Qantas Frequent Flyer - Gen Y dont care about Qantas it seems!

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/survey-generation-x-dont-care-about-qantas/story-e6frfq80-1226411236787

Interesting read nontheless..
CJ

hmmmmm

'who took part in a survey commissioned by airline pilots.'

I suspect those in this age category, like a lot of travellers, will simply purchase based on my price. My contacts at EY, and the former GF, in Australia said that on Expedia, Zuji etc. people will literally buy whichever Y ticket is cheapest, and even a $10 saving will lure pax as they aren't loyal to any airline.

I'm a Gen-Y and do all of my international and Australian domestic travel with Qantas where possible. I'm trying to do my bit and it's certainly cost me enough compared with other airlines over the years. For some reason I strongly identify with the brand and have never had an exceptionally poor experience from a service point of view. In this respect I think QF absolutely get a bum rap in the media - in fact recently with Qantas I've had to stop writing in letters of praise to Customer Care the service has been so outstanding.

At the end of the day the survey has revealed nothing that most people wouldn't expect of Gen-Yers (and for that matter most other people), namely that they are price sensitive rather than devoutly loyal. I think sometimes we FFs tend to forget that there is a travelling public out there who has no idea when it comes to differences in hard and soft product, status credits, JASAs and DONE4s. A large majority of these passengers couldn't care less if they're in 52E on a 3-class 744 or 80A on an A380. The comment about ''Qantas only surviving on its own performance'' is interesting, however, as it is often these Gen-Yers who get trapped in places like Cairo, Bali and Thailand on their world travels and then expect Qantas to bail them out on a Government rescue mission.

I, for one, think the Australian aviation industry and Australia in general would be all the poorer without a thriving Qantas (both international and domestic) and I will continue to support it with my business where I can.

I think it's just that most Gen Y's realise that, unless they fly like we do, there's no point getting too involved in any FF programs, so they simply choose by price, unless the choices are as dramatic as QF/SQ/etc vs Dodgy Bros Airlines.

Generation Y is 18-24 year olds now? I'm 32 and I *used* to be generation Y. These darn generations just keep slipping.

Anyway, one does wonder a little whether it's worth trusting a survey commissioned by a union, carried out by an unmentioned surveying agency, with the details of the actual questions asked and the sample size left out. One might almost wonder whether the survey was designed to push some agenda rather than as a pure and unbiased scientific sampling of public opinion...

Generation Y is 18-24 year olds now? I'm 32 and I *used* to be generation Y. These darn generations just keep slipping.


Kind of. The term 'Generation Y' (in Australia at least) refers to those who were born from 1982 to 1995 although the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses 1982-2000 for the generation. Jorgen, I believe you are 'Generation X'.


Getting back on topic, I (a Gen Y) mostly purchase my flights based on price. However, if the difference in price is not too great (<$10 for domestic flights), I would generally travel on Qantas. Like Brettmcg, I identify with the QF brand but at the end of the day, price is an important factor in booking my travels.

[mod hat]

Changed the thread title from X to Y.

[/mod hat]

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/survey-generation-x-dont-care-about-qantas/story-e6frfq80-1226411236787

PS its Gen Y not X!
Interesting read nontheless..
CJ

I'm marginal Gen Y. I'm a couple of years beyond the ABS definition and no longer living in Australia anyway, but I don't identify with Gen X.

I'm old enough to remember flying TAA as a toddler. I did fly QF international firstly with my nanny (my mum will never fly QF), but it certainly wasn't memorable compared to CX, CI and other Asian airlines.

I still fly QF now, but for practical reasons only - domestic connections, and whenever I can't redeem a CX ticket with CX Asia Miles I can opt for a QF flight instead.

My parents are extremely loyal to the home airline (in their case CX) - same kind of loyalty as Gen X Aussies have to QF I guess.

I'm loyal to the service, I don't care who provides it. Whoever gets me from point X to point Y simply and on schedule gets my business.

I'm also Gen Y (though borderline Gen X), and the only reason I really fly Qantas is because they're my employer's "preferred supplier". And that's fine, most of the places I travel to for work are serviced by Qantas or their OneWorld codeshare partners.

But for personal travel? Most of the places I want to go have had the Qantas flights replaced by Jetstar flights. And I don't want to fly Jetstar. I'd rather go with another full service airline. Yes, price is always a factor, but not always the main one. I'll fly Thai to Thailand rather than Jetstar. I'll fly Malaysian to Malaysia rather than Jetstar. Internationally, Qantas are failing me because they've simply stopped servicing most of the routes I want to fly for my holidays. It's not about being loyal, it's about them being able to provide the flights I want.

I'm also Gen Y (though borderline Gen X), and the only reason I really fly Qantas is because they're my employer's "preferred supplier". And that's fine, most of the places I travel to for work are serviced by Qantas or their OneWorld codeshare partners.

But for personal travel? Most of the places I want to go have had the Qantas flights replaced by Jetstar flights. And I don't want to fly Jetstar. I'd rather go with another full service airline. Yes, price is always a factor, but not always the main one. I'll fly Thai to Thailand rather than Jetstar. I'll fly Malaysian to Malaysia rather than Jetstar. Internationally, Qantas are failing me because they've simply stopped servicing most of the routes I want to fly for my holidays. It's not about being loyal, it's about them being able to provide the flights I want.

Well said...

Lots of people l talk to about travel, who are aged between 18-30, base their purchase on price.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Airline name DOES NOT enter the conversation.
It's all about saving money, full stop.

Lots of people l talk to about travel, who are aged between 18-30, base their purchase on price.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Airline name DOES NOT enter the conversation.
It's all about saving money, full stop.

Yep. The number of my old Gen Y/young Gen X friends and colleagues who choose the likes of D7, TZ or JQ without thinking is scary. The fact that in man cases JQ is more expensive than the likes of EK, QF, LA or NZ (depending on route) makes this even worse.

I personally choose QF for domestic travel because I like the way they treat me (free same day change to earlier flight despite being on a Red E-Deal and no status) and because my CC earn is tied in to QFF. For international, I play the US game. I only have about one big longhair trip a year so the $2500 US J or F ticket to Europe or North America is a boon for me.

All that said, it is funny when these friends come back from overseas and ..... about the experience explaining how there was no food or the baggage allowance sucked. Then I asked them why they didn't pick the QF or EK or CX sale fare for $50 More and they look at me like I'm from Mars.

It's a weird world.

Being Gen Y myself, I try to avoid JQ and the like unless the price difference is significant (like my JQ/3K experience PEN-SIN where I saved $200 over MI....but was delayed 3+ hours). Flying JQ for some reason always puts me in a horrid mood.

As for my acquaintances, many have no clue when it comes to travel, and just book TT or JQ. As for my friends, full-service is preferred when the price is right. I have some Chinese friends though who will only fly home on CX/KA and avoid QF.

Personally, on domestic I fly QF as there are no surprises. Internationally, I tend to go on CX more than others, and occasionally on QF (but am sick of their route cuts etc.)

<PUN>
I am not generation Y. I avoid flying Y. Maybe generation F or J?

</PUN>

[mod hat]

Changed the thread title from X to Y.

[/mod hat]

Thanks :)

+ 1 for wanting to know more about the the survey questions. Like - does Qantas fly to destinations you want to go to? This is a issue I know of. I have friends and family in Oz that go to the Med and they don't particularly want to fly to London, have a couple of hours wait and then have a 2 to 4 hour flight on top. If they could fly Qantas they probably would as they are fed up with being squeezed in EK seats.

In my days as a Gen X, I always had the image that Qantas was one of the top airlines to fly internationaly, but when I started my travels, they didn't have the routing I needed for my RTW, even with alliances. It wasn't till I travelled for work back to Oz in J that I finally got to sample and support then - until BA introduced flat seats in J of course! ;)

Before that time, price was a big factor and Qantas usually was one or two hundred pounds dear than the competition at the times I was looking for.

Maybe they can be the first airline to introduce a Y- class, right at the back of the plane. Less seat pitch, buy on board food, no IFE unless paid for, smaller luggage allowence, you must print your boarding passes at home etc etc!! :D

In my days as a Gen X, I always had the image that Qantas was one of the top airlines to fly internationaly, but when I started my travels, they didn't have the routing I needed for my RTW, even with alliances.

I've always found it funny how QF changed the lyrics of I Still Call Australia Home, to replace Rio with Rome, since they didn't fly to Rio. Now that they don't fly to Rome either, and NY may be under threat, I guess this might have added up to them dropping this as their theme song.

Changing the cities in the song is an old game. Wikipedia reports that some Welsh male voice choirs substitute Swansea for London. So I bet that Qantas hasn't actually dropped the song, but is merely finding some studio time to re-record a new version describing its forthcoming global (long)reach:-

I've been to cities that never close down,
From Sydney to Brisbane and old Melbourne town,
But no matter how far or how wide I roam,
I still call Australia home.

I've always found it funny how QF changed the lyrics of I Still Call Australia Home, to replace Rio with Rome, since they didn't fly to Rio. Now that they don't fly to Rome either, and NY may be under threat, I guess this might have added up to them dropping this as their theme song.Each of those ad campaigns have been roughly 5-6 years apart. The last one was in 2009. I wouldn't expect to see a new version until ~2014.