This isn't a complaint or anything, but more an observation of two Customer Service departments.

I flew long haul CX about 9 months ago in J and had a wonderful flight. FAs were great, food was lovely and the overall product was brilliant. WHen I got back to HK I sent a letter (by post and email) thanking CX for the great service, and pointing out that the FAs on that flight were a real credit to Cathay. Unfortunately I didn't get their names. I never heard back from CX (not even an email acknowledgement), but I do hope that they passed the message on. It was a great flight.

Flew Air NZ in Nov and also got outstanding service. Was more than just pleasantly surprised, and fired a quick email to the CS desk telling them that I was absolutely stoked with their service and again the FAs were brilliant, friendly and efficient. Got an immediate autoreply and figured that was that.

Two days after I emailed them I got one back thanking me for the feedback and assuring me that my comments would be passed on the the FAs. They also asked me if I could recall the names - which on this occasion I could.

The next day I got another email from a different area of Air NZ CS telling me that they had received my feedback from the main CS desk and that they were v happy at the comments and that they wanted to pass the comments on to the individual FAs. She just wanted to confirm which flight I had been on, which date the flight was on, and whether I woulld be happy with my comments being passed on verbatim (with my name removed obviously).

I'm certainly not complaining about CX not getting back to me, but the two vastly different reactions to praise from customers was interesting. I know it's not possible to respond to everyone (I'm sure both airlines spend enough time fielding complaints!), but it certainly does make a difference to my perception of each airline.

The volume of such emails may be different at the 2 airlines, and that might be a factor. Also NZ has aggressively worked at improving inflight service for the past 2 years, with great results. So they are on the lookout for evidence that their service has greatly improved; while CX has pretty much stayed the same (or declined slightly, for various reasons). Kudos to NZ, but it is a much smaller airline than CX (maybe 1/3 the long-haul operation).

I am sure that the CX flight attendants have received your complimentary letters. The F/A tells me that all comments from customers goes to their "file" and will help them when they are evaluated for promotion/performances. But I also wonder whether the inflight surveys counted towards that "file" ...

The average return of a CX complaint or compliment is 6 months. I occasionally receive letters of thanks about a certain flight I took over 6 months ago and have no recollection of the flight even , at times.

But be rest assured that your compliment will have been passed on to the relevant departments, parties and persons!

NO