Don’t we all rant about family?. Recent flights on QF 09 and QF 10 had a wonderful group of FAs. One of them, a more senior in age, happened to fly both the Melb. / Perth and return sector and went out of his way to call us by name and congratulating my wife on her 1400+SC and it always pleasure to be greeted on a return trip from OS by one of our own.
I first started watching this site during the mining boom, should have seen it then, every 2nd comment was someone bagging QF and everyone threatening to move their business to VA which was the flavour of the month, it has certainly changed since then.
I agree, people have a bad flight or experience and the solution is to rant about QF on a forum. People on here tend to fly a lot, and guess what, when you fly a lot occasionally you'll get a bad one. How about contacting Qantas, or if its that bad take your business elsewhere.
Those days it's more of the other way around.. frustrations with VA and people moving their business to QF.
And every once in a while a "Why doesn't VA join *A or ST" pops up with it... even though *A is no longer an option for VA (since the ex-turned enemy NZ and their BFFs at UA will block any VA application) since the NZ bust-up.
Let's be honest, we've all had really crappy flights with a range of carriers from alleged poor service to engineering issues and really bad weather (storms etc), however, we all appear to arrive at our destination somewhere near the time we thought we would, even if we do have some additional nights near the airport. If this is as bad as it gets, 'How good is this....???'.
A little fatalistic, yes, but also a little precious, we are, me thinks.
Be happy that we live in Oz, that there are regulations to help us make it home and that J is not Y with a spare middle seat or that in translating 'Strine' into American F does not equal J …. :)
p.s. and that we have free press to vent our rants when needed...!!!
I think, Qantas (and Australian aviation) gets a bad rap too often. We seem to forget the quality (as compared to US domestic / Intra-Europe) and the world leading safety records but whinge on small things. So in the spirit of it - here are some good Qantas stories from my experiences.
(1) Economy class - LA to Sydney in 2008 after having lived sometime in the US. The crew member sitting the the jump-seat in front of me at take-off was talking to me and asked what I missed most from Australia. I told him, it was a nice quiet beer at my local pub where everyone is equal and without having to tip. Less than 5 minutes after the seat belt sign went off, he is at my seat with a beer, a smile and said "Thought you may like one mate - and no tip needed".
(2) Business Class - LA to Sydney again in 2017/18. Could not sleep at all for many hours - went to chat with the crew on QF. They are amazing and treated me as a Mate and not just a customer. We talked of AFL, Aussie politics, Joyce, gay rights etc. etc. At the end of the flight as we were coming to Sydney, the senior crew member comes and tells me "We put something for you next to your bag in the overhead locker - just take it and thank for the chat and for flying Qantas" - it was a bottle of red wine.
(3) Economy class - Perth to Sydney - I see this crew member holding a small baby and putting the baby to sleep in the back. I asked why - and it appears there was a young couple in business class who had saved enough points to experience Business class for the FIRST time! The crew thought they would take the baby off their hands for a few hours so they can really enjoy Business class meal etc. The crew then took turns looking after the baby. How many airlines do that?
(4) I cannot remember the number of times I have boarded a QF flight from Hong Kong / Singapore after some stressful business trips in India to have a recognisable Aussie voice says "Welcome onboard" - it is amazing to be home so early
(5) This is unique to me. I grew up in Asia during a politically restless period when people were killed, tortured etc. I have also a facial deformity from birth. When I get on the airline from my country-of-birth (no need to name the airline) I am treated like an inferior person as I am not good looking etc. When I speak in my native language on that airline - they treat me worse as they suck up to English speakers. But when I am on-board Qantas (be it Economy or Business) and especially when they know I am a fellow Aussie, I feel warmly welcome, I feel safe, I feel I am equal. I feel I am back home where I have free speech, right to a fair trial, right to a vote etc. etc. I am thankful for all those Qantas crew who made me feel welcome and I am OK to forgive the issues sometimes of broken IFE (bring an iPad), few missing meals etc.
Just wanted to balance the bad comments for Qantas :-)
I would say there are a lot of people who are very precious about defending Qantas. Perhaps not quite so bad as the AFF site. There’s a bit too much of a sports team view of particular airlines. I like parts of both:
Qantas has better lounges. VA generally has nicer business seats and meals.
Qantas has better international services. VA has more flexible domestic options (particularly with Fly Ahead).
Qantas Economy food is higher quality. VA flight attendants are generally younger and more down to earth.
People hate on air travel in general because if your doing 150+ flights a year, you will find something not to like about the experience.
I do find some of the anti Qantas rants, and rants about
other airlines rather amusing, especially when it comes to people complaining
about first or business. I don’t view it as a “first world problem” or think
that people cannot have a bad experience, but it seems when some people are behind
a keyboard they can just go nuts. For example I’ve read people say they wouldn’t
feed their first meal to their dog, or the wine is no better than a cleanskin
from Dan’s etc. Makes me wonder if they are trolling for a reaction, but I imagine
perhaps they have never flown in a premium cabin and built there expectations
up the same way I did for the final season of game of thrones.
I have sometimes (rarely with QF) had average experiences across
all classes but never bad enough to rant away the way some do. Any business
with humans involved will make mistakes as none of us are perfect. And not to
play the “first world problem” card, but less than 20% of the world’s population
have even been on an aircraft, gives me personally some perspective when I don’t get my second
scotch and coke till an hour in.
I have been loyal to Qantas since 1992 - sure I have had some bad flights with a grumpy crew or technical problems (way beyond the control of a human - like dodgy IFE or a seat malfunction) but after flying on US carriers (both domestic and international), let me tell you the worst Qantas flight is still better than the best US flight.
Flying is a funny business. I do not know what it is about flying that lets people think that once the doors close they deserve more than what they paid for (why can't I get an upgrade?) or lets people think it OK to behave like pigs (state of the bathrooms, putting their feet all over the furniture), let alone treat fellow humans (passengers as well as staff) like sh*t.
We all need a chill pill and we all need a reality check - airlines in Australia might not be perfect, but they are a hell of a lot better than what others cope with. Happy flying, Muzz
Here’s my criticism I think Qantas’s online chat service should learn from their baby Jetstar. I find Jetstar online chat support quick to respond and able to solve issues quickly. Qantas always takes a while to get back..
There are times, when QF and its subsidiary JQ, (which no one wants to widely admit, is owned by QF), does drive us round the twist.
My JQ flight got cancelled on me, I went to QF to buy a flexY tix in replacement of the cancellation, was talking to the MEL QFd CSA at the sales desk, told her my JQ flight got cancelled, and had to buy a flexY tix.
Did she commersurate with me, saying how bad that was, nope, she just processed the sale of the flight tix, I could have also come on her to gripe, think I did, but we can gripe till the "cows come home", but no one can do anything, as no one of us work at QF, and that also QF does not follow us on here.
Gripe/moan/complain away I say.
There is also "dontlfyjetstar", or the once well know tv show called airline.
S
S
Member since 13 Sep 2013
Total posts 119
Does anybody else feel like the Ausbt Community Forums have just become a space for people to vent their latest frustration with QF?
whoppersandwich
whoppersandwich
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 11 Dec 2017
Total posts 125
Now for the downvotes!
anonymous
anonymous
Member since 24 Dec 2013
Total posts 159
Not really. Of the 16 topics in 'Latest Discussions' only 3 are venting on QF. That seems low considering QF's dominance in Australian aviation.
OttoV
OttoV
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 24 Aug 2018
Total posts 36
Don’t we all rant about family?. Recent flights on QF 09 and QF 10 had a wonderful group of FAs. One of them, a more senior in age, happened to fly both the Melb. / Perth and return sector and went out of his way to call us by name and congratulating my wife on her 1400+SC and it always pleasure to be greeted on a return trip from OS by one of our own.
GBRGB
GBRGB
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 21 Jan 2014
Total posts 295
I first started watching this site during the mining boom, should have seen it then, every 2nd comment was someone bagging QF and everyone threatening to move their business to VA which was the flavour of the month, it has certainly changed since then.
346
346
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 10 May 2017
Total posts 55
My favourite type of rant,
dm12
dm12
Member since 08 Feb 2018
Total posts 212
I agree, people have a bad flight or experience and the solution is to rant about QF on a forum. People on here tend to fly a lot, and guess what, when you fly a lot occasionally you'll get a bad one. How about contacting Qantas, or if its that bad take your business elsewhere.
DanV
DanV
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 04 Nov 2017
Total posts 101
Those days it's more of the other way around.. frustrations with VA and people moving their business to QF.
And every once in a while a "Why doesn't VA join *A or ST" pops up with it... even though *A is no longer an option for VA (since the ex-turned enemy NZ and their BFFs at UA will block any VA application) since the NZ bust-up.
Clancy
Clancy
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 31 Jan 2016
Total posts 79
Let's be honest, we've all had really crappy flights with a range of carriers from alleged poor service to engineering issues and really bad weather (storms etc), however, we all appear to arrive at our destination somewhere near the time we thought we would, even if we do have some additional nights near the airport. If this is as bad as it gets, 'How good is this....???'.
A little fatalistic, yes, but also a little precious, we are, me thinks.
Be happy that we live in Oz, that there are regulations to help us make it home and that J is not Y with a spare middle seat or that in translating 'Strine' into American F does not equal J …. :)
p.s. and that we have free press to vent our rants when needed...!!!
Maheshh
Maheshh
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 21 Apr 2016
Total posts 10
I think, Qantas (and Australian aviation) gets a bad rap too often. We seem to forget the quality (as compared to US domestic / Intra-Europe) and the world leading safety records but whinge on small things. So in the spirit of it - here are some good Qantas stories from my experiences.
Rigs
Rigs
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 13 Dec 2015
Total posts 27
I would say there are a lot of people who are very precious about defending Qantas. Perhaps not quite so bad as the AFF site. There’s a bit too much of a sports team view of particular airlines. I like parts of both:
blingwad
blingwad
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 04 Jun 2015
Total posts 75
I do find some of the anti Qantas rants, and rants about other airlines rather amusing, especially when it comes to people complaining about first or business. I don’t view it as a “first world problem” or think that people cannot have a bad experience, but it seems when some people are behind a keyboard they can just go nuts. For example I’ve read people say they wouldn’t feed their first meal to their dog, or the wine is no better than a cleanskin from Dan’s etc. Makes me wonder if they are trolling for a reaction, but I imagine perhaps they have never flown in a premium cabin and built there expectations up the same way I did for the final season of game of thrones.
I have sometimes (rarely with QF) had average experiences across all classes but never bad enough to rant away the way some do. Any business with humans involved will make mistakes as none of us are perfect. And not to play the “first world problem” card, but less than 20% of the world’s population have even been on an aircraft, gives me personally some perspective when I don’t get my second scotch and coke till an hour in.
MuzzH
MuzzH
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 22 Dec 2015
Total posts 27
I have been loyal to Qantas since 1992 - sure I have had some bad flights with a grumpy crew or technical problems (way beyond the control of a human - like dodgy IFE or a seat malfunction) but after flying on US carriers (both domestic and international), let me tell you the worst Qantas flight is still better than the best US flight.
Aidan
Aidan
Member since 05 Dec 2018
Total posts 95
Here’s my criticism I think Qantas’s online chat service should learn from their baby Jetstar. I find Jetstar online chat support quick to respond and able to solve issues quickly. Qantas always takes a while to get back..
Andrew Barkery
Andrew Barkery
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 21 Mar 2011
Total posts 433
There are times, when QF and its subsidiary JQ, (which no one wants to widely admit, is owned by QF), does drive us round the twist.