issues and complaints.
We always have the choice to vote with our feet and our wallets, if they do not listen!!

 

[bsb]

I am the FIRST person to bag Qantas, it is a sad shell of it's former self (just look at the route map 2005) and I think that the CEO is a joke, who in any other business would have been long gone (a point which still bewilders me)

BUT Changing your loyalty to another carries really depends on where you spend your money.

If you are mainly domestic, knock yourself out in the zoo that is Virgin check in and terminals that are so 'enjoyable'. The lounges are fine - comparable to the QANTAS Club but nothing like the Biz QF lounge you have access to (QF lounges are improving lately, my fave being CBR both Biz and Club). Once on the plane, its much of a muchness although lately QF staff seem happier and more pleasant to deal with. It's still a (domestic) bus in the sky. (Although you should try flying in the US or Europe and Biz class it's so bad you have to experience it to 'get it')

Internationally, if you are going East, your options form Sydney are Delta, Virgin and United, and Mel you just have United (although the new 787 might be pretty good to fly on). ALL US carriers employ people from the set of the Golden Girls to crew them; I don't want them helping me if the plane goes down PLUS their attitude makes QF staff seem positively jubilant. So QF is really your only choice.

Going to Asia, you do have options, SQ and CX in particular, BUT their FF schemes are truly dire compared with QF and their lounges are a joke (in SIN you have to leave the lounge to use a toilet in one terminal). The new QF HK and SIN lounges are truly amazing and we are very lucky to be able to access that level of lounge experience. I do like CX and was on their Biz class 330 last week and the lounges are great at HKG (not QF great though), BUT TRULY DIRE elsewhere. Haven't been on SQ Biz for years, so can't comment on more than the lounge (which I did and it's still a bad experience) MH is very average and the lounge at KLIA whislt big is pretty average (booze confined to a small bar at the front and no self serve - it involves a lot of walking for a drink though)

If you go to Europe you have the middle eastern carriers too, who have a local CSM barking out orders to slaves they employ form Asian countries - I find it unpleasant to watch, although I do think QATAR has a spectacular Biz Class (as is the new lie flat on RJ 787 that I was on last week...but that's not really an option unless you hub out of BKK) Maybe an option for you to try, but their FF schemes are awful (try redeeming a QATAR flight, the system is for the dark ages) and they care even less about you than QF (in my considerable experience - excluding Etihad)

One big plus for you is the 1st lounges in MEL and SYD - I think only the Wing in HKG by CX is comparable in my experience. Although I do like the HEL lounge with Fun-nair (deliberate typo). Sauna, yes please...

No, Qantas has a lot of work to do, but their product and terminal experience is so far above the competition that you don't have a choice unless you have a dummy spit and force it on yourself. ONE DAY when they get their act together, it will be truly amazing airline again. Their FF scheme is amongst the best in the world, we just have to fly on Qantas metal to get the maximum benefits and personally I think that is the smartest business decision they've made for a while (even though I have been disadvantaged).

So go try the competition and see how good we actually have it - but you can still bag Qantas, they can improve and we should continually expect them to do so. But I suspect the current CEO needs to go before we see a shift.

 

[drron]

You certainly do have other options.
As far as QF goes the only thing that stands out are the Flounge in SYD and from others MEL.but then QF go and simplify their FF program so that mrsdrron just requalifies this year for WP with 1200 SCs after a JQ MR.Next year with a DONE4 and at least a circle asia trip she should requalify.After that virtually impossible.So when WP runs out and no Flounging in SYD nothing to keep us tied to QF.
At this point in time she will start crediting to Aadvantage.Should make plat easily and AA don't penalise you for using OW partners,much better premium award availability and way less points and taxes required.We will travel to the US as we do now via NRT because we love visiting Japan.Also like the USA so the 4 flight requirement is actually easier for her on AA than QF.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

All the changes in the last years, including the recent changes to status credits (discouraging you from chasing status the old way) and points (aspirational awards of old are effectively out unless you spend the cash equivalent of points) should have shown you that QFF 'gave up' on you long ago.

I have my own 'self-managed frequent flyer fund' where I put all the cash I save by buying BFOD rather than sticking to QF codeshare fares etc and I think I'm rewarding myself better than QFF would.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Their FF scheme is amongst the best in the world, we just have to fly on Qantas metal to get the maximum benefits and personally I think that is the smartest business decision they've made for a while (even though I have been disadvantaged).

I think many would disagree with that statement! Points earn, points burn, limited award choices, no confirmed upgrades, outrageous co-pays. I'd be really interested to know how that would qualify as the best inn the world... unless you're an airline looking to maximise profits.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

On the trip over, the minute the seat belt sign went out, three people in the side seats closed all their blinds & left them closed for the entire trip.

Many would actually say that's a good thing! (closing the blinds) Helps people to watch IFE, ehlps those who want to sleep to sleep. Helps control the temperature in the cabin.

It seems to be a 50/50 agrument for those in favour and those against. But a simple solution is to take a window seat in future and you get to do the controlling!

 

[katiebell]

QF are doing I think 4 or 6 flights in January. Many of us hope it works, and increases. AC run daily, and usually twice daily during Jan & Feb. AND Air NZ also goes to YVR! So you think there would be room for QF. However mitigating against it is that there is no onward One World service across Canada, so unless you are going to YVR or YYC, probably better off going into LAX and then AA to a final central/eastern Canadian destination. QF is code sharing with WestJet, which will mitigate that to a certain extent, but no J on WestJet.

better to fly CX to HKG and then YVR or YYZ than go via LAX

 

[katiebell]

No, Qantas has a lot of work to do, but their product and terminal experience is so far above the competition that you don't have a choice unless you have a dummy spit and force it on yourself. ONE DAY when they get their act together, it will be truly amazing airline again. Their FF scheme is amongst the best in the world, we just have to fly on Qantas metal to get the maximum benefits and personally I think that is the smartest business decision they've made for a while (even though I have been disadvantaged).

The trouble is they do not fly anywhere. Its a bit tough on loyal QFF in Perth where there are no longer any QFi flights and also on everyone else who needs to fly to a non-QFi destination.

 

[katiebell]

You certainly do have other options.
As far as QF goes the only thing that stands out are the Flounge in SYD and from others MEL.but then QF go and simplify their FF program so that mrsdrron just requalifies this year for WP with 1200 SCs after a JQ MR.Next year with a DONE4 and at least a circle asia trip she should requalify.After that virtually impossible.So when WP runs out and no Flounging in SYD nothing to keep us tied to QF.
At this point in time she will start crediting to Aadvantage.Should make plat easily and AA don't penalise you for using OW partners,much better premium award availability and way less points and taxes required.We will travel to the US as we do now via NRT because we love visiting Japan.Also like the USA so the 4 flight requirement is actually easier for her on AA than QF.

I'll be doing the same: retained WP this year &, as LTG there is no reason to remain with QFF once I lose WP.