Qantas staff skipping the line at the New UberX Rank at Sydney International

[BrockF]

Had a terrible experience with the newish UberX rank at SYD T1 yesterday. I find the new system is slower than previously and is made worse by the staff from Uber causing confusion and allowing Qantas staff to skip the line of people waiting. Yesterday morning the queue was 40 minutes long. This was compounded by about 50 Qantas staff walking around the line to occupy all 7 waiting bays for about 3 consecutive cycles. This added nearly 15 minutes to people who has been waiting patiently for longer than that allready. Staff just simply allowed them to bypass everyone else and this was not received well by people queueing and reflects extremely poorly when this is done by uniformed staff.
How is it that Sydney has made a system that’s works quite well in other places, slower than what was previously there?
The system is designed to have cars ready and waiting but yesterday my Uber driver was very surprised there was this delay, as he was contemplating leaving the airport as the app was saying there was limited jobs!
Previously when I have used the system it has worked OK but I cannot understand how it was such a shocking failure yesterday,
On reflection, if the Qantas crew were lining up with everybody else then it would have moved far quicker for everybody (except possibly them) and there would not be the resentment felt now, or the extended wait they caused for everybody else.
What has everybody else experienced?

 

[fletty]

At Sydney I generally find Ubers and Taxis very hit and miss so I just grab the train into the CBD as I find it's more consistent.
Wait times have always been massive when I arrive.

 

[goldenhorn]

At Sydney I generally find Ubers and Taxis very hit and miss so I just grab the train into the CBD as I find it's more consistent.
Wait times have always been massive when I arrive.

I love the train too. So quick to the city!

 

[muppet]

Had a terrible experience with the newish Uber at SYD T1 yesterday. I find the new system is slower than previously and is made worse by the staff from Uber causing confusion and allowing Qantas staff to skip the line of people waiting. Yesterday morning the queue was 40 minutes long. This was compounded by about 50 Qantas staff walking around the line to occupy all 7 waiting bays for about 3 consecutive cycles. This added nearly 15 minutes to people who has been waiting patiently for longer than that allready. Staff just simply allowed them to bypass everyone else and this was not received well by people queueing and reflects extremely poorly when this is done by uniformed staff.
How is it that Sydney has made a system that’s works quite well in other places, slower than what was previously there?
The system is designed to have cars ready and waiting but yesterday my Uber driver was very surprised there was this delay, as he was contemplating leaving the airport as the app was saying there was limited jobs!
Previously when I have used the system it has worked OK but I cannot understand how it was such a shocking failure yesterday,
On reflection, if the Qantas crew were lining up with everybody else then it would have moved far quicker for everybody (except possibly them) and there would not be the resentment felt now, or the extended wait they caused for everybody else.
What has everybody else experienced?

On what basis do QF staff get to skip the Uber line?

 

[Warragul]

Maybe a commercial arrangement? If so, poorly handled given the OPs description

 

[RooFlyer]

Maybe a commercial arrangement?

Linked into the earn-Qantas-points-on-Uber tie up?

 

[DejaBrew]

I haven’t used the new setup, but could it have anything to do with them having possibly booked Uber Premium, Uber XL or Uber Green rather than a standard UberX?

 

[justinbrett]

Uber Reserve?

 

[Lynda2475]

If the queue at the new pick-up zone where you take first available car (generally an UberX) is too long, you can still walk the extra 2 mins to the general ride share area and book an uber pick-up from there.

After all that where all the XLs and premiums pick-up from.

 

[Warragul]

Linked into the earn-Qantas-points-on-Uber tie up?

I was thinking more for staff than any QF FF thing, seeing the staff appeared to be queue jumping.

 

[RooFlyer]

I was thinking more for staff than any QF FF thing, seeing the staff appeared to be queue jumping.

I was meaning that perhaps staff priority might be written to the overall agreement, but probably not.

 

[Quickstatus]

The cost of parking for 1 week at P7 parking (T1 SYd), motorway tolls, electricity for car = round trip UberXL for me. For the majority of trips which are 2-3 days it's a no brainer to drive and park.

IIRC, I think it's about $90 more than UberXL if I park for 2 weeks.

UberXL is not affected as these are in a different area.

 

[Sprucegoose]

If the queue at the new pick-up zone where you take first available car (generally an UberX) is too long, you can still walk the extra 2 mins to the general ride share area and book an uber pick-up from there.

After all that where all the XLs and premiums pick-up from.

Where is the general ride share - still kerbside to airport arrivals?

 

[Quickstatus]

Where is the general ride share - still kerbside to airport arrivals?

 

[Quickstatus]

After all that where all the XLs and premiums pick-up from.

I've almost stopped catching UberX. The service is increasingly poor (generally not referring to airport).

 

[Forg]

I know this is wavering away from the topic (and as an aside on the topic of the thread - I do wonder if QF have done a deal with Uber for local staff travel & are messing-up the optics), but does the above (talking about “PIN technology” and differences for UberX vs the other services) mean the UberX’s are picking-up passengers in the same way as a taxi as opposed to booking through the app?

 

[Quickstatus]

UberX’s are picking-up passengers in the same way as a taxi as opposed to booking through the app?

You still book through the app but take the first available UberX at the taxi UberX rank. The driver inputs the PIN number you get from booking through the app, to display destination. I've never caught UberX at airport, so could be wrong.

Maybe a moderator can correct the thread title changing Uber to UberX

 

[JohnK]

The cost of parking for 1 week at P7 parking (T1 SYd), motorway tolls, electricity for car = round trip UberXL for me. For the majority of trips which are 2-3 days it's a no brainer to drive and park.

My car in Sydney is on its last legs. So Uber from airport to parents and back again but then no use of car. Uber around $100 there and back.

I've gone to hiring cars. 3 times with Simba now for 2 days each for $120, $85 and $90 and add around $20 for petrol each time.

Simba doesn't have car available next week so found Mystery car on Europcar for $125. And Simba back to $90 end of March.

Stay away from Uber and taxis in general.