[BlacKnox]

Travellers 'not afraid to whinge'

By Rosemary Desmond
07-09-2005
From: AAP
http://finance.news.com.au/story/0,1...-31037,00.html

"AUSTRALIANS are not shy about complaining when they travel overseas, a national survey has found.

A third of the 1230 people surveyed by email said they thought nothing of asking for a flight upgrade to first or business class, Justine Waddington, marketing manager of on-line travel company OctopusTravel.com, said.

More surprising was that one in four were prepared to kick up a fuss when they did not get it.

The survey also found almost one in 10 admitted to having asked to switch hotel rooms for no good reason other than to get a better room.

But contrary to the popular belief Australians were adventurous overseas, the survey found they were generally a little more wary in some situations and had a tendency to stick to what they knew.

"I think it reflects that we are travel-savvy," Ms Waddington said.

"We are good travellers."

"You could argue that the fact we're not scared to ask for an upgrade or a different room demonstrates the 'have a go' spirit for which we're renowned," she said.

Other findings of the survey show that given the choice, 92 per cent of Australians prefer to travel overseas than in their own country.

Those who chose to stay in Australia said they did so because it was cheaper and because they were close to their work and family if anything happened to them.

Only 10.5 per cent said they opted to holiday at home to support the local economy and just over 5 per cent did so to avoid overcoming language difficulties overseas.

Almost one in four surveyed said they had travelled overseas in the past year but almost one in 10 said they had not taken an overseas holiday in more than five years."

[Lindsay Wilson]

A third of the 1230 people surveyed by email said they thought nothing of asking for a flight upgrade to first or business class

I was wondering how many of them were actually regular travellers, as well as to just how many a J or F upgrade was a pipe dream...then I came across the quote at the end:

Almost one in four surveyed said they had travelled overseas in the past year but almost one in 10 said they had not taken an overseas holiday in more than five years

Very rare for a non-regular traveller to get an operational upgrade these days...hell, it's impossible even when you are a regular traveller because of the high loads and large number of Platinums (it's been a very long time QF, if you're reading this :roll: ).

I would rather burn the upgrade credits (or points) for a confirmed upgrade rather than "hope" that QF deems me worthy... indeed this afternoon I burnt 2 UC's (thanks Mrs LW, whose UC's were expiring) for a BNE/PER flight (fell off my chair in amazement that there was U1 showing) as well as one of my own UC's for an ADL/BNE sector.

BTW BlacKnox, why did you post this in the ANZ forum :?

[knoxd]

Last time I got upgraded to F was from JFK to YVR..
But my plane from ARN to LHR was cancelled because of a bird strike (which rarely happens at Arlanda)
Caught a later flight but missed my connection to YVR
upgraded to BA club from LHR to JFK
only tickets available to YVR were in Bidness
my bags were left at LHR
then scored an upgrade to F after an hour in the BA lounge.

six hours in F after being awake for 48 hours was awesome.
I like being tucked into a sleeper bed by a space waitress..

[Lindsay Wilson]

Being operationally upgraded from Y to J and then onto F on a LHR/JFK sector is definitely worth the stress and worry :wink:

[BlacKnox]

Originally Posted by Lindsay Wilson

BTW BlacKnox, why did you post this in the ANZ forum :?

Ummm, because I didn't know I was doing so. I always assumed that the administrator filed these threads under the appropriate headings. Only now I've realized that it's the contributors that do so, by starting a new topic under the appropriate heading . I told you before Lindsay that I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed , or the quickest study.

And knoxd, it looks like some of the knox charm has helped you too :P .

BTW, I still haven't worked out how to use the âlt buttons so the italics & bold functions are faster. Only 7 months on the board .

[Lindsay Wilson]

I always assumed that the administrator filed these threads under the appropriate headings. Only now I've realized that it's the contributors that do so, by starting a new topic under the appropriate heading

Life is a learning curve BlacKnox. The Administrator did move a mass of threads around when the Board expanded it's headings (around the time when you joined). I'm sure if you asked him nicely now (via PM), he'd do the same to this thread

I told you before Lindsay that I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, or the quickest study.

When did you say that to me :? Was it typed in Japanese ?? 私は小屋の最も鋭い用具、または速い調査でなかった

疲れさせ、感情的だったにちがいない ??

BTW, I still haven't worked out how to use the âlt buttons so the italics & bold functions are faster.

I didn't even know about that . I use the old highlight and press the Bold, Italics or Underline buttons above the message box when replying. You mean there's a different way :wink: - exxxxxcellent

[knoxd]

Well i was actually on an L class ticket..
and first class on CX from JFK to YVR was awesome..
There was another aussie on board and we both laughed histerically when the captain said it was now US law and no one could hang around thr toilets..
and the fact that it was 2004 and they still had full silver service with steel knives at dinner and we were flying first class..

didn't those nasty dudes that took down those planes in 2001 fly first and bidness.. hmmmmmm!!

[BlacKnox]

Originally Posted by Lindsay Wilson

When did you say that to me :? Was it typed in Japanese ?? 私は小屋の最も鋭い用具、または速い調査でなかった

疲れさせ、感情的だったにちがいない ??

Told you by PM in Eigo. BTW, the Japanese above clearly demonstrates the limitations of on-line translation tools .

[Lindsay Wilson]

I always told you that my Japanese was very limited, BlacKnox (or should I have said not the second sharpest tool in the shed )...I remember a couple of phrases, numbers, beer, tired, sex, some swear words, etc...as my first wife was a QF CSA and Japanese speaker (although I still have the little phrase book that I can use).

Yes, I did the reverse translation and

[NM]

Originally Posted by Lindsay Wilson

Yes, I did the reverse translation and

I always wanted a fast investigation of a sharp shed :roll: .