My daughter and her cousin returned from their trip to Australia last month raving about the great service Qantas Airways provides. The two spent nearly two weeks traveling between Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Uluru and couldn’t believe how pleasant domestic air travel in the land Down Under could be.

First, they appreciated what a breeze passing through security at Australian airports was. Both were in their early teens in 2001, so they don’t remember what pre-9/11 air travel was like — similar to what they experienced in Australia. “We didn’t have to take off our shoes! Didn’t have to remove liquids or laptops! They didn’t check our IDs or boarding passes! Family and friends could accompany travelers to the gate! It was so EASY!!”

Next, they were impressed with the food service (included in the fare) on the planes. Jenny even posted photos of the meal served on a two-hour flight on Qantas, complete with dessert — ice cream:

And, yes, they were flying coach.

Finally, they experienced a rather significant bump in their travels which would have soured most under such circumstances, but Qantas’ great service even smoothed that over and endeared itself to these young global travelers. They had boarded their early morning flight to visit Ayers Rock (Uluru) in the Outback from Cairns when they learned there was a mechanical problem with the plane. They disembarked, were given $50 each for food and were told they would be informed when the flight was ready to reboard. A few hours later, word came back that the flight had to be cancelled and (as there was only one flight per day to Uluru) they would have to fly out the next morning instead. This caused a bit of a panic on Jenny’s and Alison’s part, as their original one-day side trip now required rebooking of tours and a room at Uluru, plus a return flight to Sydney and a change to their hotel there.

First, Qantas put them up for the night at a very nice hotel nearby (nicer, said the girls, than any other place they’d stayed so far). With free WiFi included, they quickly set about rebooking all the aspects of their trip. Jenny found that (as Lisa Matte noted in her blog the other day), with a pleasant, cheery demeanor — and pointing out that she and her cousin just felt they really had to see magical Uluru since they’d come all this way from America — she was able to get the “very nice” lady from Qantas to secure their flight to Sydney a day later than originally scheduled. Oh, and the $100 Qantas provided for meals and incidentals was a nice bonus.

The next day they made the trouble-free trip to Uluru, enjoyed their tours and a gorgeous sunset,

  and flew to Sydney the following day for a final bit of sightseeing. There they caught a matinee performance of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony at the Opera House

before finally heading back to the States. In the process, Qantas made two friends for life.

How about you? Ever flown Qantas? What was your experience?

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor