Mobile Phone Free Zones

[Journeyman]

Shortly visiting Oz and travelling through quite a few airports. Are there any 'quiet' zones in lounges or public areas where mobile phones are not allowed or better still won't work. We all need 'em but its nice to step away sometimes.
Thanks!

 

[serfty]

Qantas has 'Designated' Mobile Phone free areas in several of the Domestic QP's.

The ones I am certain of are:

MEL T1: SW Corner (AKA FT corner)
SYD T3: North East End
BNE: South Corner.

 

[Maca44]

If you have access to the Qantas Club they have mobile free areas in the lounge, but apart from that I think you will regularly see pax with mobiles to their ear in the terminals.

 

[JohnK]

If you have access to the Qantas Club they have mobile free areas in the lounge....

But people still use their mobiles. Who polices this? Are we supposed to inform lounge staff or do you kindly ask the person on the phone to go somewhere else?

....but apart from that I think you will regularly see pax with mobiles to their ear in the terminals.

You know you are in big trouble when you see a person walk into the lounge with a mobile in their hand and ear plug attached to mobile constantly talking to themselves while pacing up and down the lounge. Very annoying. And why are people so loud when they are talking on a mobile?

 

[bigjobs]

But people still use their mobiles. Who polices this? Are we supposed to inform lounge staff or do you kindly ask the person on the phone to go somewhere else?

Yep ... that's what i do. i have found lounge staff to be responsive.

i find it amusing what some people will talk about not just on phones in the lounge, also amongst themselves. i am sure their bosses/wives/girlfriends would not want me hearing what they are talking about. same goes with laptops too ... it's amazing what you can see on some of them, your boss would flip if he knew other people are able to read that info mate - seriously, you are not that important!

 

[Journeyman]

Thanks for the info guys. Yes I'm afraid they're one of life's great pollutants due to lack of consideration.

I used to live in France and they've introduced jamming systems to Cinemas.

I'm very concerned about the airlines allowing them on flights. Can you imagine sitting next to some one for 10 hours while they call the world.

 

[coco50]

[quote=serfty]Qantas has 'Designated' Mobile Phone free areas in several of the Domestic QP's.

The ones I am certain of are:

MEL T1: SW Corner (AKA FT corner)
SYD T3: North East End
BNE: South Corner.[/quote]

Serfty is quite right about these mobile free zones in these lounges. There are signs that clearly indicate that these areas are mobile free. Unfortunately, the ability to read is not a criterion for admission to the QC. In SYD T2, unfortunately ther is no designated area. I heard one "man of God" coughping on ad nauseam in an extremly loud voice one Saturday. I'm sure the whole lounge could hear. I wrote him off as another of these "phone wankers" who has to impress those around him that:

(a) he/she has a mobile phone
(b) he/she is so important that these calls must be taken/made while the Coke/beer/bubbly goes flat or the wine sits there getting hot. To emphasise their importance, they talk loudly to get the impression of importance across to other lounge patrons.

I wish they'd turn the phone off and get stuck into the p*ss and enjoy life a bit more. Of course there are those who are considerate of other patrons and take and make their calls quietly and discreetly.:evil:

 

[SeatBackForward]

Public areas and public trnasport are treated alike with regards to loud mobile phone conversations - we're all free to join in the conversation. I can't turn my ears off afterall.

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

One of my favourite grumpy old men is Jeremy Clarkson. In his Times column some time ago he wrote:

The customer in question is almost certainly a businessman, and the sort of businessmen who take scheduled planes around Europe and stay in business hotels are fairly low down the pecking order. You think they turn their phones on the instant the plane has landed because the Tokyo stock exchange is struggling to manage without them. No. The reason they turn them on so damn fast is to find out if they’ve been sacked....

They’re called Steve and Dave and you know what they’re doing on their laptops in the departure lounge? Organising a backward hedge merger with GEC? Fraid not. They’re looking at some Hooters Swimsuit pictures from the internet.

I accept the mobile phone is part of working nowadays, but I appreciate the haven of the mobile free parts of the QC.

 

[cssaus]

Shortly visiting Oz and travelling through quite a few airports. Are there any 'quiet' zones in lounges or public areas where mobile phones are not allowed or better still won't work. We all need 'em but its nice to step away sometimes.
Thanks!

You could always try the men's room...don't often hear too many phones being used there

 

[serfty]

You could always try the men's room...don't often hear too many phones being used there

Often hear some fascinating ring tones eminating from cubicles.

 

[Maca44]

You could always try the men's room...don't often hear too many phones being used there

Sorry, no trunk calls.

 

[Reggie]

You could always try the men's room...don't often hear too many phones being used there

This is becoming worse and worse. I have often seen men walking into the men's room talking on the phone, using the urinal, and walking out without pausing their conversation. The worst was a guy who walked into a cubical and continued his conversation. These people are so important they cant even go to the toilet on their own.

 

[SeatBackForward]

This is becoming worse and worse. I have often seen men walking into the men's room talking on the phone, using the urinal, and walking out without pausing their conversation. The worst was a guy who walked into a cubical and continued his conversation. These people are so important they cant even go to the toilet on their own.

Well its just a minor addition to the usual warning "don't piss on your hands-free".

 

[NM]

Sorry, no trunk calls.

And can have problems with STDs aslo.

 

[oz_mark]

And can have problems with STDs aslo.

I'm sure way back when Telecom used to encourage you to share the good news around with STD.

 

[coco50]

When I didn't have a mobile, I felt tempted to take the TV remote with me on a trip and when I reached the terminal, take the thing out of my pocket, hold it up to my ear and say loudly something like: "I've briefed the CEO, CFO, CIO, CSO and the MD about the LBO but the CEO knocked that idea back citing the organisation's policy of MBO" just to take the p*ss out of all these PWs. Is there a competition to see who cam get their phone going quickest when disembarking? One guy turned his on going down the stairs of a Dash 8 last Wednesday in Sydney and caused a backlog of pax trying to disembark. And all this with the aroma of Jet 4 all around.

 

[Yada Yada]

I am sure that the crowded nature of QP's is one of the reasons that the rules are not always followed in designated mobile phone free zones. There have been times when the only empty seats I could find were in these sections.

In defense of those who have their mobile phone glued to their ears, it might not always be avoidable. I have a boss in SIN who phones me regularly, and somehow manages to do so just after I've checked in for a return flight and am heading for the lounge.

 

[simongr]

You could always try the men's room...don't often hear too many phones being used there

You would bs surprised - I was at a restaurant recently and someone was in the mens room in one of the cubicles no less talking on his phone.

Just to defend mobile users a little - I often find that the Qantas lounge is the one few minutes of peace and quiet that I can have to gather my thoughts and then speak to people about things that in my rush around the office and out of the house through traffic to the airport I havent had a chance.

I do try to keep the volume down as much as I can - I am not deaf and I dont want to make the people at the end of the phone deaf And the reason I turn my phone on as soon as I land is to assure my wife that the plane hasnt crashed and I have landed (with some assistance from the pilot) safely

 

[SeatBackForward]

When I didn't have a mobile, I felt tempted to take the TV remote with me on a trip and when I reached the terminal, take the thing out of my pocket, hold it up to my ear and say loudly something like: "I've briefed the CEO, CFO, CIO, CSO and the MD about the LBO but the CEO knocked that idea back citing the organisation's policy of MBO" just to take the p*ss out of all these PWs. Is there a competition to see who cam get their phone going quickest when disembarking? One guy turned his on going down the stairs of a Dash 8 last Wednesday in Sydney and caused a backlog of pax trying to disembark. And all this with the aroma of Jet 4 all around.

Nice post

Its important to spurt off as many TLA's as possible to sound more "business like". The other phenomena on a plane I always enjoy watching is the ritual "taking off and putting back on" of the suit jackets.

Yes you do need to block the aisle while you ooze testosterone removing that manly suit jacket of yours. And all the passengers need to watch you do it, its more important than those floozy hosties with their safety yada-yada.

But seriously..were they not expecting to be getting on the plane? it suddenly appeared and they mysteriously were on it? or was the lack of Antarctic conditions in the plane a pleasant surprise?