Oooh...I have a very cranky wife....

[IainF]

AS per my other posts, my wife has just flown PE with V Australia from LAX to SYD..arriving at 8:10 am this morning.
She was unable to get her boarding pass in LAX for her SYD-BNE leg (PE) nor was able to get her bags tagged through to BNE.
She has just arrived at SYD, and has been advised that she will not make her flight to BNE.....she has an hour and a bit to get from the INT to DOM terminals... she has to schlep her bags her self....She was waiting for a taxi as I am writing all of this.
Now before anyone asks, the connection was was well within tolerances. (Over 2 hours), both of us are pretty experienced travellers, and we are well aware of pitfalls when travelling.

This whole trip with V Australia has been a bit of a schmozzle from day one with the lack of information available. It took 4 phone calls just so we get the name of the lounge she could use in LAX, as an example. I was unable to get a clear aswer on getting her a paid upgrade... and I have spent more time on hold with V Aust, than I have spent on the phone to my mother in the past year....

But what has really annoyed her is that because she missed her DOM flight, they have given her a boarding pass for seat 19F for the next flight.. SHE IS BOOKED IN PE !!

The staff at the INT terminal are pretty clueless from what she has told me. No information and no help.

She was told to take up the seating issue when she arrives at the DOM terminal.

OK.. for all of the DJ lurkers.... Your staff's actions will probably have lost a Gold Velocity member.

All she wanted was some help after a 15 hour flight to get on a DOM flight home.

Do you guys know what sort of day I am going to have now !!! :evil::evil::evil::evil:
I have to leave for Mel tomorrow morning for a week.. all I wanted was to have a nice happy relaxed day with the Mrs before I left... we have had 3 nights together in the last 5 weeks.. Now I have a wife who is spitting fire.

Must go and buy flowers....and champagne... and Panadol...

 

[Mwenenzi]

She and her bags would have to clear customs & immigration at SYD (same as with QF). As DJ no have a domestic check in service at the Intl terminal see no option other than to make her own way over to Dom and check in for the BNE flight.
Leaving Au bags are transferred - X rayed after check in. The PAX does not need to be present

The obvious answer to all : AVOID SYDNEY (Fly to / from BNE MEL)

Enjoy your day ! (And buy high strength Panadol)

 

[QF WP]

Oh no. Knowing these two well, IainF is not in for an exciting day :shock:.

Hmmm, you buying Panadol for you - don't forget something stronger for MrsIainF...

 

[IainF]

Mwenenzi... "The obvious answer to all : AVOID SYDNEY (Fly to / from BNE MEL)"

I agree completely.
I have flown from BNE to MEL to get a HKG flight, just so I didn't have to get the bus...

BUT..

How can these two airlines NOT have an interline agreement ?

I normally do a bit of research and this was not something I had factored into my calculations.

Further talks with her have also indicated that the J cabin was pretty well full with some sort of celebrity and entourage.. all of whom were fairly boisterous through out the night.

The second problem was that a special meal (gluten free) which had been ordered by her, 10 days prior, and confirmed a day out, was not loaded.
She had a meal cobbled together from both the J and Y meals...

Overall, she is not impressed with either V Australia nor with PE.
She said she has had much better experiences with QF Y.

And she has added quite firmly that she will not be flying with V Australia again, in any class. ( She will be doing regular trips to LA for the next 12 months)

I wonder when Delta starts flying ????

 

[2muchplastic]

She and her bags would have to clear customs & immigration at SYD (same as with QF). As DJ no have a domestic check in service at the Intl terminal see no option other than to make her own way over to Dom and check in for the BNE flight.
Leaving Au bags are transferred - X rayed after check in. The PAX does not need to be present

The obvious answer to all : AVOID SYDNEY (Fly to / from BNE MEL)

Enjoy your day ! (And buy high strength Panadol)

Mwenenzi, DJ do have a DOM check in facility in SYD T1. Once through Customs and Immigration, hang a left at the end (it's a grotty little door on the very left hand side). Travelling V Australia and connecting to DJ you'd get the T-Bus transfer to T2 for free too. I've used this three times so far this year.

As you say, there is no option but to collect bags and clear customs with them though and as far as I'm aware it's this same at all AU airports when transferring INT-DOM, but you only have to walk about 25 meters with them in SYD.

 

[IainF]

Mwenenzi, DJ do have a DOM check in facility in SYD T1. Once through Customs and Immigration, hang a left at the end (it's a grotty little door on the very left hand side). Travelling V Australia and connecting to DJ you'd get the T-Bus transfer to T2 for free too. I've used this three times so far this year.

As you say, there is no option but to collect bags and clear customs with them though and as far as I'm aware it's this same at all AU airports when transferring INT-DOM, but you only have to walk about 25 meters with them in SYD.

The DJ staff advised her she would have to take her own luggage....
And she wasn't prepared to wait for the bus, so tipped a taxi an extra $20 to get her to the DOM.

The easiest option is usually the right option in these sort of circumstances.
Time is more important than $ at this stage of things. I had known what it was going to be for her, I would have had a driver waiting for her to take her between terminals.

Actually, had I know what it would have been like for her.. I would have paid the difference to get her in QF J...

 

[2muchplastic]

The DJ staff advised her she would have to take her own luggage....
And she wasn't prepared to wait for the bus, so tipped a taxi an extra $20 to get her to the DOM....

Quite odd. I've connected between VS and DJ 3 times so far this year and I'm sure I've checked luggage at that transfer lounge (though now I'm starting to doubt my own memory!). Maybe the problem was because it was too close to the departure time of the SYD-BNE flight? I have seen people having to take luggage on the bus as well, and never really thought about what the difference was between their cirumstances and mine, so maybe I got special privileges somehow.

 

[IainF]

I am not sure why the bags couldn't go over as transfer.. but in about 1 hours time when I pick her up from BNE, I am sure I will hear ALL about it.

I want to add that I know that with INT travel, things can go wrong. And with a new airline, there is always teething problems.

However, it is the staff of the airline who can make things easier for the pax.

In this case, at both LAX and SYD, this did not happen.

Not the end of the world, but would have been a bit nicer for her.
And me...:mrgreen:

 

[MelUser]

I think the moral of this story is to choose the airline and flight that flies into the Australian city that you need.

Speaking personally I am happy to be creative when leaving and fly out from SYD or whatever it takes but living in Melbourne I want to land in Melbourne when I return!

 

[Mwenenzi]

Mwenenzi, DJ do have a DOM check in facility in SYD T1. Once through Customs and Immigration, hang a left at the end (it's a grotty little door on the very left hand side). Travelling V Australia and connecting to DJ you'd get the T-Bus transfer to T2 for free too. I've used this three times so far this year.

As you say, there is no option but to collect bags and clear customs with them though and as far as I'm aware it's this same at all AU airports when transferring INT-DOM, but you only have to walk about 25 meters with them in SYD.

OK did not know that. Could not find athr info on the DJ web site.

I am not sure why the bags couldn't go over as transfer.. but in about 1 hours time when I pick her up from BNE, I am sure I will hear ALL about it.

Was the incoming flight on time ?

So after several hours back home how much champagne has been consumed (and Panadol) ?

 

[QF WP]

C'mon IainF, spill the rest of the story. How was Sunday?

I still have to ring MrsIainF sometime this week and I want her calmed down before I start talking business with her.

 

[IainF]

Well, two things have come of the weekend...

1. Mrs IainF will not ever be flying VA again...
2. Mrs IainF is still jetlagged and tired....

I would suggest Lindsay, that you should avoid all talk of Virgin Australia and PE seats...... It will illicit a response not for sensitive ears...:shock:

I sincerely hope that the DJ and VA lurkers have ] read about her trip and take some time to (re)train the checkin staff at both LAX and SYD INT airports.

Cheers
IainF

 

[QF WP]

A recommendation well heeded when we all meet next week...

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I would suggest Lindsay, that you should avoid all talk of Virgin Australia and PE seats...... It will illicit a response not for sensitive ears...

Was there anything wrong with the PE seat/service itself? If so, feedback please!

I got the impression the main problem was the non-flying experience part of the flight...

 

[crazydave98]

IainF

please correct me if I am wrong, but what you describe is consistent with your wife having booked two separate tickets for LAX-SYD and SYD-BNE?

If she had been booked on a single ticket she and her bags should indeed have been checked through all the way to BNE and she should have been able to deposit her bags at our transfer lounge in SYD international terminal after clearing customs and immigration. If she was on a single ticket she should also have automatically been reaccommodated on a later SYD-BNE flight if she missed the connection due to a late arrival into SYD. If she was on a single ticket and could not have herself and bags checked through and could not use the SYD transfer lounge, then we totally blew it and don't deserve your wifes patronage. Please forward me details by PM and I should be able to arrange a credit or refund.

If your wife was travelling on separate tickets and missed her SYD-BNE flight, I'm sorry but she may as well have been travelling QF LAX-SYD in that we do not and cannot guarantee connections when separate tickets are booked. If she missed her SYD-BNE flight and was booked in PE we would have done our best to re-accommodate her in PE. Without knowing the details it sounds like PE was sold out on that flight - if you can provide details I can check that and arrange a credit if she was wrongly downgraded when there was room in PE.

Regarding the check-in staff at LAX, your wife asked them to do something they physically could not do (i.e. link separately booked tickets on VA and DJ - they are on separate reservations systems). I can understand why your wife would see this as unhelpful, but unless the staff were rude, dismissive or otherwise unpleasant there is not much action I can take. She should have been able to deposit her bags at the SYD transfer lounge and check in for the SYD-BNE flight, unless she presented there with insufficient remaining connection time. I will have the processes checked. Other than not being able to do what your wife wanted, are there any specific complaints against the SYD staff that I can have followed up?

We appreciate your wife's business and are sorry that her experience was not up to expectations.

CrazyDave98

 

[crazydave98]

I checked with our interline manager who happens to be based at SYD about the transfer lounge in the international terminal. The present arrangement is that anyone stepping off any international flight at SYD who wants to check in at the international terminal transfer lounge for an onwards Virgin Blue domestic flight and is not on a single ticket (including interline/codeshare) can do so for $15 which includes transport of the person and their bags to the domestic terminal. The service is obviously free for anyone on a single ticket. The interline manager tells me this fee will be waived for anyone stepping off a V Australia international flight and not on a single ticket (as seems to be the case with IainF's wife) and should have been done by now. He has undertaken to ensure that staff are properly informed and trained and the staff were clearly in the wrong if they did not at least make your wife aware of the option to pay the $15. Again, we're sorry her experience was not up to expectations.

CrazyDave98

 

[docjames]

Regarding the check-in staff at LAX, your wife asked them to do something they physically could not do (i.e. link separately booked tickets on VA and DJ - they are on separate reservations systems). I can understand why your wife would see this as unhelpful, but unless the staff were rude, dismissive or otherwise unpleasant there is not much action I can take..

CrazyDave98

Dave, why cant these be linked? To me, "separate systems" is not really a very good reason. A bit like QF refusing to link a domestic booking and an international one.

FWIW, i've had issues with QF linking things before too, but dont understand why airlines can't do this if it meets minimum connection times.

Agree with all your other sentiments, if staff worked within guidelines, it is not their fault.

To me, it is a system problem DJ/VA will need to fix or lose patronage.

I'm guessing it has more to do with implied liability if connecting flights are missed, giving the airlines an out if necessary (which to their credit in Australia, doesnt really happen very often as arrangements are made where appropriate).

 

[ANstar]

.

FWIW, i've had issues with QF linking things before too, but dont understand why airlines can't do this if it meets minimum connection times.

I beleive it has something to do with the liability if the bags are lost etc.

Or at least this is what NZ/bmi claimed.

 

[crazydave98]

Dave, why cant these be linked? To me, "separate systems" is not really a very good reason. A bit like QF refusing to link a domestic booking and an international one.

Sorry if it doesn't sound like a very good reason - it's just the way it is. Qantas and Jetstar have had the same issue with Qantas being on Amadeus res system (like V Australia) and Jetstar on Open Skies (like Virgin Blue). So the better analogy would be someone checking in with Qantas for LAX-SYD and the agent not being able to link a JQ SYD-AVV segment. It's not that we don't want to be able to link tickets - just can't.

FWIW, i've had issues with QF linking things before too, but dont understand why airlines can't do this if it meets minimum connection times.
To me, it is a system problem DJ/VA will need to fix or lose patronage.

Agree it's a problem for the small proportion of people who book separate tickets instead of a single itinerary, and that it may cost a few sales. But compared to the cost of trying to build a monolithic integrated res system.. <insert favourite IT disaster story here>.

I'm guessing it has more to do with implied liability if connecting flights are missed, giving the airlines an out if necessary.

I don't understand how you arrived at this conclusion. We already sell itineraries such as SYD-LAX-BNE on VA + VB and accept the liability of missed connections. In the case that started this thread, it seems (but hasn't been confirmed by OP) that his wife bought two separate tickets and we just can't put different tickets in different reservations systems together. If we could easily join them we would.

Also just a small correction on an earlier post - even if the traveller was on a single ticket LAX-SYD-BNE with us, their bag would only be tagged as far as SYD. They would need to pick it up to clear customs and immigration and then deposit it at the transfer desk in the international terminal where it would be re-tagged for BNE. In the opposite direction the bag would be tagged from BNE all the way through to LAX.

 

[docjames]

If we could easily join them we would.

i guess that's it isnt it: Lost sales < cost to fix.

QF have less excuse, they bought the booking engine for jetstar when they already had the QF one!