Flight time changes at the airport on Red-E-Deals

[beardoc]

I've been flying recently between SYD-MEL and SYD-BNE on and off, but notice that if I am booking a flight on any weekday evening (usually a later one, around 8pm or so), even if I book a Red-E-Deal, and even if I OLCI, when I get to the airport at around 5-6pm, I do another QuickCheck check-in and am always offered an earlier flight, which I take.

My experience with being offered an earlier flight weekday evenings if I turn up early is currently 100%, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this experience.

I'm of the belief that the old myths of OCLI wrecking your ability of upgrades/flight changes is not true - I'm able to change my flight all the time despite doing OLCI first - just making sure to recheck at the QuickCheck kiosk when I arrive at the airport.

Is that other people's experience? I assume QANTAS is just trying to bring people forward onto relatively unfilled planes, hence the offer. Not that I'm complaining - I'd just keep on eating their food and drinking their drinks in the QP anyway if they didn't!

 

[JohnK]

My experience with being offered an earlier flight weekday evenings if I turn up early is currently 100%, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this experience.

There are a lot of lucky people around.

I have been commuting SYD-BNE since last July and I have been offered an earlier flight just once and that was at check-in when I was at the airport early but there was a lot of flights delayed. I think I got the offer as there may have been connecting passengers delayed and they were trying to get other passengers away early.

I guess what ruins it for me is the popularity of flights on Sunday evening SYD-BNE flight and Friday night BNE-SYD....

 

[oz_mark]

I've been flying recently between SYD-MEL and SYD-BNE on and off, but notice that if I am booking a flight on any weekday evening (usually a later one, around 8pm or so), even if I book a Red-E-Deal, and even if I OLCI, when I get to the airport at around 5-6pm, I do another QuickCheck check-in and am always offered an earlier flight, which I take.

My experience with being offered an earlier flight weekday evenings if I turn up early is currently 100%, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this experience.

Reasonably common at SYD and MEL in my experience, more-so on weekdays. Less so at other airports (although the other airport is typically Perth, and not likely there would be an earlier flight!)

 

[markis10]

QF will often forward load if they know there might be an issue later on, this includes possible weather delays or conencting flight delays, it makes sense, why delay more people than you have to, its not something that can be guaranteed so the practice does not eat into ticket revenue.

 

[MrHyde]

So far I've always been able to get on an earlier flight on a red e-deal if seats are available.

I normally fly MEL - SYD - WLG with a 1 hour stopover in SYD. At times, if I get to MEL airport early, I can get on an earlier flight (30 mins earlier). This helps QF as there is less chance of delays with the connecting flight.

On my trips back, they are normally AKL - SYD - MEL, I have booked really cheap red e-deals that give me a 3 hours stop over when less stopover ones are more expensive. On arriving in SYD, I have always been able to get myself re-checked onto the next available flight instead of waiting for the last SYD - MEL connection.

So, in my experience, QF does seem to be more flexible in forward boarding passengers in SYD and MEL.

 

[serfty]

When Quick Check was first introduced the programming did not have the ability to offer and switch you to an earlier flight.

Instead, when Qantas wished to forward load, it would not let you use the quick check, instead referring to to a customer service agent. I soon woke up to this, and would wait until the immediately prior flight for the rout had departed before fronting the service desk in the QP.

(FWIW, getting to my destination airport earlier was neither here nor there - I would still need to wait for my scheduled pickup - and the seating offered tended to be worse.)

 

[abc12345678]

So more luck in securing earlier departure with QuickCheck than normal check in procedure??

Cheers for the tip. I didn't think the QuickCheck software would be that smart. I'll try next Dom flight (Sunday) and report.

 

[beardoc]

So more luck in securing earlier departure with QuickCheck than normal check in procedure??

Cheers for the tip. I didn't think the QuickCheck software would be that smart. I'll try next Dom flight (Sunday) and report.

I'm speculating here, but I think it's not that Quickcheck is any better in getting a flight brought forward - it's that now it's not worse than talking to an agent. Give it a go.

On the times in the past that Quickcheck didn't give me an earlier flight, and I went to an agent and asked, I got the "lecture" about it not being possible with the terms and conditions of my fare, etc.

 

[abc12345678]

...I got the "lecture" about it not being possible with the terms and conditions of my fare, etc.

I get this "lecture" when I try to get on an earlier flight with cheapo fare.

As mentioned in another thread, I give them my own "lecture" back, along the lines of it being to QF's benefit to get me on the next flight or I'll be having 15 Bluetounges!

I once got an agent that laughed...

 

[pauly7]

I'm really impressed with QF rolling out added functionality on Quickcheck, it was really begging for it -> I tended not to use it before but now I do all the time especially now you can upgrade for points as well.