No IFE whole QF20 MNL>SYD flight

[neon_crossing]

Hey guys.
Just completed a trip to Japan (AA award) in J and routed back through Manila for a night (awful decision, really disliked Manila) and boarding was delayed about 15 minutes then at the gate the Qantas ground crew announced that the reason they were delayed is that the IFE has stopped working and they would not be able to provide it on the flight. It was one of the new reconfigured J A330's (had one on SYD to SIN on the way up also, really a good lie flat product).

So that is a 8 1/2 hour flight. No IFE. They did have a stack of extra magazines for the flight.

Many question is: Is it reasonable to expect any kind of compensation? I've heard of people being compensated if their personal IFE doesn't work on a flight and they can't be moved. But I've never heard of a whole plane not being able to use it?

Anyone else experienced anything similar?

Thanks in advance.
-NC

 

[blackcat20]

We got a handful of points for non-working IFE (the new suites also) SYD-MEL so I assume you should definitely get some for a longer flight.

 

[Mattg]

You should definitely get some compensation for that.

Unless they've already contacted you directly, I'd send a message to Qantas Customer Care.

 

[JohnK]

I would expect compensation of between $50-$100. More in premium cabins.

 

[blackcat20]

I would expect compensation of between $50-$100. More in premium cabins.

OP was in J so I would be expecting well more than $100. I assume compensation will come in the form of points however.

 

[neon_crossing]

Filled out the contact form. I'll keep everyone updated.

 

[qf1020]

Interestingly my IFE was not working on a new config A330 on the 10th out of Singapore (QF6). I wonder if it is the same aircraft. It was on a paid J ticket and I got a polite email telling me QF did everything they could have.

Given the aircraft left SYD without working IFE and they new they could not repair it is SIN I was disappointed they didn't at least send a text/email in advance so passengers could download movies and entertainment to laptops. I will also be writing. I just haven't got around to it yet.

 

[jb747]

IFE....another computer driven system that sometimes causes more trouble than it's worth.

It's common for a % of seats to just drop out/play up, etc. Sometimes this can be fixed by a reset of the individual seat. If that doesn't work, then resetting the entire pax system is necessary, and it can take a long time. 20-40 minutes rings a bell. And whilst it might fix the offending seat, it's just as likely drop some others out. There is a further level of reset available on the ground, but that pretty well involves shutting down the entire aircraft, and not only will it take quite some time to come back to life, but it has a nasty habit of causing things (unrelated to IFE) that were previously working nicely to then play up.

Sometimes I dream of analogue.....

 

[qf1020]

On my flight it was the entire flight and we were advised at the gate. But they advised that a corrupted file had been uploaded and they needed to do a complete reload which would take 5 hours.

 

[neon_crossing]

Interestingly my IFE was not working on a new config A330 on the 10th out of Singapore (QF6). I wonder if it is the same aircraft.

I believe it was: VH-QPF

 

[neon_crossing]

Given the aircraft left SYD without working IFE and they new they could not repair it is SIN I was disappointed they didn't at least send a text/email in advance so passengers could download movies and entertainment to laptops.

This was also my biggest frustration.

 

[Simo]

You should get some points or $$$

I would rather points as compo.

 

[opusman]

This is why I always take my own IFE. Ever heard of iPads?

 

[openseat]

IFE....another computer driven system that sometimes causes more trouble than it's worth.

It's common for a % of seats to just drop out/play up, etc. Sometimes this can be fixed by a reset of the individual seat. If that doesn't work, then resetting the entire pax system is necessary, and it can take a long time. 20-40 minutes rings a bell. And whilst it might fix the offending seat, it's just as likely drop some others out. There is a further level of reset available on the ground, but that pretty well involves shutting down the entire aircraft, and not only will it take quite some time to come back to life, but it has a nasty habit of causing things (unrelated to IFE) that were previously working nicely to then play up.

Sometimes I dream of analogue.....

Interesting, I would have thought that IFE would be a stand alone system apart from power and inputs for the maps.

 

[Anna]

This is why I always take my own IFE. Ever heard of iPads?

I always take my own IFE as well. Ever heard of books?

That said, about 10 years ago I received a $200 voucher from JAL for IFE not working in J between SYD - NRT. It was transferable too.

 

[opusman]

Ever heard of books?

Yes, I have those on my iPad

 

[jb747]

Interesting, I would have thought that IFE would be a stand alone system apart from power and inputs for the maps.

It is stand alone. But when you take away all of the power other than the essential buses, that affects everything.

 

[JohnK]

This is why I always take my own IFE. Ever heard of iPads?

Nope. Airlines provide IFE and charge accordingly.

 

[k_sheep]

I had no IFE for the first leg of QF9 in F ... I got nothing in terms of compensation, however I was kept occupied with food / sleep / my books etc anyway

 

[Virgin Bart]

I had no IFE for the first leg of QF9 in F ... I got nothing in terms of compensation, however I was kept occupied with food / sleep / my books etc anyway

You're kidding. Did you pursue it?