In early 2023, Qantas announced plans to expand its network of first class lounges, by opening a new location in London. Qantas’ first class lounges are exceptional, so this is something that many of us were very excited about. There’s now an update, as this lounge is no longer in the cards. Not only that,…
Continue reading: Qantas Backtracks On London Heathrow First Lounge: It Was All Fake Hype
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Hi Ben.
Just a minor correction. You mention that there are a lot of loyal Qantas flyers. I would argue that it is no longer the case. Over the last 5-10 years Qantas has lost a lot of its loyal following, me included. It’s not that I won’t fly them for the right route and price, but they will be towards the bottom of my list.
I have flown them from Sydney to Tokyo the other week and cannot begin to tell you how ordinary the experience has been. Nothing at all about it, not a single thing, i thought was above average.
Joyce has absolutely ruined the company. Not only for passengers, also, and even more so, for emt
Ben you're absolutely right, I was a diehard Qantas loyalist but do not fly they anymore due to how dated the product is on the a330s flying within the region and how much more $ the airfares are now. It's crazy the prices they are charging. CX is my go to now. They hyped up their 'research' flights, teased the new PS cabins for years and no doubt will make a huge announcement about the worlds largest first class bed when they reveal the seat folds down and the entire first cabin is essentially a bed on their new a350ULR planes. Their PR machine is nauseating!
Correction Ben: QF9 from PER to LHR hasn’t flown since the Iran war. It now serves London twice daily from Singapore.
Airlines are living in an era of uncertainty at LHR what with talk of a massive terminal reshuffle and the expansion project that will see T3 demolished they would be silly to invest in anything other than general refurbishment of existing facilities.
Qantas is the worst for the hype.
Same as their wifi. They should all be equipped by now going by what they said 18mths ago.
Unbelievable that there are still only a few 787's with wifi on their entire 787/380 fleet which operate some extremely long flights.
The economy legroom in their new Sunrise A350 is also hype. Promising the most spacious seast at 33 inches pitch but in the small print the seats towards the back of the cabin will actually be 32".
They just embarrass themselves with promising things that they rarely deliver and if they do, it’s in a compromised fashion.
The existing lounge at LHR is of reasonable size. Some area could have been blocked off or set aside. The F lounge at LAX remains in need of a refresh . . . something . . . anything.
I don't fully agree with that 'silver lining' - at the very least, it does mean a smaller bar and likely covering part of that atrium where the stairs are so they can put more seats on the 2nd floor, making the lounge feel more claustrophobic. Also, the dining area going F only could be good for Emeralds if they improve it (and don't just make it a space for F pax only AND they allow Emeralds there and don't make it an F-pax only area. Even then, Sapphires are likely cut out from a la carte ordering for the reason you said - it's unlikely there will be two dining areas in a lounge that small.
Remember last year when they were exposed for, during covid, charging passengers $s when they knew that there would be no flights? This is simply fruit of the same tree: Fundamental dishonesty from the top down. Vanessa Hudson is no better than Alan Joyce, they're simply fruit of the same tree.
Qantas managed to get Boeing and Airbus fight for years so Airbus got a meager 24 aircraft order. They have somehow the supreme ability for the small size they really are.
QF doesn't have enough F seats to justify the F lounge in LHR. It would be mostly full of Emeralds - same as the LAX QF F lounge. Maybe they will add a concorde or JFK AA F type of lounge instead. Years back, before the new QF lounges in LAX, QF had an F passenger only lounge at LAX. Small nice lounge - they announced the flights and escorted all F passengers for a given flight to the lounge. Now QF on has F on the A380 and coming on the new A350 Sunrise.
You know it was a fake do you? At the time a F lounge was announced that was possible. But then of course you knew fricking better. Its just impossible for you to write anything positive about qantas. You have never worked for an airline and never will but you know it all. No matter how much of a geek you are, you dont have the absolute inner knowledge of operating any airline. Years ago v this blog had some genuine, now it's a tabloid joke chasing clicks.
Oh, Ben....can you quit carrying water for QF and just state the truth: there is no 'silver lining' here. QF lied. Plain and simple. QF should NOT get a pass for blatantly lying. Local avgeeks knew Australia's most prominent (and discreditable) airline news website sold its arse to QF years ago. Don't do that.
This is very typical QF. Whether it's lying about what routes they'll open, lounges, or anything else, they will constantly use the media hype machine to convince the public they're something they're not. In reality, QF is a bang average, if not below average airline and they benefit significantly from the free ride they get from the media and political leaders who value their access to the Chairman's Lounge above honesty or fairness for the common person.
If Australians would acknowledge QF is simply another business that is selfish as all capitalistic businesses are it'd be fine, but they still hold them in some sort of esteem that's entirely undeserved.
Dear QF, As a regular traveler down under, I just want you to know the only reason I fly you is my AA gold status gets me 32kg rather than 23kg checked luggage.
So point to point service is falling short here, and the benchmark of this was when EY(Etihad) had the 'butler service' and chef on the A380, nothing else has come close! There are standards in the industry, which have peaked and dropped. Whether that standard is unsustainable due to economic conditions, or more practicable issues one ponders, but few if any have had lasting consistent service standards. New comers have grandiose ideas, suggesting that theirs will be the measure, like Riyadh Air, but the problem there is, location, middle of a very hot dessert (no sea), archaic, draconian laws, all to entice who exactly, unlike their nearby successful competitors!
QF should take note of this, because promises made, grandiose ideas, will be measured and judged by a harsh public, as it should !