On Hold with V Australia

[straitman]

Aw, ok. As compensation .. you shall have a whY flight on VA. What's the catch, you may ask? You have to ring the VA call centre to confirm your flights...

You pay for the ticket and I'll ring the call centre :!:

Works for me

 

[jakeseven7]

Yes, that's all very well, but it's mainly the staff who define what an airline is.

In DJ's case, the staff (and training programs) are clearly from their LCC beginnings and it shows. Beligerent and rude is how I would describe many of them (especially the check in chicks, but not forgetting the hosties).

i think it does show, but not in the form of rudeness, for me at least!

...more like inflexible and eager to charge extra $ more than anything. i find dj staff pretty good, on par with jetstar.

you have to consider though that for the staff it would be a difficult perhaps confusing transition period as well (moving from true LCC to LCC with some frills for extra $).

And how V Australia can expect to sell seats on their airline when nobody will answer the phone is beyond me.

I can see the distict possibility of Virgin Blue (and V Australia) going under if this recession gets much worse. And perhaps it wouldn't be a hugely bad thing.

i can't actually. they have the flexibility to downsize big time to match demand (they are already downgrading some mel/syd flights to the e-jets for example.)... that would be like qf putting in a q400 for a 737

and if it does go under i do think it would be a really really bad thing. just think, history repeating. ansett goes under - replaced with LCC virgin.... virgin goes under, replaced with.... very very LCC tiger... - no thanks!!!

 

[clifford]

and if it does go under i do think it would be a really really bad thing. just think, history repeating. ansett goes under - replaced with LCC virgin.... virgin goes under, replaced with.... very very LCC tiger... - no thanks!!!

Well I actually do prefer Tiger, their operational employees are more professional, seemingly better trained, and I know who I'd rather be with in the event of an onboard emergency.

I've also seen the odd Tiger employee give a genuine smile. You won't get that from anyone at Virgin (I guess it's the employee hiring practices). Virgin's employees are, in my experience, as shallow as they come, and this must be what they are selecting for.

 

[Mal]

I've also seen the odd Tiger employee give a genuine smile. You won't get that from anyone at Virgin (I guess it's the employee hiring practices). Virgin's employees are, in my experience, as shallow as they come, and this must be what they are selecting for.

Your bias against Virgin Blue is well noted, and I doubt your mind will ever change. Perhaps it's similar to my bias against United and a few other airlines that others like.

BTW, you are correct about wait times on calling Untied. I called them yesterday and was onto an operator (indian call centre I believe) in about 5 seconds from the recorded announcement.

 

[taswegian77]

wow, i just read this entire thread and it was an eye opener on people's opinions of airlines and their practices. It truly highlights that every individual has a different view and each view should be respected and that is why i love this forum.

For my opinion I always will fly Qantas internationally provided they service my destination. If they don't I aim to still use them until I have to get a connection if possible. For domestic travel I use Qantas, Jetstar, even Virgin and Tiger at times as cost is more prevalent for me unless if on business always QF. You will always get the best and worst out of any airline at any given time. I have experienced all aspects of great and horrendous service.

My personal experiences of Qantas being a Platinum member for the last 4 years is one of general satisfaction, not consistently outstanding but of a standard I am generally satisfied with. I have also had satisfactory travel with Jetstar, Tiger and Virgin. Each has their own ideas and processes and at times they falter but none of them are perfect.

Should it not always be Safet priority 1, then followed by everything else. I am happy to fly any domestic carrier whilst their safety records are good, I choose to fly QF th emost as their record over a space of 80+ years is un-rivalled.

Anyway I will conjtinue to look forward to contributing and reading on this forum, the wealth of information I have gained has served my needs well. Keep up the banter.

 

[N860CR]

Originally Posted by clifford
I've also seen the odd Tiger employee give a genuine smile. You won't get that from anyone at Virgin (I guess it's the employee hiring practices). Virgin's employees are, in my experience, as shallow as they come, and this must be what they are selecting for.

I think one can safely say that even if you rocked up at a Virgin checkin counter and they offered to take you to your destination on a chartered Citation you'd still complain about it. While these forums are great for discussion, when you constantly slander one particular company it really makes it hard to take seriously any opinion that you may have.

 

[straitman]

Well I actually do prefer Tiger, their operational employees are more professional, seemingly better trained, and I know who I'd rather be with in the event of an onboard emergency.

I've also seen the odd Tiger employee give a genuine smile. You won't get that from anyone at Virgin (I guess it's the employee hiring practices). Virgin's employees are, in my experience, as shallow as they come, and this must be what they are selecting for.

clifford,

Who are you trying to kid :?: I would have to say that if you reversed the names I'd agree entirely. To say that Tiger run a professional operation really should be posted here :!:

 

[Nigelinoz]

Tiger and Professional?Nope,don't think those two words belong together,talk about chalk and cheese.

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

I had the same issue.

On hold for an hr on one day and gave up, and 50 minutes a few days later before finally speaking to someone.

They need to allow making changes on the web.

Maybe they're getting flooded with calls due to all the promo fares?

Hope they sort it out though. Not the kind of service they need when trying to build market share

 

[crazydave98]

The wait time has been brought to the attention of V Australia senior management. Agree we need to do better as no-one can afford to lose sales, especially in present environment.
cheers
CrazyDave98

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Crazydave

glad to hear it. is there any way you can make self service more of an option? I'm happy to pay the $100 fee to make changes, but it would have been so nice to just go online change the dates + do the PE upgrade for coming back to sydney and then click to accept the charge.

i'm a child of the internet age, and too used to being able to get things done with a few clicks

 

[brissyflyer]

My Dad rang VA the other night to book an open jaw itinerary and he commented that he got through very quickly and the staff were very helpful and offered and arranged pre allocated seating.

 

[yogi]

Decided to try my luck and call again.

Pushed some different numbers this time. Got put through to someone basically immediately. Lovely and helpful and enquiry handled.

All is well...

 

[crazydave98]

Crazydave

glad to hear it. is there any way you can make self service more of an option? I'm happy to pay the $100 fee to make changes, but it would have been so nice to just go online change the dates + do the PE upgrade for coming back to sydney and then click to accept the charge.

i'm a child of the internet age, and too used to being able to get things done with a few clicks

I'm with you on that. The problem is the V Australia reservation system is older than Virgin Blue's! I'm sure online change functionality will come online but can't give you any guidance as to when sorry.

 

[docjames]

I'm with you on that. The problem is the V Australia reservation system is older than Virgin Blue's! I'm sure online change functionality will come online but can't give you any guidance as to when sorry.

That is crazy - a new airline, and you buy an old system without that functionality. Thats poor planning by your IT department.

Why you dont (didnt) use a system you already know is beyond me. No wonder there's issues. Also, if you'd used the same system, linking bookings wouldnt be an issue (as per the "cranky wife" thread).

 

[Mal]

That is crazy - a new airline, and you buy an old system without that functionality. Thats poor planning by your IT department.

Do you realise why V Australia chose the system they did? It's not because they wanted an older system or to make life more difficult, but instead to allow inter-connectivity with other airline systems and the ability for direct settlement of fares etc.

I'm sure the IT areas would have been more than happy to retain the old system - but it just was never designed for an international airline that needs to interline and participate on global booking providers...

 

[crazydave98]

That is crazy - a new airline, and you buy an old system without that functionality. Thats poor planning by your IT department.

Why you dont (didnt) use a system you already know is beyond me. No wonder there's issues. Also, if you'd used the same system, linking bookings wouldnt be an issue (as per the "cranky wife" thread).

If you were in posession of all the facts it may not seem so crazy and poorly planned. The only truly modern airline res systems in existence are those set up to support low cost airlines. Unfortunately these do not have the functionality required to run a full-service multi-class network carrier. There is a reason low cost airlines are low cost and one of them is IT. As it is, Virgin Blue has pushed to the limit what can be done with its existing system and is going to a new one late this year, but it still will not do everything required for a full service premium airline like V Australia. There has of course been much debate about whether Virgin Blue should have moved onto the system being used for V Australia but that is another story.

 

[odysseus]

I'm with you on that. The problem is the V Australia reservation system is older than Virgin Blue's!

Regardless, credit for the existing front-end that has been put on. It's quite responsive and nice that it includes pricing for the next category up.

 

[yogi]

Had to call again today. Got put through very promptly.

(Not totally thrilled that I just had to cough up almost a quarter of my original flight cost to change a booking to 3 days earlier...but I digress...)

Just wanted to bring an annoying point to the attention of VA. I had to change my original VPromo booking. I knew the change fee was $200, but then the helpful VA guy says $250. I ask him again and I say the site says $200. He says it's with the $50 agent booking fee. I say but there is no other way of changing it, so why does it say $200? It says it's just part of the system and they raise issues that don't always get looked at.

So, could the VA site please be amended to the actual cost of what the transaction is ($250), as it's impossible to actually fulfill the change for what it currently says. (I would also be happy to receive $50 back to accurately reflect the conditions of my booking).