04/21/05 11:44:08 PM
I recently flew Qantas from Los Angeles to Cairns, via Sydney in early April 2004. The whole experience has been very disappointing, both the international and domestic segments. Australian passport holders were allowed one additional piece of luggage, a "perk" denied by the gate agent in Los Angeles to Americans and other non-Australian nationals. When asked the Australian agent said "we have different ticketing rules for Australians". HUH? Descrimination against foreigners embodied in "rules"? Flight attendants on the international leg were surly and unable to be found for water and other needs once dinner had been served. (A common problem I have experienced with most "long haul" international flights, due to "seniority" being used to staff these flights). Had to transfer terminals in Sydney to catch the Cairns flight. Terminals are very poorly signed and shuttle buses are small and overloaded during these busy hours. Did not have this trouble when returning thru Sydney. Luggage missed connection (2 1/2 hours wasn't enough?) and one harried agent in Cairns was swamped with numerous complaints of lost luggage upon arrival. All this for a flight that, due to Qantas' monopoly on this route, is priced fully three times the cost of a comparable flight to Europe or Asia where competition has priced flights fairly. A smarter government would break up this monopoly situation so that more Americans and Canadians would vacation in Australia, generally a wonderful country.

Thu 3/24/2005 9:10 AM
Good airline, difficult to get seat assignments sometimes. Same flight using their One World partner American Airlines is sometimes many, many hundreds of dollars more. QANTAS had no hard liquor on flight in economy, served junk food snacks, and in flight from Sydney dispatched my luggage one day later and importantly checked my companion's bags, separate last name, all under my name.