Difference in Qualiflyer service by SN and LX
Sep 13, 2002, 9:26 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Paris, France
Posts: 535
Difference in Qualiflyer service by SN and LX
Qualiflyer has a most efficient administration system. I made Travelclub in November and Travelclub Gold in December 2001. The flight that brought me the Travelclub required level of club-miles was booked in the system within 36 hours. As soon as I was registered Travelclub all my boarding passes carried TCQM in print. To receive Travelclub card and luggage tags by surface mail took less than a fortnight. The TCQM print was sufficient for gate agents and lounge staff to recognise me as Travelclub and apply the appropriate privileges.
This summer I have learned a few things while booking award flights with Qualiflyer. I was putting together a routing Europe – South America – Europe with Iberia in C, a routing Europe – Hawaii - Europe with Swiss and American in F, and a routing Europe – Turkey – Europe with Turkish in C. Spending in total over 500,000 award miles.
When calling Qualiflyer on a national number you are connected to a Qualiflyer Service Centre. You chose a language, and you enter your Qualiflyer number and entry code. The computer connects you to a Qualiflyer call-centre. These are in Switzerland, The UK, South-Africa, Brazil. Waiting time to speak to an agent varies. For Travel Club members there are dedicated phone numbers. Usually these have shorter waiting times.
The agent at the Qualiflyer Service Centre can immediately check availability with all Qualiflyer airlines: LX, SN, etc. The agent can also directly book an award flight with Qualiflyer airlines. The Service Centre can not check availability with the Qualiflyer associate (partner) airlines: like AA, IB, US, AY, TK, CX, LO, MH, PS, SA, NI and QF. Neither can a Qualiflyer agent directly book an award flight with these airlines. The agent has to issue a request. My experience is that from Iberia the answer comes within hours, American Airlines answers within days and Turkish remains silent for months.
For my Europe – South America routing Iberia was positive on all my different requests. I could optimise my itinerary before making the final booking. Qualiflyer is able to hold the reservation for several days. I presume the excellent flexibility with Iberia was because Iberia had joined Qualiflyer only a week before and I booked in C-class. My flights were booked for July – August, the busy season. After the ticket was issued and after I have flown the first segments I changed the dates. Again Iberia was positive on my requests. Most likely Iberia’s own programme does not bring that many award flyers.
The Qualiflyer Service Centre in Brussels could not print the Iberia award ticket. Even with an OK from Iberia on all my segments, SN Brussels Airlines was unwilling to issue the Qualiflyer award ticket. They cancelled my booking without notification. When I called again Qualiflyer Brussels said the reasons were computer problems. This is shear rubbish. SN Brussels Airlines simply does not want to print award tickets to be used on other airlines. It is a trick from Sabena days. They try to avoid administration costs. I contacted the Qualiflyer Service Centre in Zurich. Qualiflyer Zurich quickly reactivated my booking and had the award ticket for Iberia issued on LX. I could collect it at AMS airport without any problem. Because the booking was made less than a fortnight before flying I was charged an extra fee per ticket.
The intercontinental service of Iberia was good, above average and far better than most US airlines. In Iberia First seat width is 53 cm, reclines to bed, personal video screen. In business distance between seats is 133 cm, seat width 51 cm, recline 33cm (13 inch) personal video screen (not on the B-747 aircraft). In economy distance between seats is 82 cm, seat width 43 cm, recline 15cm (6 inch). When flying intercontinental on Iberia booking a Qualiflyer award ticket in First is not worth spending the extra miles.
For my Europe – Hawaii routing Swiss was positive on all my different requests flying to LAX in F. The Qualiflyer Service Centre in Cape Town asked AA for available seats and the answer came within a day. Only on the segment LAX – Hawaii I was waiting for an OK in F for months. My flights were in June – August, the busy season. Finally I flew the LAX – Hawaii segment in Y. I could optimise my itinerary before making the final booking. Qualiflyer is able to hold the reservation for many weeks. Per flight AA only makes a limited number of seats available, and often Hawaii flights are sold out in award seats. Most likely AA’s own programme brings truckloads of award flyers flying all to the Sandwich Islands.
Qualiflyer had the award ticket for Swiss and American issued on LX and I could collect it at AMS airport. The intercontinental service of Swiss is excellent, and better than intercontinental First on any US carrier. In Swiss First seat reclines to bed, personal video screen and superb service. Flying ZRH – LAX in F is great! The connecting AA flight to Hawaii was a disaster.
The flight LAX – Hawaii was fully booked. As such a fully booked flight is not a problem. But AA cabin staff was very unfriendly and provided bad service. It seems that US airlines often recruit older vinegar drinking ladies for their cabin staff. The LAX – Hawaii flight on AA was flying sub-standard Greyhound. Hawaii – Chicago – Europe was the same for the Hawaii – ORD part. Even in First (Two class configuration) this is standard Greyhound.
The Chicago Flagship Lounge of AA is very good: friendly staff, comfortable seating, nice location and layout. There is also the Admirals Club which is more standard. The AA Admirals Club has showers. These are not spectacular, but more than adequate. The Chicago – Europe part in AA First (Three class configuration) was the best I had on AA, but still it is far behind the comfort and service of Swiss in First.
For my Europe – Turkey routing Turkish airlines was only positive on some my different requests flying Europe – IST - Turkey in C. The Qualiflyer Service Centre in Cape Town asked TK for available seats and the answer came very slowly. On most segments I was waiting for an OK in C (and as a fall-back position also in Y) for many months. My flights were in June – August, the busy season. Finally I flew Europe – IST - Turkey in C. I could not optimise my itinerary before making the final booking. Finally I had to stay over one night in Istanbul. This turned out to be a nice stopover. Qualiflyer was able to hold the reservation for many months. Per flight TK only makes a limited number of seats available, and the reservation system of Turkish is not efficient. Moreover this summer tourism boomed in Turkey.
Qualiflyer had the award ticket for Turkish issued on LX and I could collect it at AMS airport. The C-class service of TK is good, and better than C-class on several EU carriers. TK cabin staff is very friendly and provides good service. The Lounge of TK at Istanbul Ataturk Airport is very good, friendly staff, comfortable seating, nice layout.
[This message has been edited by kurz (edited 09-13-2002).]
This summer I have learned a few things while booking award flights with Qualiflyer. I was putting together a routing Europe – South America – Europe with Iberia in C, a routing Europe – Hawaii - Europe with Swiss and American in F, and a routing Europe – Turkey – Europe with Turkish in C. Spending in total over 500,000 award miles.
When calling Qualiflyer on a national number you are connected to a Qualiflyer Service Centre. You chose a language, and you enter your Qualiflyer number and entry code. The computer connects you to a Qualiflyer call-centre. These are in Switzerland, The UK, South-Africa, Brazil. Waiting time to speak to an agent varies. For Travel Club members there are dedicated phone numbers. Usually these have shorter waiting times.
The agent at the Qualiflyer Service Centre can immediately check availability with all Qualiflyer airlines: LX, SN, etc. The agent can also directly book an award flight with Qualiflyer airlines. The Service Centre can not check availability with the Qualiflyer associate (partner) airlines: like AA, IB, US, AY, TK, CX, LO, MH, PS, SA, NI and QF. Neither can a Qualiflyer agent directly book an award flight with these airlines. The agent has to issue a request. My experience is that from Iberia the answer comes within hours, American Airlines answers within days and Turkish remains silent for months.
For my Europe – South America routing Iberia was positive on all my different requests. I could optimise my itinerary before making the final booking. Qualiflyer is able to hold the reservation for several days. I presume the excellent flexibility with Iberia was because Iberia had joined Qualiflyer only a week before and I booked in C-class. My flights were booked for July – August, the busy season. After the ticket was issued and after I have flown the first segments I changed the dates. Again Iberia was positive on my requests. Most likely Iberia’s own programme does not bring that many award flyers.
The Qualiflyer Service Centre in Brussels could not print the Iberia award ticket. Even with an OK from Iberia on all my segments, SN Brussels Airlines was unwilling to issue the Qualiflyer award ticket. They cancelled my booking without notification. When I called again Qualiflyer Brussels said the reasons were computer problems. This is shear rubbish. SN Brussels Airlines simply does not want to print award tickets to be used on other airlines. It is a trick from Sabena days. They try to avoid administration costs. I contacted the Qualiflyer Service Centre in Zurich. Qualiflyer Zurich quickly reactivated my booking and had the award ticket for Iberia issued on LX. I could collect it at AMS airport without any problem. Because the booking was made less than a fortnight before flying I was charged an extra fee per ticket.
The intercontinental service of Iberia was good, above average and far better than most US airlines. In Iberia First seat width is 53 cm, reclines to bed, personal video screen. In business distance between seats is 133 cm, seat width 51 cm, recline 33cm (13 inch) personal video screen (not on the B-747 aircraft). In economy distance between seats is 82 cm, seat width 43 cm, recline 15cm (6 inch). When flying intercontinental on Iberia booking a Qualiflyer award ticket in First is not worth spending the extra miles.
For my Europe – Hawaii routing Swiss was positive on all my different requests flying to LAX in F. The Qualiflyer Service Centre in Cape Town asked AA for available seats and the answer came within a day. Only on the segment LAX – Hawaii I was waiting for an OK in F for months. My flights were in June – August, the busy season. Finally I flew the LAX – Hawaii segment in Y. I could optimise my itinerary before making the final booking. Qualiflyer is able to hold the reservation for many weeks. Per flight AA only makes a limited number of seats available, and often Hawaii flights are sold out in award seats. Most likely AA’s own programme brings truckloads of award flyers flying all to the Sandwich Islands.
Qualiflyer had the award ticket for Swiss and American issued on LX and I could collect it at AMS airport. The intercontinental service of Swiss is excellent, and better than intercontinental First on any US carrier. In Swiss First seat reclines to bed, personal video screen and superb service. Flying ZRH – LAX in F is great! The connecting AA flight to Hawaii was a disaster.
The flight LAX – Hawaii was fully booked. As such a fully booked flight is not a problem. But AA cabin staff was very unfriendly and provided bad service. It seems that US airlines often recruit older vinegar drinking ladies for their cabin staff. The LAX – Hawaii flight on AA was flying sub-standard Greyhound. Hawaii – Chicago – Europe was the same for the Hawaii – ORD part. Even in First (Two class configuration) this is standard Greyhound.
The Chicago Flagship Lounge of AA is very good: friendly staff, comfortable seating, nice location and layout. There is also the Admirals Club which is more standard. The AA Admirals Club has showers. These are not spectacular, but more than adequate. The Chicago – Europe part in AA First (Three class configuration) was the best I had on AA, but still it is far behind the comfort and service of Swiss in First.
For my Europe – Turkey routing Turkish airlines was only positive on some my different requests flying Europe – IST - Turkey in C. The Qualiflyer Service Centre in Cape Town asked TK for available seats and the answer came very slowly. On most segments I was waiting for an OK in C (and as a fall-back position also in Y) for many months. My flights were in June – August, the busy season. Finally I flew Europe – IST - Turkey in C. I could not optimise my itinerary before making the final booking. Finally I had to stay over one night in Istanbul. This turned out to be a nice stopover. Qualiflyer was able to hold the reservation for many months. Per flight TK only makes a limited number of seats available, and the reservation system of Turkish is not efficient. Moreover this summer tourism boomed in Turkey.
Qualiflyer had the award ticket for Turkish issued on LX and I could collect it at AMS airport. The C-class service of TK is good, and better than C-class on several EU carriers. TK cabin staff is very friendly and provides good service. The Lounge of TK at Istanbul Ataturk Airport is very good, friendly staff, comfortable seating, nice layout.
[This message has been edited by kurz (edited 09-13-2002).]
Sep 13, 2002, 9:43 am
#2
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 404
kurz, are you attempting to write a novel? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif
Very informative read. My own experiences with TK, however, are different. I twice booked awards with them in Y (both DUS-IST-TBS rt), one low season, one during Easter holidays. Requests were answered positively by TK within MINUTES!
Very informative read. My own experiences with TK, however, are different. I twice booked awards with them in Y (both DUS-IST-TBS rt), one low season, one during Easter holidays. Requests were answered positively by TK within MINUTES!
Sep 13, 2002, 11:53 am
#3
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,293
Nice summary, thanks.
I've spoken to Qualiflyer (operated by MindPearl) call centers in Spain and Brisbane, so those are other locations it seems. ZRH is by fat the best one though.
------------------
airOli, the Swiss Air Line.
I've spoken to Qualiflyer (operated by MindPearl) call centers in Spain and Brisbane, so those are other locations it seems. ZRH is by fat the best one though.
------------------
airOli, the Swiss Air Line.
Sep 13, 2002, 3:32 pm
#4
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annandale
Posts: 164
Kurz,
interesting article you wrote there!
About requesting seats on AA for awardtickets, I found out a on at least 4 occasions that that only takes about two minutes to get it confirmed for each segment.
I booked once through the CH center and a few times through the Australian center.
By the way, I always make sure I put together my entire trip schedule (checked for availability in approriate bookingclasses through aeroplan.de) so the Service centre does not have to do any availability searches, just keying in flights and dates. This way even on AA you'll have a ticket issued whithin 10 minutes.
interesting article you wrote there!
About requesting seats on AA for awardtickets, I found out a on at least 4 occasions that that only takes about two minutes to get it confirmed for each segment.
I booked once through the CH center and a few times through the Australian center.
By the way, I always make sure I put together my entire trip schedule (checked for availability in approriate bookingclasses through aeroplan.de) so the Service centre does not have to do any availability searches, just keying in flights and dates. This way even on AA you'll have a ticket issued whithin 10 minutes.
Sep 14, 2002, 6:38 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Little dot in Asia
Programs: AA-EP, TK-*G, HL-DM, HY-GLO, MR-LTP
Posts: 25,932
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by airoli:
Nice summary, thanks.
I've spoken to Qualiflyer (operated by MindPearl) call centers in Spain and Brisbane, so those are other locations it seems. ZRH is by fat the best one though.
</font>
Nice summary, thanks.
I've spoken to Qualiflyer (operated by MindPearl) call centers in Spain and Brisbane, so those are other locations it seems. ZRH is by fat the best one though.
</font>
Sep 15, 2002, 12:05 pm
#6
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Posts: 175
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by digisup:
Kurz,
By the way, I always make sure I put together my entire trip schedule (checked for availability in approriate bookingclasses through aeroplan.de) so the Service centre does not have to do any availability searches, just keying in flights and dates. This way even on AA you'll have a ticket issued whithin 10 minutes. </font>
Kurz,
By the way, I always make sure I put together my entire trip schedule (checked for availability in approriate bookingclasses through aeroplan.de) so the Service centre does not have to do any availability searches, just keying in flights and dates. This way even on AA you'll have a ticket issued whithin 10 minutes. </font>
Sep 16, 2002, 8:13 am
#7
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annandale
Posts: 164
T = Economy
U = Business
Z = First.
Make sure you use the 'schedules' section on AA to check whether its a 2 or three configuration plane.
Only once I had a problem with a Australian Qualif-rep who said he could NOT book first class seats in the US incase there was no business. I advised him to read his manual, he was annoying, luckily the line went dead along the conversationm I called back got a nice lady and tickets were ordered in no time.
U = Business
Z = First.
Make sure you use the 'schedules' section on AA to check whether its a 2 or three configuration plane.
Only once I had a problem with a Australian Qualif-rep who said he could NOT book first class seats in the US incase there was no business. I advised him to read his manual, he was annoying, luckily the line went dead along the conversationm I called back got a nice lady and tickets were ordered in no time.
Sep 17, 2002, 5:46 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Paris, France
Posts: 535
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cruising:
What are the booking classes for award travel in Y, C or F?</font>
What are the booking classes for award travel in Y, C or F?</font>