Brisbane Airport Parking at Kingsford Smith Parking- Advice

[lillyjak]

Just wanting to share an experience that I had with KingfordSmithParking in Brisbane. *******

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[markis10]

Which airline where you with AFAIK they all close baggage 30 minutes before the flight, in your case 7.10. Given it can take 30 minutes just to get from the entrance to the airport to the drop off zone during school holidays I would not have considered an arrival after 6!

 

[ridgeback]

The airline we travelled with closes only 20minutes before the flight so that was 7.20pm*****


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[ridgeback]

I would like to reaffirm everything that has been stated about Parking at Kingsford Smith Parking Garage******


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[markis10]

Which airline were you travelling with, none that I know have a 20 minute baggage cut off lets deal with facts please.

 

[ridgeback]

Sorry mate but guess you do not know everything.....we flew with or rather did not fly with Virgin who have a 20min cutoff unlike their competitors, that is actually one of their marketing strengths.

 

[nlagalle]

Sorry mate but guess you do not know everything.....we flew with or rather did not fly with Virgin who have a 20min cutoff unlike their competitors, that is actually one of their marketing strengths.

I know virgin board at T-20, I thought baggage was at least T-30

 

[markis10]

Sorry mate but guess you do not know everything.....we flew with or rather did not fly with Virgin who have a 20min cutoff unlike their competitors, that is actually one of their marketing strengths.

I did not say I did know everything , a simple and polite answer would have been "we were flying Virgin Australia" to my question, to which I would reply that they require 30 minutes and publish that fact, the fact your did OLCI the day before is irrelevant if you still need to go to the counter with baggage!

Attention to details can avoid disappointment in the future, and cost, put simply you did not leave enough time to allow for possible delays, somewhat foolhardily given the construction delays alone that are currently plaguing BNE.

http://www.virginaustralia.com/Personal/Flightinfo/Attheairport/Check-intimes/index.htm

Hot Tip: Allow more time to check-in and clear security during peak periods.

30 minutes – Please be checked in at least 30 minutes in advance
20 minutes – Boarding starts 20 minutes prior to departure

 

[NM]

Also note that with a 30-minute cut-off for baggage drop, this does not mean walking in the doors at T-30, but that the bags must have been accepted by T-30. So if there is a queue of people waiting at the bag-drop (or check-in) counter, even arriving 40 mins before departure could mean missing the 30 minute cut-off. The challenge is to know how long the queue is going to be, which of course is not possible to accurately predict - there may not be a queue at all, or there may be a 20 minute queue.

A suggestion for next time. If there are multiple people traveling and you look like you may be running a little late to park and get the bags to the counter in time, consider driving to the passenger drop-off outside the terminal, drop-off passengers and bags there so they can undertake the bag-drop process while the driver parks the car.

 

[Travel Guru]

Having used BNE based offsite airport parking close to 100 times (and always with Andrews Airport Parking these days, theyre the best IMHO), you did cut it a bit fine, especially with the roadworks. You really need to allow a bit more time to ensure you're not left rushing as occassionally you do have to wait for a transfer to the terminal.

Given your rather abrasive response to Markis' question I can only assume that the owner of the parking station was merely mirroring back to you the same attitude you were giving out...for some reason a certain part of the population seem to think acting rudely will get you the outcome you desire but infact the opposite is usually always true.

Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes I used to repeat every day when dealing with the GP in retail years ago..."Rudeness is a weak mans imiation of strength."

Better luck next time...prepare for the worst, expect the best.

TG

 

[mannej]

It seems that we have 2 different posters on this topic referring to the same flight. One said they arrived a bit over and hour before the flight, the other said 50 minutes before the flight.

The other bit of information that I can not find on the DJ website is the 20 minute reference? Do they state that on their tickets? TG, can you confirm what the correct answer is? Is there a difference between check-in closing, and the cut off for baggage? You talk about the competitor, they do close off check-in with baggage at 30 minutes, and 15 minutes for hand luggage only.

I can see some annoyance in the situation, but you will not endear yourself well to established members here by coming out all guns blazing. Some of the members on here are very experienced in using the services that you mention. By keeping civil, you may end up with free advice that other travelers would have to pay for

 

[Travel Guru]

The other bit of information that I can not find on the DJ website is the 20 minute reference? Do they state that on their tickets? TG, can you confirm what the correct answer is? Is there a difference between check-in closing, and the cut off for baggage? You talk about the competitor, they do close off check-in with baggage at 30 minutes, and 15 minutes for hand luggage only.

All of their itineraries point to a 30 minute cut-off which is what I've always believed it to be, I've never in all my time in the industry heard of a 20 minute cutoff...given they board at T-20, I don't see it is possible as they'd need to get paperwork finalised so not sure where the OP has heard its 20 mins.

TG

 

[markis10]

Actually their conditions of carriage attached to every itinerary makes it very clear:

Check-in
5. You must check in to board the flight at our check-in facility serving the
place of departure: for International Travel (including domestic legs of an
international flight) at least 90 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time;
and for Domestic Travel at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure
time. If you are travelling domestically you may check in on-line at
Now you're flying with Virgin Australia | Virgin Australia, but must arrive at the airport at least 30 minutes prior
to the scheduled departure time.

 

[mannej]

That answers my questions. It would be interesting to see where they got 20 minutes from

 

[oz_mark]

Just looking at my last itinerary, and it stated 30 minutes on the first page of the itinerary (without even getting to the minutiae of the Conditions of Carriage).

 

[Simo]

I have used Andrews and bap many times and when I have been running close to time for check in / luggage drop off I either ring them on the way and say hey I am running tight and they will speed up the process and if they are waiting for other passengers I politely inform them that I am very close to the cut off or my flight. The airport people know all the cut off times and they have always made sure I have meet the airlines deadlines...

 

[anat0l]

Not sure if the OP is flippantly remarking T-20 only because they may have been allowed as such before, possibly also as an elite (which is not clear from the OP).

In any case, there is a clearly marked cut-off time for baggage drop off. Just because someone may have got away with checking in (even with bags) at T-20 before doesn't mean it is the rule and should be relied upon!

Breaking in a bit further, I'm surprised a bit that the OP didn't rant on Virgin Australia that they got knocked back for the sake of only 1 minute. I know many people in that situation would have flipped out that they missed a cut off by 1 minute then spew their vitriol at the airline for being draconian, unreasonable and / or rigid. Moreover if we assume the OP's account of the words exchanged with Virgin was true, they said they turned up at 7.21 and got knocked back by 1 minute, implying that had they arrived even a bit earlier Virgin would have happily checked them in (i.e. under the T-30 "limit rule" as it were).

In any case, it's all said and done and it is not Virgin's fault, of course. A substantial amount of fault is with the OP - yes, you did cut it fine and that is the risk you took. Part of the blame should also lay on the parking garage (assuming that part of the information they collect when your car is put into storage is the time when the customer's flight departs, there is a part onus on the garage to know this and get the OP to the correct terminal promptly in time for their flight) but surely the OP could have helped themselves by prompting the shuttle driver to get going so that they could make their flight - I don't see how this could be embarrassing; better to err on the side of longwindedness and make the flight than harbour a false expectation and miss it. Now had the shuttle driver been unreasonable and said, "No, you must wait. I don't care you won't make it, your fault for cutting it fine," then there might be a case of complaint.

Even if you could prove the company was not delivering to its expected performance, you could've saved yourself grief by prompting the driver to get going rather than have things go wrong then have to pick up the pieces in the recovery process, even if you "win" the argument.

Also, is anyone just a bit suspicious why there are two new accounts posting on the same incident with almost the same wording style? Are the two related?

 

[ridgeback]

Having used BNE based offsite airport parking close to 100 times (and always with Andrews Airport Parking these days, theyre the best IMHO), you did cut it a bit fine, especially with the roadworks. You really need to allow a bit more time to ensure you're not left rushing as occassionally you do have to wait for a transfer to the terminal.

Given your rather abrasive response to Markis' question I can only assume that the owner of the parking station was merely mirroring back to you the same attitude you were giving out...for some reason a certain part of the population seem to think acting rudely will get you the outcome you desire but infact the opposite is usually always true.

Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes I used to repeat every day when dealing with the GP in retail years ago..."Rudeness is a weak mans imiation of strength."

Better luck next time...prepare for the worst, expect the best.

TG

I am sorry if you guys think my response to Markis was abrusive I apologise for coming across that way, I thought he was quite judgemental when he does not know us or our situation or the circumstances, and Travel Guru you assume very very wrongly with our approach to the owner,,,, we did become annoyed and angry after speaking politely to him only to have him say and I quote " Don't care, not my problem, not interested, not going to do anything about it". Then had the gall to look me in the eye and lie saying he was not our driver only to trip himself up a few moments later admitting he did drive us. The baggage check-in assistant told us that Virgin checkin for bags was 20minutes before flight , we missed that by one minute. The next assistant we spoke to on the help desk reaffirmed that baggage check in was 20 mins before flight this is what we had been led to believe from any of our communications with Virgin, All in all the whole experience from then until now has shown me that country Australia is a much friendlier, more courteous and much more honest place to be then city Australia.
By the way I believe in what goes around comes around twice as hard........I also have many years retail experience and I have always treated the GP with respect and courtesy and old fashioned view that the "customer is always right". Although I do have the feeling that it will not matter what I say as I feel I have been judged and convicted,,,,,,,and found to be a fault when actually not one of us is, but i did need to vent my anger which i did and now I could not care less about the whole sorry mess.

 

[nlagalle]

I am sorry if you guys think my response to Markis was abrusive I apologise for coming across that way, I thought he was quite judgemental when he does not know us or our situation or the circumstances, and Travel Guru you assume very very wrongly with our approach to the owner,,,,

I still find it hard to believe that you were told 20 minutes for checked bags. I've seen nothing that has anything under 30 minutes. That's why you will find everyone here questioning the 20 minute cut off.

 

[medhead]

I'm sorry but how is it judgmental to ask which airline was involved and state the fact that most airlines have a 30 minute cutoff.

As the 20 minute cutoff and your communication with the airline. The very first communication you get from the airline when you book a flight, the emailed Virgin australia tax invoice and travel plan, clearly states 30 minutes on page 1. So I cannot accept that the communication from virgin only mentioned 20 minutes.