New Next Gen Card and Bag Tags have arrived!

[gregcuthbert]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Just got off the phone with QF, having finally tired of not receiving my NGCI kit.
The latest is that the rollout of kits to eligible members will take until the end of July.

I had a call last week (5+ weeks after change of status) to say I should not expect my new tags/card for at least four more weeks....yay.

 

[JohnPhelan]

So every time I called them to ask and they said 4 to 5 weeks was just to keep me quiet. Still strange that it is taking so long especially since they are selling them online...

Yes, it's a very bad look - same as people who already have one kit getting an upgraded kit whilst others of us are still waiting for our first one!

I suspect the answer is that the upgraded kits and the online sales are being handled by QF itself, whilst the rollout of the original kits was outsourced to an external provider, so the two operations are quite independent. Also explains why QF are unable to tell you when your original kit may arrive, as they aren't the ones doing that rollout!

 

[warpspeed]

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Just got off the phone with QF, having finally tired of not receiving my NGCI kit.

The latest is that the rollout of kits to eligible members will take until the end of July.

I was starting to wonder where my new QP card was. I got a notification from QF a while ago, asking me to verify my details so they could send me my new card. Then... nothing.... was wondering if it got lost in the mail. Guess they just haven't sent it yet

 

[missafternoondelight]

Hi Guys

I got my Silver pack today, having qualified almost exactly one month ago.
Bag tags are far bigger than I imagined, the size of a drink coaster! I'll qualify for Gold on the 6th of June, I wonder how long the Gold pack will take to arrive?
Commiserations to those who haven't received their packs yet.. it really seems to be the luck of the draw (much like the double SC promo emails!).

 

[Awesom Andy]

It seems that those who have recently qualified would generally receive the packs in about 6 weeks. Those who have the status at the rollout may have to continue to wait, which seems a little silly.

They've sent a set to me too, and I'm just starting to realise that they're completely useless for me - I'm based in SIN. I've attached one to my netbook bag, and I'm seriously considering using the 2nd one as a coaster.

 

[Robert K]

Could i use these tags if i fly Jetstar?

 

[Flashback]

Could i use these tags if i fly Jetstar?

No, they're for QF flights only at this point in time.

 

[JohnK]

I have had a new line of questioning re:Q bag tags tonight.

Instead of the usual "Where are your Q bag tags?" tonight I got the "Are you using the Q bag tonight?". Much better line of questioning. Answer is still the same though....

 

[djfuzz]

I have had a new line of questioning re:Q bag tags tonight.

Instead of the usual "Where are your Q bag tags?" tonight I got the "Are you using the Q bag tonight?". Much better line of questioning. Answer is still the same though....

While I agree with the change in tone and expectation, I'm still a little baffled by this, JohnK - the sole reason you're not using the tags is that you feel like you're being forced to?

FWIW, when NGCI has been working, I've had a much better baggage retrieval experience. Even on the golden triangle routes where I'm surely outranked by many pax, have found NGCI'd bags (whether from the bag drop or the premium desk) arrive promptly within the first batch.

Had the shock of my life when the bags beat us to the carousel at MEL this week - there was a minor delay in deplaning but still, knowing MEL, I had budgeted for an extra 15-20 minutes waiting for our bags - yet there they were. One of them had a 'lateral' tag on them, so I wonder if the new system somehow sent them with the preceding flight, however given how close our arrival was to the departure of that flight, I would be quite surprised.

 

[JohnK]

While I agree with the change in tone and expectation, I'm still a little baffled by this, JohnK - the sole reason you're not using the tags is that you feel like you're being forced to?

No. I do not like the bag tags. I feel they look extremely ugly and I am not one for bag tags anyway. You will not find any on any of my luggage.

But that is besides the point and you are partly right in that QF cannot force me to use something I do not want to use. Well not until I see a benefit in using it. By the way I waited less than 30 seconds to speak to a human earlier in the evening in BNE so I would have gained absolutely nothing using NGCI.

FWIW, when NGCI has been working, I've had a much better baggage retrieval experience. Even on the golden triangle routes where I'm surely outranked by many pax, have found NGCI'd bags (whether from the bag drop or the premium desk) arrive promptly within the first batch.

Maybe that is what happening to you but I am not sure that information is accurate when you do not know what the other people around you are doing.

FWIW I checked in at BNE with a human and no NGCI bag tag. Got to SYD and ducked into the Qnatas Lounge for a couple of minutes and got downstairs a few minutes later. Bag have not come out yet and a whole lot of people standing around waiting. A couple of minutes later bags started appearing and my bag was the 11th one out. From what I saw the previous 10 bags did not have NGCI bag bags on them and I also cannot be sure if they were priority or not.

 

[medhead]

That's interesting (and terribly annoying!)... sounds like the Kal Qantas assistant might possibly be right.

However, ADL is a NG port as of last week so probably not comparable with a non-NG port.

 

[medhead]

By the way I waited less than 30 seconds to speak to a human earlier in the evening in BNE so I would have gained absolutely nothing using NGCI.

Once more with feeling Using the bag tags does not force you to use NGCI. Is there a reason to constantly confuse the 2 different things. I have waited less than 30 seconds in BNE to check in with a person and also used the bag tags at the same time.

 

[djfuzz]

No. I do not like the bag tags. I feel they look extremely ugly and I am not one for bag tags anyway. You will not find any on any of my luggage.

Sure, I can appreciate that.

But that is besides the point and you are partly right in that QF cannot force me to use something I do not want to use. Well not until I see a benefit in using it. By the way I waited less than 30 seconds to speak to a human earlier in the evening in BNE so I would have gained absolutely nothing using NGCI.

As mentioned earlier, the tags are in no way inconsistent with regular human check-in. I've frequently used them at the premium desk when I've not been able to use NGCI for whatever reason (and I also have my own reservations about NGCI itself). They're literally just a replacement for printed paper tracking tags. If anything, they make the human check-in process marginally faster, as the printing/strapping of paper tags is no longer required.

Maybe that is what happening to you but I am not sure that information is accurate when you do not know what the other people around you are doing.

Hence I referred to my own experience, rather than imputing anything else. Pretty sure my recollection of my own experience was accurate, though I may have to refer back to my diary.

FWIW I checked in at BNE with a human and no NGCI bag tag. Got to SYD and ducked into the Qnatas Lounge for a couple of minutes and got downstairs a few minutes later. Bag have not come out yet and a whole lot of people standing around waiting. A couple of minutes later bags started appearing and my bag was the 11th one out. From what I saw the previous 10 bags did not have NGCI bag bags on them and I also cannot be sure if they were priority or not.

Fair enough, it seems YMMV whatever you use.

 

[JohnK]

Once more with feeling Using the bag tags does not force you to use NGCI. Is there a reason to constantly confuse the 2 different things. I have waited less than 30 seconds in BNE to check in with a person and also used the bag tags at the same time.

No need to be cheeky.

I associate the bag tags with NGCI.

Can someone please explain to me why I need to use the new bag tags and what advantages I gain from their use? It is just a bag tag but a little smarter in that it carries a little more information. Once the bag tag is lost then the information it carries is useless. For me I still prefer to have bag tag labels printed for my luggage which gives me greater protection as there is the bag tag label and the label that is peeled off and stuck to a different part of the luggage.

Now why do I need to use the bag tags again?

 

[djfuzz]

For me I still prefer to have bag tag labels printed for my luggage which gives me greater protection as there is the bag tag label and the label that is peeled off and stuck to a different part of the luggage.

That's entirely fair enough, especially when you don't have any other tags to identify your bags.

Personally, I've never lost a bag domestically, so I don't mind losing that redundancy. And I've had a mostly positive experience with the new tags, so am happy to continue with them for now.

The cosmetic and other changes to the check-in process I have some issues with though. :-|

 

[samiam]

I check luggage maybe 1 trip in 10- couldn't be bothered getting the things out of the pack - I'm sure they're filed somewhere with a couple of sets of gold ones.

I have tried printing labels with the machine once- meh, too fiddly. I just go to the desk now and let them do what I thought my ticket price paid toward. Of course, they ask if I have the NGCI tags and I repeat the above- rarely check in luggage, don't see the value.

 

[dfcatch]

Has anyone used NGCI with the new tags when travelling on the dometic leg of an international itinerary?

Eg. I have a AKL-SYD-MEL multi-stop later in the year and wondered if I could use the NGCI tags for the SYD-MEL leg. Or will it throw a hissy because it's on an international itinerary.

I've never tried it yet as all of my flights are ex-CNS or international thus far.

 

[drewbles]

Has anyone used NGCI with the new tags when travelling on the dometic leg of an international itinerary?

Eg. I have a AKL-SYD-MEL multi-stop later in the year and wondered if I could use the NGCI tags for the SYD-MEL leg. Or will it throw a hissy because it's on an international itinerary.

I've never tried it yet as all of my flights are ex-CNS or international thus far.

I would imagine that they will thru-tag your luggage negating the use of the Q tags.

Inversely, say MEL-SYD-AKL would be the same as you would check in at the international connections desk in MEL.

 

[dfcatch]

I would imagine that they will thru-tag your luggage negating the use of the Q tags.

Inversely, say MEL-SYD-AKL would be the same as you would check in at the international connections desk in MEL.

Oh it's a multistop with 23 hours in SYD

So I get to do the milk-run SYD-MEL

 

[docjames]

Minidoc just got monthly QFF update to his inbox.

Buy BagTag 7000pts. :shock: