DCF

A number of years ago I relocated back to Australia from New Zealand and sought to move my business to Qantas. Did they want to comp my elite Air NZ status? No. Never mind.

Ever since I have primarily flown Air NZ to the USA and Europe and Ansett (and later Virgin Blue) domestically. But I wondered if I was cutting my nose to spite my face, and decided recently to give Qantas another go.

Last week I booked to fly QF from Brisbane to Cairns in Business Class. I would like to fly from the Gold Coast where I live, but QF have more or less put Jetstar and Australian on all Gold Coast routes, so I ended up having to drive 90 minutes to Brisbane.

(Incidentally, I fly regularly from the Gold Coast to Sydney, but earn no points or status on Jetstar, so my business on that route has gone to Virgin in protest.)

But now I have found that even after a few years' gap, Qantas still excels at alienating prospective customers.

Example 1: I foolishly thought that the huge premium of a Business Class ticket entitled me to entry to the Qantas Club lounge. Oh no, they told me, you have to buy a membership. Now some passengers might respond to this by joining. I, however, just make a mental note not to buy Business Class tickets on Qantas ever again.

Example 2: Flying back with my young family I asked if our stroller could be delivered to the gate. "Oh no, we don't do that in Australia" was the reply. Really? Continental Airlines managed it at the same airport for the same stroller yesterday. Moreover, Air New Zealand has done it with the same stroller at the same arrival airport (BNE) on more than a dozen occasions in the last three years. But thanks to Qantas' care for its Business Class passengers I ended up carrying two infants in my arms for the best part of a kilometer at Brisbane upon arrival.

Qantas is entitled to treat its passengers with contempt, and does so with great success. But we, as passengers, are entitled to respond by taking our business elsewhere. And I will.

og

NZ would not comp my QF card. UA would do it so they get the business now (or thats what I think may well happen if I fly on *). That is, if they are still in business.

DCF

I feel that I have mistreated a national treasure by criticising Qantas without even mentioning the inflight experience.

And what an experience it was! The plane left at 530 pm and arrived at 725 pm so I must have received a succulent Business Class culinary experience, you might think?

And I did. All three crackers were delicious, and I could have asked for a refill of coffee if I had wanted to.

Now what exactly is Qantas providing for the Business Class premium? I was refused entry to the Qantas Club lounge, I was served three crackers on a flight at evening meal time and they refused to deliver my stroller to the gate.

Thanks Qantas, but no thanks.

ozflier

They did comp me my Ansett status.

QF WP

DCF, for one that has been a member for 6 months (and possibly longer as a lurker), I'm surprised that you didn't ask the questions here to be informed before you flew.

You would have had no troubles being advised on the points you raised, particularly the QP access on a J ticket (it's been thrashed around in a number of topics in the past 6 months) or for the in-flight meal (I'm surprised that you hadn't checked your itinerary as it would have told you there about the catering)...

Still, we all live and learn.

Dave Noble

Your complaints seem to be that

(a) they wouldnt give away status levels ... which is normal practice for QF ( and a sensible one at that... how many star golds with 4 upgrade vouchers are there around at the moment )

(b) You had to drive to the airport where the flight departs from rather than it popping by and picking you up locally

(c) You didnt get lounge access since lounge access is not a benefit of business class tickets domestically and hasn't been as long as I am aware of. I know that Ansett when it was still operating had the same policy

(d) They didn't change operating procedures just for you and go and get the stroller for you from the plane. hardly surprising.

With these 4 things Qantas treated you with contempt ? Feel free to take your business elsewhere. If you find an airline operating domestically within Australia which will rewrite operating procedures manuals on the whim of a passenger let me know.

Not one of your complaints there has any merit imo

Dave

mikalee

and by taking your business to DJ I think you are cutting off your nose....

Following on from Dave's comment and your choice to use DJ;

(a) DJ have no FF program.

(b) To get from the Gold Coast to Cairns on DJ you still have to drive to BNE or fly OOL-SYD-CNS. Additionally AO operate one sector a day (Y only) OOL-CNS so if the timings were right and I lived at that end of the coast I would use that rather than go to BNE. Also in BNE you have the additional choice of JQs frequency.

(c) On DJ you can pay a membership to use the Blue Room for a year (and then pay for your food and drinks) or pay per use. If you were a QF club member or Gold+ you can use the QP for AO or JQ sectors as well and not have to pay for your food & HPs.

(d) On DJ everything is black and white where as I find on QF mainline where discretion can be allowed it is used appropriately. I think you will be getting your stroller off the carosel no matter who you fly in AU.

Globaliser

Bye! Thanks for making some space for me!

blu308

I too am a little suprised that all you got were a few crackers. I thought Qantas recently recently announced the upgrade of domestic cabin service. I recall seeing mention of hot meals on dinner time flights. I would have thought that a 5:30pm would have qualified as a dinner flight.

DCF

Qantas is well aware that no other airline offers full service in Australia since Ansett was driven out of business, and I know that I won't get any more with Virgin Blue.

But my family and I spend most of our travel money on longhaul Business Class flights for work and for pleasure. Qantas has probably succeeded only in ensuring that that business remains with Air New Zealand.

Mind you, I was obviously crazy to consider moving to Qantas. Why would I want a sloping Qantas skybed when I could have a horizontal Virgin Upper Class suite on NZ from next year?

And thanks for the advice about Qantas not being silly enough to allow passengers with children too young to walk to have their strollers delivered to the aircraft. That's just great when the airline uses terminals without moving walkways.

But the reply typifies the attitude that Qantas takes to its passengers. It's not what the airline can do to help passengers, it's incumbent upon the passengers to conform with the Qantas Politburo's procedures, no matter whether they are customer-friendly or not.

(Incidentally, I had a similar problem 2 years ago on Qantas putting a newborn baby in an IATA-approved safety capsule / carseat which is designed for use on aircraft. "Oh no", they said, "you can't. Hold him in your arms." I pointed out that the seat had IATA-approved stamped all over it and had been used by me on Air New Zealand and United around the world and was designed to be the safest means of carrying a baby on a plane. "No, it's policy for safety reasons ". What will these fools think of next? Ban seatbelts for safety reasons.)

I'm sorry Qantas, but it's not good enough. When an airline's viability is built upon a near monopoly in the domestic market, standards always suffer and Qantas is a textbook case. One day genuine competition will come, and I look forward to seeing Qantas go the way of all such monoliths when the time comes.

Globaliser

If you go and try any airline expecting to find fault, as (from the tone of your posts) you clearly were, you will almost certainly find fault.

Bye!

og

More needless comparisons, but the mighty UA (as I said above) comped me with PremEx (* Gold). Lovely card. Too bad they wouldn't let me use the RCC in the USA. On the other hand, that nasty old QF would let me use the QC (QP) with a SG (OW Saphire) card. Now who's the bad guy?

And no, whilst QF may hold "national icon" status in some people's minds, it is still a business entity after all and has its faults. It has, however, managed to place itself in a very secure position and is likely to stay that was for some time yet. It has not caused massive unexpected job losses and crippled a whole national industry through mismanagement.

Dave Noble

"Qantas is well aware that no other airline offers full service in Australia since Ansett was driven out of business, and I know that I won't get any more with Virgin Blue."

Indeed. No OTHER airline offers full service; QF is the only one that does. The business class meals now being offered are pretty decent; even on th SYD-BNE flight yesterday I got a honeyed chicken with rice hot meal and the other choice was a salmon salad


"But my family and I spend most of our travel money on longhaul Business Class flights for work and for pleasure. Qantas has probably succeeded only in ensuring that that business remains with Air New Zealand. "

If you spend all your efforts trying to find fault during a journey, I am sure that NZ will be pleased to have you back. NZ have sooo many international destinations directly accessible from Australia; really


"Mind you, I was obviously crazy to consider moving to Qantas. Why would I want a sloping Qantas skybed when I could have a horizontal Virgin Upper Class suite on NZ from next year?"

(1) I am taking that you haven't even tried it yet before condemning it
(2) QF has the beds NOW, you don't have to wait till next year


"But the reply typifies the attitude that Qantas takes to its passengers. It's not what the airline can do to help passengers, it's incumbent upon the passengers to conform with the Qantas Politburo's procedures, no matter whether they are customer-friendly or not."

How crazy that an airline won't change its operating procedures just for you

Now you have finished on Qantas, perhaps you would enjoy trolling on another board

Dave

NM

Oh, not that complaint again. Driven out by whom? Could it possibly have had something to do with your favoured Air NZ management milking AN for all they had?

Now, lets see, which NZ domestic airlines offer business class serivce with full meals?
Now there is some good news. More J skybed availability for those who appreciate the difference .

At what point did you notify Qantas that you wanted special assistance upon arrival at the destination airport? In my experience, QF has been very willing to offer special assistance to parents travelling with infants. In fact, I booked a N class Red e-Deal for Mrs NM and the imminent Mini NM#4 to travel BNE-PER next month. When I call QF to request a bassinet seat position for them, I was asked if she would require any special assistance at the PER arrival. That was for a special Red e-Deal fare for a non-status (zero points balance, zero lifetime SC) QF FF member. It just needs to be added to the PNR with enough notice for them to ensure the staff are aware of the need and able to plan for it. Planning is what it is all about.
Again, how much notice was given. I made extensive enquiries about this very issue and there are several things that must happen prior to using on board:

• Must provide 24 hours notice for pre-approval by QF Engineering and seat allocation (only the last rows of sections have the restraint anchor points)
• Only available on 747 and 767-338/767-238 aircraft in economy and business class cabins
• Must meet AS/NZS1754 standards

If you don't notify them at least 24 hours before the flight, then they won't permit the use of the child restraint. Obviously you have to pay the standard child fare for a separate seat as well, not just the 10% infant fare.

Stryker

It seems the Qantas "mafia" is still in good voice.

Poor old DCF, I feel for him (I guess that condemns me to eternal damnation from the good ol' boys).