Qantas Chauffeur service - General Questions/Advice

[kermatu]

A friend recently travelled in F on an EK flight (booked as a QF codeshare) from a European airport to DXB. There were only two passengers on his EK flight to DXB in F and about 10 in J.

He then stayed overnight prior to the next day travelling on QF2 from DXB to SYD, again in F. This flight was full or close to it.

Neither from the airport at DXB to his hotel or back from the hotel (booked time 0545 hours) to the airport did the chauffeur driver and car turn up, despite him having supposedly 'verified' by telephone to both call centres the day before that both were booked.

Subsequently he spoke with EK and QF staff. Both blamed the other.

Is this deliberate to reduce costs or have others never had any problems?

At DXB you just go to the chauffeur lounge area after baggage claim. Drivers don't meet you (as far as I'm aware). Did your friend go there but get denied a chauffeur?

 

[Melburnian1]

kermatu, thank you, I don't know but in due course I will try to ask. He was definite that for both his arrival and prior to departure, it was not 'as advertised' and 'as booked'.

 

[kermatu]

I would think even if the system fails, on arrival at DXB you could just show your boarding pass - demonstrating you'd just flown F or J - and pick up a chauffeur there. As for the return though it does sound like a fail. I've never had an issue with maybe 8 or 10 CD experiences (including DXB). That said, when on EK metal I have sometimes booked the CD on the EK website, rather than QF.

 

[Andrewt]

Has anyone had experience of travelling over the complimentary distance? I want to travel 85 miles from LHR (70 is max), there will be 2 J passengers in the one car. Does the fact that we are using one car bump up the allowable distance?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Has anyone had experience of travelling over the complimentary distance? I want to travel 85 miles from LHR (70 is max), there will be 2 J passengers in the one car. Does the fact that we are using one car bump up the allowable distance?

Nope. Can't do it. Well, you can, but they will charge you for the full cost of the journey. YMMV.

No the number of pxs does not matter. Flying F 2 pxs one year we wanted a car for 105km one year and the max was 100km and they refused or asked us for Euro230 for the trip. I was seriously considering ordering two CDs as we were technically permitted, one for each of us, to take us to the 100km limit then get a taxi from there! I should have.

But it will actually depend on the specific destination and the specific car hire company. You could give them a call and ask. Not much else to do while we wait for the next government a month away.

 

[drross]

I would think even if the system fails, on arrival at DXB you could just show your boarding pass - demonstrating you'd just flown F or J - and pick up a chauffeur there. As for the return though it does sound like a fail. I've never had an issue with maybe 8 or 10 CD experiences (including DXB). That said, when on EK metal I have sometimes booked the CD on the EK website, rather than QF.

same experience with our travels through DXB

 

[katiebell]

Assuming they turn up or actually wait for you… So far one car in London did not turn up (old company: the new one is better) and the driver did not wiat for me to clear customs & immigration in Aus recently… In DXB the EK service for pick up to the airport is worse than useless if the flight is with QF. Then there is the kamikaze driver of the people mover sent for 1 person…

I am beginning to wonder if chauffeur drive is worth it.

 

[pagingjoan]

Assuming they turn up or actually wait for you… So far one car in London did not turn up (old company: the new one is better) and the driver did not wiat for me to clear customs & immigration in Aus recently… In DXB the EK service for pick up to the airport is worse than useless if the flight is with QF. Then there is the kamikaze driver of the people mover sent for 1 person…

I am beginning to wonder if chauffeur drive is worth it.

Please, please, please Katebell, don't say that!

We love CD. It's a great added service and we have already lost it for US travel, and would hate that to happen to the surviving services.

Admittedly, we've had only one fail, in many bookings, so our experience is much more positive than others.

 

[drross]

We've never had a drama and have found the drivers to be generally excellent

 

[katiebell]

Assuming they turn up or actually wait for you… So far one car in London did not turn up (old company: the new one is better) and the driver did not wiat for me to clear customs & immigration in Aus recently… In DXB the EK service for pick up to the airport is worse than useless if the flight is with QF. Then there is the kamikaze driver of the people mover sent for 1 person…

I am beginning to wonder if chauffeur drive is worth it.

By sheer coincidence (???) my call to customer care mid-last week that was to be returned in 1/2 hr was returned early this morning. The good will gesture for 3 out of 4 transfers in Aus this year resulting in 2 of the worst 1 hour drives in my life and a trip where the driver was not there after flying in from LHR (resulting in a 1+ hour delay in getting home) is 5000ff points. Given I have a large number of points I cannot find flights to spend on and the 'purchasing power' relative to the wasting of my time and the degree of stress and distress caused by numerous near misses as we slalomed through the traffic at 80+kmh I really do wonder if Qantas place any value on premium pax. The perhaps I should feel privileged as several complaints via other Qantas channels did not result in any contact at all and, worst of all, getting the same kamikaze driver twice.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Please, please, please Katebell, don't say that!

We love CD. It's a great added service and we have already lost it for US travel, and would hate that to happen to the surviving services.

Admittedly, we've had only one fail, in many bookings, so our experience is much more positive than others.

Likewise. Have only had one hiccup when the booking disappeared from MMB in DXB. Driver still turned up at the hotel though.
No issues with Carey in LHR and I really like the set up on arrival in DXB.

I think the majority of people are happy with the service.

 

[katiebell]

Please, please, please Katebell, don't say that!

We love CD. It's a great added service and we have already lost it for US travel, and would hate that to happen to the surviving services.

Admittedly, we've had only one fail, in many bookings, so our experience is much more positive than others.

Having a bad experience in 3 out 4 four trips in 3 months is not a good record... The response from QF was underwhelming. Carey in London is fine but tristar was not (again no show with the driver).

If the CD was reliable and the drivers were safe it would be good but that has not been my experience. If Kamikaze turns up again I will send him away... life is too short for a slalom drive at 80-100 kmh.

In contrast the drivers I use for personal bookings in Aus & London are all great and totally reliable.

 

[pagingjoan]

Having a bad experience in 3 out 4 four trips in 3 months is not a good record... The response from QF was underwhelming. Carey in London is fine but tristar was not (again no show with the driver).

If the CD was reliable and the drivers were safe it would be good but that has not been my experience. If Kamikaze turns up again I will send him away... life is too short for a slalom drive at 80-100 kmh.

In contrast the drivers I use for personal bookings in Aus & London are all great and totally reliable.

I would not be happy with that record either.

But just reporting that we have had many CD bookings, covering Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, London, Dubai and Copenhagen.... Perhaps others that I can't bring to mind just now... And drivers and cars have all been excellent.

Hopefully, your future experience will be of the standard you would expect.
Best of luck.

 

[docjames]

Nil issues 4/4.

 

[katiebell]

I would not be happy with that record either.

But just reporting that we have had many CD bookings, covering Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, London, Dubai and Copenhagen.... Perhaps others that I can't bring to mind just now... And drivers and cars have all been excellent.

Hopefully, your future experience will be of the standard you would expect.
Best of luck.

Thank you pagingjoan
After problems the first time I used CD things improved… until this year when the Australian end has been almost completely bad. Now that we are hooked the standards are dropping, at least that is my experience. If this continues I will be better off flying another airline, saving some dosh & booking my own driver. Save on dollars, grey hairs and palpitations

 

[pagingjoan]

Thank you pagingjoan
After problems the first time I used CD things improved… until this year when the Australian end has been almost completely bad. Now that we are hooked the standards are dropping, at least that is my experience. If this continues I will be better off flying another airline, saving some dosh & booking my own driver. Save on dollars, grey hairs and palpitations

To give you some hope, katiebell:

We had the CD service in London this week.
1) Received a call from the CD company the day before to confirm pick up address, time, number of pax and bags, etc.
2) Received a text message 15 minutes before the appointed pick up time, to advise the name of the driver and his location outside the hotel, and that he would be available whenever we were ready.
3) Driver and car were impeccably presented.
4) Driver texted through a confirmation of our ETA and number of bags for check in.
5) Drive was smooth and extremely pleasant. Trouble spots were noted and avoided.

All in all, an excellent service.
Hope your experience in the future improves on yours in the past.

 

[blackcat20]

To give you some hope, katiebell:

We had the CD service in London this week.
1) Received a call from the CD company the day before to confirm pick up address, time, number of pax and bags, etc.
2) Received a text message 15 minutes before the appointed pick up time, to advise the name of the driver and his location outside the hotel, and that he would be available whenever we were ready.
3) Driver and car were impeccably presented.
4) Driver texted through a confirmation of our ETA and number of bags for check in.
5) Drive was smooth and extremely pleasant. Trouble spots were noted and avoided.

All in all, an excellent service.
Hope your experience in the future improves on yours in the past.

Same experience for us, though Im not sure what the point of texting through our ETA was.

 

[katiebell]

To give you some hope, katiebell:

We had the CD service in London this week.
1) Received a call from the CD company the day before to confirm pick up address, time, number of pax and bags, etc.
2) Received a text message 15 minutes before the appointed pick up time, to advise the name of the driver and his location outside the hotel, and that he would be available whenever we were ready.
3) Driver and car were impeccably presented.
4) Driver texted through a confirmation of our ETA and number of bags for check in.
5) Drive was smooth and extremely pleasant. Trouble spots were noted and avoided.

All in all, an excellent service.
Hope your experience in the future improves on yours in the past.

My problem has not been with London since the service was taken off Tristar and given to Carey. I agree that Carey offer a very professional service in London.

As noted in my posts, the problem this year (for all bar 1 transfer) has been with the Australian end of the operation, i.e. the operation provided by Brunel for Qantas.

I am pleased, but not surprised, that you had a good experience in London. If only it was of a similar standard in Australia

 

[pagingjoan]

My problem has not been with London since the service was taken off Tristar and given to Carey. I agree that Carey offer a very professional service in London.

As noted in my posts, the problem this year (for all bar 1 transfer) has been with the Australian end of the operation, i.e. the operation provided by Brunel for Qantas.

I am pleased, but not surprised, that you had a good experience in London. If only it was of a similar standard in Australia

Apologies, katiebell.
I should have remembered that it was the Australian end that failed dismally to meet your expectations.

On that note, I should add that:
1) The CD driver was waiting at the usual spot on our exit from our flight at MEL.
2) He immediately took over the transport of all our luggage, even insisting on taking the hand luggage.
3) Driver and car were immaculately presented.
4) Drive was smooth and comfortable, and driver did not need any directions to find the address.

Another excellent experience for us - and no, I have no connection with QF or the CD services!
Other than as a more-than-satisfied user, that is.

As a point of comparison, we do also use other similar services in other parts of the world, and the QF/EK service stands up to any of them - again, in MY experience.
I am not questioning yours, of course.
Best of luck in the future.

 

[katiebell]

Thank you paginjoan. It would have been nice to actually have a driver waiting for me when I had prebooked the service.

Arriving off a long haul flight with no driver and no Qantas staff or desk in sight is a bad way to end a trip. The extra 1 1/2 hours to get home completely removed the warm glow I had from the excellent service on board. Brunel were not good at getting a car for me, despite the best efforts of the Qantas staff member (who was given the runaround by the company and did not have the appropriate contact details to hand: she had to get these from the Flounge). Perhaps Qantas need to look at their processes for this too.

My expectations are not great: a driver waiting when booked, a safe driver and a clean car. These are the reasons I no longer use taxis in Australia. Traffic jams do not faze me: they are just one of those things.

A bit of advice for others who may find a problem once landslide: go to departures to the Qantas sales desk in departures if you have any problems. I found this out by luck as there is no customer care or signage once landside at arrivals.