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

[serfty]

But......Do lounges scan BP's as you leave the lounge??? The risk remains, lower yes, but not that much lower.

Simple - from a manifest they could determine the FTB PAX is a Gold member - call the lounge and as them to page them to approach the service desk.

Heard similar many times, even as recently as Saturday at the VA SYD lounge.

 

[JohnK]

Its very risky! not only do you want to be one of the last to board, but you are then also expecting the boards and announcements to be accurate to achieve this! Each of them on their own is risky in their own right, but to combine them together is raising the risk to a power, not just multiplying!

Extremely low risk and it took a serious of events for it to happen.

This the first time in hundreds of flights I have been off-loaded in that mnner. It would have been much simpler to check if the Gold passenger was in the lounge.

Not changing my attitude just because of incident. I want to spend the least amount of time waiting in aircraft pre-flight.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Simple - from a manifest they could determine the FTB PAX is a GOld member - call the lounge and as them to page them to approach the service desk.

Heard similar many times, even as recently as Saturday at the VA SYD lounge.

So what happens when you walk out of the lounge? how do they know you've left. How do they know when you've left? How do they know where you are going?

 

[lovestotravel]

The majority are sitting around the gate area, with the other large % of them sitting in the lounge

Exactly, so the majority are NOT relying on screens, terminals, or announcements, but have taken the initiative to ensure they don't miss their flight.

Ummm - Sitting at the gate area it's a bit hard to miss the flight....... :shock: not really much initiative needed to sit near the gate and wait for the line to form.........

Easy solution is to make sure the screens are accurate, personally boarding calls annoy me. Close to departure simply go and check the screen and providing it's accurate it's not hard.

 

[lovestotravel]

Simple - from a manifest they could determine the FTB PAX is a GOld member - call the lounge and as them to page them to approach the service desk.

Heard similar many times, even as recently as Saturday at the VA SYD lounge.

Yep have heard it many times as well (when I used to fly VA..)

On QF I have never had my boarding pass/FF card scanned for a domestic QP/J lounge, just a quick glance and then "Welcome"

 

[JohnK]

Personally I think there is more to this story! Airlines don't offload pax & luggage in the space of 5 or 10 minutes.

You do not believe my timeline of events?

I cannot do anymore. I provided an accurate timeline of events right down to my thought pattern at the time. There is even a post in the Off-topic thread with me joking about another delay. In my timeline you will also note I heard multtiple pages for passengers failing to board.

A simple flight announcement in the lounge and/or page when failed to board would have saved a lot of heartache for all involved.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

...
- you should ring up the airline beforehand on a reward flight to check they really have you on that flight, not only that but
- you should check the actually have a ticket # against your booking
- oh and, sometime they drop off so you should keep on checking every week or so

Well I do most of these but frankly I don't think it's right, why don't we start telling airlines that we have a simple expectation, that things will actually work and do what they are suposed to do without us having to check every 5 minutes that they know what they are doing.

i think most of the points in the above quote are in regards to award bookings through US air or lifemiles. if you are paying pennies to fly first or business class around the world, dealing with multiple airlines on different systems, then it is prudent to avoid mistakes where possible.

if you were paying full fare for these tickets then it wouldn't matter... if a ticket number didn't reach a partner airline no problem... at $16k for a first class ticket you simply get your seat back. not that simple for an award.

 

[Fruitcake]

Personally I think there is more to this story! Airlines don't offload pax & luggage in the space of 5 or 10 minutes.

The "more to the story" call is a bit harsh, IMO. In any case if priority baggage was working properly JohnK's checked bag was probably close to the bin door and by (JohnK's) bad luck, on this occasion, the ramp crew found it very quickly.

On a recent SQ flight I was on we pushed back with less than 15 minutes delay after it was announced they were offloading a bag. And with a containerised hold on the 777 I'd imagine it takes a lot longer than on a 737, even if they know which container it's in.

 

[burmans]

Exactly, so the majority are NOT relying on screens, terminals, or announcements, but have taken the initiative to ensure they don't miss their flight.

Hell of an assumption, I would suggest that most sit in the gate area not because they have taken any initiative but because they don't have lounge access and under the naive assumption that flight actually leaves on time.

I don't think there are many here who are actually saying that the non-service by the airlines (Virgin in this case may be) are saying this is acceptable.

Maybe not but there have been plenty here suggesting this is JohnK's problem, not the airlines. I'm unsure how they can come to this conclusion quite so conclusively if they regard VA behaviouur as acceptable.

 

[burmans]

i think most of the points in the above quote are in regards to award bookings through US air or lifemiles. if you are paying pennies to fly first or business class around the world, dealing with multiple airlines on different systems, then it is prudent to avoid mistakes where possible.

if you were paying full fare for these tickets then it wouldn't matter... if a ticket number didn't reach a partner airline no problem... at $16k for a first class ticket you simply get your seat back. not that simple for an award.

I'm not against prudence at all, but implicit in all this checking up on them is the going in assumption is that someone will stuff up. Personally I think that if this is our expectation the system is broken. I'm really not sure the fact that this is booked with rewards is relevant, even though booked with points the receiving systems use the same systems to record the flights so similar stuff-ups could still occur, albeit with better comeback. But even with the 16K seat, if they have lost your seat and plane is now full it's not really an acceptable outcome. Even with rewards it's not acceptable, the end carrier doesn't know you've bought those points vs being a valued customer who has gained them via flying.

 

[Happy Trails]

Though you can't count on the scheduled boarding time being right either. I recently had a QF flight ex SYD which started boarding 10 minutes before the scheduled boarding time; pushed back 10 minutes before the published departure time, and actually became airborne at the advertised push-back time! We also arrived into BNE more than 20 minutes early!

This is pretty much standard procedure on most of my flights out of KTA.
Most recently we were boarded with doors closed 20 minutes early, but the captain announced we would have to wait another five because they weren't allowed to depart more than 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm not again prudence at all, but implicit in all this checking up on them is the going in assumption is that someone will stuff up. Personally I think that if this is our expectation the system is broken. I'm really not sure the fact that this is booked with rewards is relevant, even though booked with points the receiving systems use the same systems to record the flights so similar stuff-ups could still occur, albeit with better comeback. But even with the 16K seat, if they have lost your seat and plane is now full it's not really an acceptable outcome. Even with rewards it's not acceptable, the end carrier doesn't know you've bought those points vs being a valued customer who has gained them via flying.

there is no assumption that someone will stuff up, just recognising that errors can occur... and that if I can take a two minute step to stop an error happening to me then it is wise to take it.

a reward booking vs paid is relevant to the discussion because you can lose an award seat if it's not paid for (ticketed) within the relevant auto cancel period. that doesn't happen with a $16k seat... there are hundreds of people looking for the one first class award seat, there aren't hundreds fighting to buy the same $16k seat.

 

[serfty]

So what happens when you walk out of the lounge? how do they know you've left. How do they know when you've left? How do they know where you are going?

PAX is most likely on the way to the gate - they should get there before the bag is unloaded.

You don't respond to the page (to approach the service desk).

You don't respond to the page (to approach the service desk). (Same Q?)

They telephone you?

None of which is relevant to the OP's situation.

there is no assumption that someone will stuff up, just recognising that errors can occur... and that if I can take a two minute step to stop an error happening to me then it is wise to take it.
...

Agree ...

 

[Pushka]

Silly me. I thought the whole purpose of lounges was to provide a more relaxed environment to frequent flyers before they have to board a plane. But now I realise that because I'm in the minority of people flying then I shouldn't expect to be notified that my flight is about to leave and I should leave the lounge early (ie watch the clock) just in case it's boarding.

 

[anat0l]

if you were paying full fare for these tickets then it wouldn't matter... if a ticket number didn't reach a partner airline no problem... at $16k for a first class ticket you simply get your seat back. not that simple for an award.

A bit of a funny (or not so funny) aside... but almost all tickets (or all?) that Virgin sell have a condition that if you are checked in, you essentially give up all of your flight change / cancel / no-show or refund rights. (Maybe I have this wrong, but after you check-in, it appears all you can do is change the flight, but it must be done before your scheduled departure).

Naturally, I'd really think that VA wouldn't be so silly to be that draconian if JohnK was holding such a ticket and put in this kind of predicament, but thought I'd just spin up your little example

 

[SeatBackForward]

Silly me. I thought the whole purpose of lounges was to provide a more relaxed environment to frequent flyers before they have to board a plane. But now I realise that because I'm in the minority of people flying then I shouldn't expect to be notified that my flight is about to leave and I should leave the lounge early (ie watch the clock) just in case it's boarding.

If you're interested in getting on board the flight, then its a wise idea. But if you sit on planes for the benefit of relaxing in lounges....

 

[Pushka]

If you're interested in getting on board the flight, then its a wise idea. But if you sit on planes for the benefit of relaxing in lounges....

Yes. Indeed. I should probably skip the lounge altogether then.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

If you're interested in getting on board the flight, then its a wise idea. But if you sit on planes for the benefit of relaxing in lounges....

I'm glad I don't travel with you !

I do fly a lot and to honest, out of all the status benefits offered, the lounge is the biggie by far. I also don't fly chewing my nails to the bone. I am relaxed about flying and if you aren't you'd end up a cot-case if you did it lots. There is no crime in expecting flying (and ancilliary duties) to be stress free. That includes boarding procedures in my books.

I'll also say, as much as I whine about some of VAs attributes (or lack thereof) creating a stressed environment for me is not one of them. I hope they don't intend to listen to your reasoning SeatBackForward, as I prefer my relaxed flying style.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Yes. Indeed. I should probably skip the lounge altogether then.

Precisely. As I said earlier, you don't HAVE to go to the lounges, there's nothing that makes the lounge a mandatory part of flying. It is there for convenience yes, but its not being very convenient if its the cause of you missing a flight.

But the real issue being debated here is about respsibility, and i'm surprised that those who would otherwise advocate self-responsibility can't see that waiting at the gate before the scheduled departure time, isn't the ultimate in self-responsibility.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I'm glad I don't travel with you !

I do fly a lot and to honest, out of all the status benefits offered, the lounge is the biggie by far. I also don't fly chewing my nails to the bone. I am relaxed about flying and if you aren't you'd end up a cot-case if you did it lots. There is no crime in expecting flying (and ancilliary duties) to be stress free. That includes boarding procedures in my books.

I'll also say, as much as I whine about some of VAs attributes (or lack thereof) creating a stressed environment for me is not one of them. I hope they don't intend to listen to your reasoning SeatBackForward, as I prefer my relaxed flying style.

I'm not advocating there be no lounges. I'm simply saying, lounge or not, its upto each individual to be at the gate on time. If the majority of travellers can do it, why are those sitting in lounges any different?