Tiger? Nothing could possibly go wrong.

[JohnK]

Or could it?

Back in February I realised that I had made a mistake and I may possibly need to be in Sydney this weekend.

At the time flights from Brisbane or Gold Coast were ~$200, possibly a little more, but I did not want to commit until I was certain. The longer I waited the higher the airfares became so I started exploring the possibility of trying out Tiger for the first time.

The first step is always the hardest to take. The Tiger flights were not as cheap as I had expected but this was looking like the right time to get the monkey off my back.

And then 10 days ago, on April Fools Day, I booked the OOL-SYD and SYD-BNE flights. The schedule is not fantastic but should do the job. I have pre-allocated 2C on the way down and 4C on the way back. Further forward than I would normally have on Virgin or Qantas.

I have been monitoring the Tiger check-in queues at OOL the past 3-4 weeks and it does not look too painful. It would have been nice to have OLCI but that feature went after their grounding.

The carry-on limit of 10kg is a little restrictive considering I have been spoilt with luggage allowances on Qantas for the past 7 years and Virgin in the past couple of years. My laptop bag is heavy and so is the laptop so I think I will just take my carry bag and put the laptop in there. I don't really need the laptop but it could help pass some time at OOL and provide an update for this thread.

Lack of lounge access is going to be a hassle but I have survived without lounge access in the past although I am hoping some karma comes my way. I believe the crew from Farewell QF81/82 are going to be in SYD T3 on Sunday and have offered to guest me so I will go over and say hello and after 3 beers and 3 vodkas head over to T2 at 12:30pm for a 1:50pm flight.

What have I done?

Wish me luck....

 

[Rallo]

Best of luck John, this may well be one of the most watched threads on AFF!

 

[burmans]

Best of luck John, this may well be one of the most watched threads on AFF!

Are we only watching because we expect him to complain? Personally I have travelled Tiger and would do so again. Yes it's no no means my preferred airline but flight generally left on time and arrived on time, checkin was nowehere as bad as some had suggested, I didn't try and check in a 25K bag so had no overweight issues. But at @$29.95 and the nearest competion nearl $100 plus more it wasn't that hard a cross to bear to travel with them and meant I could stay in a better hotel.

 

[Rallo]

Are we only watching because we expect him to complain? Personally I have travelled Tiger and would do so again. Yes it's no no means my preferred airline but flight generally left on time and arrived on time, checkin was nowehere as bad as some had suggested, I didn't try and check in a 25K bag so had no overweight issues. But at @$29.95 and the nearest competion nearl $100 plus more it wasn't that hard a cross to bear to travel with them and meant I could stay in a better hotel.

Some may do not me personally ,as I only fly for leisure and infrequently I enjoy reading Trip Reorts whether they are about First Class or on a LCC .

 

[serfty]

... But at @$29.95 and the nearest competion nearl $100 plus more it wasn't that hard a cross to bear to travel with them and meant I could stay in a better hotel.

Did you check JQ - You may have gotten the fare for 26.95 all up (that TT fare does not include the convenience fee).

 

[JohnK]

Into the eye of the storm

I have been feeling a little anxious today. I don't know whether my sub-conscious was racing ahead or whether it was the result of another long week away from home. It is still difficult to get used to that one.

I was preparing to leave the office ~1:45pm when this almighty storm loooked to be coming from the South. :shock:

Got back to my apartment and did some last minute tidying up and headed off to Central Station for the trip down the Gold Coast.

The trains are OK if you can get a seat and I was able to get my favourite seat in the last row with a shadow next to me. Well not quite a shadow as I had put my bag there. Did not inconvenience anyone as everyone had a seat anyway.

Arrived at Varsity Lakes and just as the train doors had opened so did a heavy downpour. I got a little wet but not enough to worry about. Waited ~15 for bus to OOL by which time the downpour had stopped. How convenient.

Arrived at OOL airport ~17:35 and the airport looks deserted. First thing that struck my sight was JQ423 to SYD CANCELLED. Just as well I am not on this flight.

Hardly anyone at security and hardly anyone at the check-in counters.

Is this the calm before the next storm?

Proceeded to Tiger check-in where 2 pleasant looking agents are at the 2 open check-in desks. I had already checked the weight of my bag when I left Brisbaneand it was ~9-10kgs but I did have some water in there so no issues. There were 2 people currently served and no one else in line. Waited less than 1 minute before I was called to counter. Painless check-in process and was asked to put bag to check weight and it showed 9.9kgs and given a boarding pass for 2C with seq #40.

Boarding is not until 18:50 so now have a lot of time to kill and with a laptop with only 8% charge left. Proceeded down past check-in desks down to International arrivals and found a powerpoint to charge laptop. Still only 38% with another 2 hours to be fully charged. I will try and get it to 50% which should give me ~30 minutes use in flight if I get bored.

I will now head airside and have a beer to relax before the flight. Should be at the boarding gate 2 well before boarding commences.

So far so good. Don't know why I was worrying....

 

[BAM1748]

You're more of a risk taker than me:mrgreen:

but thanks for supporting them and helping keep fares down so I can use another carrier.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Time for an update ??

 

[JohnK]

Homeward bound

Arrived at security ~18:35 to find a snaking queue of about 50 people. Security at OOL is notoriously slow but this time around we seemed to do quite well and were through relatively quickly. As I got through the scanner I noticed someone at explosives testing so quickly grabbed my stuff and walked past and then started packing everything away.

OOL airport was fairly busy by now. The last QF flight had departed but still a few more flights to go.

Head over to gate 2 at 18:47 and notice that no one has lined up waiting for boarding. Velocity bar is right there so I purchase a schooner of pure blonde for $7.95 and the sign clearly says 2% surcharge for Amex and Diners which is not reflected on bill.

Boarding time came and went. Incoming flight must be slightly delayed but within minutes a stream of people start to appear. The last person walked past at 18:55. Vey efficient deplaning.

Boarding call at 18:57 and the line starts to grow to ~40 deep. No rush for me as I am here and cannot be possibly offloaded this time even though I do not have checked bags. I joined queue as it appeared only a few people to go and boarding pass was scanned and I was on my way. This was the same person that had checked me in ~75 minutes earlier. Stopped quickly just outside to take a photo of my first Tiger aircraft and as I was taking photo gate agent was telling me off about no photos allowed and security etc so I switched off phone and headed towards aircraft.

Waited a couple of minutes to board and took up my 2 seat and my bag fit easily under the seat in front. Well it just needed a little help. This is the first time I have been on an A330 domestically and it is not quite the same as the 737's. On the 737's the space under the seat in front of the aisle is restricted. The space on the A320 is evenly distributed between the 3 seats.

Still a few people to board, could not possibly miss this boarding call, and started looking around cabin. Had someone sitting next to me with their son and his wife and daughter were in row behind. I noticed 2E vacant as well as 3DE, 5DE, 6E. So I would hazard a guess a lightly loaded flight.

We pushed back on time and took off on time.

Relatively smooth flight, purchased 2 Tiger beers and I was sure the menu said 50c surcharge but again paid only $14. A little bit more than I would pay for beer on QF and Virgin but not the end of the world. It turns out the person next to me is a police officer from Wollongong who used to live in Sydney. We had a decent conversation throughout the flight.

I alos managed to talk a little with flight supervisor and we managed to swap a few thoughts on Tiger, aircraft in general and commuting.

Arrived on time, if not a little early, but it was a standoff bay which I have seen used before with the Dash 8's.

This is actually unbelievable. Managed to arrive in SYD in one piece, alive and early. :shock: Why am I flying Qantas and Virgin again?

Now waiting for tomorrow's flight and hoping for a repeat performance.

 

[JohnK]

Where am I again?

My time in Sydney was short and it did not help that I had a late Friday night and then a very late Saturday night/Sunday morning.

It was now time to head off to the airport but I will make a slight detour via T3. I had organised to meet some of the crew from the QF81/QF82 weekend and arrived at T3 around 11:40am. A quick phone call to lowjhg and he was not quite in the lounge yet and waited for me outside. I was through T3 security is next to no time and saying hello to lowjhg outside the lounge.

We went up to the lounge together and were looking for JessicaTam and company. Walked around the long way and lowjhg finally spotted them. There was JessicaTam, mickeyc747 and Heleigh.

My reputation must precede as no sooner had I arrived that mickeyc747 had to go as his OOL flight was called. We kept an eye on the departure boards to see how up to date they were and soon lowjhg and Heleigh had to head off to BNE. The left JessicaTam still waiting for her later flight to MEL.

Had a couple of Pure Blondes and at ~11:40am headed over to T2 which was only a few minute walk away via the subway.

Arrived at Tiger checkin about ~15-20 minutes before flight close to find a snaking queue of ~50 people. I guess SYD T2 is a little busier than OOL for Tiger. A couple of minutes later a lady was walking around caling anyone for the Coffs Harbour flight without checked luggage to go to the front of the queue. Then a few minutes later she was calling anyone without checked luggage to go to the front of the queue. By the time I made my way there she told me to stay put so I went back into my queue.

Check-in was fairly quick and received a boarding pass for 4C and departure from gate 33. Made my way through security and there was still sometime before boarding so I found a stool at the Taphouse and ordered a schooner of New which cost $7.30. Browsed AFF and when the time for boarding approached headed over to the boarding gate.

And this is where the fun starts....

 

[dk4]

JohnK on TT - the most incredible Thread on AFF 2013 award nominee

And this is where the fun starts....

The anticipation is too much...something has to go wrong now, doesn't it!!!?? Come on... next chapter, please...

 

[Virgin Bart]

This TR confirms my personal, secret, inner thoughts that maybe by spending a little money at the airport I could lower my travel spend by a huge amount by looking at BFOD.

 

[SeatBackForward]

This TR confirms my personal, secret, inner thoughts that maybe by spending a little money at the airport I could lower my travel spend by a huge amount by looking at BFOD.

What??? you don't *HAVE* to go to a lounge????

 

[BAM1748]

Homeward bound

Stopped quickly just outside to take a photo of my first Tiger aircraft and as I was taking photo gate agent was telling me off about no photos allowed and security etc so I switched off phone and headed towards aircraft.
.

Perhaps they think they get enough media coverage.

Surprises me always how some of these small players think they have a right to stop someone taking photos. I wandered LAX, Miami, Dallas and Cancun within the last week snapping away at aircraft and not a comment from anyone.

matt
PS, there was a Dreamlifter parked at Miami last Thursday, geez they are big.

 

[samh004]

Why am I flying Qantas and Virgin again?

Sooner or later the F&B adds up, depending on how much you drink regularly. Though if that's negated by the cost of the ticket, not such a problem.

However, when stuff does go wrong, would you rather be one of the first looked after, or left to your own devices

Perhaps they think they get enough media coverage.

Surprises me always how some of these small players think they have a right to stop someone taking photos. I wandered LAX, Miami, Dallas and Cancun within the last week snapping away at aircraft and not a comment from anyone.

matt
PS, there was a Dreamlifter parked at Miami last Thursday, geez they are big.

Did you use a camera phone on the tarmac, which is generally frowned upon, or a standalone camera?

 

[k3nnis]

Update please

 

[ozmille]

update please, the anticipation is building

 

[BAM1748]

Did you use a camera phone on the tarmac, which is generally frowned upon, or a standalone camera?

Both an iPhone and DSLR.

 

[JohnK]

Sooner or later the F&B adds up, depending on how much you drink regularly. Though if that's negated by the cost of the ticket, not such a problem.

However, when stuff does go wrong, would you rather be one of the first looked after, or left to your own devices

I had spent just over $40 on beverages which was not really necessary. Still a saving of around $60 on Qantas or Virgin airfares.

 

[lovestotravel]

I had spent just over $40 on beverages which was not really necessary. Still a saving of around $60 on Qantas or Virgin airfares.

1000 or more FF point is worth $40ish to me Plus lounge access etc etc