Virgin Australia Saves the day

[JohnK]

I was once told that if I have never missed a flight, I "waste too much time at the airport". Personally Im happy to "waste" some time if it means I don't experience the stress that OP did.

I am not being critical of the OP but that is so true. I have cut it fine many times. I have missed my flight. I have had to run from Airport drive to T3 with laptop bag and ~20kg luggage. It isn't fun.

Overseas I try to get to airport ~2-3 hours before flight.

 

[mannej]

As it has been mentioned, stories like this you only receive 1 side out of 3 (the others being the airline's perspective and then the truth).

Unless the OP has witnessed the conversation, and not the tail end of it they are only assuming it was a private call. In my mind "Thanks Love" or "Bye Bye Love" in that type of work environment doesn't confirm if the call was private or not.

The other ironic thing is that the OP mentions Due diligence a number of times. As by the comments of others it would seem that the OP did not carry out their due diligence in terms of leaving for the airport.

It is fine to have a rant, but I find it interesting that there are those who will rant but not like it when others disagree with them

3) technically you were not 2 minutes late. Worthwhile of feedback to qantas to say that you missed your flight because you had to wait for a the service agent to finish what seemed to be a personal phone call.

The OP arrived at 7:32 and was not seen to until 7:36 so yes they did arrive 2 minutes after the check-in closed for those with checked-in baggage.

 

[Pug1]

I was going to send you a PM but thought it might be worth stating again in public.
If you see responses that you believe might 'cross the line' then please use the report post function. This immediately alerts admin and all the mods so they can then make a decision on it. Incidentally just because you don't see an outcome does not mean that it hasn't as we never feedback what has or has not been done to tidy up a situation. This may vary from editing or deleting posts (obvious) to giving a warning or infraction. (not obvious)

thanks for the tip Straitman.

 

[DC3]

.... many of the responses here seem to be quite rude and self righteous and unfortunately this thread is not the first one where I have noticed this type of response ..

When you have a moment, you might want to check out flyertalk, some time: FlyerTalk Forums


AFF is nothing like what goes on in some of those posts. I would agree that there's no excuse for downright rudeness, but most of us will have our self righteous (smug) moments at some time.

Edit: flyertalk can have some very useful information, even though USA centric, mostly

 

[jackthomas]

Certainly seems that this thread has gone into a bit of an attack on the OP, however I certainly agree that the airline isn't responsible for traffic delays etc.
I have some strong opinions on the benefits of VA over QF and Vice Versa, and I've heavily sampled both being Gold and Plat at VA and Gold at QF.

Virgin have a much stronger ground experience with premium entry/security, I prefer their lounge designs and branding, their priority boarding actually works and their ground services staff are always genuinely willing to help and friendly... I also find VA domestic Business a much more polished experience over QF (no mini wine bottles etc)

Qantas however have a much better domestic economy product and offering and superior international ground services (goes without saying really since VA is a mostly domestic carrier)

 

[Awesom Andy]

In summary, the OP arrived after the check in time for QF, but the VA check in was still open so he flew with VA instead as he needed to be at the destination by a certain time. It's just another day in the world of aviation.

 

[serfty]

... but the VA check in was still open ...

Ummm .... no ... VA staff must have repoened check in for the OP. This was not completed, bags and all, until 20 minutes before the flight.

 

[PLANT]

I think this maybe JB filling in time before he made the profit report presentation

 

[Quickstatus]

The VA flight in question departed at 0840. VA412 - flight aware says it departed on time.

Checkin had not closed yet by the time the new tickets were purchased as the OP said checkin completed at 0810 which is 30 minutes before the flight. 0732 to 0810 =. 38 minutes for arrival into T3,wait 4 min for agent to end call, negotiate unsuccessfully with agent, sprint across to T2, and buy new tickets. Doable.

So QF checkin had closed but the VA flight departed 40 minutes later so VA checkin not yet closed. Both offered to reaccomodate OP on their next flight. QF was their 1035, luckily VA still had the 0840.

This is not a case of VA bending over backwards, just the OP being unlucky then lucky. The OP should have titled the post:
"Quick thinking platinum saves the day".

He was smart enough to think laterally instead of trying to argue the issue with supervisors as oft portrayed in reality airline shows .

 

[ozjuice]

My better half hates me for getting to the airport 2 hours before check-in even opens.....but i have never missed a flight. The only single occasion i was stuck in traffic with an accident heading to BNE for a 2 week USA / Caribbean Cruise. That stress with a family of 4 watching the clock tick down was too much for me. We did just make it........But....i now sleep at the airport door! ;-)

Side note - I very much enjoyed the well written and humorous rant from the OP. Please don't be discouraged from a few bad opinions.

 

[medhead]

The VA flight in question departed at 0840. VA412 - flight aware says it departed on time.

Checkin had not closed yet by the time the new tickets were purchased as the OP said checkin completed at 0810 which is 30 minutes before the flight. 0732 to 0810 =. 38 minutes for arrival into T3,wait 4 min for agent to end call, negotiate unsuccessfully with agent, sprint across to T2, and buy new tickets. Doable.

So QF checkin had closed but the VA flight departed 40 minutes later so VA checkin not yet closed. Both offered to reaccomodate OP on their next flight. QF was their 1035, luckily VA still had the 0840.

This is not a case of VA bending over backwards, just the OP being unlucky then lucky. The OP should have titled the post:
"Quick thinking platinum saves the day".

He was smart enough to think laterally instead of trying to argue the issue with supervisors as oft portrayed in reality airline shows .

They arrived at the back of the queue in T2 at 8am with no ticket and a hard check in cut off at 8:10am. Plus, of course, VA wanting people to check in 45 minutes before the flight. VA walked the OP through the process of buying a ticket and checking in as a priority. That is bending over backwards. There was zero need for them to help a Nothing Red at the back of the queue.

 

[DC3]

QF offered their very next flight, or did I get that wrong? Can't complain there.

 

[RooFlyer]

They arrived at the back of the queue in T2 at 8am with no ticket and a hard check in cut off at 8:10am. Plus, of course, VA wanting people to check in 45 minutes before the flight. VA walked the OP through the process of buying a ticket and checking in as a priority. That is bending over backwards. There was zero need for them to help a Nothing Red at the back of the queue.

Exactly - hence the title of the thread "Virgin Australia Saves the day"; not "Bloody Qantas refused to check me in even though I arrived on time (or just after)". Any business that stretches to accommodate me, in the right or wrong, earns my business.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

QF offered their very next flight, or did I get that wrong? Can't complain there.

Yes the OP arrived after checkin closed, got offered the next flight.

 

[Quickstatus]

Any business that stretches to accommodate me, in the right or wrong, earns my business.

This is a very valid argument to eschew airline status and fly best fare of day and/or best airline of day.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

This is a very valid argument to eschew airline status and fly best fare of day and/or best airline of day.

Not necessarily, because often they are more accomodating of their frequent flyers.
In fact the reason the OP is so outraged is because he expected QF to do just that, and they disappointed him.
Similarly VA's efforts stand out precisely because he wasn't one of their frequent flyers.

I would be interested to hear of any other occasions on which an airline has bent over backwards to win the business of a non-customer.

 

[Quickstatus]

Not necessarily, because often they are more accomodating of their frequent flyers.
In fact the reason the OP is so outraged is because he expected QF to do just that, and they disappointed him.
Similarly VA's efforts stand out precisely because he wasn't one of their frequent flyers.

I would be interested to hear of any other occasions on which an airline has bent over backwards to win the business of a non-customer.

You mean new customer.
There is a perception that there are better upgrade opportunities for QF statused customers tavelling on QF codeshares on EK hardware than on QF hardware.
The other is the Status Match.

I have had family members who are VA Gold getting no love at VA but subsequently love at QF and vica versa.

I think it happens more often that we know, and I suspect there is much behind the scenes, and other factors that are more important to the airline than passenger status that drive the particular decisions/behaviours of the airline.

 

[trixydoza]

Side note - I very much enjoyed the well written and humorous rant from the OP.

And for the contrarian take: you read these things enough, you become tired of the attempts to be the next Oliver Beale. It's so last decade.

 

[basso]

They arrived at the back of the queue in T2 at 8am with no ticket and a hard check in cut off at 8:10am. Plus, of course, VA wanting people to check in 45 minutes before the flight. VA walked the OP through the process of buying a ticket and checking in as a priority. That is bending over backwards. There was zero need for them to help a Nothing Red at the back of the queue.

Granted, but the fact that the Virgin flight was scheduled for an 8:40 departure, not an 8:30 departure makes a big difference to the outcome of this story.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

This is a very valid argument to eschew airline status and fly best fare of day and/or best airline of day.

Unless the op was on a flexi QF were within their rights to make op buy a new ticket. They didn't do that they offered a free change to next flight so they did in fact stretch to accommodate the op