Qantas service/meals getting worse

[DB008]

Hello All,
Hope all went well with Santa and a Happy New to follow.
I have just traveled from Brisbane to Sydney. The service was at least 45 minutes late and all we got to eat on the plane was a muffin and coffee. I have been doing a bit of flying lately and is it me, or are the meals getting worse and worse? No compinsation except for the capitain saying sorry except that they were doing a bag search for somebody not on the flight. Not more than a month ago my dad was on another flight and it was actually in the process of taking off when one of the engines failed in Perth (down the run-way). 4 hour delay.
A month before that l was waiting Perth for another flight, l happened to see that a Perth-Sydney bound flight was delayed for atleast 6 hours because of technical issues.
So, the issue that gets me is that l fly Qantas is because l get a meal, Virgin doesn't provide one. But, for the money that l could have saved on the two prices, l would have been better off on the virgin flight and paid for a meal.
Qantas, pick up your game!!!! Your getting slack!!
Responses please......common on, let it all out please

 

[krisbarry]

Yep that coffee and muffin most probably cost you about $35.

Fly Virgin mate, Qantas from day 1 has been a rip, Just like Telstra. I am glad we have competition now, and choice.

Remember the days when Qantas would charge almost $1,000 to fly across the country.

 

[Stan 101]

I fly qantas a reasonable amount. Probably average four flighta month and I can count on one hand how many times I've been late due to it. Not to say your reports aren't valid, Stop. I may just be lucky. I often get flights for the same price or similar as virgin or (shudder) jetstar if I book a couple of weeks ahead and on short notice I will usually pay $20-$30 dollars more. Often it is for work and I'm not out of pocket.
I actively use frquent flyer system and because of my status it lets me check in without waiting in line, always and aisle seat at the front of the plane etc.
I also put everything on my frequent flyer credit card and I accumulate about 250000 points a year. I just booked a flight business class return to bangkok ex brisbane (bris > syd> bangkok) for myself and a friend at 240000 points and $648 in taxes all up. On the going rate that's about $8000+ in flights.
Economy would have been 120000 points and same amount on taxes. I get my credit card membership free and pay about $90 a year to stay a frequent flyer..Good value in my eyes. YMMV.

As for the inflight service, on thew small trips of less than 2 hours, yep they have dropped off. They used to have cooked meals now it's a muffin, a piece of fruit or a couple of gourmet cookies.
I find virgin's seats uncomfortable and jetstar are budget in every way. Wityh qantas I don't have to worry if I forgot my headphones as they supply them. I don't think jetstar even offer an inflight audio..

I suppose if you have time to plan you can get good prices from qantas, but if you are running late and money's tight and let's face it $30 is still $30 and all you are doing is sitting in a seat for 2 hours, go with the others.

International is completely different ball game and for me Cathay Pacific have truly excellent service and qantas could learn a lot from them in the way they have detail for the little things. To me, that makes a standard flight a good one, much like a hotel..

cheers, and merry xmas..

 

[doctorj]

I've had 8 flights in the past 3 weeks and I'm happy to say that Qantas doesn't stack up all that badly for international flights - infact, given the choice I'd rather fly Qantas than most International Carriers.

Most of it boils down to the stewards serving you - if you can relate to them and strike up a bit of conversation you'll get great service no matter what class/airline. I just find that generally Qantas staff are more approachable (and you can't be that Lindt chocolate they give you before turning off the lights on that Sing -> London leg).

Just don't fly Malaysian, KLM, Royal Brunei or Aeroflot!

 

[Julia]

I've had 8 flights in the past 3 weeks and I'm happy to say that Qantas doesn't stack up all that badly for international flights - infact, given the choice I'd rather fly Qantas than most International Carriers.

Most of it boils down to the stewards serving you - if you can relate to them and strike up a bit of conversation you'll get great service no matter what class/airline. I just find that generally Qantas staff are more approachable (and you can't be that Lindt chocolate they give you before turning off the lights on that Sing -> London leg).

Just don't fly Malaysian, KLM, Royal Brunei or Aeroflot!

doctorj

What was wrong with Royal Brunei? I thought their reputation was pretty good?

And, sorry to be off topic here, but what happened to the yearly stock comp you started before you went overseas? Is it still running? Any updates?

Julia

 

[nizar]

In my opinion, Emirates offer the best service in terms of international airlines.

 

[Stan 101]

DoctorJ, I agree the qantas staff are good at their job. Things that I was refering to with qantas are the little things. I've bought duty free alcohol on a qantas flight several times and then 20 minutes after I've paid they mention that they have no carry bags to put them in and could I fit them in my luggage. This has happened on a regular basis. You're now stuck with two bottles of scotch that you can't carry whilst trying to manage your other luggage..Little things, but irritating.
Cathay do things like setting up self serve snack areas so on long hauls you can wander up near the galley and help yourself to tea coffee, a sandwich or a chocolate bar. You get the opportunity to walk around and havea chat to like thinking people also at the snack area. Only ever seen that on Cathay in economy class..

Cheers,

 

[Pager]

In Europe flights are dirt cheap with airlines such as Easyjet and Ryan, no seat allocation or entertainment systems and if you want anything to eat or drink its extra, Qantas have cut there prices a lot the past few years and it shows in the service provided, not the bare bones of the budget European Airlines but not the Qantas of old either.

For International Flights Qantas are better than the average, but from my experience well behind the likes of Emirates, Cathay or Singapore Airlines.

Malaysian Airlines who I flew to London with about 6 weeks ago were awful, very limited entertainment system, terrible food and trying to get a drink was a long drawn out process, only plus side was they were very cheap, you get what you pay for I suppose.

Cheers

Pager

 

[Smurf1976]

Here in Tas all we get to choose from is Virgin or Jetstar since Qantas have all but pulled out of the state (apart from a few flights to Melbourne).

I've flown Jetstar once. No problems but I've heard so many horror stories from friends as well as through the media that I won't be doing it again. It's to the point where if someone says they flew Jetstar my first thought is "what went wrong".

Things like leaving 50 kids (with only a couple of adults) stranded at Melbourne airport is just not good enough. At the very least they could have arranged a bus to take them to a hotel for the night. Neither is a flight to Adelaide being delayed to the point where someone didn't even arrive in time to check in for their flight back (had they not cancelled the flight, they would have arrived several days late, less than 30 minutes before their flight back home).

The ridiculous attitude of their check-in staff with their precision regarding time doesn't help either. You arrive at the airport an hour before the flight. Some problem occurs or the queue is incredibly long and it's YOUR fault for being at check in only 29 minutes and 59 seconds before the flight leaves? As far as I'm concerned, once you're in the queue whatever happens from that point on is THEIR fault, not yours. I say that having been held in a half hour queue during airport renovations and checked in with Virgin 15 minutes before take off with no questions asked. Jetstar were turning people away on that same day. It's an plane flight, not a space shuttle launch...

So I fly Virgin. No problems with them so far apart from one flight from Sydney delayed by 20 minutes due to problems at the airport with another plane (not sure which airline owned that plane) and a very rough trip from Adelaide to Melbourne (but the airline can't be blamed for the weather). I've had no problems with the seats etc and always found the staff quite reasonable. As for meals, I don't find the need to stop for a meal on a two hour car trip so I don't see the need for meals on domestic flighs, at least not between eastern state capitals.

As for Qantas, I've flown with them once in the past few years. The flight was delayed and I felt more cramped in that seat than I've ever been with Virgin. I'd only fly Qantas if the fare were lower than with Virgin or the timing suited me better.

 

[DB008]

I flew Korean Air to Europe last year and for the price that l paid, was very very happy with service (including drinks and meals), only draw back was there 20kg baggage limit. BUT, l did bring back some 32kg on the way home and they didn't charge me a cent for it.
I also flew with Ryan Air, SkyEurope, EasyJet + British Airways. All were good except Ryan Air. That really is like Survivor for real. No seat allocation and there was nothing to put in the seat holders, as there are none. All the emergency exit stuff is a sticker on the headrest of the person infront of u. Funny when u look back at it though. They still make heaps of pounds profit too, so they must be doing something right.

Smurf1976, l have to agree with u on the Jetstar issues. Once your in the queue , it should be a rule that your in. Sad but true, it actually happened to my ex-girlfriend. She was 1 minute late, (ie 7:31am - cut off 7:30am) to fly from Brisbane to Rockhampton and had to buy another ticket (for the evening flight).
The reason why l stopped flying virgin is there really is no in flight entertainment and if it's very close to the qantas price, l go qantas because of the meal. But, lately, the meals have been very very poor and l may aswell fly virgin, save my $5-$10 and buy a proper meal on virgin.

 

[theasxgorilla]

The key thing to remember with Ryan Air is that it's very, VERY cheap. I could get two adult tickets to Barcelona for 100 GBP when just one ticket with British Airways (read Branson's book? I wouldn't fly with the f&*kers anyhow) was going to cost 259 quid!

After some pints in town and a few beverages on the train to Stansted (gotta love that about rail in the UK) you don't really mind that it feels like you're flying in a Land Rover Defender .

 

[niknah]

According to this survey of about 5000+ people, malaysian is one of the good ones...
http://www.zagat.com/img/intairline05.pdf

..qantas hardly gets a mention.

I don't fly much. Had problems with the long queue once with virgin but the customer service there was pretty awesome, they got off their seat to help me, like most virgin companies.