Qantas is hitting passengers with excess baggage fees under its new one-bag policy introduced yesterday, even if they started their trip before the new policy came into effect.
A Qantas spokeswoman told Australian Business Traveller that Qantas would not give any grace to passengers who were mid-way through an itinerary with the airline, as the change in checked baggage policy was first announced in December last year.
Photographer Jeff Crow was one of many to be caught out by the ruling when Qantas check-in staff at Brisbane airport insisted on charging him additional baggage fees for his return flight to Melbourne on June 1st – despite the fact that he paid no fee when departing from Melbourne on May 20th with two checked bags.
"I checked in at Melbourne Airport on May 30th, and was also automatically checked into my return flight from Brisbane on June 1st," Crow told Australian Business Traveller.
"When I showed up to Brisbane Airport for the return flight, I was informed that as of June 1st, I was no longer allowed to check my cameras in as 'fragile' and everything 'HAD' to go down the baggage chute as checked baggage."
"A customer service person put both my bags down the chute, and then, once they were out of my hands, a ticket popped up and told me I owed $30 for the second bag. If I didn't pay, Qantas told me I wouldn't be allowed to board the flight."
"Unfortunately, when I bought my ticket and started my flight, I couldn't pay for this and it wasn't available, so Qantas charged me a $30 penalty for something that wasn't available."
Qantas Senior Communications Advisor Kira Reed told Australian Business Traveller that passengers who bought tickets before the change in policy was announced in December would still be able to fly under the old baggage rules. However, Crow did not fall into this category.
"In the case of a ticket booked after 1st December, any travel before 1st June would have been under the old baggage policy, but his return trip would be part of the new policy, and that would have been documented on his ticket itinerary," Reed said.
Virgin Blue - Velocity Rewards
12 May 2011
Total posts 66
That is disgusting, no wonder why everyone complains about how rude they are, they should have rang them up and said only 1, but obviously when they booked the ticket this rule was not in place. Dunno about Qantas, god. More strike news, rats on a plane and now this. Hmmmm.
17 May 2011
Total posts 1
It would be worth the extra money to check the baggage then not board the flight. That would cost Qantas
26 May 2011
Total posts 62
Perhaps you should read the article, Jack. It clearly says that if tickets were purchased before the December announcement, they would fall under the old bag category. As the ticket was purchased after, and therefore the new baggage rules would have been on the E-ticket, the new rules applied. It's a case of people never wanting to take responsibility and playing the dumb card. You are VERY selective in your opinions, Jack. Stick with your preferred carrier, and let REAL Fflyers stay with theirs ;-)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Jun 2011
Total posts 2
Daniell, never claimed the dumb card. To be perfectly honest.. I love flying with Qantas more than any other airline in Australia. I'm just struggling with new procedures that are not understood by thier own staff. In the past 2 wks I've had staff quote me the wrong prices, told me I couldn't check in my luggage with batteries (normal AA) and you can no longer check in Fragile items. All a bit frustrating especially when they can't get your QTags to work. My issue with the new baggage rules is when ticketing or checking in, no one (or even the website) alerts you to the changes happening during your trip. If you go to the Qantas site right now and purchase a ticket... no where does it tell you about the policy and/or give you an option to purchase additonal kg or bags. That's wrong... sorry. I don't care if you work for them or not... simply wrong. If there are additional charges, then make them present when you purchase you tickets!
Qantas
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 177
I've unpublished a few comments that were getting narky on a personal level. Please keep things cordial folks, and debate the issue at hand, rather than having a go at each other.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Frequent Flyer
28 May 2011
Total posts 81
BTW Daniell IS a Qantas staff member, I just read another post where she said so...
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