Airline clubs - I am a member of Ansett's Golden Wing Club, and for that matter a member of the Qantas Club. I have been a member of the latter of fifteen years or so and more recently joined the former when I began to flay infrequently with Hazelton Airlines to visit with my wife's family who live in Casino.
I have always disliked Ansett. Maybe it was their cocky attitude, or maybe it was their old planes - or more likely the snobbery shown by frequent Ansett passengers who thought that the main competitor airline, Qantas, was a stuffy old bureaucratic beast.
Whatever the reason I found myself in the Ansett lounges from time to time. They were pretty bad. That is until they finished refurbishing them a year or so prior to going bust. They seemed ok, but lacked the bustle of the busy Qantas lounges. Seems to me that Qantas carried the bulk of Australia's business travel and Ansett was the domain of "old money" - which has always been small in Australia.
I notice with interest that the potential new owners of Ansett are offering to "restore all memberships" and offer an "an additional complimentary six-month membership extension beyond members' current expiry date"
Michael Wilton, 45, from Glebe, a Golden Wing member for eight years, said under no circumstances would he return to the club after losing his Global Reward points last year.
"I'll believe this when I see it. I can understand that [Tesna] is excited about the prospect of owning its own airline, but what about all the people that got burnt when Ansett went under?
"Does Tesna really think that it can make up for all of the inconvenience so many people went through? Maybe it should just concentrate on getting the planes back in the air before it worries about what kind of coffee it is going to serve in the lounges."
IMHO you'll need to do more than that to lure back some custom.
6:38:50 AM 
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