Interesting article CT
"In information given to the Senate committee, the agency reported Ms McNaughton had used $19,424 of travel with Qantas between July 1 2017 and May 24, and just $575 with Virgin in the same period. A spokesperson defended the spending based on the flexibility of travelling Qantas between Sydney and Canberra, with the lowest practical fare of the day, departure time, routing and connections also key considerations."
Qantas do run 20 departures on the day I checked compared to 10 for Virgin however there are a number of QF that are 15 mins apart (so we have a very good idea of when people are knocking off) and needing to rely on a certain 15 minutes (for an advanced booking) in aviation is foolish. All 30 are direct flights and almost always Virgin was cheaper.
I wonder how often a free upgrade to bizzy class happens on the 717?