New Next Gen Card and Bag Tags have arrived!

[arraitch]

After qualifying for the upgrade from Gold on 10th October, my Platinum kit finally arrived today. But ... no travel plans until March!

 

[samh004]

Thought this might happen... any chance of you posting a pick of a silver one with a white sheet of paper next to it?

Compare post #23 (Platinum) to post #206 (Silver).

I’m not sure they’re that similar.

Or do you mean the tag? The tag is very similar, other than Silver uses a Red QF logo while Platinum uses a Silver one

 

[AdamR]

Got my new Gold card and tags today (qualified 2 weeks ago). Pack looks like the silver one, except the band around it was red.

Interestingly the letter inside said that my 'Qantas Club Senior Lifetime' membership had been put on hold. I don't recall being senior and I certainly don't have lifetime membership. Any chance the mistake might stick once I eventually drop from Gold (hopefully far in the future)?

 

[Febs]

Had a look at a set of Platinum tags today (mine are sitting at home, waiting for me..). Pretty cool. Whoever said they're as "big as a CD" must not know what a CD looks like. They're not that big at all.

They seem very solidly-made too. Looking at the damage on that Gold tag posted earlier, I'd say it must've taken quite a beating, and has actually stood up quite well!

A nice addition to the QFF program. Only I won't get to use it much, as I usually always travel carry-on only for domestic trips.

 

[samh004]

Whoever said they're as "big as a CD" must not know what a CD looks like. They're not that big at all.

I recall they’d seen a prototype that was bigger, and they changed the dimensions a bit in the meantime. It was also noted by serfty he understood the comment to mean a mini-CD, not a full size one

Either way, yet to see one IRL but they do look a good size, I’m just not sure I want to risk using it on checked luggage

 

[djfuzz]

Compare post #23 (Platinum) to post #206 (Silver).

I’m not sure they’re that similar.

Or do you mean the tag? The tag is very similar, other than Silver uses a Red QF logo while Platinum uses a Silver one

I don't know - I'd assumed that the Platinum tages were substantially darker than the Silver ones, but after seeing the photos I'm not convinced. I'd like to see a Silver and Platinum side-by-side, as each time I look at the WP tags they look lighter and greyer. If the red QF logo is the only easily discernible difference, you have to wonder if the handlers will be armed with / actually rely on RFID scanners to sort bags by priority at all.

 

[samh004]

If the red QF logo is the only easily discernible difference, you have to wonder if the handlers will be armed with / actually rely on RFID scanners to sort bags by priority at all.

That’s a good point, I’d be interested to hear how priority bags will work now. You have:

• Silver - silver disc with black border, red logo
• Gold - gold disc with a black border, red logo
• Platinum - silver (we can pretend it’s platinum coloured) disc with a black border, white logo

Sort of hard to judge priority from that. It’s a little inconsistent.

 

[gumpy]

Compare post #23 (Platinum) to post #206 (Silver).

I’m not sure they’re that similar.

Or do you mean the tag? The tag is very similar, other than Silver uses a Red QF logo while Platinum uses a Silver one

Yeah I was talking about the tag... ><... surely qantas thought about this...

 

[liparj]

Received my gold tags on Tuesday...WOOHOO! Very snazzy indeed...Just in time to use on Wednesday's flight out of Perth!

BUT....I had some trouble using the tag when checking in my bag.

Friendly staff at the ready, but still no luck registering my bag..Was led to the service counter and the staff member also had trouble getting the tag to register but she let out a cry of relief when it finally worked...

Well I arrived safely in Canberra at 22:30, but I was paged, only to be told that my bag is on it's way to Melbourne...Will be delivered to my hotel in the morning (heard that before)....They gave me yet another pack with Qantas branded tshirt, shorts and toiletries..they are grey this time..The time before they were white..At least they gave me a men's pack this time!...

Sort of takes the gloss off...

UPDATE: My bag arrived late in the morning but not before I rang and was given authorisation to be paid $100 for my troubles. Picked up the money at the airport on my way home.. some consolation for having to wear grey jamas as makeshift underwear!

Flying again tomorrow..This time I'll be packing a clean shirt and a pair of jocks and socks in my carry-on just in case!

 

[anat0l]

Am I the only one who couldn't care more or less about the design of the tags and the more esoteric aspects such as whether the tags match my luggage? :shock:

And for those of you pining on being unable to write on a tag, well, you could always just attach a regular luggage tag with your details on it? Unless you have some sort of complex that prohibits your being able to have more than one luggage tag attached to your bag.

To drag a little bit O/T on the thread, according to the munitalP 5 point scale of WPs, I'm probably a category 1 or 2. In saying that, I've had 3 operational upgrades on QF in my current membership year (anniversary is March) - 2 domestic and 1 international. The year before, I had 5 (4 domestic and 1 international), but in that (previous) year I had a lot more QF travel.

 

[Fantic125]

The back of the tag can be written on with normal ballpoint. It has a couple of lines for details.

I figure the RFID tag has my FF number (hence my AU contact details) & flight details - I´ve just written my name and cell number for international flights.

 

[samh004]

The back of the tag can be written on with normal ballpoint. It has a couple of lines for details.

I figure the RFID tag has my FF number (hence my AU contact details) & flight details - I´ve just written my name and cell number for international flights.

Apparently not, as you are meant to sync it up when dropping your bag at the "injector". This was picked up on because of wording to the effect of giving the tags to friends and family, thus having your FF number in the tag would be useless in such a case. And the fact that if you can buy tags at a vending machine in the future they wont have your FF number in them.

Perhaps someone with an RFID reader could tell us what’s read? Is that hard to do?

 

[gumpy]

That’s a good point, I’d be interested to hear how priority bags will work now. You have:

• Silver - silver disc with black border, red logo
• Gold - gold disc with a black border, red logo
• Platinum - silver (we can pretend it’s platinum coloured) disc with a black border, white logo

Sort of hard to judge priority from that. It’s a little inconsistent.

It's a sad day for qantas and Mark Newson... Honestly... the current tagging system is hot and cold... and that's with a bright pink tag... what hope is there now?

 

[MatF]

Am I the only one who couldn't care more or less about the design of the tags and the more esoteric aspects such as whether the tags match my luggage? :shock:

I'm with you, I couldn't care less what they look like, as long as they're durable, which is yet to be seen I guess. My luggage is purely functional

I'm still unsure why they're so big though. RFID chips are very small - a small tag would have been less likely to get snagged on things I would have thought.

And the fact that if you can buy tags at a vending machine in the future they wont have your FF number in them.

I wonder how this will work? Do we insert our WP card into the machine to unlock the magic platinum tags?

 

[Fantic125]

Apparently not, as you are meant to sync it up when dropping your bag at the "injector". This was picked up on because of wording to the effect of giving the tags to friends and family, thus having your FF number in the tag would be useless in such a case. And the fact that if you can buy tags at a vending machine in the future they wont have your FF number in them.

Perhaps someone with an RFID reader could tell us what’s read? Is that hard to do?

Good point. I assumed that the tags supplied with the card would already have metadata such as QFF no, contact details, etc, prgrammed in, and that the only variables would be the flight details.

Unless this is covered elsewhere in the thread, I would assume then that if you wanted to allocate your points/miles to a different program (say to AA) then you would need to swipe the card, drop the bags off then head to the desk or lounge and have your FF number changed.

 

[medhead]

Good point. I assumed that the tags supplied with the card would already have metadata such as QFF no, contact details, etc, prgrammed in, and that the only variables would be the flight details.

IMO that would make things a bit complicated. I would guess the tag is just there to attach a number to your bag. So you check in as per what is on the booking and then tell the system that you have bag no. X and that is then recorded against the booking information. This allows the tags to be used by other people and makes it much simpler to issue new tags as they just need a number and not personal details. Also isn't there some kind of privacy issue about reading RFID tags by strangers.

 

[Heleigh]

My understanding is the tags is for dom flights only - int'l carriers would not have the facility to access details from tag, I still intend on have my usual ID tag.

Do like the new WP card much nicer than weird colour of old one

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

The RFID will read the tag number only. There is no magic here. You need to use the tag at check-in which associates the tag number with your booking.

The tag does not store anything else apart from its own number. Think of it like a proximity card to access a building.

As mentioned previously, these are for domestic use only. I personally won't be using them at all as I never check in bags domestically and the old style tags are perfect for all my requirements internationally. A bit of a gimmick IMO.

In addition, I saw a WP (emphasis on the W) in the J lounge last week with the tag attached to his cabin bag?!? WTF? That is not what these are for people...

 

[Princess Fiona]

The RFID will read the tag number only.

In addition, I saw a WP (emphasis on the W) in the J lounge last week with the tag attached to his cabin bag?!? WTF? That is not what these are for people...

That is seriously sad !

 

[medhead]

In addition, I saw a WP (emphasis on the W) in the J lounge last week with the tag attached to his cabin bag?!? WTF? That is not what these are for people...

Yep saw one of those as well. Life is difficult for some people