VA719 the 1410 ADL to PER was cancelled due to "hydraulic issues" - I was supposed to be on that one but re-routed via MEL.
VA714 (0910) and VA722 (1720) services PER to ADL were also cancelled due to the same aircraft supposed to be operating that flight
About 15 minutes out from ADL airport I checked Expert Flyer to see available seats but received an error message the seat map couldn't be displayed for my VA719 flight. I went to OLCI from my mobile but that too had an error asking me to call a phone number or show up at the airport. I neglected to screenshot it, it did not say anything about a cancelled flight, it was only when I went across to Flightboard app I discovered my flight was cancelled.
When I rocked up at the Priority Checkin I said I knew my flight to Perth was cancelled and asked what options I had to get home. They asked if I received notification to which I said I hadn't, I just noticed myself when attempting OLCI. They said it had only just happened and I was the first person to arrive at check-in for the cancelled flight (I was there 2 hours before departure).
It seems it is really difficult for them to find my booking if I don't have my 6-character PNR handy. I found my PNR in my email faster than the agent could find me on their computer. (and that was with me checking two email accoutns as I recently changed my email over). Quite a slow process to find ones PNR.
Whilst I was standing at checkin I received a text message "Virgin Australia regrets to advise changes to flight on Res #xx_xx_. We have re-booked you on a new flight. For help please call 1800 137 294" This was at the same time the agent their was trying to figure my situation out, so there were two people playing in my booking at the same time.
The agent found my booking and started the check-in process for the new MEL routing. Boarding pass printed out with a 1605 departure from Adelaide to MEL and a arrival back into Perth at 2310. I queried why did I have to wait till 1605 to leave Adelaide when there was a 1335 flight to Melbourne? Apparently it is not easy for check-in agents to manipulate bookings and see better options. It was only after I gave the earlier option that they looked it up and realised it was a better solution. I was unchecked and booking modified again to the earlier routing.
The flight I was supposed to be on was VA719 ADL to PER, 1410 dep, 1610 arr.
They rebooked me behind the scenes with vague notifcation via txt onto VA232 ADL to MEL, 1605 dep, 1755 arr and VA697 MEL to PER, 2045 dep, 2310 arr. (note VA697 was also a B737, not A330)
At my request they changed to VA228 ADL to MEL, 1335 dep, 1525 arr and VA693 MEL to PER, 1815 dep, 2035 arr.
I was probably at the check-in counter about 10 minutes, after I had got there other counters were also starting to deal with other PER pax. The check-in agent let what looked to be a team leader know of the options for the earlier routing I had found and it appeared they were transferring other pax onto my earlier option.
Whilst at the check-in desk I think I had 4-6 boarding passes printed and torn up due to the whole process. At one stage the agent had me checked in through to Perth but my bag was only checked through to Melbourne and that requried a game over uncheck me and start again.
My VA228 1335 service to MEL started boarding about 45 minutes before departure. Really good handling of the early boarding. I was looking at the seat map on EF and it appeared they left the check-in open for that flight quite late to transfer more pax to. The last few people it seemed apparant they had basically gone straight from the check-in counters to boarding the plane. The CSM made an announcement when we were basically all boarded just saying we were waiting to find out if we had any more pax to join us. We left on time and arrived MEL 20 minutes early. Interestingly EF showed 2 seats in J on the cancelled VA719 but there was not a single pax in J on the ADL-MEL.
I estimate there was about 8-12 people I noticed heading to the lounge in MEL upon arrival and back on the PER flight (which explained why the best seat I could get originally on the ADL-PER was about row 7/8 as SG)
The VA693 MEL to PER was the heaviest loading of an A330 I have ever been on. The last I saw on EF before the flight moved to "under airport control" was only 1 seat in the business was empty and in economy there were only scatterred E and F seats empty. It was the first time in a long time I didn't have a vacant seat next to me on the A330s. This flight despite the heavy load left ontime and arrived to PER 25m early.
This was my first ever cancelled flight I had been on. Lessons learnt for me were:
- Be better prepared with my PNR. I used to document that into my calendar either manually or with trip it but stopped a while ago as I never needed it. As soon as I know my flight is cancelled I will make note of that on a notepad.
- Find my own preferred/optimal alternate flight(s) and note down the flight numbers and arrival/departure times. As soon as I get to check-in ask to be transferred to my flight(s) of choice. Obviously the later melbourne option was what they would put everyone on as they don't know who is going to rock up to the airport early enough to make the earlier flight. Had I not already come from a location near the airport and wasn't already on my way, I might have called up the number and asked to delay departure to the next direct flight the next morning.
Quickstatus, if you have any other questions let me know
