Virgin Australia - SYD check-in chaos.

[Steve S... 2]

Hi...

As a loyal customer of Virgin Australia (and any airline that flies aeroplanes lol) I have had unpleasant experiences at check-in at SYD the last few times I have flown on VA.

It takes between 30-45 minutes on the bag-drop queue. There is an obvious lack of check-in counters at the terminal. Every counter was in use.

This was at 9am in the morning - peak time I guess.

There was confusion as to which queue was which, as the queues were back running the length of the terminal. I took pictures of the chaos and the unhappy faces on the queue.

This was on a normal morning - with all flights on time or close to it.

Am I unlucky, or is this problem going to continue until some sort of expansion? Or avoid morning flights?

Regards,

Steve S

[Rob R]

The company wants feed back (good and bad) so contact them via email include the photos. JB and his team will take it on board and look at ways to fix the problem.

[Justin L]

When living in Sydney and flew Virgin from T2, I always had a similar experience in the bag drop queue. It made Internet check in almost irrelevant. I began making sure I just had carry on bags.

[Steve S... 2]

I just sent Virgin some feedback.

It does make internet check-in pointless, apart from an attempt to get the desired seats.

Effectively I checked in three times - first at home on the internet, then at an airport kiosk as advised to print the boarding pass, then at the bag drop counter where ID was provided.

Terminal 2 also has long queues for security screening lately - I don't know why.

I flew Qantas a month ago for the first time in years. In comparison the entire process took 2-3 minutes to kiosk check-in and do your own bag drop.

[Jayden Laing]

Originally posted by Steve S...2
I flew Qantas a month ago for the first time in years. In comparison the entire process took 2-3 minutes to kiosk check-in and do your own bag drop.

Steve,
Did you happen to notice how much more room QF had over there. They dont have the likes of JQ, Rex & Tiger to battle with for check in space & security queue lines.

Just a thought! :)

[Matt_L]

Ha yeah Jayden,

or the lack of staff at QF T3.

You could be paying full fare Business class for $1000+ on domestic flights and the first person you will see to greet you is in the lounge after security. There is 1 tiny service desk with 1/2 people which always has a long queue.

[Raymond Rowe]

The sooner people relise when you fly with the like Va what more do you expect.Want to be a full service airline but will not have staff there to handle situations.Thus the reason why i fly QF.People will not learn you get what you pay for and have the staff what they get paid.

[Mick F]

I understand Virgin Australia staff are paid well for the positions they're in Ray. And there is more people at the Virgin check in counters than QF!

As to the cost, QF's tickets are much the same prices, so the whole "you get what you pay for" thing doesn't really apply in my view.

I do agree though, that Virgin's check in at Sydney could certainly do with some improvement. I flew them a bit over a week ago out of Sydney and the wait was painful. Out of Brisbane, quite quick in comparison. Perhaps moving the regionals (QLink, Rex, Brindabella, Aeropelican) to a completely different terminal in the future and freeing up T2 for Virgin and Jetstar, would help the situation.

Mick

[Mick F]

P.S. What do you have against Virgin Ray?

[Malcolm Parker]

If its because of any previous travel experience with them (Virgin) I would completely understand his position.

Personally i would never set one foot again on their planes not after the way I and my family have been treated. The only reason why was the Qantas alternative was twice the cost. But like people say you get for what you pay for I guess.

[David Knudsen]

I decided to try the new VA for my last few flights because I was sick of the check in chaos at Qantas counters in BNE and CNS, I was very surprised at just how good the service was on Virgin from start to finish - last time I flew them was 2003 in their LCC days and I wasn't impressed with them back then, but now they've become my first preference... quick check in, staff who seem happy to help, greeting you by name as you come onboard, nice fresh and clean aircraft... all the things Qantas used to be sadly.

[Greg McDonald]

^^ Absolutely agree David. They're far better now than Qantas has been in a long time. If you last tried them as a LCC, give them another go. You'll be pleasantly surprised!!

[StevenW]

They are now my first preference, too.

That said, all 14 upcoming flights I'm taking within, from, and to Australia this year will be with Qantas...??!

[Scott L.]

I also agree they have lifted their game.

Flew with them as a LCC circa 2002 and vowed never to fly them again.

Flew with them this week for business (in economy) and was pleasantly surprised with IFE, meal, on time performance and the aircraft. Check in was questionable.

Lounge was very impressive and had better food options than pasta, party pies an sausage rolls.

That was the first flight with them - let's see how the next 6 months pan out.

[Maikha Ly]

I've never had an issue with Virgin, ever, yet quite a number with Qantas. Never had to wait more than 5 minutes in a check-in queue, great friendly staff, and being looked after during delays and disruptions, all this regardless of the class of airfare I was holding, and where I was.

I've noted the transition from their LCC model since the Virgin Australia consolidation, they've really upped their game and professionalism and more than happy to continue flying them, which I will for the coming 12 flights I'm booked on.

[Alexander.L]

The reason I don't fly Virgin is because every airline (including Jetstar and Tiger Airways) that charges for checked in baggage the overhead lockers are filled so much that I think there is not 1 inch of space left.

[StevenW]

Every airline charges for checked in baggage. Sometimes it's not a separate charge, but every airline does.

[Daniel F]

But when it's included in the price people are more likely to check in bags and the overhead lockers aren't overflowing.

[Beau Chenery]

I fly Virgin now to get the miles on my SQ Krisflyer. Only time I would fly Qantas is for BNE-PER where they offer the A332 but every other route I'm more than happy to go with Virgin.

Like Dave said - staff are excellent, quick on the bag drop and overall a great service

[Thomas Collins]

To be honest, this is all very subjective.

You'll have good and bad experiences on all airlines.

In addition, each persons interpretation of a "good" or "bad" experience can very significantly from person to person.

[Philip Argy]

When in Sydney you should use The Lounge separate security screening - it saves the long queues.

Having said that, we were most displeased that the seats we'd logged in and chosen 3 weeks ago for yesterday's DJ560 out of Perth were occupied by others when we went to check in (two hours early) and no explanation for the re-allocation could be given. What's the point of offwering online seat selection if it's going to be igniored?

It had better not happen again!

[Daniel F]

How do you pick seats 3 weeks out when seat selection is only available 14 days prior to the flights?

[Philip Argy]

Quite right - it was 11 April that we chose our seats for yesterday's flight, and the system let me do that and displayed the seat selections (7JK and 8JK) as saved. But on check in they were gone and we ended up with 23A plus 24A, B and D. Go figure!

[A McLaughlin]

Ask (gripe?) and ye shall receive...

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA REVEALS MAJOR ENHANCEMENTS FOR SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE DOMESTIC AIRPORTS

26 April 2012

Virgin Australia today revealed a series of major enhancements to its facilities at Sydney Airport’s Domestic terminal (T2) and Melbourne Airports’ Domestic Terminal 2.

The enhancements at Sydney Airport include a new state-of-the-art lounge and a significant upgrade to its dedicated pier within the terminal. The new architecturally designed lounge will stretch over two levels, doubling the existing size of the Sydney lounge and providing sweeping views of Botany Bay and beyond.

Virgin Australia’s Pier A at Terminal 2 will be refurbished internally and expanded to accommodate larger aircraft.

Virgin Australia Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti said that Sydney Airport was Virgin Australia’s largest hub and an important focus for the airline. “With 8 million Virgin Australia guests travelling through every year, providing a seamless first-rate experience at Sydney Airport is critical to Virgin Australia. The enhancements announced today will enable us to do just that, establishing Sydney as our flagship domestic lounge and offering guests more spacious and comfortable terminal facilities. The pier expansion will also allow us to provide additional flight frequencies for our guests, with more positions for narrow and wide body aircraft”.

Mr Borghetti said Virgin Australia would also continue to improve the Virgin Australia travel experience at Melbourne Domestic Airport, building on recent enhancements including a new lounge, valet parking and priority security screening.

“In May 2012, we will commence a major refurbishment of the interiors of our Melbourne domestic terminal. The refresh will include new flooring, seating and washroom facilities and is designed to create more space and bring the Melbourne terminal in line with Virgin Australia’s contemporary look and feel”, Mr Borghetti said.

The enhancements at Sydney and Melbourne domestic airports are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

[Robert S]

Ask (gripe?) and ye shall receive...

This doesn't seem to mention check-in sadly.

I do vastly prefer Virgin Australia over Qantas and overall the experience is much better IMO, but boy do they have to fix check-in in Sydney in the mornings. My last experience a couple of weeks ago both the "check-in" and "bag drop" queues were overflowing, the latter overflowing so much that it had begun to do a couple of spirals around a set of flight information monitors. Yes, that's spirals plural... it went around about 1.5 times. I spent almost 30 minutes in that spiral and didn't even get into the actual queueing area before they called my flight for the closing soon queue... where there was more confusion and delay. They can't be treating that as business as usual operation. They really need to figure out how to process people more quickly and do it.

[Joe Frampton]

Sorry Robert, my wife is Gold QF and Gold DJ so I don't know what a spiral queue looks like, or spending any time in the main terminal waiting for a flight, you'll find me with a rum n' coke and hopefully licorice allsorts...

[Bob C]

Like your style Joe ; G&T (go easy on the Tonic) and Home Brand Licorice Allsorts do it for me.

In another life it was always First Class on transcontinental trips but those days are long gone. Great memories of Ansett, T A A and Australian Airlines (Mk 1) before Frequent Flyer points.

[Anthony T]

Home Brand Licorice Allsorts do it for me.



Bassetts Licorice Allsorts are the best. ;)

[Ricky T]

Quite right - it was 11 April that we chose our seats for yesterday's flight, and the system let me do that and displayed the seat selections (7JK and 8JK) as saved. But on check in they were gone and we ended up with 23A plus 24A, B and D. Go figure!

I am guessing this is due to a change of aircraft from the old A332 (27J/251Y) to the new A332 (24J/255Y). As there are no rows 7-9 (inclusive) on the new A332, your seat selections may have been lost when they changed.

[Tim B]

The sooner people relise when you fly with the like Va what more do you expect.Want to be a full service airline but will not have staff there to handle situations.Thus the reason why i fly QF.People will not learn you get what you pay for and have the staff what they get paid.

I'm getting the wonderful service from Virgin, even though my flight is 2 weeks away.
I'm meeting up with a friend who is flying from Tullamarine to Gold Coast (me from Sydney to G.C.) and we have timed our flights to coincide with each other. The return flight I had booked is already cancelled, so I am leaving 1hour earlier than my friend, who changed from Jetstar to Virgin, because his last flight with them was delayed 8hrs due to "technical difficulties".
It seems you can't win with either airline.
With regards to check-in delays, both airlines have their problems (toss a coin to see which airline it will be today), even though their seems to be no apparent problem.