Qantas to Introduce Group Boarding and Bag Tracking

[SYD]

…with ten year old vintage WP coasters still attached to their bags. Lol. We’ve all see them. Re-living the glory days.

I use those silver looking ones to spare my 100 Ann version!

 

[JessicaTam]

I think American Airlines puts Oneworld Emerald in Economy in Group 2. Group 1 is American Executive Platinum only.

As a data point I am flying dom J today on AA as OWE and I am group 1.

 

[SYD]

As a data point I am flying dom J today on AA as OWE and I am group 1.

F/J on 2 class is Group 1. Not sure about 3 class domestic.

 

[Berlin]

Will not work if staff continues to not adhere to the system. And I’ve given up on that with Qantas to be quite honest, likewise with priority luggage. Even Iberia can do it, but not Qantas.

 

[RooFlyer]

An interesting observation in SYD this evening: carry ons were being weighed at the entrance to the security queues - both general and priority. I saw a couple of WPs sent scurrying to check in over weight wheelie cabin bags. This is a very good sign and very sensible to catch people land side to send them to the bag drop machine instead of dicking around weighing carry ons at the gate.

hopefully this is just a warning shot across the bow, and not a permanent feature.

I agree, it’s better landside than airside check but a horrible precident. Better still, tell people in check in ( app or airport) that’s going to happen.

I know we've this discussion many times on AFF but travelling business I nearly always have more weight in my carryon then the airline allows ( edp VA). So judge me . I don’t ask anyone to lift it into the overhead locker or otherwise help me and I can manage it easily myself.

Again size, not mass.

 

[justinbrett]

F/J on 2 class is Group 1. Not sure about 3 class domestic.

J is Group 2 on a three class flight, regardless of I/D.

(They say 3 class but obviously that includes 4 class)

J on a two class international flight (ie, the same seat sold as domestic F) is Group 1.

 

[kpro]

An interesting observation in SYD this evening: carry ons were being weighed at the entrance to the security queues - both general and priority.

Mentioned in another thread I saw this the other week, got waved through at 1kg over.

Or a couple of non WP who managed to sneak into the priority security lane

…with ten year old vintage WP coasters still attached to their bags. Lol. We’ve all see them. Re-living the glory days.

How can you tell who is and isn't a WP unless you were looking at their boarding pass? I still use an older version of the bag tag's with the old Qantas logo's, but am very much still a WP.

 

[Lynda2475]

Size (dimensions) and number of items should be first point of enforcement; but if very heavy there are concerns should an item fall from an open bin.

 

[kpro]

I do really like the comprehensive bag tracking that AA provides in their app. Though, I find it more useful during tight connections as it provides confidence that bags have made it onto your connecting flight. Hopefully this is what QF are implementing.

EG from a recent trip, with < 1 hour connection. It shows down the minutes, though I've redacted that.
Was very impressed, not only with the app but also the baggage handlers in CLT. Better then my experience with tight connections in SIN.

 

[DC3]

How can you tell who is and isn't a WP unless you were looking at their boarding pass?

Tail between their legs as they do the walk of shame

 

[Daver6]

I do really like the comprehensive bag tracking that AA provides in their app. Though, I find it more useful during tight connections as it provides confidence that bags have made it onto your connecting flight. Hopefully this is what QF are implementing.

EG from a recent trip, with < 1 hour connection. It shows down the minutes, though I've redacted that.
Was very impressed, not only with the app but also the baggage handlers in CLT. Better then my experience with tight connections in SIN.
View attachment 332274

You can be sure the QF bag tracking will be as useful as the AusPost parcel tracking which has to useless points usually. You're order has been created and then you're order is delivered with very little (usually nothing) in between.

 

[Berlin]

I do really like the comprehensive bag tracking that AA provides in their app. Though, I find it more useful during tight connections as it provides confidence that bags have made it onto your connecting flight. Hopefully this is what QF are implementing.

Why would anyone need this- airtags are your friend (and I don't really trust the airlines themselves telling you the truth about what's going on when there's a problem...)

 

[kpro]

Why would anyone need this- airtags are your friend (and I don't really trust the airlines themselves telling you the truth about what's going on when there's a problem...)

I have AirTag's as well. I think they're very good for missing baggage. But they're not accurate enough to show if the bag is on my plane vs just at the airport, they're often not trusted by airport staff, and they sometimes don't update in real time.

Edit - they also don't have a history.

 

[serfty]

As a data point I am flying dom J today on AA as OWE and I am group 1.

It is a data point, but there are two factors.

You are flying (I presume) AA 2 class domestic "First", which is really J - but get Group 1.

Also, as a BA GGL you are equated to EXP via their Atlantic partnership which inclues BA, unlike us mere QF WP which equates to AAdvantage Platinum Pro. Based on that, I believe if you had been flying "main cabin", group 1 would also have been your lot.

 

[Quickstatus]

Why would anyone need this- airtags are your friend (

AirTags won't say
"#12345678 bag loaded on your flight"

 

[pauly7]

You can be sure the QF bag tracking will be as useful as the AusPost parcel tracking which has to useless points usually. You're order has been created and then you're order is delivered with very little (usually nothing) in between.

OT: That’s not been my experience with AusPost at all, if anything they give me too many transit points! Are you using the app? (It’s quite good).

Back on topic, I’m not really fussed either way about bag tracking have never looked at it or needed it even when I’ve had it available in the US.

 

[RichardMEL]

AirTags won't say
"#12345678 bag loaded on your flight"

Agreed. I'm not sure why the hate for this function on AA's app. There are reasons to be biased AAgainst American, but this isn't one of them imo.

I find it very useful. Indeed, it really helped me a few months ago and provided some real peace of mind that an airtag would only provide some of the story (and I'm not an apple person, and I understand the other options for androids are not as useful, but I digress). A few months ago I was flying AA from ATL-DFW. I'd arrived early enough at DFW off QF7 that I asked if I could go on an earlier flght. They said sure they'd put me on standby and my bag would probably go on that flight. OK cool. Anyway got to the lounge, thought about it for a bit, saw there were only middles in the back of whY available, and decided my J seat 2 hours later was preferable, so I got the AAgent to remove my standby and keep me on my original flight. That was all fine, but my bag was tagged on that earlier flight, so I sat in the lounge and saw it loaded on that earlier flight. Clearly with some concern that I actually was not on that same flight I thought OK well what happens at ATL? As it turned out, that flight was descending as I was departing DFW and well there was nothing I could do either way except bung on thewifi (and since AA services have free access to wifi regardless of paying or not I could still track the flight and my bag status). So I saw first the bag offloaded, then on the belt in ATL. Of course I thought uh oh, a long bag going around and around uncollected is rife for someone to "collect" - not that I ever have anything very important in checked bags, but you know my clothes fit me and things. SO anyway about 10-15 mins later as I sipped a drink I noticed that the app bag track told me that the bag had been moved to the AA baggage office at ATL for collection. So I knew my bag was fine, and it would be there when I arrived in an hour or so (and sure enough all was fine). The app provided all of this information very clearly and helpfully - and an airtag may have just said it was in ATL bag claim - if at all that detailed - and perhaps not give me any confidence as to where it may be. In that situation the AA app was, tbh, brilliant.

I am not saying airtags shouldn't be used - of course not - they're very useful of course and I fully understand why people use them - but every time I've used the AA app with the bag tracking it's been accurate and it's great to see when my bag's scanned as loaded into the belly of the beast I'm on.

Now, like others I definitely don't trust QF's ability to provide - certainly initially - such useful information in their app as AA, UA and others have done for years - but it's a start, and hopefully a positive overall - even if just limited information provided. We shall see how it goes. It's got to be better than having nothing as is currently available to the public.

 

[Batterytraveller]

Bag tracking - I have no desire to know that I haven’t got my bag with me until I get to the end of the trip. Sure I’d love not to stand around belt unnecessarily, but until then there is absolute nothing I can do about it.

Group boarding - waste of time that is designed around monetising overhead bin space and people’s angst about it. Unless you are going to operate it like a Japanese airline then it’s going to increase turnaround time to generate ancillary revenues.

 

[Quickstatus]

The app baggage tracking either gives peace of mind and you can sip the champagne in peace or no peace of mind and you can sip the champagne in anxiety.

Some might prefer not knowing the bad news until after arrival and not spoil flight.

 

[DC3]

I have AirTag's as well. I think they're very good for missing baggage. But they're not accurate enough to show if the bag is on my plane vs just at the airport, they're often not trusted by airport staff, and they sometimes don't update in real time.

Sorry to hear about your poor experience.

However, I can say that my Air Tags appeared to work flawlessly on a big overseas trip last year