JQ boarding calls in QF Clubs - exception or the rule?

[ozbeachbabe]

I concur. IMO Qantas Group needs to re-think its lounge strategy options in DRW e.g. -

• Cross-train, and open for all group airline departures & transits, under the Qantas Club brand. (As per what seems to be the national domestic standard.)
• Jetstar should open its own �Darwin Lounge by Jetstar� if it is serious about operating DRW as a hub. (Similar to its OOL & AKL lounges)
• Rebrand the Qantas Club as a Jetstar lounge, operating for all group flights using the Jetstar lounge user pays system (ex CL & WP) but QF picks up the entry tab for J/SG/QP/1W customers flying on QF metal. (i.e. it becomes a QF associated lounge.)

ozbeachbabe, I hope that you are able to push for a ground level, "local compromise" solution - to what is a big problem for high value, group customers' expectations in Darwin. (Although, given the various outsourcing situations, I think that this may be too hard to accomplish.) Good on you & best luck!

Something needs to be done to improve the current situation that's for sure however some of the challenges that would impact any changes are:

* DRW Airport is a common user terminal whereby airlines rent space from DIA (owners) as opposed to leasing whole terminals like down south where airlines pretty much have free reign to do whatever renovations they want.

* There used to be a QF Club airside in the 'olden days' after clearing customs which was handy for both joining pax and transit pax on QF61/62 CNS-DRW-SIN & v.v. later was operated by AO plus also for QF81/82 SYD/ADL/DRW/SIN & v.v. DIA reclaimed this space in order to accommodate more pax in general intl boarding area for other airlines eg TR/BI/GA none of which now fly intl to/from DRW (no QF metal either).

* The current QF Club is landside so would not help if you were a transit pax on JQ57 CNS-DRW-SIN. All other outbound JQ intl departures JQ73 DRW/SGN ex SYD, JQ61 DRW/SIN ex MEL & JQ81 DRW/DPS ex BNE arrive into DRW as domestic flights so pax don't clear customs until they depart DRW so pax would need to leave lounge then clear customs before boarding flight which is inconvenient for them.

* There was an AN GW Lounge which again DIA claimed back for more general boarding space on the domestic side of the terminal.

Another thing they need to sort is lounge access on TL (AirNorth) as currently you access lounge if you are booked on QF codeshare flight eg DRW to KNX or BME but not if you are booked on TL flight no which has no logic at all. Obviously not an issue if you're a CL or WP who get access anyway.

As for anything being done re keeping QP open longer for JQ intl departures - that would require a directive from HQ as any local decision will be a no-go if it involves more money coming out of a local budget for staff to stay longer.

Anyway, nothing's impossible - some things just take a little longer to nut out.

Cheers

Oz

 

[dk4]

I imagine that Jetstar's problems negotiating (in general) with the airport operator in DRW, also impact investment decision making (group wide) in regard to DRW.

...so pax don't clear customs until they depart DRW so pax would need to leave lounge then clear customs before boarding flight which is inconvenient for them.

Any inconvenience notwithstanding, this is a Jetstar lounge standard for its Australian lounge. (i.e. that is how things operate at OOL.)

Gold Coast airport terminal has been remodelled recently, and similarly to DRW all passengers pass through security into the common, domestic departure, secure area, where the JQ lounge is located, before international passengers then head through further processing to the International departure zone. Within the JQ lounge, the boarding calls, for international flights, take this into account. (But similarly to DRW, INT-INT transit passengers miss out.)

ADL (& to an extent even CNS) prove that Qantas Group is happy with International passengers using domestic facilities, rather than providing dedicated International airside lounges at smaller airports. (But IMO that is better than nothing.)

 

[Alanslegal]

That would've been an interesting scenario had you and the other couple missed the flight as the attendant saying "don't worry, just take a seat and we'll call you" is taking responsibility for advising you all when the flight is boarding and thereby taking responsibility if you miss it. Could have got ugly.

Thanks for the informative relpy ozbeachbabe

 

[epsc]

Has anyone experienced this? Sitting in the Sydney QF Flounge waiting for a JQ flight to Nadi, heard the call, left immediately for the gate, to be told by cranky boarding staff that they were about to initiate de-boarding procedures. My reply that we came immediately on the flight having been called in the Flounge fell on deaf ears. I agree about pax being responsible for catching their flights, but my experience had been that OW flight departure were announced in the Flounge, so I (obviously wrongly) assumed that the flights would be called in a timely manner.

Which leads though to the question - if flights ARE going to be called, shouldn't it be done in a way so that the pax don't risk being de-planed?

 

[epsc]

Oh, and I forgot to add that by the time we boarded it was impossible to find overhead room for our bags (we had no checked luggage and had paid for forward seats). That's why I like to board early.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Has anyone experienced this? Sitting in the Sydney QF Flounge waiting for a JQ flight to Nadi, heard the call, left immediately for the gate, to be told by cranky boarding staff that they were about to initiate de-boarding procedures. My reply that we came immediately on the flight having been called in the Flounge fell on deaf ears. I agree about pax being responsible for catching their flights, but my experience had been that OW flight departure were announced in the Flounge, so I (obviously wrongly) assumed that the flights would be called in a timely manner.

Which leads though to the question - if flights ARE going to be called, shouldn't it be done in a way so that the pax don't risk being de-planed?

It's easy when it's all one airline to call the lounges when boarding has commenced however it gets messy when other ground handlers are involved. I don't know who does JQ checkin/boarding in SYD but whoever it is should get into the practice of advising the lounges when boarding commences.

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, & if the weakest link happens to be an airline that codeshares with QF, QF Management should see to it they follow the same procedures as they would for flights operated by QF metal.

 

[TheInsider]

I don't know who does JQ checkin/boarding in SYD but whoever it is should get into the practice of advising the lounges when boarding commences.

Aerocare in SYD for JQ international.

 

[Robert K]

I don't think any boarding calls should be made.

If it can't be done right, it shouldn't be done at all.

But if passengers don't know when to get to the gate, they shouldn't be flying.

 

[nlagalle]

I don't think any boarding calls should be made.

If it can't be done right, it shouldn't be done at all.

But if passengers don't know when to get to the gate, they shouldn't be flying.

Thats a pretty short sighted comment.

What happens if a flight is delayed? Should you just wait at the gate instead of the lounge??

I've always heard JQ boarding calls in the F lounge.

 

[epsc]

Quite so, ngalalle. The issue was, if boarding calls ARE made, whether it is reasonable to expect them to be reliable. I too have always heard JQ calls, and had not previously encountered this problem. Pu Koh's comment isn't terribly helpful in that context.

 

[anchew]

This happened to me too (more than isolated occasions) flying Mel/Syd to Cbr on QF (so not just JQ) For some reason its usally just flights to Cbr . So now I monitor the flight status sceens whenever I travel now.

 

[Robert K]

Quite so, ngalalle. The issue was, if boarding calls ARE made, whether it is reasonable to expect them to be reliable. I too have always heard JQ calls, and had not previously encountered this problem. Pu Koh's comment isn't terribly helpful in that context.

If it's not going to be reliable, what is the point of making the announcements.

The onus should be on the passenger to check whether their flight is delayed or boarding. But that's just my opinion.

I guess I do live in a country where it is the responsibility of the bartender to know whether I've drunk too much Instead of taking responsibility for myself

 

[nlagalle]

If it's not going to be reliable, what is the point of making the announcements.

The onus should be on the passenger to check whether their flight is delayed or boarding. But that's just my opinion.

I guess I do live in a country where it is the responsibility of the bartender to know whether I've drunk too much Instead of taking responsibility for myself

Pu Koh, have you ever been in the F lounge? Do you know what announcements are made and if they are reliable? I can comment from 5 JQ flights this year that announcements were made, including that a JQ flight was delayed.

Also I've had instances were the departure board wasn't working so you had to rely on the announcements.

It's all fine and well to be alert on when your flight is boarding, but by your token, the only way to be certain is to sit by the gate!

Comparing drinking laws and boarding calls are not the same.

 

[serfty]

Quite so, ngalalle. The issue was, if boarding calls ARE made, whether it is reasonable to expect them to be reliable. I too have always heard JQ calls, and had not previously encountered this problem. Pu Koh's comment isn't terribly helpful in that context.

Being one who likes to be at the gate when boarding is called, if I am in the lounge when it's made I reckon I have made a mistake.

I ascertain probable boarding time and endeavor to be at the gate prior to then.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

It's easy when it's all one airline to call the lounges when boarding has commenced however it gets messy when other ground handlers are involved. I don't know who does JQ checkin/boarding in SYD but whoever it is should get into the practice of advising the lounges when boarding commences.

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, & if the weakest link happens to be an airline that codeshares with QF, QF Management should see to it they follow the same procedures as they would for flights operated by QF metal.

Aerocare in SYD for JQ international.

So there are at least three different ground handlers we know of that do JQ Ground Handling (possibly more) - Aerocare at SYD Intl, Menzies at DRW Dom & Intl & QF BNE Intl which would explain inconsistencies with procedures at different ports. So QF by way of codeshare are outsourcing their work to JQ who in turn outsource the checkin probably to the lowest bidder - if that was not the case then QF would be doing it.

The trouble with some ground handlers is they can't hang on to staff for very long, sometimes due to what they pay them or the fact it's only casual work so no guaranteed hours. Generally employees of these ground handlers are not eligible for any kind of staff travel so while initially it may seem like a great job, the novelty of a 0400 start can wear off fairly quickly so people leave & the ground handler ends up with a high turnover of staff. As a consequence they will have a lot of relatively junior staff who may not even be aware there is a First Lounge.

If QF are trying to locate a fail to board pax on a flight (QF metal) they can instantly see what tier the pax is so if they're WP they'd be in the F Lounge or SG J Lounge & either contact the lounge via phone or radio. They may also ring someones mobile prior to commencing offload procedures.

I doubt any of the above ground handlers would have QF radios so question is, do they call both J & F Lounges when they a) start boarding & b) prior to commencing offload procedures? They wouldn't even be able to tell from the JQ system what tier the pax is so wouldn't know whether their fail to board pax are likely to be in the lounge or not.

 

[epsc]

A good insight, Oz (gotta love perspective!)

 

[Simsy85]

I've only ever flown Jetstar from DRW or BNE and never had problems at either of these lounges with the flight being called....

 

[straitman]

If it's not going to be reliable, what is the point of making the announcements.

These announcements are still )on most occasions) often more accurate than none.

The onus should be on the passenger to check whether their flight is delayed or boarding. But that's just my opinion.

You are assuming then that the boards are correct. In AKL (for example) the boards just roll on with the information, even if incorrect, and it is the announcements that are correct.

I guess I do live in a country where it is the responsibility of the bartender to know whether I've drunk too much Instead of taking responsibility for myself

Irrelevant other than to say one shoe does not fit all for these situations.

 

[straitman]

Has anyone experienced this? Sitting in the Sydney QF Flounge waiting for a JQ flight to Nadi, heard the call, left immediately for the gate, to be told by cranky boarding staff that they were about to initiate de-boarding procedures. My reply that we came immediately on the flight having been called in the Flounge fell on deaf ears. I agree about pax being responsible for catching their flights, but my experience had been that OW flight departure were announced in the Flounge, so I (obviously wrongly) assumed that the flights would be called in a timely manner.

Which leads though to the question - if flights ARE going to be called, shouldn't it be done in a way so that the pax don't risk being de-planed?

I have had precisely the opposite issue. ie The call got us there in nice time. (Not too early or late)

 

[epsc]

Yes, that HAD been my previous experience too, Straitman, hence my concern as to being threatened with de-planing when I was being a good little flyer and hopped up as soon as the announcement was made!