Sydney Morning Herald puts oneworld to the test

[KeithMEL]

I wish I could say this was my trip report, but it's something from the Sydney Morning Herald. Given it's written TR-style I thought this was the most appropriate section to post the article.

Here's what life looks like on the other side of the fence...

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/ba...089234602.html

Airlines put to the test

Jennifer Grimwade
June 9, 2007

AS THE airlines continually tighten seatbelts on frequent-flyer programs, I decide to cash in my points. Big time. I book a oneworld Round the World ticket. Business class.

Saying goodbye to 280,000 points and paying $600 in taxes, I anticipate this to be good, very good. I dream of comfy seats, courteous staff, copious drinks, even some culinary delights.

I never imagine some of my big business-class trip will be more like a nightmare than a dream.

But I always thought it would be a great opportunity to establish who I would fly with in future, who would be the big winner out of these oneworld airline partners: British Airways, LAN (formerly Lan Chile), Cathay Pacific, Iberia or Qantas.

...

[jjpb3]

What's a nice boy from MEL like you doing reading a paper from SYD?

[jjpb3]

The part about IB resonates with me. Horrid horrid airline with cabin crews to match (at least on intra-Europe flights): they were so p*ssy with a neighbor because she only spoke English (though they did give me an extra cookie and cracked a smile because I spoke to them in Spanish). And they gave me grief for requesting a newspaper because the FA had already passed by my row -- and this was in Business Class!

QF beating CX in J? I'm going to have to use my BA miles for a QF redemption to confirm!

[KeithMEL]

What's a nice boy from MEL like you doing reading a paper from SYD?

In my defence they're owned by the same company as The Age (of Melbourne) and sometimes share website content.

I see that lots of people are part of the Anti-IB club. That's one airline off my list of airlines to try now.

Well it's strongly biased to QF - and yes while they're an excellent airline on their above average to good days, they're also less consistent than CX. So the writer probably got QF on their good days. Personally I find that CX is a very safe bet because it's the least inconsistent of the oneworld airlines, but when QF/BA FAs shine - their charm makes flights to be much more enjoyable than the very business-like manner of CX. I'm lucky so far to not have as many off-day QF/BA crews.

[jjpb3]

but when QF/BA FAs shine - their charm makes flights to be much more enjoyable than the very business-like manner of CX.

In J, I've always had great interactions with CX crews -- warm and spontaneous and far from "business-like". (CGK, you're not allowed to chime in with your usual "Traitor" chant ). I agree that BA crews are great on a good day, but I would say the interactions are just as good, and not better than, the ones I've had with CX crews. No experience with QF, although I'd like to remedy that.

Economy class on CX is another matter altogether .

[KeithMEL]

In J, I've always had great interactions with CX crews -- warm and spontaneous and far from "business-like".

Haven't flown them for a while now - so hopefully I get those crews when I do fly with CX.
*dodge*

[The High Flyer]

Economy class on CX is another matter altogether .

[jjpb3]

Paging upright man for the impressions from his recent QF flights.

[CGK]

Paging upright man for the impressions from his recent QF flights.

Hmmm ending with , it must mean that upright man had a fab on QF yesterday!

[Lobster]

Are you sure this is not just an advert for Qantas?

[KeithMEL]

Are you sure this is not just an advert for Qantas?

Maybe she got the points for free.
Funny how she didn't mention the sheer difficulty in planning oneworld award seats though - especially on LAN.

[LukeGT]

The part about IB resonates with me. Horrid horrid airline

Period!