Express Path Immigration and Quarantine

[Mal]

This has also been my experience on flights from HKG to either SYD or MEL. No pass offered to WP's in the Y cabin and on request have been told that there are no more available.

This mirrors my experience as well.

Very shoddy behaviour from Qantas. This is an advertised WP perk for flying back to Australia. Should it happen again to me when I am flying in Y, then I will make a formal complaint to Qantas, and suggest others do as well.

(Yes, this is a bit pedantic I agree, but it is an advertised benefit of WP with Qantas. They have to follow their own rules or other benefits will also be diluted)

 

[Reggie]

As a WP in J on QF26 from LAX and AKL on Sunday, I asked for an express card, and the crew had no idea what they were, so asked CSM, who came and told me there were none on board. They would have been useless anyway, as my bags (tagged first) took 40mins to come out and cutoms was empty:-|

 

[Shano]

Currently sitting in the SYD Flounge prior to QF21 to NRT.

Flew MEL-SYD on QF 458 this evening.

When I have done the dom-int transit in SYD before, I have missed out on the express cards. Immigration is not a problem as I have an APEC card, but have been caught in the security screening queues.

As I had a few minutes to spare in EML, I wandred over to the MEL F checkin and explained my travel plans and asked if I could get an express card.

"Sorry, but we don't have them for Sydney" was the response.

I said surely they must be the same card, but was told they weren't. I was instructed to ask at the transfer lounge in SYD for one.

I duly did this and was actually handed two cards. I checked this card against the one I had from a MEL departure from December that didn't get used...... guess what...they are the same card!

So in summary, if dom-int transitting in SYD ask for the card at the BP reader near gate 1. You may even get lucky and score a couple.

Now if only I could get the inbound card......:evil:

 

[Shano]

Well I am happy to report that I was finally given an inbound e-pass on QF86 this morning.

While waiting to push back at HKG, I was greeted by the CSM who mentioned that they would be distributing the e-passes with the arrivals cards to the few WP's in Y.

Arrival cards were handed out without the e-pass, so I asked the steward handing out the cards for an e-pass. An hour later still no pass, so I hit the call button and asked again - the pass was delivered in about 5 minutes. I was the only WP to get a pass.

About an hour out of MEL, the CSM walks around distributing the e-passes. He obviously didn't know that I had already recieved one, so I was then is possession of 2

Given that we arrived at the same time as QF94 I happily surrendered one of the passes at quarantine.

I also hadn't noticed before but e-pass holders have a dedicated immigration queue at MEL. Fortuntely there is still the separate CREW/APEC lane, which was significantly shorter than the e-pass queue.

 

[simongr]

Good work Shano - it does make a difference doesn't it