Not
sure if this topic before but it is one with regards to
luggage and priority tagging of luggage. I would be very interested
to hear members views and thoughts on this as I am a Qantas Platinum
member, have been for a few years, and always get my bag tagged with either a
Business or First Class tag.
My
question is, why do airlines bother as it is meaningless with regards to
priority of bags coming out of the carousel!!! I
returned from Singapore in First Class last week, had my bags tagged as such and yet my
bag came out well after at least half the un-tagged bags came out – as did many
other First Class tagged bags I noticed.
Surely
in this day and age of computers and bar codes it is not that hard for them to
group all Business and First tagged bags in one (or two)containers and put that
container in last so it comes out first?
As I fly 90%
of the time with Qantas, not sure if it is just a Qantas thing or is general
for all airlines? Just a small frustration of mine at the end of
a usually long flight and possibly a little petty after lying back sipping a
good glass of red rather then having to sit upright drinking from a platic cup!!!
Ive found it can be very hit and miss with QF. I had two bags once and checked in with a Bronze friend. They tagged them all Priority but put my second bag under my friends booking for some reason. My first bag came out and then some time later my second bag came out.
Although on a recent trip arriving in Sydney I went from plane to kerbside in around 20 minutes. Bags came out super fast.
I'd say I also have a mixed bag of outcomes. With LATAM when we went to South America they were indeed the first ones (we were in economy but due to status they were priority tagged), with QF back from SCL they didn't even bother tagging them as priority and missed my connection to MEL. With EK and QF trans tasman it has been pretty good.
Domestic it's pretty much like with priority boarding... non-existent
On Qantas domestic I agree it is hit and miss - sometimes priority tags seem to come out early but other times not. On the QantasLink Dash8 and Q400 aircraft there is definitely no attempt made to give priority. If you're flying solely on such a service then the bags are not given priority tags.
Recent Cathay Pacific family arrival into Sydney saw us receive five 'First'-tagged suitcases at the head of the unloading so that we got through the whole arrival system in 20 to 25 minutes, including a delay due to declared biosecurity issues. The single biggest speed-up was using the e-passport machines (no queue whatsoever) rather than falling for the trap of using the express path cards kindly handed out by the airline, which would have resulted in a queue.
(A320, A330, A380, B747, B787) will usually have a good chance of getting priority right as they keep a spare container that will be loaded last (and unloaded first) for priority bags. Sometimes, depending on the amount of priority bags - other bags will also be lumped in with the priority section (for maximum cargo efficiency). When this happens you’ll see a fair few non priority bags come out first (as they’ll generally be thrown ontop of the priority ones) but your bags will still be out before the majority of others.
Non-palletised cargo holds in the B717 and B737 are slightly more problematic. Whilst generally handled well - loading the priority bags on last may not necessarily guarantee they’re off first as there’s no dedicated section for the bags. Even so, my experience is that most priority bags come out first - though it’s entirely likely that theres some intermingled with the others; regardless of whether it’s international or domestic.
The Dash 8 situation is practically hopeless, just like the 737 the bags go on last - but due to the layout of the hold it’s unlikely that priority bags will be guaranteed as the first out.
As a Virgin Gold and Qantas Platinum I must say the priority bag tags is one thing Virgin get right. Bags are almost always in the first few off. Qantas domestic has been a fail since the Q tags were introduced. The other day in Auckland the priority tag had been ripped off and my bag was the last off. Better on the way back.
As a Virgin Gold and Qantas Platinum I must say the priority bag tags is one thing Virgin get right. Bags are almost always in the first few off. Qantas domestic has been a fail since the Q tags were introduced. The other day in Auckland the priority tag had been ripped off and my bag was the last off. Better on the way back.
Domestic flights ~ forget about it. 9 out of 10 times I find there's no particular order in terms of what bags come out first ( VA is slightly better than QF but not by much). No wonder you see more and more frequent flyers trying to squeeze everything into carry ons to avoid checking in bags at all. International flights ~ agree with most of the above, it's a hit and miss. In Australia (at least SYD and MEL) your chances of getting your 'Priority Bags' are usually much less compare to Asian airports, regardless of which airline you fly. I find most Asian airports are quite good when it comes to priority bags, especially in China (even though the airports there aren't great). HKG and SIN are mostly good from my experiences.
Overall this situation is a big shame in Australia, doesn't matter if you walk pass the long queue and be the first to board the plane, you may still be the last one to leave the airport because the last person who boarded the flight may still get his/her bag first and sitting in the non~moving airport ~ city freeway traffic waayyy before you do.
On the topic of Q tags - apparently baggage handlers are not a fan of these when travelling internationally. Travelling ZQN-SYD-BNE a couple of years ago with Business tagged luggage, nothing showed up at the BNE carousel so I followed up at the service desk. They directed me back to the oversized pickup area, where a very cranky baggage handler informed me that Q-tags aren't meant for international travel, as the last destination saved on the tag won't match the final destination on the printed label attached by checkin staff. That was news to me, so now I generally leave them off as the majority of my travel includes an international leg to/from PNG.
My observation: assuming you are QFF/Macro Polo/ OW and you're flying to the airport which OW is not the flagship airlines (e.g. Singapore Changi), there is a chance the landside gentlemen would not take seriously on your "First" or "Business" tags. I usually get my luggage on second batch in Shanghai or Singapore since their flagship airlines is SkyTeam and StarAlliance respectively.
In any given major airport there will be multiple companies delivering ramp services to the various airlines that service the destination. Each of these companies will have numerous performance-based contracts to deliver ramp services (including baggage handling).
Even the bottom-of-the-barrel LCC oriented ramp contracts are able to consistently deliver priority bags out of containers, so i can assure you that no major airport has any “airline bias” when dealing with bags.
I have never had good experiences with bag tags. I am AAdvantage Exec Platinum (OW Emerald) and it doesn't matter who I fly with (mostly AA), that the bags are never priority.
I flew AA JFK-MAD last week and came out half way.
I flew IB MAD-JFK this last weekend and came out half way...
Same experience with LATAM, QF, BA.
Unfortunately I don't think any airline is unique here.. the only lesson is if you need your bags fast, pack carry on only.
pallmall
pallmall
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 25 Mar 2015
Total posts 7
Not sure if this topic before but it is one with regards to luggage and priority tagging of luggage. I would be very interested to hear members views and thoughts on this as I am a Qantas Platinum member, have been for a few years, and always get my bag tagged with either a Business or First Class tag.
My question is, why do airlines bother as it is meaningless with regards to priority of bags coming out of the carousel!!! I returned from Singapore in First Class last week, had my bags tagged as such and yet my bag came out well after at least half the un-tagged bags came out – as did many other First Class tagged bags I noticed.
Surely in this day and age of computers and bar codes it is not that hard for them to group all Business and First tagged bags in one (or two)containers and put that container in last so it comes out first?
As I fly 90% of the time with Qantas, not sure if it is just a Qantas thing or is general for all airlines? Just a small frustration of mine at the end of a usually long flight and possibly a little petty after lying back sipping a good glass of red rather then having to sit upright drinking from a platic cup!!!
sdtravel
sdtravel
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 18 Jun 2015
Total posts 79
Ive found it can be very hit and miss with QF. I had two bags once and checked in with a Bronze friend. They tagged them all Priority but put my second bag under my friends booking for some reason. My first bag came out and then some time later my second bag came out.
silvyvc
silvyvc
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 19 Jun 2017
Total posts 62
I'd say I also have a mixed bag of outcomes. With LATAM when we went to South America they were indeed the first ones (we were in economy but due to status they were priority tagged), with QF back from SCL they didn't even bother tagging them as priority and missed my connection to MEL. With EK and QF trans tasman it has been pretty good.
Domestic it's pretty much like with priority boarding... non-existent
CBR boy
CBR boy
Member since 12 Feb 2015
Total posts 61
On Qantas domestic I agree it is hit and miss - sometimes priority tags seem to come out early but other times not. On the QantasLink Dash8 and Q400 aircraft there is definitely no attempt made to give priority. If you're flying solely on such a service then the bags are not given priority tags.
Recent Cathay Pacific family arrival into Sydney saw us receive five 'First'-tagged suitcases at the head of the unloading so that we got through the whole arrival system in 20 to 25 minutes, including a delay due to declared biosecurity issues. The single biggest speed-up was using the e-passport machines (no queue whatsoever) rather than falling for the trap of using the express path cards kindly handed out by the airline, which would have resulted in a queue.
GBRGB
GBRGB
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 21 Jan 2014
Total posts 295
Domestic is non existent, I think the baggage handlers in Australia go out if their way to make sure priority bags come out near last.
whoppersandwich
whoppersandwich
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 11 Dec 2017
Total posts 125
All flights with palletised cargo holds
Peterb1960
Peterb1960
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 10 May 2016
Total posts 9
As a Virgin Gold and Qantas Platinum I must say the priority bag tags is one thing Virgin get right. Bags are almost always in the first few off. Qantas domestic has been a fail since the Q tags were introduced. The other day in Auckland the priority tag had been ripped off and my bag was the last off. Better on the way back.
Peterb1960
Peterb1960
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 10 May 2016
Total posts 9
As a Virgin Gold and Qantas Platinum I must say the priority bag tags is one thing Virgin get right. Bags are almost always in the first few off. Qantas domestic has been a fail since the Q tags were introduced. The other day in Auckland the priority tag had been ripped off and my bag was the last off. Better on the way back.
eminere
eminere
Member since 25 Sep 2013
Total posts 376
I believe it's more airport than airline that affects baggage delivery? I've had better luck at SIN than at SYD, MEL, AKL, CHC and ZQN.
jianga
jianga
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 07 Feb 2015
Total posts 144
Domestic flights ~ forget about it. 9 out of 10 times I find there's no particular order in terms of what bags come out first ( VA is slightly better than QF but not by much). No wonder you see more and more frequent flyers trying to squeeze everything into carry ons to avoid checking in bags at all. International flights ~ agree with most of the above, it's a hit and miss. In Australia (at least SYD and MEL) your chances of getting your 'Priority Bags' are usually much less compare to Asian airports, regardless of which airline you fly. I find most Asian airports are quite good when it comes to priority bags, especially in China (even though the airports there aren't great). HKG and SIN are mostly good from my experiences.
Lachie77
Lachie77
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 10 Jul 2018
Total posts 9
On the topic of Q tags - apparently baggage handlers are not a fan of these when travelling internationally. Travelling ZQN-SYD-BNE a couple of years ago with Business tagged luggage, nothing showed up at the BNE carousel so I followed up at the service desk. They directed me back to the oversized pickup area, where a very cranky baggage handler informed me that Q-tags aren't meant for international travel, as the last destination saved on the tag won't match the final destination on the printed label attached by checkin staff. That was news to me, so now I generally leave them off as the majority of my travel includes an international leg to/from PNG.
stmaus
stmaus
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 20 Nov 2017
Total posts 45
Pallydou
Pallydou
Cathay Pacific - The Marco Polo Club
Member since 02 Jul 2018
Total posts 22
My observation: assuming you are QFF/Macro Polo/ OW and you're flying to the airport which OW is not the flagship airlines (e.g. Singapore Changi), there is a chance the landside gentlemen would not take seriously on your "First" or "Business" tags. I usually get my luggage on second batch in Shanghai or Singapore since their flagship airlines is SkyTeam and StarAlliance respectively.
whoppersandwich
whoppersandwich
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 11 Dec 2017
Total posts 125
In any given major airport there will be multiple companies delivering ramp services to the various airlines that service the destination. Each of these companies will have numerous performance-based contracts to deliver ramp services (including baggage handling).
pab2025
pab2025
Member since 25 Jun 2012
Total posts 133
I have never had good experiences with bag tags. I am AAdvantage Exec Platinum (OW Emerald) and it doesn't matter who I fly with (mostly AA), that the bags are never priority.