$22 fuel levy at Qantas for Staff Travel per sector
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$22 fuel levy at Qantas for Staff Travel per sector
Why is there no comment on this?
Outraged..............
We only fill empty seats, SQ tried this and the staff cracked it, why can't we unite for once and do the same.
Outraged..............
We only fill empty seats, SQ tried this and the staff cracked it, why can't we unite for once and do the same.
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At what ~ US $68/tonne cost approx...... I think $22Aust surcharge per Sector is a bit rich.
As I have just recently read, - where is the Executive Bonus surcharge!
As I have just recently read, - where is the Executive Bonus surcharge!
You think you’re outraged at what you have to pay for fuel surcharges. CX staff are being sc****d just as much.
USD45.30/ HKD353.00/ CAD54.00/ NZD64.00 or equivalent for CX flight coupons between HKG and Southwest Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asian sub-continent, and between Bangkok and Dubai.
USD11.70/ HKD91.00/ NZD17.00 or equivalent for CX flight coupons not mentioned above.
And don’t get me started on all the bl**dy taxes we get hit with as well. No one can tell me staff travel isn’t a major profit centre for CX and all major airlines the world over.
USD45.30/ HKD353.00/ CAD54.00/ NZD64.00 or equivalent for CX flight coupons between HKG and Southwest Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asian sub-continent, and between Bangkok and Dubai.
USD11.70/ HKD91.00/ NZD17.00 or equivalent for CX flight coupons not mentioned above.
And don’t get me started on all the bl**dy taxes we get hit with as well. No one can tell me staff travel isn’t a major profit centre for CX and all major airlines the world over.
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Wasn't all that long ago that one could purchase a return staff ticket from Melbourne to Sydney and get change out of twenty dollars!Now that same twenty dollars doesn't cover the fuel levy, never mind all the airport charges and taxes (nothing like privatisation to make trave cheaper eh?)
But then, that was when airlines valued and looked after their staff a little more than they seem to do today. Ansett was particularly good in this area(and I understand that TAA/Australian airlines were equally as good before being swallowed up by Qantas). How much things have changed in such a short period of time.
But then, that was when airlines valued and looked after their staff a little more than they seem to do today. Ansett was particularly good in this area(and I understand that TAA/Australian airlines were equally as good before being swallowed up by Qantas). How much things have changed in such a short period of time.
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Maybe it's time we did something like the general public did with the fuel companies a month or so ago. Boycott the company for a day. All go sick just for one day, say December 5th. Give the management an unexpected long weekend. Its only a small sacrifice for each person but would send a loud message to the company. More so than voting down an EBA or a stop work meeting. Get the maintenance, check-in, baggage handler, call centres, pilots, flight att and everybody else involved. Sometimes the greatest victorys come from the smallest beginings.
GD will never stop until he is made to show cause why this or that happened.
GD will never stop until he is made to show cause why this or that happened.
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I was going to start this topic, but did not want to be labelled as ungrateful from those outside the industry for our cheap fares.
Now I may be a cynic but is this just one more subtle way to p!ss staff off and maybe hasten the departure of some people who may have been thinking of leaving the place already.
GD says this is because fuel costs will increase by $400-600 million. Now I am being extremely generous here, but even if this levy on staff travel raised $1 million it would still be a drop in the ocean and would not be noticed on the balance sheet. Which proves to me they just want to p!ss off staff.
Staff travel must already make a decent profit for them as we are just filling empty seats. So for example on a flight to LAX with 10 staff there is an extra $2500 they would have if the staff were upgradeable. This is money they would not have otherwise so I can not see how this costs them.
If times at QF are that tough that we need a fuel surcharge on staff tickets, perhaps we should just close up the business as obivously there is no money in it and QF will soon be broke. As I said earlier perhaps I am just a cynic.
Now I may be a cynic but is this just one more subtle way to p!ss staff off and maybe hasten the departure of some people who may have been thinking of leaving the place already.
GD says this is because fuel costs will increase by $400-600 million. Now I am being extremely generous here, but even if this levy on staff travel raised $1 million it would still be a drop in the ocean and would not be noticed on the balance sheet. Which proves to me they just want to p!ss off staff.
Staff travel must already make a decent profit for them as we are just filling empty seats. So for example on a flight to LAX with 10 staff there is an extra $2500 they would have if the staff were upgradeable. This is money they would not have otherwise so I can not see how this costs them.
If times at QF are that tough that we need a fuel surcharge on staff tickets, perhaps we should just close up the business as obivously there is no money in it and QF will soon be broke. As I said earlier perhaps I am just a cynic.
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International Staff Fuel levy is $35.00 per coupon.
Want to go to LHR ?.
Four coupons ( BNE - SIN - LHR - SIN - BNE ) = $140.00.
Going with the Memsahib doubles it.
Thats another $280.00 just for fuel levy alone.
Want to go to LHR ?.
Four coupons ( BNE - SIN - LHR - SIN - BNE ) = $140.00.
Going with the Memsahib doubles it.
Thats another $280.00 just for fuel levy alone.
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Mustangbaz dunno where you got your info abt sq staff "cracking it " but you are dead wrong there.
On my last staff ticket fare was $240 and taxes were $296 !
Buy yourself an excursion fare and then you have as many rights as Joe public .
On my last staff ticket fare was $240 and taxes were $296 !
Buy yourself an excursion fare and then you have as many rights as Joe public .
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Could there be a bigger fk you from management?
As someone else said, lets look at the figures. I mean, what is one paying for when they purchase a staff travel ticket? An economy fare one way from Melbourne to Sydney is $30 excluding taxes. So what is in the 30 bucks for Qantas? Surely that covers any processing costs of the ticket, extra baggage processing if you are carrying it and any other little costs such as helping pay a little to keep the Staff Travel people employed and the website running etc. Perhaps at the very most all of those costs would equal $15 and I reckon I am being very generous. Now lets see what you get for that other $15: No confirmed seat, ie it doesn't cost them a cent for them to uplift you (apart from the extra fuel which I will talk about in a minute), you might get a crappy meal and a drink if you are lucky (or unlucky
) all of which would come to the total of $5 at the most, and lets no forget the fact that you would only have what was left over from all the fare paying pax so you may get a ticket with no catering so we can even ignore this cost for some sectors. Apart from that you do not get anything else. Qantas makes a healthy $10-15 dollars on a seat they would otherwise have made $0 - not one cent!
So to my point. If there is already $10-15 dollars in spare in the price of a staff travel MEL-SYD ticket, then surely that is enough to cover the extra thimble of fuel you are likely to cost the company on such a sector. I mean a short sector like that, I can't remember the figures, but I think it was something quite small like less than an extra 100kg or fuel to carry an extra 1000kg of fuel to destination, so going by that rational, a staff passenger weighting about 100kg (70kg person + 30kg of bags or something like that) would cost about 10kg of fuel, and I think that is being generous. And wow, hang on a minute, that 10kg is about $10 and already covered in the cost of the ticket!
I cannot see how they can justify an extra $22 PER SECTOR on top of the already inflated price of a staff ticket. Not to mention its $22 whether you are going CBR-SYD or BNE-PER
I also just want to add that I do think we are lucky to have staff travel but I think it is a perk or the airline industry and a part of the reward for working such strange hours in all different time zones etc. and there are not too many other jobs where you will not be home for Christmas, New Years, Easter, children’s and partner’s birthdays etc. etc. the list goes on. I think its not an unfair perk to have, the same way as is being advertised on the TV the employees of Holden get discounts on cars etc etc. But management is trying to further disengage us by taking away these rights (or not taking away but making them so unattractive that they are not worth using).
Anyway, lets do the same figures again on a SYD-LAX sector. An economy ticket without tax is still a whopping $135 (this is what they charge you for a seat that would otherwise have gone empty). So what do we have again? say $15-20 for the ticket and baggage processing, keeping staff travel running etc. That leaves $115. Now again a little more food perhaps (forgetting about business class, its $270 a ticket for some unknown bloody reason, I doubt that you get an extra $135 worth of food and drink, its just another example of greediness and disrespect from Qf management - but that’s another issue (the extra $135 that is
)). So back to my point, you might eat $15 worth of their food. Now remaining money in the ticket is $100. So Qantas has now made $100 dollars from this seat which they would otherwise have made them 0, nothing, a duck. And lets look at the 'incredible' amount of fuel that would have had to have been uploaded from using this extra seat. Say roughly it is about 500kgs of fuel needed to carry another ton of fuel to destination and we had an average weight of a staff pax being about 100kg, then it would mean they would cost an extra 50-60kgs of fuel. Again I think this is being extremely generous. So what to we have? Even with this extra 50kgs of fuel, Qf still stand to make at least $40 dollars from a seat that otherwise would have made 0. I would have thought a good deal for all concerned? Qf make a little on the side from a seat that otherwise would have given them nothing and the staff member feels good about being able to use on of the few 'perks' of the job during their time off and thus perhaps feel a little more 'engaged'. But NO but that not enough for the people running this joke that is becoming Qf. They want to stick an farcical extra $35 per sector. It is disgusting.
As many people have talked about, domestically now it is almost a cheap to get a return fare with virgin and have a confirmed seat. Now I must admit a year ago I would have paid the extra and got a seat with Qantas and never have contemplated flying with Virgin, however moves like this from greedy Qf management which have no plausible explanation (or at least none have been put forward to us) are starting to change my views because they are obviously trying to make it clear that they don't give a stuff about us, so why should we give a stuff about them? Its not the way I want to be or feel but the leadership from the top down in this company is nothing short of abysmal.
k you from management?As someone else said, lets look at the figures. I mean, what is one paying for when they purchase a staff travel ticket? An economy fare one way from Melbourne to Sydney is $30 excluding taxes. So what is in the 30 bucks for Qantas? Surely that covers any processing costs of the ticket, extra baggage processing if you are carrying it and any other little costs such as helping pay a little to keep the Staff Travel people employed and the website running etc. Perhaps at the very most all of those costs would equal $15 and I reckon I am being very generous. Now lets see what you get for that other $15: No confirmed seat, ie it doesn't cost them a cent for them to uplift you (apart from the extra fuel which I will talk about in a minute), you might get a crappy meal and a drink if you are lucky (or unlucky
) all of which would come to the total of $5 at the most, and lets no forget the fact that you would only have what was left over from all the fare paying pax so you may get a ticket with no catering so we can even ignore this cost for some sectors. Apart from that you do not get anything else. Qantas makes a healthy $10-15 dollars on a seat they would otherwise have made $0 - not one cent!So to my point. If there is already $10-15 dollars in spare in the price of a staff travel MEL-SYD ticket, then surely that is enough to cover the extra thimble of fuel you are likely to cost the company on such a sector. I mean a short sector like that, I can't remember the figures, but I think it was something quite small like less than an extra 100kg or fuel to carry an extra 1000kg of fuel to destination, so going by that rational, a staff passenger weighting about 100kg (70kg person + 30kg of bags or something like that) would cost about 10kg of fuel, and I think that is being generous. And wow, hang on a minute, that 10kg is about $10 and already covered in the cost of the ticket!
I cannot see how they can justify an extra $22 PER SECTOR on top of the already inflated price of a staff ticket. Not to mention its $22 whether you are going CBR-SYD or BNE-PER
I also just want to add that I do think we are lucky to have staff travel but I think it is a perk or the airline industry and a part of the reward for working such strange hours in all different time zones etc. and there are not too many other jobs where you will not be home for Christmas, New Years, Easter, children’s and partner’s birthdays etc. etc. the list goes on. I think its not an unfair perk to have, the same way as is being advertised on the TV the employees of Holden get discounts on cars etc etc. But management is trying to further disengage us by taking away these rights (or not taking away but making them so unattractive that they are not worth using).
Anyway, lets do the same figures again on a SYD-LAX sector. An economy ticket without tax is still a whopping $135 (this is what they charge you for a seat that would otherwise have gone empty). So what do we have again? say $15-20 for the ticket and baggage processing, keeping staff travel running etc. That leaves $115. Now again a little more food perhaps (forgetting about business class, its $270 a ticket for some unknown bloody reason, I doubt that you get an extra $135 worth of food and drink, its just another example of greediness and disrespect from Qf management - but that’s another issue (the extra $135 that is
)). So back to my point, you might eat $15 worth of their food. Now remaining money in the ticket is $100. So Qantas has now made $100 dollars from this seat which they would otherwise have made them 0, nothing, a duck. And lets look at the 'incredible' amount of fuel that would have had to have been uploaded from using this extra seat. Say roughly it is about 500kgs of fuel needed to carry another ton of fuel to destination and we had an average weight of a staff pax being about 100kg, then it would mean they would cost an extra 50-60kgs of fuel. Again I think this is being extremely generous. So what to we have? Even with this extra 50kgs of fuel, Qf still stand to make at least $40 dollars from a seat that otherwise would have made 0. I would have thought a good deal for all concerned? Qf make a little on the side from a seat that otherwise would have given them nothing and the staff member feels good about being able to use on of the few 'perks' of the job during their time off and thus perhaps feel a little more 'engaged'. But NO but that not enough for the people running this joke that is becoming Qf. They want to stick an farcical extra $35 per sector. It is disgusting. As many people have talked about, domestically now it is almost a cheap to get a return fare with virgin and have a confirmed seat. Now I must admit a year ago I would have paid the extra and got a seat with Qantas and never have contemplated flying with Virgin, however moves like this from greedy Qf management which have no plausible explanation (or at least none have been put forward to us) are starting to change my views because they are obviously trying to make it clear that they don't give a stuff about us, so why should we give a stuff about them? Its not the way I want to be or feel but the leadership from the top down in this company is nothing short of abysmal.
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Staff Travel
I do not have the privelege of being QF or Ex QF, so I fly myself, or buy a ticket QF, DJ etc, and thats fine, but the staff rate is well below a standard average rate the consumer pays, and that is fine too. I do not think anybody working in a Jam factory getting free jam would think differently.
However if there are growing fuel costs you should expect a slight increase in your "donation" to costs, if the real fuel cost increase was say $6.57 well make the increase $7 or $8, but I have to agree $22 is a bit steep...... but maybe not. You need to have the real proven costs, and often that is a bigger surprise than you would otherwise believe, in any business.
Why don't you take some facts and figures to management and put your cards on the table and expect they do the same?
Now in defense of the QF staff, just a few weeks ago, a friend of mine was removed from a QF 737 BNE-SYD flight after it was "filled up" from an earlier cancelled flight (wonder why it was cancelled...mech fault or poor loading????). They were taking the last of a few spare seats anyway, and they were asked to get off. Excuse was being overweight. Now in my plane 3 too many bodies is overweight, but when they do not weigh everybody how can they judge 3 people who were grossing 200kg. Their luggage stayed on and went to Sydney. The 200kg would have made no difference.
next they had two more flights that night, but guess what no available seats........ So check into a motel at 10pm......no chance...drive 1.5 hours home and back at 5a.m. the next day to try to catch up with their luggage and make a connecting flight elsewhere.
Does not sound like the way you should treat one of your retired senior captains of 35 years of service flying longhaul all the time.
I think the staff travel should be improved like booked as a stand by and 24 hours prior if the flight is not full, you get confirmed, just like Joe Public.
Brings me to another point. All the QF frequent flyer points I have I can rarely use unless I book 12 months in advance. Have done that recently. they must have a huge liability on their books and if they allowed yo to trade points for a stand by seat more people would use them, and the flights would be utilised and the liability reduced. Happier customers etc. Sure if you want to have a confirmed seat you book one of the (few) assigned FF seats, but if yuo are prepared to wait and risk it, burn the equal points!
Now this seems like good common sense...... pick it to pieces now!
J
However if there are growing fuel costs you should expect a slight increase in your "donation" to costs, if the real fuel cost increase was say $6.57 well make the increase $7 or $8, but I have to agree $22 is a bit steep...... but maybe not. You need to have the real proven costs, and often that is a bigger surprise than you would otherwise believe, in any business.
Why don't you take some facts and figures to management and put your cards on the table and expect they do the same?
Now in defense of the QF staff, just a few weeks ago, a friend of mine was removed from a QF 737 BNE-SYD flight after it was "filled up" from an earlier cancelled flight (wonder why it was cancelled...mech fault or poor loading????). They were taking the last of a few spare seats anyway, and they were asked to get off. Excuse was being overweight. Now in my plane 3 too many bodies is overweight, but when they do not weigh everybody how can they judge 3 people who were grossing 200kg. Their luggage stayed on and went to Sydney. The 200kg would have made no difference.
next they had two more flights that night, but guess what no available seats........ So check into a motel at 10pm......no chance...drive 1.5 hours home and back at 5a.m. the next day to try to catch up with their luggage and make a connecting flight elsewhere.
Does not sound like the way you should treat one of your retired senior captains of 35 years of service flying longhaul all the time.
I think the staff travel should be improved like booked as a stand by and 24 hours prior if the flight is not full, you get confirmed, just like Joe Public.
Brings me to another point. All the QF frequent flyer points I have I can rarely use unless I book 12 months in advance. Have done that recently. they must have a huge liability on their books and if they allowed yo to trade points for a stand by seat more people would use them, and the flights would be utilised and the liability reduced. Happier customers etc. Sure if you want to have a confirmed seat you book one of the (few) assigned FF seats, but if yuo are prepared to wait and risk it, burn the equal points!
Now this seems like good common sense...... pick it to pieces now!
J
Evertonian
Way, waaay back in the early eighties, when a young lad first joined Ansett...I was told that my wages were below the general standard at the time however, the wages were subsidised by the employee benefits, namely staff travel! Oh how, over the years, I wished I had that in writing! It was the one pearl of wisdom from Gerry Oliver that I can recall.
Perhaps, bearing in mind the general cost of the average airfare these days, you should negotiate away the staff benefits for a higher wage...if that can be done...think of how much you use it & see what'd be more worthwhile to you all.
Just a thought...
Perhaps, bearing in mind the general cost of the average airfare these days, you should negotiate away the staff benefits for a higher wage...if that can be done...think of how much you use it & see what'd be more worthwhile to you all.
Just a thought...
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During my time at QF, i was a regular user of Stravel, reg flying between SYD/BNE and SYD/CNS, never had an issue with getting a seat, occasionally from CNS to SYD there might be a wait till the last minute thing otherwise no dramas. average cost of a return seat was about $220. im pretty sure some of those seats were already paid for by no-shows.
now leaving QF, and still having access to Stravel, but sadly i have NEVER gotten a seat since leaving.
apart from that, there is the Please Hold for approx 8 hrs on the phone just to book the ticket, then being told EVERY time since leaving that there are no seats avalable..
why go through that drama for a $220 seat when i can get a Confirmed seat now with VB? for the same money or less.
is it just me or does the term "retired" on your stravel privileges mean "sorry we gave you staff travel as part of your redundancy so we will make sure every other seat is taken with active staff before we even think about you"
though the story might (hopefully) be different for International travel.
now leaving QF, and still having access to Stravel, but sadly i have NEVER gotten a seat since leaving.
apart from that, there is the Please Hold for approx 8 hrs on the phone just to book the ticket, then being told EVERY time since leaving that there are no seats avalable..
why go through that drama for a $220 seat when i can get a Confirmed seat now with VB? for the same money or less.
is it just me or does the term "retired" on your stravel privileges mean "sorry we gave you staff travel as part of your redundancy so we will make sure every other seat is taken with active staff before we even think about you"
though the story might (hopefully) be different for International travel.
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the fuel surcharge for staff abosolutely sux. Anyone who works for QF should be able to travel at a generous discount in return for their efforts as loyal employees. If for nothing else but to ensure employees understand and appreciate the finished product of their labour ie. a servicable aircraft, carrying the general public over vast distances. And in the context of not every QF employees is on big dollars , may have a large family etc. they still need to be encouraged to travel and enjoy the benefit of working for an airline.
anyway this is just another small erosion of staff benefits.. actually i think most ETOMS staff are more concerened about keeping their jobs at the moment and the new surcharge has not sunk in yet.
I tend to agree with a previous post, if I really need to be somewhere by a certain time I will look at VB on the net. GD your a hard man..!!
anyway this is just another small erosion of staff benefits.. actually i think most ETOMS staff are more concerened about keeping their jobs at the moment and the new surcharge has not sunk in yet.
I tend to agree with a previous post, if I really need to be somewhere by a certain time I will look at VB on the net. GD your a hard man..!!
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At what ~ US $68/tonne cost approx.....
But I do agree that $22 is a bit steep.