I have had enough.... [Offloaded after Flight not called in VA lounge]

[MEL_Traveller]

There have been many times where I have left the lounge when the board says boarding or Final call only to get to gate and boarding process has not yet started. I do not want to sit at the gate watching people board. In my experience the lounge announces a boarding call after the boarding process has started and when it gets close to closing flight.

And yes missing the flight as is my responsibility but the staff who are there for customer service failed miserably.

You either call all flights or don't call any flights at all. It cannot be a random process as to which flight is called. And as I mentioned earlier I did hear multiple calls for the MEL flight, the ADL flight, the BNE flight etc.

Also when a passenger is a failed to board why wouldn't you page them in the lounge if they have lounge access? The gate failed to inform the lounge? I heard numerous of these pages during my time in the lounge today.

And when I confronted the lounge attendant she knew they had stuffed up. And if it was my fault that I missed why did she quickly offer to put me on next available flight with a guilty look on her flight.

from this and other posts elsewhere on AFF you seem to have a bit of an MO... you always like to be the last on board, you don't like waiting, you have stated you sometimes like to have a few drinks before getting on the plane (three diet cokes and three pure blondes you said in another thread). and you have said you sometimes dont have time to even use the WC before arriving at a flight. given all of this, then it seems likely one day you might miss a departure.

most seasoned travellers (and I say seasoned because if you are a one time flyer you might be forgiven) don't miss flights based on the lack of a boarding call. you either head down to the gate at the assigned time (leaving 5 minutes later if you really don't want to 'watch people board') or they check with the desk to see what time they need to go if there has been a delay. certainly if the board changed a couple times I'd be asking a question, or even 'have you called the flight yet?'

it is not fair on other passengers to have to wait while others can't make the flight on time, and arguably those with status should know better.

 

[wallacej]

I like to see the departure gate from the lounge where possible.
If I can see the gate, I can see when the arriving flight gets there, and when I see new luggage neing loaded I head on the way.

When I can not see the gate, I will head to the lounge service desk and ask for an update on boarding. I will board with others as I dont do J very often, and value my overhead storage space
I do not trust the boards, anywhere, except the arrivals boards, they seem to be accurate.

 

[Velocity Frequent Flyer]

It was asked for VFF to comment here.
While its impossible to comment on actual situations... we obviously don't like seeing gold members like John missing flights.
Yes, announcements should be made (multiple times), but in the big scheme of things, lots of things can happen at an airport (as you all know).
With thousands of people flying with us each day, the recommendation, of us and other people in the thread, is to be at the gate as per your boarding pass.
We are in the business of taking care of our tiered members, and we'll be passing on the feedback though to our Grounds Ops and Lounge teams.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

No I wasn't putting you down.

But you hate Virgin, Qantas and Jetstar so Tiger is all thats left.

 

[lovestotravel]

It's the customers responsibility to be at the gate at the right time at the end of the day. Yes something clearly fell apart in the scheme of things here, and you weren't called it seems. At the end of the day if I haven't heard a boarding announcement or a delay announcement within 15 mins of the departure time, then I will go to the counter in the lounge and ask what is happening. Usually it's a small delay and they are boarding soon!

As mentioned above, what airline are you going to fly now that you have written Virgin off ?

Tiger ?

 

[Princess Fiona]

It was asked for VFF to comment here.
Yes, announcements should be made (multiple times), but in the big scheme of things, lots of things can happen at an airport (as you all know).
With thousands of people flying with us each day, the recommendation, of us and other people in the thread, is to be at the gate as per your boarding pass.

Either the information available in the Lounge via the boards or announcements is accurate or it isn't. If it isn't to be relied upon then VA should say so :

"Virgin Australia lounge Benefits

Flight Information and Services

Large flight information display screens show departures and arrivals information, and boarding announcements are made by Virgin Australia team members.

For assistance with flight changes, seat allocations and general information please talk to a Virgin Australia team member or visit our dedicated service desks – now available in the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane lounges."

IMHO it might be wise to amend the text on the benefits page to reflect the advice that you have given.

 

[oz_mark]

And put signs on the board to indicate that any information displayed may not resemble what is actually happening.

 

[legroom]

What is more wasteful to VA?

Re-routing a disgruntled status pax or paging him / her?

What's the use of filling in one's mobile number on checking in?

Yes, in this case the OP was in the lounge assuming everyone / everything should work.

But another pax may be just in a deep conversation, looking for the right gate or caught in bad traffic arriving a few minutes late....

What happens if you have checked in luggage?

Wouldn't a page help VA more than the late pax ?

True, it's our responsibility to be there.

But, who had not sat in the departure area for 30-40 min later than the advertised departure time when they could still relax in the lounge?

Could VA have done better?

Could the OP have done better?

Answers are both YES.

 

[wallacej]

What about an sms to pax that have checked in advising that your flight is now boarding. Can be initiated at the same time the boarding call is made.
Even if deep in conversation, one will feel the gentle nagging vibration in your pocket?

This could be a gold/plat perk that I dont think is being offered by any airline...maybe there is a good reason for that and I just dont know it

 

[anat0l]

And put signs on the board to indicate that any information displayed may not resemble what is actually happening.

I think the first thing that all airlines should do is take the FIDS control away from the airport central and control it themselves.

Arrivals may be a slightly different matter, but the departures board should be controlled via systems from the check-in desk (check-in closed) to the gate (go to gate, boarding, final call, flight closed, departed).

The fact that we have FIDS which are automated based on schedule and not readily updated to account for delays is ridiculous.


I know SMS messages are almost free (or probably are virtually free of charge to large corporations), but do we really need to make an excuse to SMS when a flight is boarding? Besides, depending on the system utilised for the purposes of sending such an SMS, it could be subject to the same systematic problems that have resulted in the OP's grievance (Imagine if SMS alerts were tied to the FIDS status?)


As legroom said, both the passenger and airline could have done better.

 

[wallacej]

I know SMS messages are almost free (or probably are virtually free of charge to large corporations), but do we really need to make an excuse to SMS when a flight is boarding? Besides, depending on the system utilised for the purposes of sending such an SMS, it could be subject to the same systematic problems that have resulted in the OP's grievance (Imagine if SMS alerts were tied to the FIDS status?)


As legroom said, both the passenger and airline could have done better.

Agreed as per my earlier post on onus on pax...at least the sms could be in the control of the airlines...and a nice extra thing to add to the list of status perks. For me, those boarding calls in the lounge are disruptive and annoying when relaxing, on the phone or in conversation, and IMO should be removed.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

according to the original post, Virgin says they paged the flight twice. that has to equally be taken with the way in which the OP likes to travel (wait till the very last minute to board etc etc etc). As the Virgin rep said - there are thousands of passengers a day. I'm guessing individual pages may not always be possible. Did every other passenger make the flight bar one?

It is possible there were one or even two pages made. Putting the passenger on the next flight is not an admission of stuffing up or guilt, it is what you'd pretty much expect of a full service carrier where a pax is at the airport but has missed their flight.

 

[anat0l]

Putting the passenger on the next flight is not an admission of stuffing up or guilt, it is what you'd pretty much expect of a full service carrier where a pax is at the airport but has missed their flight.

Well JohnK did emphasise that the agent supposedly had a guilty face on when he was reprocessed to the next flight, plus he surmised that her actions constituted a feeling of guilt / they stuffed up.

Of course, most people at the coal face probably need to wear a face like this every so often; had the processing been done with the opposite kind of mood (i.e. conveying a feeling of "it's all your fault"), that probably doesn't impart such a good impression either.

 

[TheInsider]

As has happened to me (and another affer) on Qantas, an excuse given could be "we called it in the lounge, you just didn't hear it". Very hard to prove you were in the right.

With Qantas it's all electronically recorded on their system, with exact times and who has called it, altough has to be manually entered in.
Qantas will also give the mobile number a call in the booking if not at the gate, especially if there are bags checked-in.

 

[Mal]

With Qantas it's all electronically recorded on their system, with exact times and who has called it.

OK that is news to me. Thanks. The case in mention by me definately happened and lounge staff claimed the call was made. Affer and myself know the call didn't happen, plus we were with other people in the lounge who validated our story.

Anyways, water under a very high bridge. But thanks for the info.

 

[Mal]

Qantas does call elite pax when their flight is on final call and they haven't boarded. Perhaps another suggestion for VA to investigate.

 

[moa999]

How many people who had been in the lounge were offloaded?

 

[777]

For once i have to admit i'm with JohnK on this. The departure boards and announcements are a shambles. If you are not meant to be able to rely on them there should be clearly marked as such.

 

[serfty]

I do know the the OP normally travels with a checked bag, if so then the offload process would likely have been painful.

Also, there is an implication of doubt in the veracity of the agent's statement the flight had been called twice. I trust the OP in stating "She says the flight was paged twice [in the lounge]".

This can happen in any airline - some time ago was when the QF MEL first lounge failed to call a JQi flight.

Another thread from last year regarding the MEL DJ lounge.

I have leaned in over 1000 flights, never to trust a display board or wait for announcements.

 

[DJVA]

Yes it is my fault for not being at the departure gate. Let's just give Virgin a pat on the back for doing a great job. And while you are giving Virgin a pat on the back Aussie_flyer take the opportunity to put me down as well.

People might be a little more sympathetic if you didn't turn the hyperbole up to 11 with comments like Virgin not wanting you as a customer.

At the end of the day the responsibility is on you to make it to your flight, why didn't you ask an angel what was going on before the scheduled departure time?