Flew tonight QF975 TSV-BNE with 60 min connection to QF557 (scheduled 7:15). Various delays were posted (due weather in SYD) and the flight was cancelled around 8:15 PM. Staff in the Business Lounge rebooked me for tomorrow morning and said that accommodation was being arranged and i should wait in the lounge untll called.
Soe time later, there was a general announcement that people needing accommodation should go to the Service Desk (outside the lounge). I wasn't sure if that applied to me ... went to the desk and was told, "Yes, please go out to the Service Desk". I went to the Service Desk and joined a queue that was already maybe 40 people long. Waited nearly 40 minutes in line, got to the person at the desk, who said, "Oh, you're already rebooked ... well, you don't need to see us here, you need to go straight to the people at the other end who are handling accommodation". I mildly protested, one of the senior staff said, "I'm sorry, we thouht everyone in the queue needed rebooking", to which twenty or so people (all of whom had come from QP or Business Lounge) said, as one, "No ... we've already been rebooked!". Had we been told to go straight to the people organising accommodation, we could probably have been processed 15-20 minutes earlier. The staff were GREAT ... but there seems a communication problem.
I had opted for the 6:00 AM BNE-SYD flight (having decided that the 5:00 AM flight was too early). However, once we were on the bus to be taken to our accommodation, we were told that everyone on the first three or four flights HAD to be on the 3:30 AM bus. I'm checked in; I have carry-on only; I DON'T need to be at the airport two hours before my flight!
We arrived at the designated hotel (in Brisbane city) after 9:45 PM. Qantas has generously given us each a $50 food and drink allowance ... only problem is the hotel restaurant was already closed and the bar (where you could buy food) closes at 10:00 (but has agreed to stay open until 10:15!).
These things happen, I know. Qantas BNE staff were GREAT ... however, they did not seem as well prepared for this as they might have been.
When this has happened to me in the US (with UA) Business Class and Gold/Platinum FFs had better service (and usually a better standard hotel). As i said, QF BNE staff were great. However, being WP and flying Business made absolutely no difference to the whole experience.
Soe time later, there was a general announcement that people needing accommodation should go to the Service Desk (outside the lounge). I wasn't sure if that applied to me ... went to the desk and was told, "Yes, please go out to the Service Desk". I went to the Service Desk and joined a queue that was already maybe 40 people long. Waited nearly 40 minutes in line, got to the person at the desk, who said, "Oh, you're already rebooked ... well, you don't need to see us here, you need to go straight to the people at the other end who are handling accommodation". I mildly protested, one of the senior staff said, "I'm sorry, we thouht everyone in the queue needed rebooking", to which twenty or so people (all of whom had come from QP or Business Lounge) said, as one, "No ... we've already been rebooked!". Had we been told to go straight to the people organising accommodation, we could probably have been processed 15-20 minutes earlier. The staff were GREAT ... but there seems a communication problem.
I had opted for the 6:00 AM BNE-SYD flight (having decided that the 5:00 AM flight was too early). However, once we were on the bus to be taken to our accommodation, we were told that everyone on the first three or four flights HAD to be on the 3:30 AM bus. I'm checked in; I have carry-on only; I DON'T need to be at the airport two hours before my flight!
We arrived at the designated hotel (in Brisbane city) after 9:45 PM. Qantas has generously given us each a $50 food and drink allowance ... only problem is the hotel restaurant was already closed and the bar (where you could buy food) closes at 10:00 (but has agreed to stay open until 10:15!).
These things happen, I know. Qantas BNE staff were GREAT ... however, they did not seem as well prepared for this as they might have been.
When this has happened to me in the US (with UA) Business Class and Gold/Platinum FFs had better service (and usually a better standard hotel). As i said, QF BNE staff were great. However, being WP and flying Business made absolutely no difference to the whole experience.
