Holidays and Airport 'Chaos' since COVID

[Saab34]

Is a whole heap of cancellation from Melbourne this morning, I am sure that will be fun with pretty much no seats available.

Looks like some weather issues (?) on the Gold Coast last night has created a bit of a mess.

 

[jakeseven7]

There was a baggage meltdown yesterday morning in Melbourne for Virgin and Jetstar flights as well (do they use same company or perhaps it was mechanical). Delays of up to an hour getting bags apparently.

 

[Saab34]

There was a baggage meltdown yesterday morning in Melbourne for Virgin and Jetstar flights as well (do they use same company or perhaps it was mechanical). Delays of up to an hour getting bags apparently.

Seems to be happening every week alongside checkin systems crashing.

Third world infrastructure here at MEL.

 

[pangwen]

Seems to be happening every week alongside checkin systems crashing.

Third world infrastructure here at MEL.

Flew SYD-BNE on QF yesterday evening. Heaps of delayed (1+ hr) flights to all destinations.

At one point the lounge announced that they were "running out of gates" (?!) and to try to get to the gate as soon as boarding is called. When we got onto our flight, the pilot said they landed on time, but there were no free gates so they were delayed in discharging the previous flight's passengers.

 

[Quickstatus]

My decision to limit air travel in 2022 is still valid

 

[AIRwin]

My decision to limit air travel in 2022 is still valid

During school holidays

 

[Lynda2475]

During school holidays

Mind you that is wise for anyone who doesnt have to travel at that time - save money and have less hectic airport experience.

 

[mviy]

It will be hectic. I have SG so should be able to use Business checkin and priority security lane for my domestic flight.

The transfer to international will be interesting. Hoping I get some lounge time in SYD, but the main thing is to make the international flight.

 

[Saab34]

My decision to limit air travel in 2022 is still valid

Lol.

Off peak and cabin baggage only for me for this year. Swissport are paws off with my bags for the foreseeable future.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

My decision to limit air travel in 2022 is still valid

In your mind maybe - others hold different views - others have business to attend to - nothing is as it was pre-Covid - expect the unexpected - there may be delays - there may be some inconvenience - roll with the punches or keep sleeping under your rock - personal choice - I’m getting on with life

 

[jakeseven7]

My decision to limit air travel in 2022 is still valid

Seems like a weird generalisation but whatever works for you

 

[mviy]

Each to their own. For me the risks are worth it. I had a great trip to the UK late last year with checked luggage, HLO status run to NZ and I’m looking forward to heading to the UK again soon with checked luggage. Not to mention some HLO domestic trips.

 

[Quickstatus]

weird generalisation

Not a generalisation but rather a decision based on my thoughts on recovery from the pandemic. Airlines can’t just switch off and then switch back on and assume the lights come on and stay on. An airline is a highly complex system and there many parts within the airline are also influenced by outside the airlines.

A generalisation might be something like this:
No industry in the economy has fully recovered.
Some have but the airlines?. Not yet

In your mind maybe

Exactly and my travel plans affect only me

 

[jakeseven7]

Not a generalisation but rather a decision based on my thoughts on recovery from the pandemic. Airlines can’t just switch off and then switch back on and assume the lights come on and stay on.

Oh right that’s why there’s been no lights on my 39 flights so far this year . Have had no issues whatsoever over and above the normal expected bumps of travel that existed well before covid. But you do you

 

[MikeG]

Thanks - I was searching for anyone who has been through FRA recently (have an EK trip (in Y ) coming up shortly.

Which terminal and what was security like?

SIN-FRA arrived at Terminal 1. Security was good, and fairly fast, but even with UK passports, you need to go through the non-EU line even if your UK passport has "EUROPEAN UNION" emblazoned on the front cover. We ended up using our Aussie passports...

It took us over an hour to get through security at SYD on the way out, so anything was better than this.

FRA-BHX departed from Terminal 1. The same thing, Security was fairly efficient

LHR-FRA arrived at Terminal 1, but we were just transiting to a FRA-SIN flight so this was super-easy... Especially as when we checked in at the Lufthansa desk at LHR, we were checked in to our connecting Lufthansa ticketed (Separate booking) flights all the way to SYD. There are a lot of good things to say about Lufthansa and Star Alliance.

I hope this helps. The Lufthansa Senator Lounges are pretty good IMHO

One thing that surprised me was that fast-track doesn't apply to guests with Lufthansa - apparently, it's the only airline that does this (according to the fast track lady at LHR).

 

[MikeG]

Didn’t you have the option to drop your bag as “Premium” hand luggage on boarding? It’s tagged and then collected on the tarmac on arrival.

Yes, I did but for some reason, I decided to check them instead. Bad idea.

If they’re running that schedule and you know you’ve *just* missed one, I’d head to the train. They’re usually at least every 10mins and then only 2 mins between terminals.

The bus ride between terminals took about 10 mins. The rest of the time was waiting for baggage, dealing with Qantas baggage services, and going through international departure security which was massively understaffed, with no fast-track and hundreds of travellers likely due to go out on several A380's.

Oh and there was a delay on the Qantas tarmac bus from my domestic flight (Dash-8) to the terminal where passengers were stranded outside the domestic terminal after being discharged from the tarmac bus for what felt like 5-10 mins. I wasn't timing it.

Lots of problems with Qantas operations right now, and they don't seem all that apologetic about it. Qantas' suck-it-up mentality will only go so far until customers vote with their feet.

 

[MikeG]

We departed from FRA on June 12 for BHX and we got to the checkin an hour before departure and our seats had been given away. The customer service was horrible with LuftHansa and we ended up having to wait 5 hours for the new flight on standby.

The lady was More interested in telling us what we had done wrong and what we should do than helping us out of the mess. Typical German mindset I guess…

We will be returning to FRA from LHR on Saturday so hopefully it goes ok - will try and get there even earlier to avoid losing our seats. Or maybe just checking in online is enough…

I was advised to submit a claim for compensation from Lufthansa due to the EU laws protecting consumers.

Air passenger rights - Your Europe

Travellers' rights - flight delays, cancellations and overbooking (passengers unable to fly on flight they booked)

europa.eu

It would be good if the Australian Airline market was regulated in this way...

 

[AIRwin]

Qantas' suck-it-up mentality will only go so far until customers vote with their feet.

But for our shackles...

 

[Mattg]

Lufthansa sent an email to its frequent flyers recently. I like the approach - it's transparent, honest and asks customers to be patient rather than blaming them.

Lufthansa Group Warns Summer Of Hell & A380s Back To Business

Lufthansa Group’s Executive Board warns very difficult summer travel environment and the remaining A380s back in business by summer 2023.

loyaltylobby.com

 

[RooFlyer]

Lufthansa sent an email to its frequent flyers recently. I like the approach - it's transparent, honest and asks customers to be patient rather than blaming them.

Lufthansa Group Warns Summer Of Hell & A380s Back To Business

Lufthansa Group’s Executive Board warns very difficult summer travel environment and the remaining A380s back in business by summer 2023.

loyaltylobby.com

Good grief – could you even imagine a certain local airline sending something like that to their millions of frequent flyers?