Tight QF/DJ transfer

[Yada Yada]

Row 15 was very nice (thanks for the tip Yada Yada!).

Good to hear you got yourself a seat in row 15!

You might be OK with your carry-on bag on the Crash-8. Last time I flew on a mid-afternoon flight out of CBR the pax load was light so they were not weighing bags at all.

The MEL VLounge is a nice space. Did you check out the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class seats/beds they have on display?

 

[JohnK]

I agree. But the policy was imposed from above (way above from what I understand) so any complaints to managers get a sympathetic response but there's nothing anyone can do.

Can't you work out a deal where the company pays the cost of the airfare they feel is BFOD and then you go and book the flights and class you want and pay the difference?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Can't you work out a deal where the company pays the cost of the airfare they feel is BFOD and then you go and book the flights and class you want and pay the difference?

Some companies allow this, some don't - since they want their agent to have control, their airline discount depends on volume &/or fare class, etc.

 

[JohnK]

Some companies allow this, some don't - since they want their agent to have control, their airline discount depends on volume &/or fare class, etc.

I guess I have been lucky in that I have never worked for a company that likes to enforce policies like these onto their employees. And I guess I am even luckier that I do not need a job that badly to work for a company like this in the future.

 

[straitman]

I guess I have been lucky in that I have never worked for a company that likes to enforce policies like these onto their employees. And I guess I am even luckier that I do not need a job that badly to work for a company like this in the future.

JohnK,

As you are aware, I work for a large multi national.

On many occasions they have policies that you really wonder about, however I find that on the majority of instances there is a sound basis for these policies. (Often set in place because someone has tried to rip off the system) It's the method of implimentation that often makes you pull your hair out :!:

 

[JohnK]

On many occasions they have policies that you really wonder about, however I find that on the majority of instances there is a sound basis for these policies. (Often set in place because someone has tried to rip off the system) It's the method of implimentation that often makes you pull your hair out :!:

Agree with what you say and yes there are a lot of people out there who rip off the system. I am not one of them so if the company does not trust me then they are not worthy to be my employer.

As I said my last job was flexible in how they approached travel. We could book our own airfares and accommodation, both within a certain price range, charge to our credit cards and claim back the expenses. BTW they actually encouraged people to be responsible and book their own travel but also had a corporate travel agent if you wanted to use their services. I guess that is one of the perks of being a consultant in the private sector.

I have worked in places where some "flip" in purchasing, apologies to any flips in purchasing on AFF, got all the bonuses, lunches, holidays and presents at Christmas for sitting on their cough doing nothing all day other than making phone calls. The phone calls have probably been replaced with surfing the internet.

 

[Mish]

I think you are really pushing it up hill.

After waiting for bags, (what if the plane is even a few minutes late) then making your way over to the right terminal - won't you be past check-in time??

It seems who ever wrote your travel policy doesn't look at what the effect is for a $5 dollar cost saving!

 

[serfty]

This seems like cutting it fine to me... the "best" fare of the day policy has me booked on these flights:

Fri 03 Nov 06 11:35 Canberra 12:25 Sydney QF1474
Fri 03 Nov 06 13:25 Sydney 15:20 Perth DJ429

Do you think that's a safe connection? How about with checked luggage?

How did you go?

 

[oz_mark]

JohnK,

As you are aware, I work for a large multi national.

On many occasions they have policies that you really wonder about, however I find that on the majority of instances there is a sound basis for these policies. (Often set in place because someone has tried to rip off the system) It's the method of implimentation that often makes you pull your hair out :!:

And sometimes policies are introduced in reaction to someone trying to rip off the system, without a full understanding of the consequences of the changes.

If the travel policy of my employer affects me, it is more around the hotel selection, rather than the airline.

 

[kpc]

How did you go?

Sydney Domestic on Friday, 03 November 2006 at 12:00 hrs
Flight No.... From..... Scheduled Arrival... Actual Arrival.... Status
QF1474..... Canberra........ . 12:25..................12:33............Landed
It only arrived 8 minutes late from Canberra, so my best guess is that he made it with a few minutes to spare, even with checked luggagge:mrgreen:

 

[StevePER]

Can't you work out a deal where the company pays the cost of the airfare they feel is BFOD and then you go and book the flights and class you want and pay the difference?

We're working on it... one of the other guys is really pushing for it because he hates Virgin so much. I've now got over the initial shock (helped slightly by The VLounge and Blue Zone) but I just wish they would use some common sense and book based on schedules. Going to work for 4.5 hours after flying PER-MEL-SYD is not fun.

How did you go?

My bag was "premium hand luggage" on the CBR-SYD sector. I hadn't heard of this before - it means you leave your bag at the bottom of the stairs and it's delivered back to you as you get off. Quite a good system and I think it saved me a significant amount of time.

After a fairly bumpy flight we arrived just a little late. Walked through the carpark between terminals in SYD and when I got to T2 they were calling the Perth flight for checkin so I got to jump the queue. They really need to allow online checkin for Blue Zone seats - it is a significant disadvantage when you have to queue.

Then I went to The Vlounge where I sat until I realised I had to get on the plane - no announcement was made and they were paging me as I was walking to the gate. If only we got service like this everywhere.

I had three seats to myself in the exit row for a while until I was joined by another passenger who was nervous about turbulence. The chicken and mushroom risotto was quite tasty. My MP3 player ran out of batteries (again), the Virgin audio channels were terrible (is it just me or do they always skip?). Luckily I had a good book.

And the camping weekend was great despite the unexpected rain.

Steve

 

[coco50]

( I don't think that QF will interline bags with DJ ).
Dave

QF don't even interline bags with JQ. Even though there is probably some technical reason for this, I don't understand why. With regard to the OP, even if the transfer was in the same terminal I reckon it would be too tight - 1 hour between flights. QFLink and Rex would not accept a transfer that tight.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

QF don't even interline bags with JQ. Even though there is probably some technical reason for this, I don't understand why. With regard to the OP, even if the transfer was in the same terminal I reckon it would be too tight - 1 hour between flights. QFLink and Rex would not accept a transfer that tight.

No technical reason - just cost cutting.

 

[Dave Noble]

QF don't even interline bags with JQ. Even though there is probably some technical reason for this, I don't understand why. With regard to the OP, even if the transfer was in the same terminal I reckon it would be too tight - 1 hour between flights. QFLink and Rex would not accept a transfer that tight.

There is a difference though; JQ explicitly as a carrier do not allow it (nor do they do online baggage either) whilst I am not aware of DJ having a no baggage interline policy

Dave

 

[coco50]

No technical reason - just cost cutting.

This could lead to revenue cuts. Don't QF and all the other OW carriers tout one advantage of an alliance as seamless transfer between alliance partners? I find it ridiculous that they can't organise baggage transfer when both airlines (QF and JQ) are under the same corporate umbrella. When I fly from BNK to ABX on Dec 12, I JQ it from BNK to SYD, arrive at Gate 52,53 0r 54, go downstairs, collect baggage and then up the escalators to check in with QFLink for SYD-ABX sector then around to the QP. One big, unnecessary circle:evil:

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

JQ is not a member of One World.

 

[thadocta]

This could lead to revenue cuts. Don't QF and all the other OW carriers tout one advantage of an alliance as seamless transfer between alliance partners? I find it ridiculous that they can't organise baggage transfer when both airlines (QF and JQ) are under the same corporate umbrella. When I fly from BNK to ABX on Dec 12, I JQ it from BNK to SYD, arrive at Gate 52,53 0r 54, go downstairs, collect baggage and then up the escalators to check in with QFLink for SYD-ABX sector then around to the QP. One big, unnecessary circle:evil:

Perhaps they are making you go through all of this so that in a year or two they can introduce interlining - AT A COST (another revenue stream for them). Having previously gone through all of this, they figure you will be more than happy to pay it .

Dave

 

[coco50]

JQ is not a member of One World.

I realise that. I was just commenting that with an alliance, one benefit that is advertised is seamless transfer between partner airlines. Here with JQ and QF, under the one corporate umbrella, they cannot (or will not) organise interline baggage transfer. I find this to be a crazy arrangement - one that I would have expected from a Government Department and not from a private sector public company - and not one that assists pax in any way.

 

[serfty]

Drifting OT a bit here but ...

Actually, with the advent of International services Jet

are going to provide a limited baggage transfer service; mainly QF to/from JQ International.

More here: http://www.jetstar.com/connect.html

 

[Yada Yada]

Then I went to The Vlounge where I sat until I realised I had to get on the plane - no announcement was made and they were paging me as I was walking to the gate. If only we got service like this everywhere.

I've found that flights are not always called in the VLounges (at least SYD and MEL where I am often camped). I've looked up at the monitors and noticed my flight is flashing "final call" and no announcement has been made, and then get paged over the general PA while I am walking to the gate. :-| It happened the week before last so I mentioned it to the person scanning BP's at the gate. As I was entering the airbridge I could hear her asking someone else to phone the VLounge to remind them!

the Virgin audio channels were terrible (is it just me or do they always skip?). Luckily I had a good book.

No, it's not just you. I have found them to be consistently faulty. There always seems to be one or two channels that "skip" for some reason. Makes me wonder how these things operate - are they on a hard disk or is it a stack of CD's? Weird! Thankfully live2air is being rolled out as we speak. Brett Godfrey's piece in the latest edition of Voyeur states that 47 of their 53 aircraft will be fitted over the next 6 months so we won't have to wait too long. Hopefully the Embraers will come equipped from the start.