Better QF Ground Service / Benefits?

[JohnK]

The most important thing for QF to do is to ensure that luggage is loaded onto the same flight as the passenger. Not good enough, under any circumstances, to have delayed luggage.

Priority check-in sometimes does not work. In BNE on Friday I used the normal bag drop and waited <1 min to be served. There was 2-3 people in the business queue and 4-5 people in the Qantas Club queue waiting to be served when I walked past to get to security.

Security lines in BNE can be long on some Friday afternoons but no more than a 5 minute wait. They only ever 3 out of 4 x-ray machines as I guess they are short of staff.

 

[anat0l]

The most important thing for QF to do is to ensure that luggage is loaded onto the same flight as the passenger. Not good enough, under any circumstances, to have delayed luggage.

Within Australia, agreed - no real excuse unless something on the day has gone to the dogs (e.g. electrical or Amadeus fault), since QF handle all the luggage around all Australian airports with few noted exceptions.

Outside of Australia, you're really relying on the systems of the airports involved, unless QF hire their own dedicated outcrop of handlers to handle their baggage at outstations. Ideally this would be great but modern business models say procurement / outsourcing is a better (read: less risky & costly) idea. Of course, as part of that model, QF (and any airline for that matter) accept the risk of having to deal with customer problems at face if their luggage is misplaced or damaged.

I wonder how airlines react or handle situations like if LHR goes hay-wire. Everyone knows that they lose the most bags of all the airports around the world (I wonder if that's true even on a per pax basis).

I've had QF misplace my bags twice but both times they were extremely efficient at tracing and seeing that my bags were put on the first possible flights before being couriered to me. I've had to deal with MH in the past about a lost baggage and let's just say I never want to speak of it again.

Priority check-in sometimes does not work. In BNE on Friday I used the normal bag drop and waited <1 min to be served. There was 2-3 people in the business queue and 4-5 people in the Qantas Club queue waiting to be served when I walked past to get to security.

No one says priority check-in always works, but even better reason that the elites should be split into two classes of line and the confusing signage redone. In any case, priority lines give valued (can I say that? ) flyers options if normal lines are long. It of course does not preclude nor deprive them of the option of using the normal lines.

In more cases than not, I'm glad that I can use premium check-in rather than the normal lines.

 

[JohnK]

Within Australia, agreed - no real excuse unless something on the day has gone to the dogs (e.g. electrical or Amadeus fault), since QF handle all the luggage around all Australian airports with few noted exceptions.

I was referring to domestic.

 

[docjames]

Certainly MEL on a Monday morning at the QF terminal is horrendous - 10-15 mins easy, sometime more if you pick the wrong line. It's time you'd rather not have to factor in for early bird flights.... Contrast to Virgin, which is usually quick... a priority queue for status at peak time for Qantas would help a lot, as would any extra screening!! (I'm a NB - and would still advocate an (extra) 'status' line just to speed things up... and for when I do get status )

When departing MEL this am, QF line was <2 mins for security. Much appreciated at OMG O'Clock (0515 at security, in QP by 0518).

The bag drop alone at DJ was enormous (at least as I saw it from the driveway).....