This is the Qantas News website. We are a community of former
and present Qantas customers sharing our 'experiences



Angry Passenger: Premium Economy on A380 is Crap!!
Submitted by: spike (posted June 6, 2009)

My wife and I have just arrived back from our trip to the UK which was marred by our first experience on board the new A380. I was so keen
for the trip to go well as I have long believed in supporting our national airline but alas the system let us down… April 7, Sydney Airport. QF
31. First my wife and I were told at check in we were on standby. Outrageous! This after booking the flights on the internet back in November
for my sister's wedding. Two of my sisters, my brother and parents were all booked on the same flight. After a lengthy delay at the counter
with a long queue forming we were told no two seats could be found together in Premium Economy and that the air crew would fix the problem
once we were on board. The nonchalant staffer told us the Qantas booking system was 'way behind other international airlines.' By this stage
we were wondering why we were paying for a premium service when we could not even be seated together for a 23 hour flight. Friends
frequently tell us they will only fly Emirates or Singapore.

When we got on board following further delays at the gate, we were confronted with several couples being moved all around the cabin, with
the crew trying valiantly to seat pairs together…a handful of passengers were still finding their seats as the plane pushed back late from the
terminal. We were both assured the seating problem would be the subject of a speedy report and the issue would be radioed through to
Singapore to be dealt with immediately. After deplaning at Singapore we came back on board to discover that the two seats we occupied on
the way out of Sydney were now taken by a man and woman not travelling together. We were told by the new cabin crew…decidedly less
accommodating in attitude…that we would sit in the seats allocated on the boarding pass and that would be that. Further enquiries revealed
there were no seats available in Business Class. My wife was now seated next to a couple with a crying infant while I was eight rows behind.
We missed out on being able to enjoy a meal and the inflight movies together for 13 hours. During the flight the meal service seemed to run
out at the back row so that I was offered a crew meal to make up for the lack of all the available options for dinner. Another passenger told me
he was offered a toasted sandwich.

QF32:  After two emails and a long phone call upon arriving in London we were told a "request" would be put in to sit together on the return
flight on April 26. Luckily this did happen. The meal problem happened again on the flight home, also in Premium Economy. The crew member
I complained to admitted that it was a frequent problem they had with the catering service. She stated the proportion of meals they order
doesn’t match what is provided by the caterers, ie 70 per cent beef, 30 per cent fish, 'then everyone orders fish.' I was then disturbed during
the flight by the sound of several crew members wrestling with a device I later learned to be a garbage storage unit located next to the
emergency exit door on the port side. The noise of the trolley being forced into the cabinet disturbed all the passengers in that section
causing them to turn in their seats to discover the source of the banging and crashing. The woman next to me on the flight home was
interrupted from a deep sleep to be served a breakfast she didn’t want, I heard her say having the eye mask on her face should have been a
clear message! It would be fair to say that the meals did not dazzle us as we had anticipated, much of the advertising material promised
special meals prepared by celebrity chef Neil Perry. All in all a marvellous new plane to show off but the service side of things has left us once
again with the feeling that we should listen to our friends' advice and go elsewhere in the search for a good international flight.

Gold Member: Qantas Standby promise is just a Lie
Submitted by: mikey84 (posted June 5, 2009)

I arrived at 12:50pm from a Christchurch to Auckland Flight, I was meant to fly back on the 2:00pm flight to Christchurch – but unfortunately
had some issues with my laptop while burning my a cd to give to an Auckland colleague, so changed online to the $513.00 Fully Flexible 7.30
pm flight back to Christchurch. This was all fine and I have no complaints about any of the above. My issue is with “Standby’s”. In my recently
received Frequent Flyer Gold pack I read that Gold members have Priority Waitlising / Standby. So I requested to go on Standby for the 3:
30pm flight back to Christchurch – as I had finished burning my presentation to CD. My problems begin here:

1.  The Qantas Club Attendant informed me that she wasn’t part of reservations. So to leave the club and go downstairs to check-in. 2. Upon
asking at check-in I was told to go to the ticketing desk, as they weren’t trained in how to do a standby. 3. I stand in queue for Ticketing for ten
minutes, at this time its about 5 minutes before the 3.30pm plane is due to board, so as the sign at the ticketing desk states – I ring the 0800
808 767 and give my booking number and frequent flyer number. 4. At this stage the call centre tells me “Qantas doesn’t do standbys – we
never have”. 5. The lady at the ticketing desk states that the flight is closed and there’s no way I can get on it. I have no baggage to check-in.
I ask if everyone has been checked in to be told yes. I ask at the boarding gate if everyone has boarded the plane to be told “No”, but it is a
full flight. I ask if I could stand nearby the gate and see if maybe someone doesn’t turn up (it does happen – I check-in online frequently and
have occasionally missed flights). The response is no. I now have just one question - Does Qantas Airways offer standby/waitlisting? Or is the
Gold Frequent Flyer brochures and Qantas.com website incorrect? If so, when will the brochures and websites be changed to correctly inform
passengers?

LAX-SYD Passenger: Qantas Flight was 15 hours disaster
Submitted by: Stem (posted June 4, 2009)

On Sunday the 19th of April I returned from the United states on flight QF 108. LAX to Sydney. As requested I was seated in a window seat (I
have epilepsy and require as much undisturbed sleep as possible as sleep deprivation is my main trigger. Furthermore I am currently
pregnant and wanted to settle in and sleep). Within this row was a gentleman, and a lady with 1 of her twins, the other twin being seated
across the aisle with her partner to utilise the bassinet. Early into the flight the chap was moved up to premium economy to make more room
for the lady and babies. 2 or so hours in I had fallen asleep and was awoken by one of the stewards with a request to move 2 rows back to
make even more room for the family. As a mother myself I was more than happy to accommodate this request. By this stage the plane was
dark. I collected my carry on and relocated two rows back to the window seat as directed. I walked to the rear of the plane to stretch and when
I returned to the row I was greeted by a very aggressive woman who questioned why I had placed my luggage where I had. I explained calmly
that I had been directed to, to which she responded that these were her seats and who had dared to tell me to sit there? Her manner was
combative from the first exchange and as such I felt it best at this point to approach the steward, who by this time was elsewhere (please note
her abuse continued). We located another steward in the galley and she entered hurling abuse and threats against Qantas. I was left
standing outside for at least 10 minutes so decided to locate the original staff member who had relocated me. I found him and he took over
and said he would take care of things.

Eventually, after much back and forth between stewards it was decided that I would be relocated to premium economy and she would get her
3 seats. I was taken to a seat in what I understand is premium economy, on the right hand side of the plane, the aisle seat in the centre row of
4 directly behind business class, and had to settle in in the dark. I was not shown the correct use of the foot rest and thus was quite
uncomfortable for the remainder of the flight. In addition the young chap seated next to me was asleep and stretched into my seat and every
attempt by myself to move him failed. My pillow had been left in economy as it was dark and I was not offered another. However bad it had
been up to this point my experience went rapidly down hill from here. As I was getting settled a steward walked through the aisle and
absolutely slammed into my arm. No apology, no attempt to check if I was OK. The force was such that it knocked me sideways. Then
throughout the night as the snacks were brought around I was served last every time, despite being located on the aisle in the middle. Twice
the steward actually ignored me and I had to physically catch his attention to request something from the tray.  In the morning as the meals
were served, tray tables were laid around me with a napkin. I was ignored. Meals were delivered to all around me, making it even more
obvious that I should not have been there. Then after a couple of minutes a meal from economy was flung in front of me. No choice was given
as to what I would like, which may I point out I would have received had I been left in economy! Furthermore this was not the meal I would have
chosen. Coffee was another issue. I had to literally touch the arm of the steward to request coffee. When I requested decaf, as stated,
because I am pregnant, he sighed and said he would have to go off to find some. He returned 5-10 minutes later with an undrinkable cup of
coffee and I dared not ask for more milk in order to improve it. As meals were removed I was again left until last despite the illogical order of
this. The steward finally removed my plate (after I requested him to do so), at least 5 minutes later but left me with residual trash. I ended up
having to sit with the trash on my seat for sometime. This trash incident was not isolated and occurred 3 further times. At one point I placed
the trash literally under the stewards nose, he looked up (he was collecting trash from the floor, not mine might I add) and then turned around
and walked away, very obviously  ignoring me and leaving me with the rubbish for the remainder of the flight.

Eventually we were ready to land and were asked the prepare. I folded my blanket and placed it with pillow on the floor in front of me for
collection. Again, all passengers in the area had theirs removed and mine was left there for the remainder of the flight. Once more
highlighting my status in the area! The entire experience was so demeaning and has left me with such a sour taste in my mouth about flying
Qantas again. I wished I had remained in my little economy seat where I had begun the journey. Despite having being originally more than
willing to accommodate the family without reservation. My only explanation for such treatment was that the stewards (although my
mistreatment was directed from one steward in particular, a young Asian chap) had thought that I was the woman who had kicked up such a
fuss back in economy. And whilst there is no excuse for such treatment this would begin to explain, in part, some of the way I was rudely
regarded. To add insult to injury the following also occurred on this journey: -•    Due to a Qantas delay I missed my connection to Melbourne
and was delayed by 2 hours. •    Once I finally got onto my Syd – Mel connection another passenger was sitting in my seat and as they were
already seated I was asked by the hostess to move to an aisle seat, although once again a window seat had been requested and assigned.  
•    And finally, as if the last 16 hours had not been enough, upon inspecting my luggage my suitcase handle and zip were broken!

Upset Passenger: delayed flight, no food for 9 hours, stranded and Qantas don't care
Submitted by: Mike (posted May 30, 2009)

My wife and i were travelling on a flight from New Zealand to Melbourne only to be told in New Zealand that our plane would be delayed by 3
hours due to a ( regular basic part ) needed to be replaced. That meant we would not be able to get our connecting flight to Adelaide in time.
Asking the manager what they could do was only to be told i was to go to the service desk when we arrived in Melbourne. On arriving in
Melbourne a call came over while we were still in the plane to contact ground staff as soon as we were off the plane. Thinking we still had half
an hour till departing we might make the flight. At the service desk which we ran to a assistant gave us a torn piece of paper and told us we
were staying at the Holiday Inn across the road and this was our flight time for the next day. I asked as it was late at night and they had run
out of food on the flight ( cans of pringles only) were they going to at least supply a dinner meal. Yes! she said, so I thought at least ok.
Walking to the hotel ( 15 mins with luggage) we were told that it was accomodation only. I phoned the airline in Melbourne airport, spoke to
the manager and asked about a meal compensation as it was now after 8pm Melbourne time.i told him we have now been in a their terminal
and flying with no food ( as they run out) for 9 hours. He told me that there was no meal compensation. I told him i had spoken to a Jet star
employee between gates 3 and 4 as instructed 20 mins ago and she comfirmed that we should recieve a meal. He returned a few mins later
and told me no staff member had that conversation with me.I told him i would walk back over to the airport and speak to the same lady i had
spoke to and himself.He told me that shifts change so often the person might not be there. I asked if a meal voucher or agreement could be
arranged to the price of say $50.00 and anything over we would pay. The answer was we don't do food deals. I told him I find that hard to
believe when you have accomidation deals. I asked, " whats 50 dollars to you to keep someone happy and end this call" answer: We dont do
food deals. With that i said thanks and hung up. The person behind the desk at the hotel said to me after getting off the phone as she
obviously heard our conversation said " I'm sorry for you" at least the Holiday Inn have good customer service.

A380 Passenger: It is time to get some Pride and Service Back!
Submitted by: Mike (posted May 29, 2009)

What has happened to Qantas?  I have been making round the world trips for the last 27 years. Without doubt Qantas was the best airline in
the world during the 1980's.  Now it has sunk to the B.A. level.  On the 1st May we flew in the new A380 from Sydney to Singapore where we
had a stop over and then flew on in another A380 to London.  I realise that new planes have teething problems but I would have thought by
now the A380 (with all the hype on this huge plane) would have been sorted. Problems:-  (1) As you get on the staff are trying to remove
drinks from containers stacked at the entrance causing terrible hold ups.   (2) Every announcement made (and the guy seemed to like the
sound of his own voice and wouldn't shut up) nearly deafened each passenger, who had headphones on, resulting in everybody ripping off
their phones each time this guy made another pathetic announcement.  (3) To make matters worse the volume on the film went back to Zero
and you had to adjust it back just in time for another announcement.  (4) The lock on the disabled toilet didn't work or register on the vacant
lights in the cabin.  (5) Last but certainly not least THE SEAT BELTS DIDN'T WORK AT ALL.  There are two ways to plug in the belts - one
way worked but the other way (which was the logical way) made the belt totally useless as the canvas slipped straight through the buckle
rollers.  This would appear to be a serious safety issue and I don't believe Qantas is not aware of it.  Come on Qantas get your act together
and let us get our pride back in our National Carrier.  

Disappointed Passenger: Qantas will not change arrival date even if I pay
Submitted by: MQ (posted May 28, 2009)

I brought a sale ticket from Qantas, and they do not allow any changes, even I wanted to pay more. Is also my fault not looking at it properly.
as this is the first time I brought air ticket myself. Is there really no way? i am not taking another air company, but same Qantas why cant it be
change? With such a bad service, do they think we will want to come back to Qantas ever again.. No way!!..  I desperately need to change the
date.  I checked some other air company they allow changes even to sales ticket. Why can't Qantas? How can i change my arrival date to
Brisbane? I just want to change one date.. (extremely disappointed)

Passenger: Handicapped twin kids got no food and no assistance
Submitted by: Yvonne (posted May 27, 2009)

I wanted to take my twins, who are nearly one to visit the family whom they have never met in South Africa. I thought this would be a simple
process. Unfotunately neither of my boys are able to walk and one is unable to sit unassisted as they were premature. I called both SAA and
Qantas, yes they will allow me to book my double pram through, but I am unable to use it on the stop overs. Okay no problem, I ask them so
can I hire a twin pram from you for the 4 hour stop over in Sydney and the 4 hour stop over in Johannesburg. They said yes we do have
prams but not sure if they will be available, we can only confirm on the day. So I say what happens if one is not available. I have no assistance
and two boys, they say, well maybe we can get someone to meet you with a wheelchair if you say you cannot walk far, and then they will help
you on the plane too, so I ask, so what happens during the 4 hours at the airport, no sorry we cannot help with that. I said but I cannot get
food for the boys or go to the toilet or take them to change nappies. As I cannot physically carry them both at the same time with their things.
No sorry you would have to sit in one place. I thought they were joking.

But they were not. So I called the agents and asked them to phone me, but got the same thing. I am not sure if they do not understand the
issue of having twins. But they did not care, and said sorry we cannot help. I do understand, that I only pay 10% for one, and 75% for the
other, but even paying full fares they still would not help. Everyone says just go and make a plan, well thats just not possible when you have
twins. You need to be organised and have as little stress for them as possible as with any child on a long flight. I believe prior you could take
your pram to the plane and then get it out on your stop overs but no longer. I know that its terrible for people flying when their are kids, but I
just want my family to be able to meet them. Emirates is the only one that would supply a pram at the plane.

Angry Passenger: I paid for 12 months club membership but got only 11
Submitted by: Joey (posted May 27, 2009)

I am an existing memeber of the QANTAS club and decided to renew memebership through my employer to get a discount however it seems
to me that the discount is achieved by QANTAS by giving 11 months memebership instead of 12 - my renewal was paid at the very end of
April yet my memebership is valid until the end of March 2010 - 48 weeks, not a calenday year but a birthday at 11 months. QANTAS claim
that corporate memebership is cheaper but clearly it is a sly rip off. I am writing to Norris Carter as the memebership condiditons refer to a
'year' and according to any common sense defintion applied, 11 months is not a year and i am disgusted.

First-Class Passenger: Service is a joke and Seats stinks!
Submitted by: Max (posted May 26, 2009)

Ever dreamed of traveling first class from London to Sydney on your national carrier who has spent billions of dollars promoting their slogan
of "The Spirit of Australia" to instill a sense on national pride, patriotic values and pure nostalgia. The fact is, the dream is all so vivid in
concept, but when faced with the reality of dirty seats, malfunctioning oxygen masks, landing delays, broken seats and to top it off; lost
baggage, flying First Class with Qantas was indeed an acrimonious experience. This is the Qantas First Class experience. Possibly the
longest flight on the planet with a ticket price to the value of a brand new car, Qantas delivers nothing but pure disappointment. This airline is
destined for disaster. Any quality experience seeker should stay away. Buyer beware, Qantas will let you down in every way possible.

Platinum Member: I am Starting over with Virgin
Submitted by: Ash (posted May 25, 2009)

I was a Qantas platinum frequent flyer by the time I was 24; I'm now nearly 30 and have a long life of travel ahead of me. The service is so
bad on Qantas; from the Qantas Airways sales office to check-in to cabin crew, that I'm starting over again using Virgin.  I don't think anyone
should expect to be treated like royalty when flying, but simple common courtesies like a hello and a smile go a long way.  I find all Qantas
employees to be rude and arrogant. The Qantas club is so full that there is more room waiting in the departure lounge (or the virgin lounge).
I pass on my experience to my friends and employees at work who have started travelling with Virgin, to save money and get a better
experience.

Passenger: I gave up on Qantas and is Driving instead!
Submitted by: Ben (posted May 24, 2009)

I travel around regional WA for work. I prefer to drive 5-6 hours to get to our further out locations rather then use Qantas. Even though these
are only 1 hour flights by the time Qantas screw around with check in and then leave you sitting in the airport for a bit and then leave you
sitting in the plane for a bit you're talking 3 to 4 hours, instead I can spend slightly longer in the car and know won't have to put up with their
crap. If I do have to fly I always try and take Skywest. The staff are nice (as opposed to Qantas' very very rude staff), I can identify the food
(instead of the slop that Qantas serves, that could be anything!), they also just leave you be, why do Qantas staff wake you up to offer you
that inedible s**t? Qantas is a last resort option, the other airlines are better and cheaper, what on earth is Qantas doing?

After reading further through this site it reminded me of an incident at Kalgoorlie airport. The Qantas plane was about an hour late arriving
(no surprise there) they had no more room for us in the screened area so everyone had to wait outside the screened area until the people
who had been screened were put on to the plane.  Qantas obviously needed the plane back in Perth so someone decided to open the
arrivals door and allowed everyone who hadn't been screened to walk straight on to the plane. No X-ray, no bomb scan, none of that carry on.

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