This is the Qantas News website. We are a community of former
and present Qantas customers sharing our 'experiences
and present Qantas customers sharing our 'experiences
Passenger: United is a better than Qantas on LAX & SFO flights
From: randdnr (Posted Jan. 10, 2009)
I have flown both Quaint Ass and United many many times, mainly SYD-LAX bit now and then to SFO as well and no way does Quaint Ass
even hold a candle to United. The staff are the main attraction of United. Friendly, professional without being rude about anything. Also
the fares are usually less than Quaint Ass, and if you upgrade to Economy Plus, worth every cent. (Usually about $149 USD from SYD-
LAX). Last week, super full flight in economy, extra $149 and I had 3 seats all to myself, LUXURY !!!!
Qantas movies are "left-wing" propaganda we hated in school
Submitted by: Natasha (Posted Jan. 6, 2009)
Why do Qantas have such pathetic movies. They don't select movies based on entertainment value but seem to like the Pseudo
intellectual Ozzie selections, self important end of the British movies and the politically correct bleeding heart movies about monty
groups. Their selection is like poor mans version of SBS. And really how many people watch SBS little own a "poor mans version"
There are heaps of fantastic movies out there and coming thru but Qantas chruns out the likes of Cosi Brideshead revisited and Shine -
all tired old Pseudo politically attempts that left wing critics love. Then there is the stuffy Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day which is self
important ilk of novels we hated at school. There is Baby Mama about single mothers another left wing icon. Brick Lane and Looking For
Alibrandi (2000) with the bleeding heart factor. Lets face it we don't want to be lectured about idealism & political correctness or bored
with stories we hated at school but we needsome escapist entertainment at 26000 feet - surely.
Passenger: Qantas contradicted the embassy in Bangkok fiasco
Submitted by: Freya (Posted Dec. 28, 2008)
I am one of the thousands stuck in Bangkok. Qantas have treated me unbelievably,i am still in shock!! On the morning i was due to fly out
i saw the news and naturally i was concerned about whether my flight would take off or not,i rang the British embassy who said ''under no
circumstances'' should I attempt travel to the airport,there had been bombs and a huge amount of violence. I rang Qantas in my panic
and their advice was to ''walk the 4km through the police blockade to the airport'' Scared that i would miss my flight,i spent 6 hours and
50 pounds in a taxi trying (foolishly) to get to a plane that never took off....three days later i am still waiting in a bangkok hotel,nearly run
out of money and have no help or advice at all from the constantly engaged phone line. I believe that other airlines are helping their
customers with hotel bills/alternative travel.I should be so lucky! I am never traveling with Qantas again.
Passenger stranded for 3-days in Bangkok: Qantas Get stuffed!
Submitted by: Sabina (Posted Dec. 2, 2008)
Three days ago, I was one of thousands who were booked on flights home from their holiday in the sun. But not one of us caught our
flights. A political coup isn't something you expect on your holidays, but its a foreign country and the politics are mysterious and besides
when you travel, there is bound to be a few problems. My response was suitably sanguine, until of course, I spoke to my airline – Qantas.
When in a foreign country experiencing political problems, just hope like hell you're not on the national Australian carrier. The first
inkling that everything had come to a grinding halt came from the airport transfer which failed to turn up. Ah, its Thailand, next the taxi
driver willing took us half way before we were sent hurtling back to downtown Bangkok. What happened next was farcical. My fellow
travellers and I called our respective airlines to find out more, the nice German man on Emirates has had a hotel room organised for him
by his airline and was sent a lovely email telling him all about the coup. The French couple on British Airways were housed in Pattaya and
told to sit tight. That's great, I thought, at least they are being taken care of, and then I rang the local Qantas office in Bangkok which
didn't answer the telephone. After redialing countless times, I was then put in a queue for over 2 hours on my mobile phone which was
on roaming, I can't imagine how expensive that call will be. When I did get through, they booked me on another Qantas flight later that
day. But this is a political coup and the rule of thumb is no-one knows anything – of course that flight failed to materialise. They then put
me onto an Emirates flight late that night which of course also didn't turn up, so goes the theme, but the nice Emirates people even sent
me an email telling me they wouldn't be flying. From Qantas? Not a sausage! I put myself up in a hotel because I was told that “we are
not reponsible for our passengers accommodation”, and besides I was booked on a code share flight, meaning that Qantas and other
airlines shuffle their passengers onto other flights and pretend its a Qantas flight. Fine by me, as long as I get there. Someone in Qantas
reservations even said that Emirates were now responsible for me. Hell, as far as I could work out, Emirates were doing Qantas a favour
by trying to take their passengers for them.
hey also said that the Qantas office in Thailand, which is on their website as their office, wasn't a Qantas office and if they chose to put
me on other flights that's up to them but Qantas in Sydney, well, bad luck, you can't get a flight until, Tuesday (a week away). My next
conversation with Qantas became even more ridiculous, if I was able to get to Singapore or Hong Kong – at my expense of course, they
may try to re route my ticket, but that would be a big favour. Gee, thanks, should I kiss the giant red kangaroo now or wait till I arrive on
Australian soil. I've drawn in my breath, wondering when I should expell it. Ironically, the only way to get to these places is to fly! “We
won't do it from Kuala Lumper”, or other more convenient airports. These people call themselves customer support, true, I kid you not.
Following Qantas' advice, I booked a Silk Air flight from Phuket, a small Island some 12 hours drive from Bangkok, the problem is, every
available bus or train out of Bangkok is now completely full. So, I'm down a good $300+. Right now, I'm sitting in an internet cafe
surrounded by dozens of travellers trying to get out of here, the mood is high despite the hassle but the streets of Bangkok are noticably
quiet. Something a taxi driver noted to me earlier today, is the traffic is very bad going out of the city. Whats that thing about a sinking
ship? With rumours of a violent coup and the possibility of civil war, we scour the pages of the Bangkok Post for information. I'm resigned
to the fact that my airline who haven't sent me one email aside from the Emirates rebooking, won't tell me anything, and its becoming
increasily clear, I'm on my own. I bumped into the nice German man on Emirates, he's perfectly happy, nice hotel, pool, food thrown in.
He's going to sit it out in Bangkok. I'm not sure what to do, my hotel bill is escalating and the second airport has now closed (but this was
only useful if you were lucky enough to be flying Thai). It's not looking good. My mother, who owns a travel agency in Sydney, got onto
the case. If I can get on a bus for 16 hours, (again at my own expense) I may be able to make a flight from Phuket to Singapore after all.
But here's the catch, according to Qantas there are no available seats to Sydney. So having made it that far, who can't you rely upon in a
crisis? It took all of my mothers considerable begging skills to find me a seat, but not everyone has a mother like mine. When I spoke to
reservations, the slimeball guy told me that unless I improved my tone of voice, then he wouldn't speak to me. But he should see me
when I am actually rude. Today's papers are awash with the caring stories from Gulf Air who are - get this - chartering a flight to a
regional Bangkok airport to pick up their passengers after putting them up in a lovely hotel with food included. Qantas: this is a personal
message on behalf of the hundreds of other Qantas passengers – get stuffed! You don't give a rats @#$%%% about your passengers.
Former Employee: Rude flight purser accused me of 'theft'
Submitted by: Michelle (posted: Dec. 1, 2008)
After working as "Service Delivery Standards Manager" (Flight Attendant / Customer Service Dept for QF NZ) for 3 years and as a Senior
Flight Attendnat for 12 years , in a bid to be loyal (even after they went into receivership 2001 and my husband and I lost our jobs and
$40,000 owed in holiday and redundancy pay) I was utterly disgusted in the inflight service when we recently chose them as our carrier to
fly to Thailand. After helping myself to a blanket on the way through the cabin (they are often rarer than food on a domestic flight!), once
seated in the Economy section I was approached by the Senior Purser who stated in his loudest voice "Would you mind handing over the
1st class pyjamas you just stole from first class", "I beg your pardon I replied", he repeated even louder and advised me "3" people had
seen me (this was a complete fabrication on his part). I handed him the blanket, apologised for taking it but stated I had no such pjs. I
offered him my bag to search -he refused, told me loudly I was a liar and stormed off up the cabin!.Unbelieveable I have never been so
humiliated and angry. I have never been treated this way even as passengering crew! This guy was in his late 50's, camp as a row of
tents and had no idea of how to manage his team let alone the aircraft of passengers. What happened to respecting the customer! The
majority of the crew disembarked prior to the passengers to be first to get their bags at the carousel even pushing in front of fare paying
customers! Never again QF, you just lost my business and Geoff Dixon is about to receive a major complaint. The flight home was more
enjoyable as the arrogant idiot was obviously elsewhere but the seats were so crammed up for a 9 hour flight - sleep was impossible,
Thanks for listening!
Angry Passenger: Qantas is rationing Toilet Paper
From: "Armageddon" (more at: www.jaunted.com) Posted Nov. 24, 2008
Mid-air nose dives and delays galore have already tested the "any publicity is good publicity" adage for Qantas, the Aussie airline with a
plummeting reputation. Now they're in the news for being tight with the toilet paper. A flight into Sydney from Singapore had to be diverted
over the weekend thanks to storms, and everything soon fell apart: The plane landed in Canberra for a while, then missed Sydney's
curfew, then when it was finally able to take off, the crew had been on shift too long and had to be changed. Because Canberra's not
equipped to deal with 747s, they couldn't restock anything, so rationing began, and that's when passengers had to ask for toilet paper
when they visited the bathroom--and were given just four sheets each. After spending the night on the plane, Qantas finally sent
passengers to a hotel at 6 am and then got them back on the plane late morning and on to Sydney. But there's an idea in this story for
budget airlines: If passengers are bringing their own food, they could easily bring their own toilet paper too.
Passenger: It took 3 hrs to check-in
Submitted by: Sylvie (posted Nov. 13, 2008)
It took 3 1/2 hours just to get to check in leaving no time at all to duty free shop and I was lucky not to miss the flight. SURELY Qantas
should be looking at all these complaints...they are a laughing stock overseas at the moment. Great site...keep it up
Passenger: Qantas Ancient Plane injured me
Submitted by: Lyn (posted: November 7, 2008)
I am sitting here writing this with a nasty case of the flu, and a hip that is in excruciating pain. I put both of these directly down to my
overnight flight on Qantas from Hong Kong to Melboune. When I embarked on the flight (QF86 I think it was) I was shocked, genuinely
and completely shocked. Of course, the flight was late - but we've come to expect that from Qantas. The plane - for a nine hour
overnight flight - was an ANCIENT domestic plane. There was no room to move at all, my chair would not recline (hence the hip injury);
there were no pillows available (on an overnight flight), there was no personal video - just an ancient project from the ceiling that I haven't
seen for years. Of course, try picking a movie that will suit several hundred people - the movie was an embarassment. Moreover, being
an ancient domestic plane, there were insufficient toilets for the length of the flight. People queued up in the isle for ages trying to get to
the toilet and it was very uncomfortable. The food - as always - was inedible. I might add that I am a Qantas Club Member and had been
in the Qantas Lounge at Hong Kong. I couldn't get a shower because the queue was humungous; and there was so much rubbish on the
tables that it was nicer just going down to the public areas. Again, the food was insulting - some stale sandwiches. Nice move Qantas - I
loath your airline and know many people I know who are frequent flyers now refuse to travel with you. I can't understand why you would
spend the amount Qantas does on advertising and then treat customers like $hit.
Open 'Goodbye; Letter from a CEO to Qantas
Submitted by : Stephen Tunley (posted Nov. 6, 2008)
[This is a copy of a letter I wrote to Head of FF program Richard Switzky. today.] Dear Richard
Thanks for your prompt reply and I thought I would write to you direct to share my thoughts about loyalty programs, membership and
Qantas. I have been a Qantas FF for many years. I have used you domestically and internationally for a long time. I have travelled with
you through your various viscitudes and changes - ever loyal and ever a believer in the flying Kangaroo. I have spent hundreds of
thousands of dollars with you, both mine and the various companies I run. I have observed the manner in which you have changed in
recent years. How shareholders and certain executives interests were placed ahead of customers. I flew with you as the age of your
aircraft deteriorated. I flew with you as your attitudes to customer service diminished. I flew with you as meals became of poorer quality
and when an apple and an ice cream were considered to be a meal. I flew with you and received the same treatment, service and food as
those who flew on heavily discounted fares. I flew with you as you withdrew services to various domestic and International ports,
replacing them with Jet Star. I flew with you during the early teething problems of Jet Star. I flew with you as you tried to convince
investors that the deal with Babcock and others was a "good thing" for the company. I flew with you as your treatment of cabin crew
conditions impacted their "love" for Qantas and were in turn transferred to passengers. I flew with you as your attempts to drive profits to
shareholders came at a cost to your lifeblood (loyal customers in case you had forgotten). I flew with you despite the frequent changes to
your loyalty program. I flew with you despite the fact that the only way I could ever use "points" with any degree of certainty was to use
them for upgrades. I flew with you during your poor treatment of your own employees - cutting their wage growth, whilst attempting to line
the pockets of executives and others. I flew with you during increasingly disturbing and frequent 'safety' incidents.I even remained loyal
during a huge decline in on-time efficiency and ever increasing flight delays and cancellations & still flew with you.
But I do admit that this year on at least 10 occasions whilst I was booked with you I flew an alternative (Virgin) at the last minute as you
had once again cancelled/delayed a flight. Perhaps those flights had they been on time or not cancelled would have got me over the line
regarding FF status - who knows! In short I flew because I was loyal. But no more! Why? Because I now realise that Qantas and loyalty
are not co-joined. I realise that Qantas has sadly 'lost the plot" and has embarked on a course of action that will deliberately or not,
increasingly alienate those that are loyal. But now I know I have a choice. I have experienced Virgin and you know what they are OK.
They do reward loyalty, they have newer planes - their food is no better or worse than yours, they are better on time, I can
use their loyalty program with ease - they pretty much fly every where you do and they are less expensive and jeez they are also easier
to like! And, I like them! They work for me, so this really is a farewell letter. So you can say farewell to my loyalty, to my spend and where
possible that of my company and where I can convince others, that of my peers. Finally, may I refer you to a great book written by Jan
Carlson of SAS airlines "Moment of Truth" - I suspect the executives of Qantas could do with either being introduced to it, or re-reading
it. This is my "Moment of Truth". Goodbye Qantas - Hello Virgin. Yours sincerely, Stephen Tunley CEO, Mirvac AQUA
From Insider: the 'Secret' Qantas e-mail addresses
Submitted by: Qantas Employee (Posted Nov. 3, 2008)
If you'd like to reach Richard Switzky, General Manager Qantas Frequent Flyer & Qantas Club, you can do so at
richard.switzky@qantas.com He'd love to hear from you directly. Well, he wouldn't really, but he should, don't you think? Oh, and Geoff
Dixon's direct email (CEO) is geoff.dixon@qantas.com
Passenger: First time with Qantas was a disaster- old plane & "crash' landing
Submitted by: Chris (Posted Oct. 20, 2008)
It was my first time traveling with Qantas and d**n it was rather unenjoyable. I took a flight from Perth to Melbourne and the plane was an
old 737 and I didn't have any leg space AT ALL. To make my day worse, the in-flight catering was horrible! If I wasn't wrong, they gave
me something called 'coes-coes' instead of rice with tasteless chicken. I nearly barfed! After starving and squished for nearly 5 hours I
could now see Melbourne from my window and the seatbelt sign went on. I thought that it was the end of my torture. But instead the plane
suffered a landed with a loud bump and swerved its tail to the side. Fortunately the plane made it safely to the gate... Wheww, bad food
bad seats, bad pilot...
Passenger: Qantas planes so old, dirty & unsafe that it made my family cry!
Submitted by: Meli (Posted Oct. 17, 2008)
I am not quite sure where to begin... My first travelling experience was with Qantas in May of this year when I was flying with my husband
to Hawaii for my honeymoon. When we booked our honeymoon through the travel agent there was a choice of flying Qantas or Hawaiian
airlines so I did not hesitate, I wanted to fly Qantas, I did not care about the extra $200 we had to pay per ticket, I felt secure with Qantas
with its standard of safety. When we checked in at Sydney airport I was extremely nervous but had to try and contain myself as I had to
come to terms with flying. As we were checking in our luggage my husband had asked the check-in assistant if there were seats available
near the front of the aircraft as I was petrified of flying and she said that she had allocated us good seats, secondly we requested if we
had screens to watch movies during the flight and she even replied that there would be game consoles. I was quite impressed as you
would be because you know you cannot go wrong with Qantas. We checked in through customs and waited for our flight to be
announced and to our surprise we had a 2 hour delay, these things happen! When our flight is announced and we board the plane I
WAS SO DISGUSTED AND DISAPPOINTED at the state of the Qantas 767.
The aircraft appeared old and dirty and that’s when I broke down in tears. We were allocated in the worst possible seats which were right
down the back with the toilet cubicle being directly behind us, the floors were filthy; I could not help but look down at the grooves of the
aircrafts floor to see dirt all around. I had to call my mother on the aircraft in tears to tell her that the Qantas plane we were on was
horrible, she told me to get off the plane if I felt unsafe and I was 99% ready to get off but that 1% didn’t want to disappoint my husband
as it was our honeymoon trip. My husband was also disgusted with the aircraft and kept throwing it in my face that we should have
booked to fly with Hawaiian airlines. The flight was extremely uncomfortable. For a 10-11 hour flight there should be appropriate aircrafts
flying not aircrafts that should be for domestic trips. My father is a frequent flyer with Qantas, once every 2 months he flies with your
airlines and recently with the shocking consistent news of problems with Qantas my family worries if he will make it home and unfortunate
that he cannot fly with another airline as Qantas is the only one that flies to Manila. He also cannot stand flying but has no choice and
with the consistent news with Qantas he panics even more now and he is a diabetic.
One other serious issue I have is about the safety and maintenance of the aircrafts. A relative close work colleague resigned from
Qantas recently due to the low standards of safety and maintenance performed on the aircrafts, it may not be all the aircrafts but the
aircrafts he was allocated to follow through for maintenance. Decisions he felt were appropriate to raise as a warning to safety were not
considered on the aircraft; he was told not to worry about it. He felt as though he could not carry on his work under these conditions as
he did not want to be responsible or have that guilt on his conscience if something were to go wrong in the duration of a flight. How
pathetic and selfish can someone be to dismiss repairs to an aircraft when a professional is trying to carry out his duties? I believe that
most of these faults recently are based on human error, money issues and pure laziness of the CEO. My uncle was a flight steward for
Qantas for 18 years, he cannot believe how Qantas has turned out to be... WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE QANTAS! There are
thousands of people’s lives in your hands at the end of the day. No one feels secure with you anymore. You cannot dismiss your
mistakes, rectify them and put into practice what is right. It’s not all about the dollars, I am sure you make more than enough. Start
digging into your pocket and lay out the necessary funds to keep up the high standard of safety ( You once had) and get rid of those old
aircrafts you still have doing international trips for heaven’s sake! Keep going the way you are and you'll end up bust! Sorry to be so
straight forward but I am so disappointed!
Business Customer: I got downgraded and still had to pay $4,500
Submitted by: Sean - posted Oct. 3, 2008
I am regular flyer to Johannesburg from Auckland. Between myself and the people I work with we have flown the Auckland – Sydney –
Johannesburg route 7 times this year. To date not one flight has left on time.Today is special, the flight QF064 on the 18th of July was
delayed from 18:10 to 23:40, this means I also get a delay of 6-7 hours in Sydney, if I can get on the first flight to Auckland, so 12 hour
delay in total. It gets better....I am flying business class, so I am checking in the man says “your downgraded” no hello, how are you, sorry
for the six hour delay but guess what we are going to really upset you now. I ask why and get told because it is their policy to dramatically
overbook flights from Africa and business class is full...wonderful...so what are you going to do for me? Here’s $500, I am sorry my ticket
cost approximately $5,000 extra and you want to refund 10% of the difference? Well no choice as I need to get to Auckland for a meeting.
Through I go, I walk into the business lounge to relax during the delay...I am not allowed in...why? I don’t have a business class boarding
pass. Wonderful!So now I have paid for a business class fare, I am delayed around 13 hours in total, cannot sit in the business lounge,
downgraded to economy, and have to put up with the arrogant attitude of people who so far this year have a 100% record with me and
my company for late departures, poor service and lost baggage.
First-class Customer: It cost me $11,000 to get abused by Qantas
Submitted by: Umesh, Posted on Oct 2, 2008
I hear that Qantas has forked out over 5 million pounds on a new campaign call "Experience the difference". Well I certainly did!In my
years of flying I have never seen such terrible customer service. The fated flight or shall I say experience was the QF11 Sydney to LA on
2nd June 08. I actually started my journey in Melbourne where I was told that everything was running to time. I arrived at Sydney to be
told via a scribble on a white board as I got on the bus to the international terminal that the flight was delayed by 8hours! Apparently only
just happened? This was the start of the nightmare!I arrived in Sydney and made my way to passport control to connect through to the
First Class Lounge. After waiting over half an hour in the queue I was told by passport control that the flight was cancelled and that I had
to make my way back to check in even though I had a boarding card. At the First Class check-in - I was told that all other routes were full
and so no option but to wait it out. They told me that flight was definitely going and to go back through immigration to the First Class
lounge. Again I queued up for half an hour only to be told the same thing by passport control to go back to check in! The First Class
Check in people made a few calls and said try again - you've guessed it the same thing happened again!!!Furious at this stage I
demanded that a member of the First Class check in staff accompany me to passport control - it was apparent then that there was some
miss-communication with them and passport control - I was told to wait for a few minutes at the check in area. Thirty minutes later I was
asked by one of the First Class check people - 'Oh are you still waiting, think the person dealing with you has forgotten about you!' After
an hour I was finally accompanied to passport control and made my way to the First Class lounge. Apparently there was a mix up
between communication for QF1 and Q11 - easy mistake? Hope air traffic controllers don't ever make such a mistake!During my stay at
the lounge interestingly a Hong Kong Flight was also delayed by 3-4 hours. Even more surprising was an announcement made that the
Captain of the HK flight was coming around the First Class lounge to personally talk to delayed customers - very nice indeed - Those
waiting on our delayed 8 hour flight got no such treatment!After some 8-9 hours in the lounge on a Sunday! We finally boarded! To
good to be true - another tech problem while we were all on board. Waited for a further 2 hours sat on plane, then the announcement to
all get off the plane as it was going no-where! "the people in Canberra say no" we were told having missed the flight curfew. Now the fun
part......We were told that buses and taxis were arranged to take us to a Sydney city hotel. 300 plus passengers made their way to where
the buses were supposed to pick us up - there were no buses or taxis in sight! After 30minutes of waiting outside at what was now
around midnight, one small bus finally shows up.
Some 300 plus passengers were outside waiting in a group and Qantas thought that ONE Qantas representative stood on the curbside
with a cab charge book would do. I finally managed to get onto the first bus that showed up, duley loaded my luggage and checked off
my name. I enquired, which hotel we were going to? and what time should we be back at the airport - all would be on a letter at the hotel I
was told. Sitting on the bus for about 30 minutes the driver turned off the engine and to our amazement when we thought what elase
could go wrong, the engine would not start again!! After 10 minutes of trying to start the bus, passengers were forced! to take matters
into their own hands, got off the bus and proceeded to push start the bus to get it started - success! Perhaps we coudl try the plane next.
Arrived at the Sydney Hilton, given room key and asked about promised letter with further deatils - "still waiting for the letter to arrive from
Qantas". No idea of when flight was going, what time we had to wake up or what time we had to be back at the airport. Now it was about
1am, was told that they woudl post letter under door to room and would set me a wake up call once they knew timemings! Woke up 7am,
to find letter under door - had to leave for airport for 8am! Qantas very kindly offered us all room service to the sum of $35 - great if only
anyone was told before they went to bed that night! The letter said...breakfast was available from 6am and that a wake up call was set
from 7am ? before we had check out and leave for 8am - complete Shambles! Got back to airport, and back to square one, 18hrs later
gone nowhere! Boarded plane at 11am for one final departing debacle - there appeared to be more people on the plane than were
checked in!! For the next hour flight attendants and ground staff were walking up & down with counters trying to tally numbers. Well I can
certainly say I "experienced the difference" & had the pleasure of paying over $11,000!
Your Qantas Experience
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Not Affiliated iwth Qantas airlines- in fact, they hate us |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |