We've found over the last couple of years, there seems to be a decline in the training given to check-in staff at PER domestic terminal in relation to VA flights to international destinations via BNE/SYD/MEL. Travelling from PER, the domestic sector is counted as part of the international itinerary so we can't do OLCI check-in and have to do "international" check-in at PER domestic. When we travelled to the US two years ago, the check-in staff at the domestic terminal were fantastic - the young lady who assisted us (Priority check-in lane) was great, had both of us checked in for both flights and bags tagged through to LAX quickly and efficiently, no problems at all.
It was a different story in 2013. Hubby went to the US in February and the girl on the check-in counter (again Priority lane) seemed to have little or no idea what she was doing, was extremely slow and had to ask another staff member several times for assistance as she seemed to keep getting "stuck" on parts of the check-in process, then looked at us blankly when hubby handed her the details of where he was staying the first night in the US and said "what do I need this for?" - er, because it's a mandatory part of checking in on VA when travelling to the US and you have to enter it on the system ... ??
Even worse when I was travelling to the US in November. Priority check-in again and the lady behind the counter waved us forward with a smile - but when I told her I was checking in for a flight to LAX via MEL, she said she didn't know how to do international check-in and we would have to go to another counter. The other person on the Priority lane didn't know either, and it turned out that only one of the 5 staff on the check-in desks knew how to do it, so we were sent up to his counter, where he was already dealing with another passenger who was flying to NZ. This took quite a considerable amount of time, and it was rather frustrating to watch numerous other people come and go at the check-in counters as we waited. Anyway, finally get up to the desk and it turns out that he had never done an international check-in for flights to the US before and apparently the person he had served ahead of us was the first one he had done to NZ!!!!! So we spent ages at check-in whilst this poor young man waded through the process for the first time - he ended up having to call over two other members of staff, including a supervisor with "what do I do next" questions. Doesn't exactly fill you with confidence ... and we checked carefully before my bags headed off to the conveyor belt that they were tagged correctly! Don't get me wrong, all the staff we spoke to were very pleasant and friendly, but there seems to be a woeful lack of training here. Especially when using Priority check-in (VA Gold and travelling in J), I would have expected VA to ensure that at least one of the staff handling the Priority lane would know how to deal with international check-in - we can't be the only people in Perth who travel to the States LOL.
Has anyone else experienced this? Or have we just been unlucky?
It was a different story in 2013. Hubby went to the US in February and the girl on the check-in counter (again Priority lane) seemed to have little or no idea what she was doing, was extremely slow and had to ask another staff member several times for assistance as she seemed to keep getting "stuck" on parts of the check-in process, then looked at us blankly when hubby handed her the details of where he was staying the first night in the US and said "what do I need this for?" - er, because it's a mandatory part of checking in on VA when travelling to the US and you have to enter it on the system ... ??
Even worse when I was travelling to the US in November. Priority check-in again and the lady behind the counter waved us forward with a smile - but when I told her I was checking in for a flight to LAX via MEL, she said she didn't know how to do international check-in and we would have to go to another counter. The other person on the Priority lane didn't know either, and it turned out that only one of the 5 staff on the check-in desks knew how to do it, so we were sent up to his counter, where he was already dealing with another passenger who was flying to NZ. This took quite a considerable amount of time, and it was rather frustrating to watch numerous other people come and go at the check-in counters as we waited. Anyway, finally get up to the desk and it turns out that he had never done an international check-in for flights to the US before and apparently the person he had served ahead of us was the first one he had done to NZ!!!!! So we spent ages at check-in whilst this poor young man waded through the process for the first time - he ended up having to call over two other members of staff, including a supervisor with "what do I do next" questions. Doesn't exactly fill you with confidence ... and we checked carefully before my bags headed off to the conveyor belt that they were tagged correctly! Don't get me wrong, all the staff we spoke to were very pleasant and friendly, but there seems to be a woeful lack of training here. Especially when using Priority check-in (VA Gold and travelling in J), I would have expected VA to ensure that at least one of the staff handling the Priority lane would know how to deal with international check-in - we can't be the only people in Perth who travel to the States LOL.
Has anyone else experienced this? Or have we just been unlucky?