jdevereux3

The Tiger Experience

Prologue

We decided to take the young ones (younger than me yes) on a holiday to Melbourne, Booking everything was put in my capable hands, being low on QFF points at the time I thought we should jump in and try Tiger Airways, and to be completely honest, it was better than I thought it would be, probably because I am one of the ones that knows what they are actually paying for, but more on the flights further down the page, and F.Y.I deciding to book accommodation in the CBD in January right in-between the Australian open is a really bad idea, either there is only penthouse suites available or terribly bad places that one would not stay at even if the hotel paid you, so that being that we ended up about 5 mins away from Tullamarine Airport.

The Report

Date: 13/01/2009
Carrier: Tiger Airways
Aircraft: VH-VNC
Flight No: TT566 (HBA-MEL)

Well as it planned out, the young ones were not supposed to be coming with us, but a few people felt guilty in not taking them with us (No it wasn’t me), so they turned out to be on a different PNR to us, so as told by the Indian call centre we arrived at HBA 2 hours before the flight, the check in staff were friendly and accommodating, the flight was chockers but the check in staff still managed to shuffle some other passengers so we could all be seated together. And have you ever sat around HBA for two hours with no lounge access or anything the least bit entertaining, well don’t try it because it is really boring.
Boarding was called at the same time as a DJ flight that was also going to MEL so the line got a bit blurred and you couldn’t tell the DJ & TT passengers apart from each other, needless to say we waited until the line died down a bit before we even tried to board, as with all flights to/from HBA we had to trudge across the tarmac to board VH-VNC.
From the very second I stepped onboard it was apparent just how new VH-VNC was, It still had new plane smell, I like that TT have cloth seats like QF, unlike leather seats which don’t really phase me that much, the cabin crew were very friendly and even took my backpack and put in the overhead bin for me, Very exceptional service and a good first impression was left on me, doors were shut quickly and were rolling towards the runway in no time, we were seated in the row directly in front of the exit row, some say the seat pitch is less than JQ, but I disagree, it was quite roomy and comfortable, safety demo (also very professional) was done and were soon in the air headed for Melbourne.
In-flight service was started shortly after the seatbelt sign was switched off, like JQ, TT runs a buy on board service, I bought a cup of Hot Chocolate, a Bryon Bay cookie and a pack of Pringles for myself and a can of soft drink and Pringles for the young ones, cabin crew member who served me was very kind and didn’t charge me for the young ones drinks, again a very big plus in my books.
Spent the rest of the flight listening to my iPod and flicking through the Tiger Tales magazine, and before I knew it we were descending into MEL, we touched down shortly after, pilot managed to park our A320 at the furthest bay from T4, the walk is not something that I would recommend for those who can’t walk long distances (because it is a very long way!).
I was not too impressed with TT’s baggage claim at T4, it looks more like a carport with a wire fence, and has a size to match, another flight from CBR arrived at the same time so it was near impossible to move in the baggage claim area, our bags seemed to take forever to come out but we weren’t too concerned because we had plenty of time before our ride to the hotel arrived.
Shortly after arriving Mum’s mobile started ringing, it was the hotel wanting to know when we wanted to be picked up, she told them that we were had collected our bags and were ready to go, 5 minutes later and were in the bus headed to the hotel.


The Hotel

Name: Quality Hotel Melbourne Airport
Room Rating: 3 ½ of 5
Room Type: Family Room
Staff Rating: 5 of 5

Well as I mentioned before, finding accommodation that was suitable to our requirements (e.g. could accommodate 5 people, clean, tidy & NO! Shared bathrooms) in the Melbourne CBD is not as easy as it looked, so after sitting for an hour with the yellow pages in one hand and the phone in the other I was eventually given a price by this humble hotel 5 mins away from Melbourne Airport, I wasn’t our ideal location but these things happen, The free shuttle service to/from the airport is a plus too.
My first impressions were that I thought that the decor was a little dated but what the hotel lacked in appearance the staff more than made up for, requests were met with a smile and were never too much trouble.
The Hotel was on a main road that had a number of food options, so nothing was ever too far away, wether we wanted Chinese, Steak, Italian it was all there so that was another plus too.
The pool was pretty interesting though, if anyone remembers the weather in Melbourne in January last year it was HOT! And I mean scorching compared to Tassie, still I could manage to freeze myself in the pool (which was a relief on some days) because the heating system had busted which was a shame because it made the spa inoperable too.
On the whole the stay was a pleasant one, and if the price was right I would plan on staying there again, I think it more suited for those doing overnight stopovers in MEL, but you can make it work for anything else if you really wanted to.



Date: 18/01/2009
Carrier: Tiger Airways
Aircraft: VH-VNC (Again!)
Flight No: TT564 (MEL-HBA)

After a good week of Holidays it was time to head home, we headed to MEL about 4 hours before the flight and I wandered up to T1 while the parents fed the little ones (Yes it was McDonalds) in T2, I hadn’t checked my email’s in over a week and thought I better in case TT had changed the flight or something, logged onto QF web connect downstairs and sure enough there was a schedule change, me being smart thinking that we had 4 hours to spare before check in opened then got smacked with reality that check in closed in less than 20 mins, I didn’t want to end up as a horror story on Air Ways so I called mum and told them to get down to T4 NOW! And told her I would meet her down there, I shoved all my stuff pack into my backpack and managed to pick up a copy of the QF magazine that someone had left (well it was better than re-reading Tiger Tales again) and headed to T4, when I got there, the parents and the little ones had already checked in and were already lined up to go through security, yeah thanks a lot for waiting!
Got up to the check in desk and was asked the stock questions (Dangerous goods etc.), Got my BP and dropped my suitcase on the belt (0.5 KG over but the guy let me off when I told him that I just only found out about the change, again another plus), by the time I had got through security (partly due to 2 other flights leaving at the same time) an announcement was made that boarding would start shortly, I learned one thing that day, ALWAYS CHECK YOUR EMAIL WHEN FLYING TT!
Boarding was called and I was one of the first to begin the 1km + walk to VH-VNC, the bird still smelt new this time around as well, safety checks and demo was done and began rolling down the tarmac a few mins later.
Fair bit of turbulence out of MEL so seatbelt sign stayed on for a little while, when it was finally turned off I ordered a coke and a cup of noodles + some Pringles (about $10 all up) all were nice but I was starving so I didn’t really care as I was the only one who hadn’t had lunch, read the QF magazine I picked up in T1 and we landed shortly after that, collected our bags from the belt shared with DJ in HBA and were lucky to get straight into a maxi taxi to go home.



Conclusion

All in all, my flight with TT was a good one, but checking your flight times & email is a must even when you are away, If TT had really cheap fares I would not hesitate to save my QF points and use TT again.
My QF points for the hotel were credited the next day so that was a plus too.



I will put my Queensland Trip with QF into a blog soon.....