Qantas has been named by consumer publication ‘Choice’ as one of the winners of the 2022 Shonky Awards.
The Shonky Awards recognise “the worst of the worst products and services taking advantage of Australians”.
The publication described the airline as the “Spirit of Disappointment”, criticising the company’s flight delays, baggage handling and pricing.
Why Qantas?
Choice money and travel expert, Jodi Bird, said Qantas may have misled consumers with its credit vouchers at the start of the pandemic, by not being “upfront that customers may be entitled to refunds” instead.
Qantas has responded saying customers had redeemed “more than $1 billion in COVID-related flight credits”.
“The conditions for these are the same or better than they were pre-COVID and we’re actively encouraging our customers to use them,” the airline said.
In March, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said they were investigating multiple complaints into the flight credit policy, but have declined to comment until the investigation is complete.
Qantas’ response
Qantas dismissed the rationale presented by Choice, stating “these awards are clearly out of date” and “Choice is using figures that are just wrong”.
“No one is disputing the fact we had issues earlier this year, and we apologised for that, but it’s disappointing that Choice failed to acknowledge the impact that COVID and border closures have had on the entire aviation industry,” Qantas said.
