Downgraded from Business Class on Qantas due to "tech crew" [pilot] Travel Requirements

[Pushka]

Original Title:

Anyone care to guess why this happened today? A new way forward - err backwards for Qantas?

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Waiting on plane now 20 minutes late for 2 pilots (passengers) who may or may not be planning to board. Sigh.

 

[Pushka]

Waiting on plane now 20 minutes late for 2 pilots (passengers) who may or may not be planning to board. Sigh.

And they just freakin bumped us to Y and me a bloody middle seat. And they are not pilots as we heard them talking in the club.

 

[Pushka]

They bumped you from J to Y for 2 fellas who wouldn't leave the lounge on time?

That’s it in a nutshell. We had an Exec come onboard and asked us to see him outside the plane and explain. We didn’t react much as we didn’t see the point. The CSM was shocked they would do that to 2 WP and has been fab. Great recovery. And apparently Captain radioed ahead to get us an escort through immigration.

We actually moved away from these two in the club as they were so loud. We commented on their rudeness at the time. That’s why we knew them when they sat in our seats.

 

[prozac]

I have heard of Emirates shifting passengers to give locals J seats, but Qantas, really!
I'd complain about this and their boorish behaviour, particularly if they are airline management?
An escort through immigration is hardly compensation. Big deal ...
Was it a good explanation as to why you should shift? And why you and not some other poor mug?

 

[blackcat20]

That’s it in a nutshell. We had an Exec come onboard and asked us to see him outside the plane and explain. We didn’t react much as we didn’t see the point. The CSM was shocked they would do that to 2 WP and has been fab. Great recovery. And apparently Captain radioed ahead to get us an escort through immigration.

We actually moved away from these two in the club as they were so loud. We commented on their rudeness at the time. That’s why we knew them when they sat in our seats.

I'd be sending feedback and chasing some compensation for that. How coughpy.

 

[Pushka]

I have heard of Emirates shifting passengers to give locals J seats, but Qantas, really!
I'd complain about this and their boorish behaviour, particularly if they are airline management?
An escort through immigration is hardly compensation. Big deal ...
Was it a good explanation as to why you should shift? And why you and not some other poor mug?

The escort met us and left us at departures. Kinda pointless.

 

[RooFlyer]

That’s it in a nutshell. We had an Exec come onboard and asked us to see him outside the plane and explain. We didn’t react much as we didn’t see the point. The CSM was shocked they would do that to 2 WP and has been fab. Great recovery. And apparently Captain radioed ahead to get us an escort through immigration.

We actually moved away from these two in the club as they were so loud. We commented on their rudeness at the time. That’s why we knew them when they sat in our seats.

So: You were in the J lounge and 2 guys were carrying on a bit. You boarded and took your assigned seats. Announced delay due to late 2 paxing pilots. An 'Exec' (how identified - did they give name or position?) called you outside (NEVER heard of that being done!!) and explained you were being bumped to Y and the 2 others put in our seats.

You had to go back, move your stuff and be juggled into rear seats while the other 2 took your place?

Is that it?

People know my opinion of Qantas, but that really, really takes the cake.

Where are our Qantas apologists when you need them?

 

[Pushka]

So: You were in the J lounge and 2 guys were carrying on a bit. You boarded and took your assigned seats. Announced delay due to late 2 paxing pilots. An 'Exec' (how identified - did they give name or position?) called you outside (NEVER heard of that being done!!) and explained you were being bumped to Y and the 2 others put in our seats.

You had to go back, move your stuff and be juggled into rear seats while the other 2 took your place?

Is that it?

People know my opinion of Qantas, but that really, really takes the cake.

Where are our Qantas apologists when you need them?

Yup. Summarized beautifully. All of it. The CSM advised first and afterwards he was an Exec.

 

[JohnK]

Yup. Summarized beautifully. All of it. The CSM advised first and afterwards he was an Exec.

Friends of the exec and the exec pulling some strings?

Not a good experience.

 

[RooFlyer]

Yup. Summarized beautifully. All of it. The CSM advised first and afterwards he was an Exec.

Well, I admire your self control. I would have done what I was told (was it a directive, or a 'request to move...'?) but, by God, I would have been speaking my thoughts aloud.

I can see the News tonight:

"When asked about 2 Adelaide passengers being bumped from business class to economy class by two company employees, who were late to board, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said 'We are buying new planes and giving a million FF points to our customers and the Qatar decision had nothing to do with us. Look over there! Is that a fire?' "

 

[Flashback]

Also why wasn't it dealt with before boarding, in the QP or at the gate? Odd.

 

[RooFlyer]

Also why wasn't it dealt with before boarding, in the QP or at the gate? Odd.

Maybe waiting for staff seats - waiting for a while; enjoying the lounge? - 2 Y seats open up when other pax failed to board. "Economy?? Hey, get [Exec] to move a couple of business passengers to those seats and we'll be in business ha, ha, ha."

 

[VPS]

That’s it in a nutshell. We had an Exec come onboard and asked us to see him outside the plane and explain. We didn’t react much as we didn’t see the point. The CSM was shocked they would do that to 2 WP and has been fab. Great recovery. And apparently Captain radioed ahead to get us an escort through immigration.

We actually moved away from these two in the club as they were so loud. We commented on their rudeness at the time. That’s why we knew them when they sat in our seats.

was this in Adelaide? Hope you get the upgrade on the DPS flight

 

[Pushka]

was this in Adelaide? Hope you get the upgrade on the DPS flight

Yep. Adelaide. And still in Y.

 

[Pushka]

Also why wasn't it dealt with before boarding, in the QP or at the gate? Odd.

And therein lies the mystery we are going to explore in a separate post.

Post automatically merged: Aug 25, 2023

Friends of the exec and the exec pulling some strings?

Not a good experience.

Nah. They didn’t act nor look like it. Maybe the son of a politician? Doubt it. They were only in the QP.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not a PWC Intern? (You'll have to be current in the news for that)

 

[Pushka]

Maybe waiting for staff seats - waiting for a while; enjoying the lounge? - 2 Y seats open up when other pax failed to board. "Economy?? Hey, get [Exec] to move a couple of business passengers to those seats and we'll be in business ha, ha, ha."

The plane wasn’t full. In fact rows 4-as far as I could see behind had the middle seat free on both sides. Except for me who was stuck in the middle of row 7. The Executive told me it was an aisle and window seat as I explicitly said I didn’t want a middle seat. He already had boarding pass printed with our names. It was an order. No choice.

 

[VPS]

The plane wasn’t full. In fact rows 4-as far as I could see behind had the middle seat free on both sides. Except for me who was stuck in the middle of row 7. The Executive told me it was an aisle and window seat as I explicitly said I didn’t want a middle seat. He already had boarding pass printed with our names. It was an order. No choice.

Someone is going to get an earful - good luck

 

[Pushka]

The issue.

While seated in business class in row 1 we were asked to leave the plane to speak to a Qantas Exec who told us we were downgraded to Y and he gave us two new boarding passes. No choice. We had to move. We had a connecting International flight.

Background
Yesterday we received the upgrade text for our flight ADL - Mel on Qantas. Sadly we didn’t get the same text for Mel - DPS but them’s the breaks.

Arrived at airport and checked luggage and off to QP. It was crowded. We ended up in the rear section next to two younger guys. They spoke loudly. So loud that when space freed up we moved. In the meantime we couldn’t help hear what they were saying to each other. We got the impression they were or had been working in the mines. They were off to Melbourne. Same flight as us.

Embarkation duly called and were seated for about 20 minutes. Everyone boarded. Then we overheard cabin crew say we were delayed because of two pilots who may or may not board. . About five minutes later we two were asked to leave the plane to speak to an Exec.

He made sure we were not on the plane and we’re out of sight of the rest of the passengers. Said Sorry Sorry and handed us two boarding passes in Y. What do you do? No choice. I asked where the seats were. He said window and aisle.

We had to return to seats retrieve our things and go back to row 7. By which time other people had shifted to our seats. Kerfuffle. To make it worse - middle and aisle. The only middle seat occupied for multiple rows was me.

We looked up and saw those two young noisy men sit down.

The CSM was shocked and embarrassed and we reassured her she was doing great.

We have so many questions. How could this happen.

The two invaders had checked in and had boarding passes at the same time as we did. Were we already overbooked? We had to use Qantas counter checkin for later International transfer. Why didn’t it get picked up then. We had to scan passes at the QP at the same time as them. They were in the lounge for over an hour. Why didn’t it get picked it then?

They were 30 minutes late to board. They sure weren’t pilots - too young. Why did we get bumped for them? When were we bumped?

Anyone have any decent explanation because we just got a story full of discrepancies.

 

[AIRwin]

They may be P1?