Time to give up on Qantas

[NFF]

May be you should keep your points until the frequent flyer program has improved.

I don't like acronyms either.

 

[straitman]

May be you should keep your points until the frequent flyer program has improved.

I don't like acronyms either.

NFF,
(Is that name an acronym :?

Who are you referencing with your comment as it could refer to anyone of several people as I see it :?:

 

[NFF]

To the original poster of course.
NFF is a name (pronounced like nerve with f).

 

[JohnK]

A belated welcome to AFF Waterline!

You raise some good points and I mainly agree regarding the overuse of acronyms.

I have thought about alternatives to Qantas but keep hitting a brick wall

- domestically there is no serious competition to Qantas. I had 2 enjoyable Qantas flghts on the weekend. My previous 4 flights were on VA and I am still scratching my head. Chalk and cheese.
- internationally I can only afford economy and I like the service I receive from Qantas (seat selection, lounges, customer service etc) and not looking forward to economy on a Chinese or Middle Eastern carrier

For me Qantas wins hands down but unfortunately I think I will be forced into making a decision sooner rather than later as Qantas won't be around for too long.

 

[onemore]

JohnK,
I also have that gut feeling.

 

[amaroo]

For me Qantas wins hands down but unfortunately I think I will be forced into making a decision sooner rather than later as Qantas won't be around for too long.

JohnK,
I also have that gut feeling.

Always a good plan to earn and burn ... stockpiling is not recommended!

 

[JohnK]

Always a good plan to earn and burn ... stockpiling is not recommended!

True but there are always buts....

I'd love to do the 9 Oneworld awards I was planning to do but I do not have the time. And I am not going to spend the points on a few First class flights going nowhere in particular....

 

[Mr_Orange]

True but there are always buts....

I'd love to do the 9 Oneworld awards I was planning to do but I do not have the time. And I am not going to spend the points on a few First class flights going nowhere in particular....

Toasters for the whole family this Christmas then .

 

[ronone69]

The big problem I see at QF is inconsistency. You will travel on some flights and the service will be great and then on other flights and the service will be cough - even up the front of the plane. We recently traveled to NY - MEL->LAX - average - LAX->JFK - poor, JFK->LAX - great, LAX->MEL - good - 4 flights, 4 different levels of service. When calling, I usually find the straight men good, the gay men coughy, cough and unhelpful, the older women coughy and unhelpful, the younger women good. Inconsistency!!! The same with check-in and other services - really mixed - some really good, some really bad, and everything in-between. BUT I don't think they are necessarily any better or worse than anyone else. SQ are very hard to deal with on the phone although usually their service level is more consistent. I can't comment on VA.

 

[Baysider]

Personally I think the QFF benefits and lounge experience have both been diluted to the point of questionable value. If you just go out and buy the best fares available across all suitable airlines and use something like Priority Pass for lounge use, you are probably a mile in front. The "taxes" on QFF redemptions are that high that by the time you add up your total annual flight spend on QF including redemptions vs using all airlines at cost, I suspect QF with "free" flights still costs you more.

 

[graxx]

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.

Oh. boy! Well said I'm afraid. I was a Platinum FF for many years and now Lifetime Gold but I too am finding it hard to fly Qantas. My wife and I did two major trips this year and while I tried to book Qantas, it was just too hard and we went Emirates. I have millions of points I can't use (tried recently to book to Hawaii in 6 months time, but no seats in any class. They said it included Easter and there were no seats, award or paying. Most businesses would find a way of increasing capacity if they had customers 6 months out going elsewhere!!!)
There is no doubt, apart from overcrowding at times due to the 'Club' arrangement which allows business lounges to fill up with economy passengers, but Qantas Lounges are generally pretty good.

Poor old Qantas really needs to rethink itself!

 

[ronone69]

Points are good value for flights - and flights only - by SQ points are far better value - 40,000 points to Europe on SQ, 72,000 on QF. The business lounges are better than most going around - certainly domestically - and if you a a Platinum FF, you can buy the cheapest fare anyway !!

 

[CRAKYL]

I am also a long term QF lifetime Gold member, becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the QF service and hypocritical attitude. For years we put up with an "all care, no responsibility attitude" but now face a forced change of attitude where a high ranking QF employee moves around the plane, isolating and openly discriminating against their loyal customer base on every flight. During a recent flight returning from the US I was sitting next to a recently anointed platinum member in PE. The hostess sought him out directly and pampered him with first class red wine (at his beckon), snacks and express pass. All the while the long term lifetime gold member seated next to him was told by QF employee that the "benefits" were isolated to Platinum and above?? 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??...who is directing such a hypocritically discriminative airline? Driving a positive service culture comes with creating genuine service empathy and interest, not discriminating against your most loyal customers...Disappointing and can concur.

 

[geoffl]

Like Waterline, I have been a Platinum Member for many years, as has my Wife, and we are each Lifetime Gold, (a couple of times over).
I agree that Service has declined and that on most Flights, particularly meal flights, once you have been served, rarely do you seem to see the Crew again.
However, it is also my experience that this is typical of all Airlines and not restricted to Qantas, as I do at times fly on other Airlines, (mainly Code Share) and have exactly the same experience. Because of this I am reluctant to make the switch for fear that the others may get worse !
Regarding obtaining Rewards however, I have never had a bad experience, but, I am a bit of a "planner" and when looking at a major trip for us I am happy to got out a fair way forward. Lets face it, they are always refundable if you get it wrong, and often can be changed for a small points penalty. I don't mind this.
So, overall, I am staying with the Program but I am always open to change if it is for the better.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

VA just need to improve 50% from now, and I will have put all my flight business to them.
They have improved from the days AN died, many years ago, but up to now, they could still/can still do better.
I have PS with both, and am/but am in a hard spot, where to go once I drop back to NR/NB (no status-just Red/Bronze).
Would like to give all my flight business to VA, but in some sense, their service is still a bit lower than QF.

 

[ACARS]

Poor Service! Had to fly out of MEL on Jetstar. I wanted a reasonable seat so I rang the Chairmans Lounge two hours before the flight with a request to check me in. They responded by advising that it was not their policy to check any one in unless the passenger was physically present. As a person with long experience in dealing with poor customer service I just went round them. I rang a lowly QF club two thousand Km away and they gladly checked me in and got me a great seat. Qantas - if you are reading this you need to look after your premium customers a lot better.

 

[storr007]

If this is the best Qantas can do for such a corporate client what chance do the rest of us have.
This is an ever growing argument in relation to Qantas' poor response to its members.
My opinion is that they have little or no time for their loyal clients and therefore do not deserve the loyalty of their clients.
It would appear that their new motto is "We have you by the short and -------....now its too late to change.
The only way clients can get the message across is to pull the pin AND send Joyce back to Ireland.

 

[clarksnow1]

Hi Waterline

I'm a Platinum member with Qantas, PPS member with Singapore Airlines, Gold member with Emirates and Royal Ambassador member with Intercontinental Hotels.

We had the same issue with Qantas and spent about $500k per annum on international and also did a block booking of 80 seats per week for domestic flights.

We cut the ties and now use Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, its cheaper, service is better and Qantas points have been devalued substantially, so whats the point.

I think the final straw was when I achieved 4600 status credits in a year, but couldn't get Platinum One status, because I didn't fly Qantas metal. Bit hard to do that when there is no Qantas metal flying internationally out of Perth. Don't particularly want to fly Perth to Melbourne to Hong Kong, (that was the suggestion from Qantas) when I can fly Perth to Hong Kong on Cathay in under 8 hrs.

Loyalty programs are not what they used to be

Cheers

PS: for the domestic block booking we went to Virgin, far better in flight service, staff are friendlier etc etc

 

[Baysider]

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.

 

[michaely]

Your comments reminded me of my history over 15+years.I run my own company, and these days travel only when I really need to.
I utilise technology instead.
I have not flown QF internationally for more than five years, after a whirlwind trip to Shanghai, which was ruined by delays.
I do prefer to fly QF domestically, but also fly VA, JQ and Tiger, if it suits my schedule and purpose.
I think Qantas has lost its soul, and this harks back to the Dixon era. The drivers then and now are share price and executive bonuses.
The organisation culture has become more public service than customer service, with some exceptions of long-serving QF and TAA/AA stalwarts.
The contractual basis of hiring staff with a view to cost containment rather than making them ambassadors to the customer disappoints me.
Maybe the only way to change the culture is if regular and faithful customers repeatedly protest and complain that standards of service and value of service continue to fall, an dvote with their wallets and feet!