Qantas Airways

A mediocre flight, and frankly disappointing. Living in Sydney, I fly Qantas regularly. On this occasion the crew was a let-down. The Qantas lounge in Hong Kong was superb - great ambience and had waiter-served 3-course Christmas menu. It was particularly appreciated, since I have a view of the chaos that was the boarding process at the gate downstairs. The boarding could be described, generously, as absolute shambles - disorderly and disorganised. It took at least 40 minutes for most passengers to board and 20 minutes after the gates supposed to be closed. On the flight, the service was incredibly slow, and the presence of the crew was sparse. I was seated at upper deck economy cabin, which was supposed to be quiet with ample attention from the cabin crew given the few seats. The opposite was the case on this flight. The economy cabin shares the galley with the Premium Economy cabin that is immediately in front. All trolley traffic, therefore, must first go past the economy. This proved to be very bothersome. The upper economy cabin is served by one trolley only; meal and drinks is served on one aisle, then the second aisle. If you have the misfortune of sitting on the left rear part of the cabin, too bad, you will have to wait a long time for your food even though there are only about 30 passengers in it! By the time the fellow at the left end of my row received his meal I had almost finished mine. To make matters worse, the crew was not particularly professional. It was made quite obvious to me and the rest of the passengers that the crew knew two of the passengers. One was possibly former cabin crew, and the other, possibly a very frequent flyer, whose name most of the cabin crew knew. These two passengers received extra drinks from the Premium Economy trolley, blankets and attention during the flight. These were all little gestures, and fair enough that airlines should show gratitude for loyalty. Yet, I daresay most passengers who managed to secure an upper deck seat are frequent flyers of some manner (the lady next to me was Qantas Platinum, and I had seen a few of the faces in the Qantas lounge). To have low presence and under-service the cabin while blatantly giving special treatment to passengers they knew was quite unprofessional - we also paid similar amounts for the same seats! To add insult to injury, while I was lining up at the Duty-Free at Sydney Airport I got shoulder-charged by one of the cabin crew as she left the counter, still in her uniform. No apology given. Not a good look!

Sydney to New York via Los Angeles with Qantas in Business. A great flight. Qantas service is really top class. A380 is a mighty craft but the 747 from LAX to JFK was equally as good. The bed was lay flat and comfortable. The food and alcohol was excellent. The crew were marvellous.

London to Christchurch via Dubai and Melbourne. Good on board service level but a poor choice of flight partners (Jetstar). Poor compensation in case of delayed luggage. My flight experience was good until I was put on a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Christchurch. One would expect that independent of the flight partner you'd be boarding with, the quality would be the same. It couldn't be less true. Poor seat comfort on this Jetstar flight (which causes the 4/5 points on seating comfort, as Qantas has 5/5). Worse was my experience after delayed luggage, which came 50hrs late, compromising my travel plans. Until 36hrs after landing I had still no clue whether I would ever see my stuff again, which was essential for my hiking trip. Qantas has so far been unwilling to provide any significant compensation for losing 2 days of my holidays (Jetstar has offered to pay for my spare tooth brush). I'm disappointed with Qantas.

Flew Qantas business class by points upgrade from Perth to Auckland. The first disappointment was that Qantas used an A330 with the old style business class seats which was a questionable decision since you would think for passenger comfort on an overnight 6 hour flight they would use the newer style lie flat seats. The old style seats were just bigger and had more recline. Qantas really needs to improve on the standard of the their food especially in business. I had a crumbed snapper fillet which was barely better than the supermarket crumbed fish. The salads on the side were almost inedible. The breakfast service was canceled before the captain kept on saying more turbulence is expected, although there were only a few minutes of moderate to heavy turbulence. although I guess this isn't the pilot's fault as safety was still the first priority. Overall I would recommend that it was not worth paying for business class in cash, but if it's a point upgrades I may still be worth it for you.

I am a longtime flyer of Qantas and have to say that Qantas has picked up its game on the Domestic side of things. Boarding our flight out of Perth, we were greeting by enthusiastic, accommodating staff. The meal service was prompt and the salad was better than one I could prepare myself. It's also pleasing to have lighter options on offer instead of the usual stodge. During the meal service, my husband and I overheard an exchange between a dissatisfied customer and staff - all handled promptly and with professionalism in our opinion. The flight to Tokyo was a little bit different. Having high expectations after excellent domestic service, I was dismayed to see a dated aircraft that unfortunately was not properly cleaned from the flight before. The crew were more subdued and lacking enthusiasm and it was back to the usual stodge for the meals. Unfortunately as well, I am a bit of a nervous flyer, and I find the announcements from the pilot helpful when there is going to be turbulence. After four hours of bouncing around, the pilot finally addressed the cabin. While I know they are busy and focused, a little reassurance makes a lot of difference and looking around - I know I am not the only one. That being said - of course will fly again.

My wife and I flew Qantas Airways from Mel to Singapore on the way to New Delhi. It has been 10 years since I last flew with QF. Cabin crew seem much more polite and attentive than a decade ago. However, much needs to be done to improve the quality of service. Food was below average, very limited drinks are offered, and no proper tray given with the meal. Seats were very uncomfortable and aircraft needs a wipe over. I will not describe the status of toilets, they definitely need to pay attention to cleanliness. Good selection of IFE.

Melbourne to London via Dubai. We bought our ticket with points so won't be too critical. We were picked up on time and dropped off. No problems getting through customs and went to the lounge as we arrived early (as we usually do) enjoying the food and wine. Seated (13A/B) in the first section of business where we were last year. Handed our menus for late supper took off on time. The flight was uneventful as one would hope, however when our supper arrived it was sent back - something like a cold hamburger was served and there was really nothing else on the menu that I preferred so I settled for a salad and roll. I must admit the crew were apologetic but that's about all - my expectations about Qantas started to dive. We were served breakfast which was much better. The Dubai to London leg started to restore my faith in Qantas only to be let down (not by the crew who were first class) but by a Neil Perry cardboard box served meal, I don't know of any airline that serves business class passengers a cardboard box. Come on Qantas I know you can do better than that, the meal was tasty. Arrived London on time and taken by the chauffeur to our hotel all with very seamless. Again Qantas, think about the box.

QF2 scheduled to depart LHR at 2035 on 13 December left the gate at 0030. The management of the delay was an embarrassment. No announcement was made in the First Class Lounge (Orwellian term that one), so the innocents all filed down to the gate as per the TV screen, only to find an Emirates flight. Unlike the Qantas staff, the Emirates team were well aware that the flight wasn't going anywhere. Back in the lounge, the departure time kept getting put back in hourly increments. To add insult to injury, not even a glass of champagne on boarding the J Class cabin. Finally Dubai, where despite the disaster of connecting flights, only one security screening land for 200 people. What is really irritating is that you are paying top dollar for a mediocre cabin/seating layout, less than average IFE, and staff who behave as if it is all to be expected.

QF 171 service from MEL to WEL. Fast check in. QANTAS international Lounge in MEL good. Tasty and fresh breakfast offering. Welcomed on board by friendly and professional Purser who always knew what to do. Departed on time. Delicious lunch, ice cream, chocolates and drinks. Good IFE. QF JetConnect crew are always excellent and there was no exception on this flights. Flight arrived on time to WEL and bags out fast. Very good operation.

Qantas A380 must be one of the only mainstream carriers to not have horizontal lay flat beds these days. The seats on the Qantas A380 seats have not been upgraded since introduction in 2008. I had the misfortune to be routed on a Qantas A380 via a Finnair ticket. As reward for "being one of Qantas "most valued customers" I had the misfortune of sitting next to a mother and irritable infant. Initially the CSM advised that he would move me to an alternative seat for which I was understandably grateful, only to be informed later that "I was not going to be happy" when he told me the passenger he thought was on a staff ticket was also a Qantas Platinum PAX. An understatement. Just what any business traveller needs after paying for a premium ticket. It would appear that the Qantas system is so unintelligent that it is unable to recognise when its "most valuable customers" are seated next to mothers and infants. The premium product is rubbish in so many regards. Most Asian carriers Particularly CX and SQ are in a completely different league to QF - sad but true. Forgot to mention also that the flight was late and as a consequence, I only just made a connection to NZ. "Use our 1st class lounge and enjoy an relaxing shower in Sydney" is Qantas code for race through the SYD terminal when our flights are late and you've had no sleep on premium ticket from Europe and arrive at the gate with a heart rate of 180 feeling clammy and hungry!