Do you fly Qantas, Virgin, or another airline?

I have never flown Virgin for a few reasons.
1. I have over 200,000 f/f points with Qantas.
2. and this is the most important one -I like to be fed on a plane and not have to buy food.
3. I prefer to fly with an Australian company - not that I have anything against Virgin, but would just rather fly Australian if all other things are equal and I have never found Virgin to be more than about $10 cheaper than Qantas anyway.
Yes, I am very loyal!

by Finy

Generally, I prefer to fly Qantas. On a recent trip to Queensland, hubby booked us on Virgin one way, and Qantas on the way home. I was quite impressed with Virgin. We got a delicious meal, and it was $200 cheaper than Qantas. I was happy to board my Qantas flight on the way home. The only difference was that you got a movie on the Qantas flight. It would have been a waste of money to go Qantas only for the movie on the way there, as it was an early flight, and most people slept !!! I do like Qantas, and I have QFF points as well, but I don't like to waste them unnecessarily. We use them for car hire and accommodation as well.

by Lluxi

When ever I have had to fly, and esp to America and back.....would have loved to use Qantas, but it was too expensive for us.

I have not taken a plane in a few years, maybe the airfares have come down a bit.
I have used everyone but Qantas.

by jonaja

If it was up to me I would fly Qantas wherever possible. Due to his occupation, my husband is a Virgin gold card holder. He gets various benefits including priority baggage/ boarding, able to change flights without penalty and free use of Virgin lounge at airport. Food and drinks are free within the lounge and it sure beats the high prices places charge within airports.
Consequently I usually fly Virgin.

by annfi

If it was up to me I would fly Qantas wherever possible. Due to his occupation, my husband is a Virgin gold card holder. He gets various benefits including priority baggage/ boarding, able to change flights without penalty and free use of Virgin lounge at airport. Food and drinks are free within the lounge and it sure beats the high prices places charge within airports.
Consequently I usually fly Virgin.

by annfi

Aren't you both lucky!
Does your husband work for Virgin?

No he doesn't work for Virgin. We are very lucky, but there aren't many benefits of his job- all responsibility, little reward. He is an extremely hard worker, and has to travel with very little notice.
He has had a private pilots licence for many years, but is not current. Pilots have to keep up their hours to be able to fly and he hasn't had the time. In the future I hope he will get current and be able to fly, as it is his passion.

Thanks, anfi! To be able to fly a plane must be an exhilarating experience! Cheers to you both!

I have not travelled by air for a VERY long time. The last time I did though,I used Qantas.I have always loved the service which I have received when using this iconic Aussie airline. I cannot comment on the other airlines, never having used them!

by Jules

. . . You forgot to mention our well used brooms . . . . *cackle*

Oh yes indeed!!! 'Stick With Us' airlines!!! I must admit to using THIS one rather often,and while it doesn't allow any baggage,it DOES have extra seating for the familiar, who in my case is a dog(or three!!!)
Aaaaahhh!!!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!! Hee Hee Hee!!!!!

Oh! Jules, have you had talks with Mr Alan Joyce, to see if he'd be willing to allow 'Stick With Us Airlines' to come under the QANTAS 'umbrella', so to speak? He'd be quite interested in adding to the Fleet, with such 'up-to-the-minute' aircraft type! Lol!
Up, up, & a w a y!

Hahahahaha!! You're right, donjo, Jules may have invented the best airline name yet! Bahahaha.

Too Funny, and to me this is what Answer Angels is all about: the ability to bring a smile to others!!! THIS has been just ever so much fun!! and now I shall board the trusty Broom Stick and go Up, Up and Away,though no longer with TAA!!!!!!!!

Oh! Jules, you've brought a tear to my eye, mentioning TAA!
I just LOVED flying with them!
I remember my first Boeing 727 flight with them, on VH-TJD 'Gregory Blaxland'. They named all their aircraft after Australian Explorers', whereas QANTAS names Oz Cities', but Names for the A380's!
I flew 1000's of miles with them between here & TPNG, as it was known then. And constantly, Interstate.
My favourite 'planes with them in preference order:
Lockheed Electra L188c
Boeing 727
Fokker Friendship F27


I absolutely hated DC-9's, & only flew twice on them. Avoided them like the plague!
Cheers to you, & set course for 30000'! Yay!

It's been a while since I flew anywhere, but when I do again it would probably depend on where I was going and what deals there were. I have flown Qantas (I keep wanting to add in a "u" when I type that) once and was happy with them.

by Jennifer Muirhead

'Tis a shame you've not had the chance to fly QANTAS more than once!
I do understand that this could be due to many, & varied reasons'.

I've a booklet entitled 'Why there is no 'U' in QANTAS'!
It's done quite funnily!

BTW, QANTAS spelling is an anachronym. It's the ONLY so-called 'word' in the English language that does NOT have a 'U' after the 'Q'............
Nice,& quirky somewhat!

=no it is NOT Donjo -you obviously dont play scrabble - qat, - there are several! qadi, faqir, qis

Well done Finy!!! You beat me to it!!! I am a scrabble player from way back!!! In fact I helped my ex-hubby learn how to spell by playing this game regularly with him,and he went on to do many great things involving writing and spelling!!!
I am guessing that like me,you have several wonderfully entertaining Scrabble Dictionaries?!!!

Yes, donjo, I'm aware it's an acronym. It just looks odd to type it. I may have flown with them more than once. I don't remember since it's a long time since I flew anywhere. Air travel is expensive and it's easier to stay in one place for a while when you have young children.

Lol Finy. From memory "qi" is also acceptable in Scrabble.

Oh! Thanks, Finy! You're right, it's years' since I've played 'Scrabble', although did play it constantly when we went camping!
Those words are 'new' to me, but with other Languages being added to English over the time span, one can always expand one's knowledge!
My info's obv a few decades' old! Lol!

In order of use and preference - Qantas, Air New Zealand, Virgin. (they have that thing where you book ANZ and fly on a Virgin plane) We used Cathay Pacific to England and they were fantastic, could not fault them.

by Rice

Oh! Rice, didn't know a 'Bank' now in the 'aviation world'! Lol!

You are kidding,aren't you ? Hee Hee Hee!!!!! ANZ is so OBVIOUSLY Air New Zealand,when discussing airlines!!! Sorry,that WAS rather pedantic of me,to nitpick!!! Mind you,the Bank,ANZ,has been known to provide good travel services to their customers if they require help with bookings etc..... At least I have had some smiles this morning ,and what is life without smiles?!!!!

Oh, Jules! I always strap a cheque book to my ar$e and fly ANZ.

I am DYING here,Rice!!!! I cannot remember laughing quite so much on AA in a long while!!! I just adore how Finy's questions bring out the 'fun' in all of us !!!!
Who could have ever guessed that a question about airlines would bring such hilarity!!! LOVE it!!!!!!

Oh! Jules, I could talk about flying, & Airlines non-stop, ad infinitum, & constantly, so to speak!
It, & they, have been my passionate 'hobby' ALL my life!
My 'second home' is ON an aircraft! Just adore flying, since my first flight, at six months' old, on a DC-3!

Thanks Rice for reminding me of Ran Man. I just LOVE Dustin Hoffman. I got such a surprise when I heard Qantas/Melbourne mentioned the 1st time I saw the movie. It was like, "Eh?" Thank-you scriptwriters!

Hooray, I now know another Dustin Hoffman fan! Thank you. I've been a fan of his ever since I saw his 1st movie. I think I've seen most of his movies. Yes Tootsie was also great! And the 1 that was on the ABC twice, 2 words, spelling out tortoise! that was a lovely 1.

Lufthansa gave great service and wines, Virgin when flying to USA was great, serving the children's meals early and looking after me with food when everyone was asleep, Singapore also good but definately Emirates has it over all. For Australia I travel Virgin, Jetstar late or cancels flights and wouldn't fly Tiger. As for cost, we look for the cheaper fares with Virgin as soon as we know the dates we need to be in each State for the grandchildrens sporting competitions.

by helga

QANTAS, always!

I prefer to fly with the 'World's Safest Airline', as voted, yet again, in 2016.

When overseas, to see, & to depart on a QANTAS aircraft, it just means 'home' to me, & I wouldn't want it any other way!

The 'Flying 'Roo' reaches its' Centenary in four years'! Yay!

by donjo

I don't like Tom Cruise and I have probably only seen two of his movies, one of which was Rain Man . . . I will never forget Dustin Hoffman . . . > Charlie: Ray, all airlines have crashed at one time or another, that doesn’t mean that they are not safe.
Raymond: QANTAS. QANTAS never crashed.
Charlie: QANTAS?
Raymond: Never crashed.
Charlie: Oh, that’s gonna do me a lot of good, because QANTAS doesn’t fly to Los Angeles out of Cincinnati. You have to get to Melbourne! Melbourne, Australia in order to get the plane that flies to Los Angeles!

Yes, Rice, I, too, can't STAND Tom Cruise, never have been able to, & have not seen ANY of his films, & never will, but I've seen that excerpt many times, from which I get much joy!
The 'Cumberbatch Trophy for Airline Safety' has been won TWICE, by QANTAS, THE only Airline, to do so!

The 'Cumberbatch Trophy for Airline Safety' . . . . WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sounds like something out of Wholock. Baha!

Oh! Rice, aren't you just the 'smarty-pants!
It's named in honour of one of Benedict's aunt's, if I remember correctly, who donated the Trophy. Google it for the long story! Lol!

Thank you for your concern Donjo, your really on the ball here, but NO, he didn't have to sign any confidential paper/s. If he had, we certainly would not have been talking about what we should never talk about! And I would just LOVE to fly over the Antarctica! A friend did the trip years ago, & she also mentioned how wonderful it was. I'll have to ad that 1 to my 'must do' list I have in my 'Drafts' folder, as I can never think of gifts for my husband! If we don't go on a big cruise for our 50th wedding anniversary next year, the Antarctic flight is sounding like a good 2nd choice possibility! Thanks for the idea! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

We fly 99% of the time on Qantas flights. The other 1% we were flying between the U.S.A. states, on American Airways I think it was, a few years ago now. We've also travelled on British Airways, which is now sort of part Qantas I think. We did a short trip on some really crappy airline once years ago o/s somewhere, but I can't remember the name of it now. Qantas is the cheapest for us, personally, because my husband is ex Qantas staff, (at Mascot) having been offered a very good redundancy package when his 33 years of service came up, & we receive the 90% off the airfares for the next 33 years. If he should die before me, I get the discount for another 5 years, but I won't to want to be flying then anyway!

by Miro

Oh! miro_..........is not that Redundacy info confidential? Didn't your husband have to sign a 'Confidentiality Agreement' upon termination?
It's really nobody else's business what discount is offered.

Soooo agree with you, Miro . . . love Dustin Hoffman!! Tootsie was a classic.

Esio Trot! I loved it!!! He and Judy Dench were divine together. :-))))))
Little Big Man. Marathon Man. Kramer vs Kramer, that one with the sphere. . . . . wonderful actor. Yay us!

Have flown with many airlines over the past 30 years, including Qantas.

Have to say was not impressed with Qantas, found the food awful, the staff pretty rude and nothing special about the airline.

On the other hand flew Virgin to the States and was very impressed with the food, staff and general efficiency of the airline.

Have flown most of the airlines (except China Air) and found varying levels of service. Don't have a particular favourite.

by norma

Oh! norma, 'Tis a shame you'd a 'bad' experience with QF. Having constantly flown with them over many decades', I'd have to disagree! I've flown on various overseas' airlines, & found them efficient enough to fly with them again, if the need be.
My flight to Antarctica, I went with QF, & it was one of THE best I've ever been on! 13 hours duration, 3 over the Continent, & the service was excellent, & the on-board cameraderie was super!

Qantas! i like this airline because of the name its built up

by Dilara