Ground Hog Day, again!

January 26, 2012 1 Comment

Three weeks back in the saddle with Qantas and it is like Ground Hog Day. Welcome to my life as Punxsutawney Phil!

I reached another milestone with Qantas, they have sent me Gold Membership card with all the trimmings.  The first time I took the “new” status out for a spin was today.  I had managed to bag an exit row and at 192 cm’s (6’4″ on the old scale) I find it rather uncomfortable on the 737’s and yes,you guessed it, they changed the plane and we got a new seating configuration.  A plane change is not necessarily a bad thing except, 11A was now forward of the exit rows. Sir, welcome to Gold!

Qantas also seem to have adopted new suppliers for the boxed food.  We got, what only can be described as pressed tomato biscuits with a yogurt dipping sauce.  In the good old days (last year) it was inedible Panini’s.  Being a past export of boarding school, I generally do not have food hang up’s as I would have passed away somewhere between my 11th and 12th birthday from malnutrition. But this is getting out of hand.

IMG_0239

Week ending Friday 20th January 2012

IMG_0235

Week ending Friday 13th January 2012 and if you are wondering, the dipping sauce is “Zucchini & Lentil”!

IMG_0226

I can safely say that I have managed to avoid breakfast in flight for the past 28 weeks of travel.  Under normal circumstances, you would be entitled to a refund for the unused portion of your ticket but not in this case.  I actually think I would pay a premium NOT to eat the breakfast.  Qantas have also taken the last and remaining item off the breakfast menu that was eatable – the reconstituted material formally known as a muffin.

Didn’t Tiger Airways get grounded in 2011?

Last year, Tiger Airways, the budget carrier and 4th player in the Australian aviation market was grounded for failings within it operations that CASA felt caused an “unacceptable risk” to the Australian flying public.  I have previously noted that Jetstar have it’s share of issues Jetstar botched landing at Melbourne Airport | Pilot pressure caused errors. This was one of a few reported last year. So, if you are an “Australian” operator with a large fleet, CASA will develop some sort of Stockholm Syndrome and look the other way.  I hope I am wrong but the press is not always flattering, particularly for Jetstar. I wear a “badge of honour”, never flown Jetstar (yet)!

Filed under Flying, Frequent Flyer, Travel Tagged with , , , ,

The Qantas 2011 swansong

January 25, 2012 1 Comment

 

Originally wrote this as my final number for 2011 but events over took me and I just found the draft so I thought I would put it up anyway.

I was going to be melancholy about my final week on Qantas this week as this is my last week of travel for the 2011 calendar year.  I was going to talk about the good things Qantas do, the massive infrastructure and the employees who in their own ways go out of their way to help hapless travellers, such as my self.  I could talk about the magnificent engineering facilities that the Sydney Qantas Club overlook but at 7:20 this morning (Dec 12, 2011), that all turned to dust.  Someone had fed the Gremlins again after midnight and after closing the door, giving us the safety demonstration we were back at the gate where we sat.  Some time after 8:00 AM we were herded back to the Qantas Club for more coffee for which I have had so much this morning, I am starting to show the early symptoms of caffeine poisoning.  We then sat in the club while the next flight for Canberra left – allegedly no seats but I could not happen to notice that Joe Hockey and Malcolm Turnbull who were on our original flight were no where to be seen on the later flight.  So much for no seating on the later flight.

What irks me more than anything else is the contemptuous way in which we get treated.  If I am 5 seconds late for a flight I have pay additional fee’s or in some cases, purchase a new ticket.  If Qantas screw up, we, as passengers still get messed around.  Their is no come back on the airline as the provider of the service.  Today is an annoyance and I will miss an important meeting with my client and this equates to a economic loss for me as I bill bill by time and sitting in airport lounges is not a productive use of my time as this equates to non-billable time.  A few weeks back Bruce, a colluge of mine in Canberra, had a booking for Qantas to Sydney the Jetstar to Maroochydore.  The Qantas flight from Canberra was cancelled, so Bruce was bumped to the next flight.  This caused him to miss his connecting Jetstar flight.  Do you think Jetstar could care.  No, he had to purchase a new ticket yet it was Qantas (who by the way own Jetstar 100%) who caused him to miss his flight.  Good one Alan!

IMG_0172

Filed under Flying, Frequent Flyer, Travel Tagged with , , , , ,