iqis60
Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2009
- Posts
- 148
Sometimes getting to the airport late works out badly for you and other times it works out great.
This was one of those occasions when I wasn't sure which it would be. After spending a weekend of fun and relaxing in Melbourne visiting a few friends and drinking more beer in one weekend than I usually do in a month, it was time for me to head back to the airport for the shuttle run to Sydney.
After a great meal, we jumped into the car, with me wondering if we had enough time to make it to the airport before checkin closed. I was aiming for the 20:30 QF492 flight and we would be cutting it fine. Once we jumped onto the freeway, I thought my chances were ok, as the traffic was friendly, but we didn't have much time up our sleeve.
After watching the clock tick down, I managed to pull up at 19.52, a full 8 minutes before close of checkin. Fortunately I had kept everything to a carry on, so there would be no dramas, as long as there was enough room on the plane :shock:.
I quickly ran over the e-checkin and met some issues. After placing my bronze FF card in the machine, it spat back a ticket saying there was problems with my checkin. Go to counter ... it said. So off I went and spoke to the friendly assistant there. She had a quick look at my ticket and was on the phone. After some hurried conversation and a bit of number crunching on the keyboard, out popped a boarding pass...
I thanked the assistant for the pass and dashed off, taking a moment to peer at the pass. Seat allocation- 3D, business. Not bad considering I'd paid about $85 for a discount economy. At this point, I proceeded through security, trying not to look too smug. Headed down to my gate and waited blissfully. It wasn't long before it was time to board.
As the boarding call sounded, I waited for the usual eager beavers to clear and then hit the line. Soon I was at the checkin machine and in went the pass. Beeeeep, "Sorry Sir, just take your ticket over to him". Damn, I knew this was too good to be true. It seems someone else of higher priority joined the plane after I was upgraded. Over to the guy to receive 12B. Easy come, easy go. I head back to the steward putting the boarding passes through, and he gives me a big "Oh no" and then proceeds to ask me if I'm traveling on staff travel, to which I replied no...
And that was my upgrade moment.
Into the plane I go, more bemused than annoyed, happy that I'm still up toward the pointy end of the plane. But there story doesn't end there, I still had a half upgrade on the way. After settling into 12B and waiting for the late stragglers to come through, man in the floral shirt comes down the isle with his attractive wife and asks if I want to swap seats. I'm not to worried either way and he sweetens the deal by telling me its an exit row seat by the door, 13F???.
So in the end I got a half upgrade, but it was ups and downs, as the last bit of the story is that the catering truck broke down and it was drinks only on the way back. I sent a quick email to customer service to see if anything is doing, but I was already full from dinner, so I didn't miss much.
The end.
This was one of those occasions when I wasn't sure which it would be. After spending a weekend of fun and relaxing in Melbourne visiting a few friends and drinking more beer in one weekend than I usually do in a month, it was time for me to head back to the airport for the shuttle run to Sydney.
After a great meal, we jumped into the car, with me wondering if we had enough time to make it to the airport before checkin closed. I was aiming for the 20:30 QF492 flight and we would be cutting it fine. Once we jumped onto the freeway, I thought my chances were ok, as the traffic was friendly, but we didn't have much time up our sleeve.
After watching the clock tick down, I managed to pull up at 19.52, a full 8 minutes before close of checkin. Fortunately I had kept everything to a carry on, so there would be no dramas, as long as there was enough room on the plane :shock:.
I quickly ran over the e-checkin and met some issues. After placing my bronze FF card in the machine, it spat back a ticket saying there was problems with my checkin. Go to counter ... it said. So off I went and spoke to the friendly assistant there. She had a quick look at my ticket and was on the phone. After some hurried conversation and a bit of number crunching on the keyboard, out popped a boarding pass...
I thanked the assistant for the pass and dashed off, taking a moment to peer at the pass. Seat allocation- 3D, business. Not bad considering I'd paid about $85 for a discount economy. At this point, I proceeded through security, trying not to look too smug. Headed down to my gate and waited blissfully. It wasn't long before it was time to board.
As the boarding call sounded, I waited for the usual eager beavers to clear and then hit the line. Soon I was at the checkin machine and in went the pass. Beeeeep, "Sorry Sir, just take your ticket over to him". Damn, I knew this was too good to be true. It seems someone else of higher priority joined the plane after I was upgraded. Over to the guy to receive 12B. Easy come, easy go. I head back to the steward putting the boarding passes through, and he gives me a big "Oh no" and then proceeds to ask me if I'm traveling on staff travel, to which I replied no...
And that was my upgrade moment.
Into the plane I go, more bemused than annoyed, happy that I'm still up toward the pointy end of the plane. But there story doesn't end there, I still had a half upgrade on the way. After settling into 12B and waiting for the late stragglers to come through, man in the floral shirt comes down the isle with his attractive wife and asks if I want to swap seats. I'm not to worried either way and he sweetens the deal by telling me its an exit row seat by the door, 13F???.
So in the end I got a half upgrade, but it was ups and downs, as the last bit of the story is that the catering truck broke down and it was drinks only on the way back. I sent a quick email to customer service to see if anything is doing, but I was already full from dinner, so I didn't miss much.
The end.
