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: Hear and See my Video Feedback
Posted at blip.tv (blip.tv/file/849392) April 30, 2008
After a 4 hour flight turned into 7 hours of torture, Duncan reflects on Australia's national carrier Qantas.
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Passenger: Qantas Fees are Extreeme and Unfair
From: D. Lee (crikey.com.au) Posted April 18, 2008
Qantas recently made a net profit after tax of $720 million and I'm wondering how much of it
came from fees. I had to cancel a flight and rebook recently, the catch being I was forced to
spend the same amount or more in one transaction. The red kangaroo also hit me with a $38.50 fee for changing the ticket and
another $10 for booking over the phone, which was unavoidable because of the way the system works. Because of the fares on offer I
ended up spending more than $50 extra than my original booking on a route which should be cheaper. The airline's profits from fees
can't be found in any of the annual announcements and presumably comes under "sales and other income," which totals almost $15.2
billion -- on page one of the preliminary final report. But the airline -- while probably not earning as much as the banks in fees -- would
surely generate a bit of income from the practice. The difference is that the banks are willing to budge and refund fees after a public
backlash earlier this year. I should know, because I was livid when I was charged for not having any money in my saving account to
cover a credit card bill, despite depositing the money the night before. The Commonwealth Bank charged me a $30 overdrawing
appraisal fee and an overdrawn account fee of $15, which was $3.50 less than Qantas. The bank refunded me the money and
actually had a heart, to my surprise. Let's hope Qantas and other airlines do something about their exorbitant fees for the benefit of its
customers. For the record, Virgin Blue charge a $35 fee for changing your ticket and they also stipulate you must book a fare of equal
or greater value. Either way, airline company shareholders are cashing in while customers are forced to cough up.
Passenger: Qantas flight attendant used flight to pick up boy friend
Submitted by Rick, April 10, 2008
I recall on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to London sitting in an exit door seat which was located within reach of one of the galley's. I
hadn't flown international for nearly 15 years and was so shocked at how un-professional the staff on the flight were. Rather drawn
and unhappy staff who displayed a veiled loathing during the in-flight service. From where I was seated I could see through the
partially drawn curtains on the galley. I recall seeing a female crew member drop a bread roll in the galley. It hit the rather dirty floor
and rolled to a stop, she promptly picked it up with her plastic tongues and placed it back in the basket ready for service. To top off my
flight a rather young pretty crew member spent almost the entire flight from Singapore to London getting the handsome young man
next to me quite drunk and spent most of her time chatting him up whilst we tried to sleep. I was so bothered by the staff behavior I
have never flown Qantas since. You don't have to look too far for better service and a cheaper fare. Qantas have lost tens of
thousands of dollars from my network alone through continued poor in-flight service.
Passenger: Qantas 737-300 is Unreliable
Posted by Skitz on (www.railpage.com.au) April 9, 2009
Like Qantas? You obviously have not had the pleasure of having the last five East-West trips delayed between and Hour (1) and three
hours (the rest) on a dodgy 747-300 smeg Qantas service. One that included an aborted take off after 'maintenance' and another that
after being late out of Melbourne was the same plane involved in an emergency landing in Sydney with smoke in the cockpit. Does
that fill you with confidence? Its consistent wit their own maintenance workers concerns with overseas maintenance. It smeg, just utter
smeg and our society is so useless that it will take dropping one out of the sky for something to be actually done about. I suppose
thats what you get in a world that is living in the age of accountants - the books look good but the assets are being run into the
ground. Qantas is no exception.
Qantas Passenger: All I asked for was a Coca Cola!
Submitted by: Ashley, April 4, 2008
On a flight back to Perth from Singapore, dinner trays had just been cleared and the staff were walking around with bottles of water,
as the steward waved one in front of my face i asked "if there was any chance i could have a coke please" the bottle of water was
slammed down on the tray in front of me and i was told "use your imagination" and with a chuckle he walked away down the aisle!!! So
if this is the level of sevice they are trained with i would hate to see what the response would be for a difficult question.
Passenger: Virgin Blue to the rescue – Qantas service dismal & rude
Submitted by Lisa - Enervated traveler (Posted April 1, 2008)
Please explain the definition of “WORLDS BEST LOW COST AIRLINE and BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE” as interpreted by JET STAR
and QANTAS. As per your proudly broadcast ‘hold’ message states. I find it hard to believe that the airline voted ‘worlds best & safest’
has in the last month had no less than ½ dozen (publicly documented) ‘incidents’ involving faulty equipment resulting in near misses,
delays and major inconvenience to paying customers. Last month I caught a plane to Townsville with Qantas, the flight was booked for
6.45am and did not leave till around 0900 due to ‘engine problems’, I only just made my 10.00 o’clock meeting no thanks to Qantas.
The majority of other passengers being business people on tight schedules were not as lucky. To add insult to injury our ‘hostess’
looked like she had not only rolled out of bed on the wrong side that fateful morning, but had also landed in a bowl of lemon juice with
all the friendliness of a mother bear with a headache. No compensation of any sort was offered by way of a packet of peanuts, a
complimentary drink or a discount for passengers on their next flight. Oh no. The brief ‘apology’ had all the sincerity of a John Howard
speech.
Tonight I arranged a lift to the airport to get me to a 6.45pm flight to attend two funerals interstate. I arrived at the check in counter at
6.18pm and was told I would not be boarding the flight as I was late. I explained that I would be attending a funeral the next day and
needed to be on the flight, I had no luggage to book could I please run and join the queue. “No the plane is ready for take off all the
passengers are on already” Pretty broad statement for a person to make 27 minutes before take off not to mention entirely insensitive
given the circumstances under which I was traveling. Never mind the lengths I had to go to raise the money to get the flight at such
short notice in the first place. Upon calling the ‘call centre’ I was told (somewhat smugly) that airport staff can (and have) refused entry
to a vessel to customers who miss check in by as little as 15 seconds! (let alone my pathetic 3 minutes). Now it’is not like I don’t
understand that planes travel to times, but 27 minutes prior to take off for a domestic flight with no baggage to check in, come on!
Most other airlines close their gates 15 – 20 minutes prior to take off for domestic flights and without a doubt I was 27 minutes away
from take off time. Virgin Blue for instance told me to “run like hell’ to make it to a plane 2 years ago when the taxi I was in on the way
to the airport broke down and I had to wait for another one to arrive. I arrived FIVE MINUTES prior to take off and was given the
chance to get myself on that plane. No such luck with JET STAR or QANTAS tho! Does LOW COST adumbrate LOW SERVICE? Get a
clue Qantas and Jet Star your service is execrable at best. The fact that there isn’t even an actual phone number to resolve customer
issues OR an email address would be your way of ‘dealing’ with the obviously enormous amount of negative feedback they get. Or am
I just jumping to conclusions? Jet Star was my absolute LAST CHOICE of airline given the story that made news headlines not so long
ago in regard to unceremoniously ejecting paying passengers including mothers and babies into the airport car park overnight when
JET STAR stuffed up. I hope they are being sued for breach of ‘duty of care’ under child protection laws. Obviously they have NO
intention of learning ANYTHING about public relations and fostering good rapport with the public. I guess they have enough blissfully
unaware Japanese customers to keep their flights full not to be overly concerned with the ‘local’ contingent. Well done Jet
Star/Qantas, I hope Sir Richard Branson puts you and your shabby fleet into liquidation some day very soon. With the sour faced,
unhelpful and entirely unpleasant staff you have representing you one has to wonder if they are paid to be the worst they can possibly
be or if it is an actual requirement that they be so disagreeable, discourteous, ill-disposed, rude, unaccommodating, unamiable, uncivil
and uncongenial to work for you. Your ‘inherited’ spotless safety record is in tatters and your reputation for friendliness entirely
erroneous.
Qantas to Hungry Family: Don’t ask for Food!
Submitted by Mariaan (Mar. 19, 2008)
I flew with Qantas from Johannesburg with my husband and child. I have pre-arranged a meal for my child through our travel agent
and when we eventually got on the plane after many delays and after taking two domestic flights in one day, they told me there is no
food for him. He fell asleep without eating anything and when I asked the person for the food he was very unfriendly and very upset
because I asked him. That was before I had to beg them for my dinner 20 minutes after my husband finished his. I asked the guy
where my dinner was and he told me that I should tell him. We had nothing to drink for at least two hours and when asked for
something to drink they said that they are busy. I was so shocked. When I flew from Auckland with Qantas I took a small picnic bag with
food and drinks, so that we could have something. If we only took one flight that day we could have organized something to drink and
eat but I was stuck in airports the whole day, and there is nowhere to buy something before the time in the departure lounge at
Johannesburg. I complained to Qantas and they did not seem to worry about it. It is shocking. Even South African Airways which in my
eyes is a one horse town airlines is better then Qantas and even in the future if Qantas flights are cheaper I will not use them at all.
Passenger: American Airlines is better the Qantas
Posted by: MiamiPrep at FlyerTalk (flyertalk.com) Feb. 28, 2008
I flew QF 4 HNL-SYD on 2/24/08. It again confirms why I think QF is sometimes one of the most spotty OW carriers in service. It took >
60 minutes after take-off for them to begin beverage service. (No turbulence, smooth flight). When I asked for a refill of my Virgin
Mary, they brought me the real thing with vodka (I don't use alcohol). The meal service was adequate. Then cabin crew disappears.
They don't seem to come through cabin frequently like crew does on AA/CX/BA. I had to get up twice to get Diet Cokes during the
course of the flight. This contrasts with very attentive AA cabin crew I had 2 weeks ago LGW-DFW -- so outstanding I sent customer
compliment email. I know we all have seen varying service. I just think QF has the most inconsistent. CX seems to have the most cabin
crew in Business, but QF has more than AA it seems. But I think AA does a better job.
Is Qantas Really That Bad? - 475 Customers speak out to a Newspaper
From: The Sidney Morning Hearld (blogs.smh.com.au)
The newspaper asked "Is Qantas really the "Flying Dog"?" Here are 10 representative answers from 475 customers
Customer 1: "I have been flying Qantas for many years, perhaps more than 30. I am disgusted at the way they treat you in cattle
class. The charm and sensitivity and cheer is no longer there. The cabin staff are all extremely gruff, not friendly and they are
supposed to be embassadors of our Australian way of life, our values and our friendliness. The fact they resent working in the
economy section is quite obvious. The people are work-hardened and no longer display empathy with travellers.
Customer 2:There has to be a generational change in the cabin crew or rotation from sky duties to ground duties may do them just
as good.... I never ever want to fly qantas. They should learn from Asian Airlines such as Jetairways, Singapore, Thai, Korean,
Cathy Pacific, Malaysian etc. The goodness and friendship, care and comforting feeling is so obvious. Even the Indian Airlines are
much better when serving dinners, providing charm and making your flight memorable. Qantas Dinner Menu's also needs an urgent
upgrade. Nothing exotic about it and you charge so much more than others These are areas which have given our own carrier so
much in billions of Dollars Profits. Why not put some of it back into SERVICE Mr. Dixon?"
Customer 3: Yes indeed they are. Their service in cattle class is woeful. When you ask them for another drink or for some other
sort of help (like your in flight console has packed up for the 3rd time in an hour) they look at you like they just stepped in a dog turd I
fly wherever possible on their partner airlines, preferably Asian operated ones as they (such as Korea's Asiana Airlines) know how to
treat their passengers with respect, friendliness and courtesy. I also still get the points this way."
Customer 4: "Yes Qantas is a dog. And that is being unfair to all those canines out there!! The Cabin Staff are arrogant and
unhelpful. The quality of service cannot be compared to Singapore Airlines. I only fly Qantas because it is the preferred airline of the
company I work for. Privately I fly Virgin Blue domestically and Singapore Airlines for internal flights."
Customer 5: "Yes, Qantas is a terrible airline,perhaps matched only by BA in terms of surly staff, particularly the cabin staff who are
only doing the job because the union secures them such a good wage...the older the staff, the surlier. You get the impression they
hate the job, but would miss the money as they are trained to do nothing else. Contrast this with the young, dynamic staff on airlines
such as Virgin Atlantic, and there is no competition".
Customer 6: "Couldn't agree more, and flying dog is being polite. My international airline of choice is Singapore Airlines and I fly
with them regularly. Domestically it is Virgin Blue. The times I have been foolish enough to fly Qantas I have encountered less than
friendly service provided by people who look like they have been sucking lemons before getting on the plane. They really miss the
point that they are service providers and ambassadors for our country - Australians are meant to be friendly and outgoing. Oh that's
right, the good ones go and work for other international airlines. It's about time Qantas got serious about the service element".
Customer 7:"Qantas is the worst airline in the world. Not only are they expensive but they provide the worst service I have ever
seen on all the 10 plus years of international flights. Qantas is like a flea on a dog compared to other airlines like Virgin Atlantic,
Lufthansa, KLM. Maybe the better question is: Why do people still fly on such a dog?""
Customer 8:"I have experienced rude and aloof service on Qantas flights. I have been flying Qantas all my life (since 5 years old!)
and their service has definitely gone downhill."
Customer 9: "I have flown QANTAS, BA & Thai to London before and found that out of a bunch of the worst, QANTAS is by far the
worst airline I've ever had the pleasure to take. Bad food, rude service & a broken entertainment unit. However, Thai were fantastic. I
had a grandmother with a fractured wrist & her chair broke, the hostesses upgraded her mid-flight to Business Class and basically
were at her beck & call the whole way through the flight".
Customer 10: "Yes Qantas is dreadful. I am a regular overseas flyer and the only worse flight I have had in the past five years was
on Virgin Pacific. Thai, Singapore, British,Cathay, Emirates, New Zealand, United, JAL and Lauder leave it way way behind. The
planes are old and ill maintained, the staff are unpleasant and snooty, the food is abominable and the prices are above others".
More Delays and Poor Maintenaice:
From: N Meinrath (Australia) (Feb. 5, 2008) at www.airlinequality.com
Extremely disappointing recent trips. I had a flight booked with Qantas to Hong Kong in December. Maintenance issues caused 1 hr of
repairs before we were told that the plane was going to be exchanged. 4 hrs later another plane was brought around and needed to
be cleaned, etc . Many customers were at risk of missing their connecting flights. I had a continuing flight to Tel Aviv, but before
boarding was told that I would miss that flight and Qantas would reroute me to Israel via Istanbul! When I arrived at Hong Kong, I was
advised that we had missed the connection to Istanbul, and I (along with 6 others) would be rerouted to Israel via Rome! We were
almost immediately placed on the flight to Rome, but on arriving at Rome there was no-one, for over two hours, to advise us as to how
we would continue to Israel. Eventually, five hours after landing, we were placed on a flight to Israel. Flying home via Frankfurt, there
were problems with maintenance issues again. The plane was on the tarmac for hours before our flight. Fifteen minutes after boarding
time, we were told there were technical problems. Back up power was faulty. Took three hours to repair, with the help from Lufthansa.
Yesterday, I took a flight from Sydney to Melbourne - 45 minutes delay again due to technical problems. What has happened to
their preventative maintenance?
Qantas First Class - A Disaster:
From: A. Gibbons - New Zealand (Jan. 4th, 2008) at www.airlinequality.com
SYD-AKL. 767-300 business Class seating was dire. No PTVs (DVD player handed out to pax). Seats were domestic J class seat
operating an international flight. When pax in front reclined I might as well have been back in Y Class, having seat back jammed in my
face. Only plus were the crew who were apologetic, embarrassed but provided very good service. They admitted this aircraft also used
to HKG and to Honolulu, so heaven help you if you are reading this and planning a trip to HKG or HNL. On a positive note, QF has an
outstanding new First Class lounge at SYD. Apparently run by Sofitel. Really glad I dined at lounge before flight. I would give the
Qantas flights themselves 0 out of 5, except for the great crew and the First class lounge at Sydney, so I'll settle on 2 stars. Avoid
transTasman. Sorry QF, but a major disappointment.
Qantas Complaints, Issues, Problems, Qantas customer complaints, Airline Issues, Australia, Qantas Complaints, Issues, Problems, Qantas customer complaints, Airline Issues, Australia, Qantas Complaints, Issues, Problems, Qantas c
Angry International Traveller is hit twice for the same ticket
From: www.qantassux.com
In December I invited my 18 year old son to join me for a one year visit in the Philippines where I was stationed. Excitedly he went to
The Sydney Flight Center and got a price of AUD$1,320 for a return ticket to The Philippines. I wanted to pay for the ticket myself, but
at that time I was already in the Philippines, so I told my son that I would call Qantas and as long as the price was the same I would buy
the ticket over the phone using my MasterCard. This is exactly what I did on December 15, When I called Qantas I was happily
surprised that the ticket was in fact AUD$70 cheaper from them than Sydney Flight Center. Qantas REFUSED to issue a paper ticket
and insisted on issuing an “E-Ticket”, I had no reason to suspect this and had faith in Qantas delivering what had been ordered and
paid for from them. My son flew from Sydney to Manila on January 8, on the ticket I had purchased, he had just turned 18 and this was
only his second time to travel by air. All seemed well. In December 2005, when his return was drawing near we asked Qantas to book
and finalize the date of his return travel. To our total amazment they said they had no booking for my son and couldn’t find any E-
ticket for him in the system. Frustrated by the apparent poor Qantas computer infrastructure I attended the Manila Qantas office in
person together with my son. After some investigation we discovered that Qantas was claiming that the ticket was only issued as “one
way”, according to the Manila Customer Service the Sydney Qantas salesperson taking my call on the day of the booking had
converted my request for a return ticket into a highly priced one way ticket that is ILLEGAL for Qantas to issue and doing so would
result in my son being stranded in Manila without a visa and no way to return. In the Philippines such illegal aliens are locked in prison.
On previous bookings Qantas has sent confirmation of bookings to me via email however on in this case alone they sent a paper
receipt to my parent’s house addressed to my 18 year old son. As Qantas Manila staff tried to shrug it off as a misunderstanding
which they don’t wish to accept any liability for, their only defense being that my 18 year old son who had only ever seen a ticket once
in his life should have noticed that the words “return open” where missing from the body of the receipt. Just for the record, nowhere
on the receipt does it say the ticket is “one way”, nowhere. How would an advanced international company like Qantas hide the
fact that a ticket had been processed incorrectly as a highly priced one way ticket and expect an 18 year old new traveler to guess
that some fine print words were missing? Of course non of us would imagine that Qantas would issue an illegal ticket! There is a
standard practice that passengers bound for destinations requiring permanent residency are required by law to have a return ticket
when boarding an aircraft so why would Qantas even entertain issuing this ticket and why did they let him board the aircraft with
insufficient paperwork? When these questions where asked of the Qantas staff in Manila they tried to shift the blame onto Philippine
immigration for allowing him to enter the country, this is a totally absurd given that if Philippine Immigration had apprehended him
Qantas would have been fined a substantial amount for carrying him on a one way ticket. But then again how would Philippine
Immigration know that the words “return open” were “missing”. As a result of this Qantas fiddle, my son was stranded in Manila with 10
days till his visa expired Qantas Manila staff just wanted to pass responsibility to Customer Service in Australia which was clearly just
an attempt to push responsibilities to someone else. Australian Customer service did not respond to our mails, answer the issue or do
anything, they simply didn’t care that they had illegally stranded an 18 year old in a foreign country in favor of their profit increasing
tricks! We compel everyone who reads this to boycott any flights on Qantas Airways. This company sells itself as safe, friendly
Australian carrier but they are none of these things. For your country, for your family, for your safety BOYCOTT QANTAS
Travel from Hell - my adventure with Qantas ($2.80 per hour)
From: (www.perthsites.com)
Booking: Normally, I would fly Virgin but in April 07, I thought I would give Qantas Airlines a crack for a change. Thought I should do
the Aussie thing while the Airline is still Australian. I managed to book a cheapish Qantas Airlines flight from Melbourne to Perth a few
days before my departure. The night before I was due to leave, I tried to check in online but could not find my booking number as the
email confirmation never came through! Doh! I thought maybe I had stuffed up the booking and I did not actually have a flight home so
I called Qantas to double check (no way of finding out online without the booking number). After waiting on hold for quite some time,
the phone was answered by some grumpy fella who had obviously had a bad day and perhaps needed a fling with a Virgin. After
been rude to me for a while, the fella hung up on me after giving me what I hoped was a mumbled confirmation that I was in fact
flying home on Qantas Airlines the following morning. Checking in: My flight was at 8:15 so after getting up at 6am, I managed to make
it to the Qantas Domestic Terminal with an easy hour to spare. Still having no booking number arrive in my email, I struggled trying to
check in using the Qantas self check in booths as it kept giving me error messages and spitting out boarding passes with no boarding
information on them. Meh, I lined up in the bag drop off queue anyway as I couldn't see any counters for old-school style check in.
Was all ok, the old dude at the counter checked me in with only a small problem... the 8:15 to Perth was now expected to depart at 13:
15 WTF!?!? Five hour delay!? I could only laugh as it seemed my luck with Qantas Airlines wasn't going too well anyway. Poo
happens at Qantas. Don't worry, compensation was offered... hehe a scribbled piece of paper inviting me to breakfast at the Terminal
Restaurant with $14 credit. Woohoo, Qantas valued my time at $2.80 an hour! After wandering around Melbourne Airport for about 4
hours until lunch time, I had still not found the 'Terminal Restaurant' and presumed it only existed in Qantas Flight Fairy Land.
Subit Feedback - win $500
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| Not Affiliated with Qantas airlines - in Fact they hate us! |