Originally Posted by
chongcao
I have to say that I have lifetime gold with Qantas, so I enjoy benefits when flying Emirates. And I do love Emirates lounge much better than Qatar so Emirates would win my business when the fare is the same between Emirates and Qatar.
But, following this episode, I no longer wish to fly Emirates or Etihad. Qatar would be the only choice for me if I have to fly the ME routes. As a passenger, I just do not like the way UAE and KSA deciding to inconvenience civilian passengers. I know my voice carries very little weight and Emirates would not care if they loose a passenger over the dispute. However, I think I will stand with my decision for my lifetime.
This situation has indeed motivated me to choose to fly QR instead of EK or EY (or SV), when facing otherwise largely comparable options for my travel bookings. Any reason I would have otherwise had to avoid QR would be just as applicable or more applicable to EK and EY; and it would be even more extremely applicable to SV.
That QR is in Oneworld was already drawing me more away from EK and EY than would have otherwise been the case.
QR's handling of the situation has inspired the kind of confidence in the carrier that I wouldn't have expected to have. But I still have questions about the character of that character who is the QR CEO.