The totally off-topic thread

[serfty]

QF will move pax with checked bags when they need to, happened to me last month in Cairns when premium noticed my flight was running late and offered me an earlier flight despite checked bags. Its rare but does happen and only if the fare rules allow or it suits QF generally.

It's often easier at the smaller ports like CNS where may be less than 50 flights per day.

A bit different ex MEL/SYD/BNE ...

 

[markis10]

It's often easier at the smaller ports like CNS where may be less than 50 flights per day.

A bit different ex MEL/SYD/BNE ...

Yep, although I did have it happen to me in MEL one night coming back from the Clipsal in ADL, it was a Sunday night when I would have thought it was quite busy, sometimes you can be lucky.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Interesting response from the J Lounge attendant (travelling J) in MEL yesterday.

We arrived early into MEL from HBA so enquired about an earlier flight. Was told we could not be moved "because you have checked luggage".

I suspect the real reason was "I cant be bothered making the changes and finding the baggage".

Am I right to be cynical, or is there a new policy on not moving those with checked luggage?

FWIW we arrived 0715 and the flights were 0815 and 0915 (and our originally booked 1015 departure).

Any thoughts? I accept "your fare is not flexible, the flights are full, i cant get you on the flight that leaves in 15 minutes due to the luggage" etc, but this sounded like rubbish to me, surely we could have moved to the 0915 at least?

Having just had a relaxing holiday, I wasnt about to create an uproar and just J-lounged it until 1015, but on another day I might have had a protracted discussion.....

I can understand you frustration however with checked bags you would need someone to go out the back to the baggage makeup area, locate the bag & retag it. This would generally mean taking someone off the checkin counter to do this which may impact queueing time for other pax awaiting checkin. It usually comes down to resouces available at the time or lack thereof.

However I think it needs to be assessed on a case by case basis eg don't ask on a Monday morning or Friday evening or other peak travel time because it's generally chaos in the baggage makeup area.

In your case I doubt that your 1015 plane would have even been at MEL at the time (0715 ish) so your bag was probably sitting on a trolley in the vicinity of the gate/bay for that flight with other tranship bags waiting to be loaded an hour or so down the track. In this instance I don't think it would have been to hard to locate.

To avoid a repeat of this incident & give you the desired outcome you could either:

a) travel with carry on only as it sounded like they were willing to change you

or

b) check your bags HBA to MEL only then front up to bag drop with your luggage & ask about the earlier flight

I'm not saying you should go and do all this however generally speaking the easier you make it for the airline the harder it is for them to say no.

 

[MissBurrill]

Qantas once shifted my flight after check in on a Friday out of Canberra. The nice lounge dragon seemed happy when I told her to tell the baggage people to look for a leopard print suitcase.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Qantas once shifted my flight after check in on a Friday out of Canberra. The nice lounge dragon seemed happy when I told her to tell the baggage people to look for a leopard print suitcase.

That definitely makes their job easier. Imagine if they'd asked for a description & you'd replied "well it's a black suitcase...." aarrgghh!

The bolder & brighter the better. Also reduces the chance of someone else taking your bag in error.

 

[anat0l]

The bolder & brighter the better. Also reduces the chance of someone else taking your bag in error.

True that. Who would in their right mind of dignity want to take such an errant looking piece of luggage? :mrgreen:

 

[straitman]

True that. Who would in their right mind of dignity want to take such an errant looking piece of luggage? :mrgreen:

Is this the right forum to be asking about being people in their right mind :?:

 

[docjames]

So that we stay off topic I'll thank all for their input, and feedback that to me it seems rich that a flexible ticket is not actually that flexible.

 

[anat0l]

...it seems rich that a flexible ticket is not actually that flexible.

Well if your ticket was flexible then if the rules allow you should be able to change, irrelevant of checked bags. My assumption with the story you just presented is that your ticket was not flexible, i.e. not a Flexi Saver or higher.

 

[docjames]

Well if your ticket was flexible then if the rules allow you should be able to change, irrelevant of checked bags. My assumption with the story you just presented is that your ticket was not flexible, i.e. not a Flexi Saver or higher.

No. Was a JASA.

In any case, if it was an non-flexible ticket, that should have been the stated reason, not "because you have checked bags".

 

[anat0l]

No. Was a JASA.

In any case, if it was an non-flexible ticket, that should have been the stated reason, not "because you have checked bags".

JASAs work like J tickets, although how do they get changed (when travel has started or when at the airport on day of departure)? They are not ticketed in J, D, C or I like "normal" J tickets, which may be the thing screwing with whoever was managing your ticket.

You are correct that the response should be "non flexible ticket" if that was the case. I doubt QF was flow forwarding when you were travelling, where the response "you have checked bags" becomes more acceptable.

 

[JohnK]

This Vodafone topic almost needs a thread of its own :!: :shock:

It is fine in the off-topic thread as long as not too many posts are strung together.

Anyway I have said all I need to say. The issue is not going to get fixed by me raising my anxiety level....

 

[Flashback]

No. Was a JASA.

In any case, if it was an non-flexible ticket, that should have been the stated reason, not "because you have checked bags".

Had you already checked in, or was this when you fronted up to checkin? If when you fronted up to checkin and there was in fact space on earlier flights, then there is no excuse for not being able to grant your request.

 

[Mal]

This morning my family were in the BNE J lounge and later in J on a flight to SYD and as my sister left the plane someone recognised her from this board… but she didn’t know who they were, and I can’t work it out from the descriptions…

Who are you mystery person?

That's a little bizarre! Wasn't me... I was safely at work.

 

[Mal]

I won't put this in a specialist thread, as it's typical journalism of a low level.

After six hours on tarmac, family sent home ... only to see their plane take off on live TV

It was not the first Christmas holiday little George Painter was hoping for.

The 10-month-old spent six hours stranded with his parents on the tarmac at Heathrow Airport after the family's QF32 flight to Sydney, via Singapore, was cancelled.

The family, who had left their north London home at 7am, arrived back about midnight and were told the next morning further flights on Sunday were "unlikely" and they would be telephoned after 8am if there were changes.

"So it was a bit of a shock to wake up at 10.30am to discover the flight was due to take off at 11am," Mr Painter said.

"There was no call to passengers as promised and the flight was one of the few to take off today.

"So rare that we actually watched the flight take off live on BBC news and heard a plane fly over our house 15 minutes later."

Looks like QF32 (Sat's flight) did fly on Sunday
QF32 London (Heathrow) Singapore 11:10 (Sat) 11:35 08:00 08:12 (Mon) Landed

Wonder what the full story is...

 

[Flashback]

That's a little bizarre! Wasn't me... I was safely at work.

She didn't have one of the AFF tags on her bag did she? Did any of the other bags?

 

[Bundy Bear]

This morning my family were in the BNE J lounge and later in J on a flight to SYD and as my sister left the plane someone recognised her from this board… but she didn’t know who they were, and I can’t work it out from the descriptions…

Who are you mystery person?

There wouldn't be too many, It wasn't Mal, I know trippin_the_rift was off to Melbourne so it wasn't him, I don't think flyer4703 would head to Sydney, VH-RMD unlikely, others, Siegfried, petej, Johnsydney200, vec.

We need a better description, maybe it was the AFF tag they recognized.

My last trip to New Zealand I had a flyertalk tag on my carry on bag and the security person at Christchurch airport said it was a great website, I broke the AFF tag string and it has been traveling with me ever since I just never bothered to replace the string.



You did post the most pictures from AFF Gathering #4, Brisbane, October 22-24, 2010 so even a non member might have seen the pictures but unlikely.

So you took the scenic route and the rest of your family took a more direct flight.

 

[JohnK]

This morning my family were in the BNE J lounge and later in J on a flight to SYD and as my sister left the plane someone recognised her from this board… but she didn’t know who they were, and I can’t work it out from the descriptions…

Who are you mystery person?

Who on AFF would know your sister? Did you post any photos with her in them on the Brisbane drinks thread? Facebook?

Wonder what the full story is...

Your are right. There is hardly enough information in that article. Would be interesting to find out the truth of what actually happened.

 

[beardoc]

We should be able to decide if we can walk.

Take my situation. How much time should I waste pursuing $18? Vodafone sent me a package with the sim cards mixed up and they want $18 because I used the Mobile broadband sim card to make phone calls for the first 3 days. I am allowed to make $450 calls a month so Vodafone should just wear their mistake. Why should I have to wear their mistake. I did nothing wrong. How am I supposed to tell the difference between the 2 sim cards when they both look the same?.

I am not letting go and Vodafone is making me suffer. In this situation I should be able to walk not have to prove to a third party that Vodafone is being a pain in the cough....

Just go to the TIO.

You can lodge the complaint over the phone, and they'll give you the number of a high-level complaints department, where people listen to you properly, because it costs them money if they don't resolve it.

 

[beardoc]

Interesting response from the J Lounge attendant (travelling J) in MEL yesterday.

We arrived early into MEL from HBA so enquired about an earlier flight. Was told we could not be moved "because you have checked luggage".

I wonder if when the RFID bag tags propagate these changes will be able to be made mid-itinerary.