First/Priority Baggage Tags....Do They Work!!!!

[Mal]

Evan (or someone else), could you please clarify. Do you mean "if the flight has NO first you get . . ."? I have the same query as a WP travelling internationally on a two class QF flight.

If there is no First, you get Business tags. I believe it's covered somewhere in the rules based on the "highest class" of the International flight.

At least some of the outstations (eg Brisbane domestic) have finally got a collection of F tags to apply to bags where applicable. Doesn't always help speed up things but can assist.

 

[Evan]

Yep, Mal is correct on how it works. Doesn't worry me too much but i do like to see that nice yellow tag on my bag

 

[kbbedi]

Traveller F you are very right. i have experienced a no of times coming back from BKK. The tags are on the bags and the bags are the few last ones to come out. i have no faith in them. Though from DEL they are quite good.

 

[irwin8417]

Most of my priority baggage tags are work.

Except two different airlines connection.
This sometimes just came with normal passenger luggage.

 

[Danger]

Earlier today I checked in for QF78 Singapore to Perth (two class A330-300) and got First tags.

 

[JohnK]

It all depends. Generally it has been quite OK.

On my recent overseas trip the luggage and golf bag did not take long to come out at SIN after the QF flight. And then the next day I got CX first priority tags on both bags as I was flying CX business. The flight was slightly delayed and arrived in BKK ~15 late which only left me ~35 minutes to get downstairs to the 4:00pm bus. Rushed through passport control, exchanged some money, golf clubs were one of the first bags out quickly followed by my luggage then out through customs and rushed downstairs to the Bell service bus dodging all the touts along the way and even had time to go to Welcome mart to buy sim card top up and 4 beers for the 1:30 hour trip.

Coming back from BKK on CX in WHY they ripped the First priority tags from the golf bag and luggage at BKK check-in and replaced them with business priority tags. When I arrived in BNE there was no tags on either bag so someone in HKG during the transit ripped them off. It took a while for the bags to come out in BNE and I was very impatient after the delayed long flight but the express arrivals helped.

Domestically I don't think they follow any system. You see business/priority and normal bags come out together. When going to BNE it is no problem as I usually pop into the lounge for a couple of drinks after the flight and my bags are waiting for me on the carousel and coming home to SYD on Friday nights it is not too bad. Have not had to wait more than 10-15 minutes for the bags to come out.

 

[Postcode]

Got home today after business class BKK-SYD-BNE, last leg which was running very late and would mean I would miss my seat on the shuttle bus home by minutes. Next shuttle home in one hour. Sheesh!! I wanna go home.

Could not believe it when as I was calling the shuttle company that I was off the plane and waiting for luggage so please wait then it happened. My priority tagged luggage was first out on the conveyor.

So nice when that happens.

 

[Mal]

Could not believe it when as I was calling the shuttle company that I was off the plane and waiting for luggage so please wait then it happened. My priority tagged luggage was first out on the conveyor.

Yeah, it's nice when it happens, but not really that common on Domestic flights these days. I waited till about bag #60 for my J(Business) tagged bag in Brisbane recently. Missed the Airtrain by about 4 mins.... I had flown through Sydney, and I had a similar # return for the same bag.

Travelling up to the Sunshine Coast, I can appreciate why you might get a little ancy when bags turn up late! It's a long trip on the bus.

 

[Postcode]

Yeah, it's nice when it happens, but not really that common on Domestic flights these days.

Which reminds me. Recently flew SYD-BNE with priority tagged luggage. It was so much a priority it arrived three days later. And not a word or apology from QF either.

 

[Therma]

Tags work in proper airports. Places like Karachi, LAX, BKK, you are lucky to get your luggage at all. Last week UA sent my priority tagged luggage from SFO to Reno, Nevada. Never mind that I was travelling SFO-LAX-ICN-MNL. I have to admit that Asiana resolved it very quickly and I got my luggage 12 hours later, and was reimbursed USD 200 for the items I had to urgently replace. But generally tags work. I hate flying with carry -on only since I always think I left something behind!

 

[JohnK]

Places like Karachi, LAX, BKK, you are lucky to get your luggage at all.

It is weird how we all have different expreriences. In 18 trips to BKK, both Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi, plus countless SC runs on AY and a few internal trips I have never had an issue with luggage at BKK airport....

 

[anat0l]

Slightly O/T about lost baggage (from above)

As a family who used to travel together at least once every year (to Malaysia and Philippines), we have only lost bags once. Mum, sister and I were returning to Australia via KBR-KUL-BNE. I can't quite remember whether our routing was MH KUL-BNE or QF KUL-CGK-BNE (my mum inclines to the latter), and this was a time when the new BNE I had just come into commission (6-12 months after it opened). I'm also a bit hazy as to whether this was when KBR and/or KUL had new airports (i.e. old airports of KBR and KUL were the small building with no aerobridges and Subang, respectively).

We checked through our luggage from KBR but at BNE we only got 2 of 3 pieces. Long story short, we never recovered the bag and received the token monetary compensation from the airline. The real hurt was that mum had some family heirlooms and rare photos of her parents in that case. Whilst they say to never carry valuables etc. in checked baggage, no one travels with the supposition that a bag will be lost, and certainly not lost forever.

Mum's still bitter about that incident even today, and because of her assumption, is also somewhat bitter towards QF.

For myself, I once had a bag "lost"...I was on the last MEL-BNE flight on a Sunday (was running a bit so I had done SYD-MEL-BNE that day, checking through bags from SYD all the way to BNE with connection time of > 1 hr at MEL) and came to recover my bags at BNE yet only 1 of 2 had come through, which was annoying as well since my bags were Business tagged (ironic in itself since I was not travelling J). A trip to the QF baggage counter luckily had located the bag, which was still in MEL for some unknown reason. It arrived the next day on the first MEL-BNE flight plastered profusely with RUSH tags.

So losing bags is a selective thing. It doesn't matter what the airport is, although our judgements here seem to be based mostly on a "once bitten twice shy" attitude at best. What would be interesting to see is statistics of how many bags are lost at particular airports, standardised against the amount of passenger traffic. For example, it is claimed that LHR loses the most bags in Europe, but what happens if you standardise that against the amount of traffic coming through LHR?

 

[Therma]

It is weird how we all have different expreriences. In 18 trips to BKK, both Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi, plus countless SC runs on AY and a few internal trips I have never had an issue with luggage at BKK airport....

January last year I had a trip with TG to USA, C class with 3 hours layovers. My suitcase not only missed the connection on the way in and was lost lost for 4 days, after it was located, it didn't made connection on return trip. I do have to admit though that with exception of a couple of smashed corners (on a very solid hard shell Delsey), my luggage generally comes out fairly quickly (well quicker than LAX and KLIA anyway) from the Cobra Swamp.

 

[Hvr]

And this morning at CBR no tags were being put on by one of the GAs.

I saw the person ahead of me check in their luggage and not get tags but forgot to check when my bag was being stickered. Not only was there no Businessor even a Priority tag there wasn't even a heavy tag (27kg)

Got to DWN and actually very relieved that the bag got there. This is because my connecting flight to SYD was running late and I literally got off one plane and ran to the next gate where boarding was well under way.

Upon arrival at Darwin went over to Hertz and picked up the keys, only took a couple of minutes and upon my return to the baggage carousel there was my nice big suitcase.

 

[straitman]

And this morning at CBR no tags were being put on by one of the GAs.

I saw the person ahead of me check in their luggage and not get tags but forgot to check when my bag was being stickered. Not only was there no Businessor even a Priority tag there wasn't even a heavy tag (27kg)

Got to DWN and actually very relieved that the bag got there. This is because my connecting flight to SYD was running late and I literally got off one plane and ran to the next gate where boarding was well under way.

Upon arrival at Darwin went over to Hertz and picked up the keys, only took a couple of minutes and upon my return to the baggage carousel there was my nice big suitcase.

It's great on those rare occasions when the moon all line up correctly.

 

[oz_mark]

They must work, given the lengths some go to make sure they are attached

 

[Aray]

My 2c on QF ...

Priority Tags - Dont work
Business Tags - Do work

There are always exceptions but this is generally the rule on QF .. the current trip I am on just proved it over 2 sectors ..

 

[Groundfeeder]

Priority Tags - Dont work Business Tags - Do work

My bag from last TSV-BNE trip tagged Business came out at No. 22 on the merry-go-round. This is one of the best outcomes so far. Maybe I should stop this habit of counting, although I usually stop at 50 and just sigh .

 

[straitman]

My 2c on QF ...

Priority Tags - Dont work
Business Tags - Do work

There are always exceptions but this is generally the rule on QF .. the current trip I am on just proved it over 2 sectors ..

My last few trips to/from NZ the bags have appeared within the first few on each occasion. Travelling LAN and QF.

 

[anat0l]

During my last trip I had Business tagging for all of my flights. All were domestic flights.

On all three occasions, Business bags seemed to come out first, but not mine and a handful of others as I found. Priority tagged bags were spotty too - some came out "after" the Business but others didn't come out until quite a lot of untagged bags passed by.

I guess I can't complain too much since I wasn't in a hurry, plus my bag still had a better chance of being collected earlier with the tag rather than without the tag. But sometimes I can't help but when my magenta tagged bag appears much later in a sea of orange or no-tags. (And sometimes those extra crucial seconds are the difference between zipping and slumming it through the taxi line....)