The airline has struggled to recover from poor performance standards when borders re-opened and Choice highlighted that the company had disappointed customers on almost every front: unusable flight credits, delayed flights, disappearing baggage and endless call wait times.

Qantas at one stage managed to accuse its customers of being part of the cause for its problems by claiming they were not “match fit”, a reference to the fact that few people had travelled during the pandemic and customers had forgotten the protocols.

Choice also discovered earlier this year that Qantas and its budget airline subsidiary Jetstar were sitting on $1.4 million in unused consumer flight credits.

All that occurred when chief executive Alan Joyce was handed a pay increase to $2.27 million, up from $1.98 million in 2021, but still below his pre-Covid salary

Choice’s travel expert Jodie Bird said that if there was a company that appeared to be deliberately going out of its way to win a Shonky award it was Qantas.

Choice cited the case of Queenslander Michael Harding who lost more than $1000 worth of travel credits when vouchers Qantas gave him expired before he could use them due to border closures.

“If I had money, I would take legal action. The problem is that I have no idea how to resolve my complaint,” he said.

Choice also handed out Shonky awards to Vetpay, which was a quick access loan to help consumers pay for vet bills. It charges interest rates of 18 per cent.

Steggles also won a Shonky for its Chicken Nuggets Boosted with Vegies. Choice said the product contained only meagre amounts of vegetables and a consumer would need to eat 26 nuggets to get one serve of vegetables.

Florist delivery company Bloomex won a shonky for delivering dead flowers and accepting orders it could not fill.

Choice carried out a mystery shopper campaign with Bloomex and found almost half arrived late and many contained wilting, damaged flowers.

Zega Digital Cookware won a Shonky for a product that didn’t cook properly.