Qantas Canberra Priority Fail, Melb Express too.

[ajw373]

Sitting in Melbourne Business lounge on my way to London. Had an interesting experience in Canberra on the way though, 3 fails in a row.

Firstly priority check-in. Fail. They had a sign that said business/gold etc but no sign for the plebs, so of course the only line in use was the priority line, was about 6th in line to check-in right behind a group of 10 Chinese with a zillion bags who tied up both priority check-ins, doubt any had priority. Normally they have a line marshal who sorts this out but not today. Also not sure why they have a priority sign, but no sign pointing to the non priority line.

Next was priority baggage. For what ever reason they put the bags in my wifes name who has no status. I wasn't paying much attention but as out 2nd bag went through notice there were no priority tags. I mentioned it and the agent then proceeds to put a first tag on our 2nd bag, even though I am now just a lowly gold, so should be business, no mention of the first which is half way down the belt. So no doubt in London one bag will come out first (my guess is the non priority bag) and the other dead last.

Next boarding, no priority lane on Canberra, not sure why even though a/c was 737 situation normal though.

Then to top it off used the express lane at Melbourne Int security, only thing though is the end of the express lane is where the explosives tester is, so guess which passengers he was targeting? Yep just express lane passengers. Now don't get me wrong, not saying express passengers shouldn't be tested, just saying in the few mins I was there he was ONLY targeting the express lane!

Now of course it is Sunday so not busy and not much of an inconvenience, but makes you wonder sometimes.

 

[farstar]

I had a trip SYD-LAX with two other pax and when we got to LAX one bag came out on the Priority conveyor and had to wait for the other two to come out on the normal. I was not happy. I am WP and had three bag allowance anyway so why not put all on under my name. If people check in and travel together they should get the same priority baggage, and that was from First check in.

 

[MrJetset]

check-in right behind a group of 10 Chinese with a zillion bags who tied up both priority check-ins, doubt any had priority.

You lost me there. Their ethnicity is unecessary and I doubt they had a 'zillion bags.' You also don't know if they have priority or not.

Then to top it off used the express lane at Melbourne Int security, only thing though is the end of the express lane is where the explosives tester is, so guess which passengers he was targeting? Yep just express lane passengers. Now don't get me wrong, not saying express passengers shouldn't be tested, just saying in the few mins I was there he was ONLY targeting the express lane!

Yes, in fact they were ONLY targeting you. You had it coming. What a fail!

I had a trip SYD-LAX with two other pax and when we got to LAX one bag came out on the Priority conveyor and had to wait for the other two to come out on the normal. I was not happy. I am WP and had three bag allowance anyway so why not put all on under my name. If people check in and travel together they should get the same priority baggage, and that was from First check in.

Unless the other two were all on the same PNR then strictly this is how it should work. As a WP, I don't want your mates, colleagues etc. getting First Class tags when they are not entitled to them. In fact, they actually don't have the right to use the F Check in.

 

[Keelan]

Sitting in Melbourne Business lounge on my way to London. Had an interesting experience in Canberra on the way though, 3 fails in a row.

Firstly priority check-in. Fail. They had a sign that said business/gold etc but no sign for the plebs, so of course the only line in use was the priority line, was about 6th in line to check-in right behind a group of 10 Chinese with a zillion bags who tied up both priority check-ins, doubt any had priority. Normally they have a line marshal who sorts this out but not today. Also not sure why they have a priority sign, but no sign pointing to the non priority line.

Next was priority baggage. For what ever reason they put the bags in my wifes name who has no status. I wasn't paying much attention but as out 2nd bag went through notice there were no priority tags. I mentioned it and the agent then proceeds to put a first tag on our 2nd bag, even though I am now just a lowly gold, so should be business, no mention of the first which is half way down the belt. So no doubt in London one bag will come out first (my guess is the non priority bag) and the other dead last.

Next boarding, no priority lane on Canberra, not sure why even though a/c was 737 situation normal though.

Then to top it off used the express lane at Melbourne Int security, only thing though is the end of the express lane is where the explosives tester is, so guess which passengers he was targeting? Yep just express lane passengers. Now don't get me wrong, not saying express passengers shouldn't be tested, just saying in the few mins I was there he was ONLY targeting the express lane!

Now of course it is Sunday so not busy and not much of an inconvenience, but makes you wonder sometimes.

So you refer to your wife as a "pleb" often? Charming.

 

[elbarto]

Not sure about for international connections, but priority gets printed on the tags when I've checked baggage at CBR for domestic flights.

 

[ajw373]

Gee some of you guys need to lighten up my post was very much tongue in cheek if you didn't notice.

Not sure about for international connections, but priority gets printed on the tags when I've checked baggage at CBR for domestic flights.

Yes even international up to business class works like that. First still get tags. However as mentioned the agent assigned the bags to my wife who has no status so nothing printed.

Anyway I was right one bag in first batch 2nd bag 15 mins later. The at with the tag had the tag removed too.

 

[Hvr]

Priority boarding has never been offered at CBR. More trouble than it is worth there.

 

[medhead]

Yes even international up to business class works like that. First still get tags. However as mentioned the agent assigned the bags to my wife who has no status so nothing printed.

Had exactly this last year as well, where they assigned all out luggage to my wife. I was pretty damn annoyed, but Qantas ignored my feedback.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Firstly priority check-in. Fail. They had a sign that said business/gold etc but no sign for the plebs, so of course the only line in use was the priority line, was about 6th in line to check-in right behind a group of 10 Chinese with a zillion bags who tied up both priority check-ins, doubt any had priority. Normally they have a line marshal who sorts this out but not today. Also not sure why they have a priority sign, but no sign pointing to the non priority line.

The Chinese passengers may well have been in Business Class. They travel to CNS quite a lot & on a recent flight I'd say two thirds of the J cabin was occupied by them and as such they would be entitled to use the Business Class checkin queue. Sometimes not all pax in the group may be in J but they still may checkin as one group same as any non-Chinese pax would I imagine.

Next was priority baggage. For what ever reason they put the bags in my wifes name who has no status. I wasn't paying much attention but as out 2nd bag went through notice there were no priority tags. I mentioned it and the agent then proceeds to put a first tag on our 2nd bag, even though I am now just a lowly gold, so should be business, no mention of the first which is half way down the belt. So no doubt in London one bag will come out first (my guess is the non priority bag) and the other dead last.

If you have the same surname I'm guessing your wife's first name is earlier in the alphabet than yours eg Jane Smith & John Smith so 'Jane' would have been pax1 and 'John' pax 2. Unless the booking is retrieved in Altea by the surname & initial of the person with the highest status luggage is automatically pooled against pax 1's name. Similarly if different surnames like Mary Jones (NB) & John Smith (WP) if they enter Mary Jones' name first it will display both pax (if they are linked or in same pnr) however Mary would be pax 1 so bags will be pooled under her name with John as pax 2.

What should happen is the CSA should look at who is the highest status pax then retrieve the name and initial of that pax so they appear as pax 1. That way bags will be pooled under pax 1's name and get the priority status according to that tier.

It might be worth reiterating to the CSA "can you please ensure you pool the bags under my (WP pax) name".

Next boarding, no priority lane on Canberra, not sure why even though a/c was 737 situation normal though.

No priority boarding offered in CBR. Something to do with only one boarding pass reader per gate IIRC so that would be up to the owner of CBR Airport not the airlines who service CBR.

Then to top it off used the express lane at Melbourne Int security, only thing though is the end of the express lane is where the explosives tester is, so guess which passengers he was targeting? Yep just express lane passengers. Now don't get me wrong, not saying express passengers shouldn't be tested, just saying in the few mins I was there he was ONLY targeting the express lane!

Now of course it is Sunday so not busy and not much of an inconvenience, but makes you wonder sometimes.

What pax are targeted by the security company at any airport is beyond the control of the airlines.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I had a trip SYD-LAX with two other pax and when we got to LAX one bag came out on the Priority conveyor and had to wait for the other two to come out on the normal. I was not happy. I am WP and had three bag allowance anyway so why not put all on under my name. If people check in and travel together they should get the same priority baggage, and that was from First check in.

was it tagged Priority?

 

[farstar]

was it tagged Priority?

Only my bag was the other two were not

 

[Sprucegoose]

So you refer to your wife as a "pleb" often? Charming.

only when checking in and not managing the bags!!

 

[mitch24]

In CBR, I would think that almost half any departing Qantas plane would be eligible for priority boarding!