Qantas Staff Travel

[indamiddle]

guessing these are the spare seat(s) at doors 3 on a 747. being at a door exit does the staff travel beneficiary have to aged 15 or older? is this mentioned anywhere?
my reading of the CSO regarding the f/deck jump seats was for persons traveling for 'operational' reasons

[Boomerang_Butt]

If I read it correctly, operation reasons can include commuting to start a duty on the same day, is that right?

With regard to cabin assist seats... would the primary crewmember have to agree? I'm not sure I'd be entirely comfortable with Joe Blogg from IT's mum sittting next to me at a door, I'd much prefer the other staff travellers who may be cabin crew or pilots too have that seat... at least they know how to operate a door. Does the new policy go into such detail? Suppose if the captain has to approve it s/he would be asking those questions anyway...

PS Indamiddle I would sayy yes they would have to meet exit row criteria just like anyone else...

Aside from the 747 there's also an assist seat on the 738, and some 767s have one midcabin. Now there's less crew on the a330 there'd be one or two there as well...

[Autobrakes4]

boomerang, the I.T guys mum wouldn't be sitting in the assist jumpseat.

As per the FSO, the assist cabin crew jumpseat is for use only by travelling beneficiaries of the crew operating on that flight. For eg the operating Captain's wife or an operating flight attendants boyfriend.

The FSO states they have to meet exit row criteria.

737's not approved.

[Boomerang_Butt]

Auto, thanks. We don't get to see FSOs. Probably will be one for the cabin crew if there isn't already... haven't seen it yet.

Ok so it might not be the IT guy's mum but it's someone's mum or boyfriend or whatever... my question is, if we're not allowed to let pax sit in crew seats during the flight, how come it's now ok for non-crew to use them to travel? Not trying to stir just asking a genuine curious question. I would suppose there'd be a very thorough briefing to the person going to occupy the seat?

[twiggs]

Boomerang Butt,
I have read the CSO/FSO and a requirement is that the person is briefed by the crew.
Also, the main reason we don't allow pax to sit on jumpseats during flight is so that we have somewhere to sit for turbulence etc.
Since the beneficiaries will be using spare jump seats, we will still have our own jump seat available.

Prior to this new policy, tech crew had no way to guarantee a seat for their companions as the flight deck is no longer available and crew rest seats are given away at the discretion of the cabin crew.

[jungle juice]

twiggs,
This is good news if you are desperate to get on a flight but this thread is about the lack of transparency and accountability in staff travel.

[triadic]

you get what you pay for... !

Hey.... you get what you pay for... !

Sure, like any system, it could be better, but it works. In over 20 yrs I don't believe I have missed out on more than 2 or 3 flights that I was aiming for. You just have to plan ahead, avoid school holidays, be flexible and have a plan B !

[avion346]

Re Staff Travel

The introduction of FBT effectively removed most of the Staff Travel profit to the Airline.

The new Altea system does not show the Staff members start date, so it is not possible, as it was with QUBE to see all the information.

EG QUBE would show 42YJ1785
Altea only shows 42YJ17

So the agent relies on the "system" getting it right!

OCCR re onload/upgrade, if there is only one seat left on the Aircraft in J class, and both pax have an entitlement to J class, then the pax with the higher onload gets on, and into J
So if you had 2 pax, one with a 40YJ17 the other a 42YJ13, and one JCL seat left at flight close,the higher 40Y onload is the only one to get on, then the regrade comes into it, and as they are entitled to Jcl they get the seat!
If however that pax was 40YY,then the 42Y pax gets on.

Bear in mind the QF Domestic and International systems are different,
with Domestic all staff can purchase upgradeable tkts and the order of upgrade is determined by length of service only.
International upgrade is determined by position in the company.

Domestic Upgrade categories were adjusted some time back to ensure beneficiaries did not get upgrades ahead of current staff.

The current Jetstar onload system allows for beneficaries to be onloaded before actual JQ or QF staff if they got in the que first!

[lowerlobe]

Hey...you get what you pay for... !

triadic....But it is part of your employment and not a privilege as some say here...so it's Hey not what you pay for but what you are supplied with.....

Certainly,planning helps a lot but it's all well and good to say avoid certain times and have a plan 'B' but what happens when you have children at school age ?

We all understand that school holidays are peak times when the airlines are busiest but sometimes these are unavoidable....

Even during slow times the problems you encounter increase on an exponential basis when you have one other person let alone children travelling....

As Jungle Juice said this is an area that needs a certain amount of transparency and that does not exist now or at any stage that I'm aware of.

In fact I have found having a good travel agent a godsend.I managed a far better holiday to the states and had confirmed seats for only $15 more than the staff standby seats prices on domestic flights within the US.I have found that staff travel is best used on Long Haul flights and leave the rest to a good travel agent or the internet....

[Jet-A-One]

I doubt any changes to staff travel will include upgrade priority. These are part of EBAs and employment contracts.

ie. There's no way us engineers are giving up our J14

In my experience on tight flights it's your upgrade priority that gets you on the aircraft. The best onload is useless without a good upgrade priority when economy is overbooked and the only available seats are up the front.

[teresa green]

Whatever, you need to get into flight schedules on QF staff travel. Ampclamp, it should be fairly close to seats available. The system might show full, but often blows out about 24 hrs before flight due to travel agents putting their alloted seats back into the system. Very few A/C leave completely full, though of course it happens, especially if the previous A/C on that sector becomes U/S. What pis3es me off though as probably does most of you, is even though they know there are seats available, they leave it until 20 mins or so before ETD, which is distressing to say the least for staff travelling with elderly parents or small children and for what reason? As I said before its not like a football team is about to materialize demanding seats, its almost like some sort of water torture that QF has defined over the years (and no it has not got any better) from one that has become a expert at trying to understand and beat staff travel at its own game. You are better off paying the money on the LCC's but JQ is normally a safe bet, Star Class, which I might add is very pleasant, but try the laptop, it does make a difference, they are not quite sure how to deal with it when they see you on it, but know they could get into trouble themselves if they send a A/C off with obvious seats available, (which they have done over the years on more than one occasion) infact I was working on one that left the arm, with 15 seats available out of HAR leaving staff to stay another week as it was a weekly service, but a dilligent FSD/CSM informed the Skipper who went straight back onto the arm and demanded that staff be loaded, and had the ground staff running around like blue arsed flies trying to round them up, I have never forgotten their gratitude as they boarded, some were in tears, the stress too much. ( The reason for such a full A/C was the scheduled A/C went U/S in PER, and QF only had 15 747's at that stage so the service was late). Happy travelling.

[ampclamp]

teresa

Hi TG, I guess anything is worth a go.Like to have seen the situation you described , lol.

Not sure if its improved but the new BKK airport is a balls up.Seen some shockers done there with staffies ( not to mention full payers! )
QF, BA etc I hear sacked a lot of their more highly paid (experienced) gnd staff when the move from don muang took place and the kids who took their place just didnt get it.Nothing left on time, staff were put thru the mill not so much on purpose but inexperience. couples seperated in different classes even when seats were available .Minors seperated from their parents.Hand ball to the cabin crew to beg others to change seats.Again the CC did a great pro job.

And the killer of being hung out to dry until nearly pushback for no good reason while they *&^% around endlessly .I've never had a good experience going thru the new BKK port.Lovely peole but lacking training experience initiative? I dont know what but its been pain and suffering.

[C441]

Experience

Experience is not a valuable commodity these days. Airports, as with most areas of the organisation have found that experience is too expensive.

[Angle of Attack]

TG,
Sorry but Availability on the site usually reflects the reality but usually does not! Flight Schedules on Staff Travel are as useful as a screen door on a submarine! Unless you know the realities of the sector you basically have no idea! Although I agree with your technique it is the best way to go!

[rammel]

I haven't had too much trouble in BKK at the new airport, even got my upgrade when I checked in once. I've rarely had to wait too long there, if there are seats they seem to put you on. If the flight is full and you have a backup BA ticket and are listed, ask about BA. Once I was not going to get my upgrade on QF but they could give me ecy. I asked about BA and they said they could put me on straight away, so I took BA. Also the refund of the QF ticket is more than the refund for the BA one.

[Transition Layer]

I also flew through BKK recently on Staff Travel and found the check-in staff pretty good. They just needed a bit of reminding that it was 45 mins to departure and that the flight is probably closed at that stage.

It's nice to know you can approach them in a friendly way and make an enquiry without your head being ripped off, ala Sydney.

I recently saw approx 50 staff at the counter trying to get out of Sydney one afternoon on the QF5/31/1 with one check-in bloke doing his best not to make eye contact with anyone. Went down to BA and got on within about 10 mins thanks to some helpful staff. Cheaper than QF and without the stress of waiting til the death.

[Long Bay Mauler]

Just searching the Staff Travel website,and I am finding it hard to get any information about Long Service trips.Anybody else have trouble finding relevant info?

Anyone have any info on where I could access info on such things that staff are entitled to on their 10,15,20,25,etc?

[sidelineeyes]

Try QPM Vol 2, it spells out most conditions of employment.

[teresa green]

Angle, got my info from a neighbour, who is a QF sales agent. She reckons staff travel availability is fairly close, but also says that many A/C have up to 10% noshow, but some are overbooked, especially SIN/LHR (a staff travellers nightmare). Without a doubt I have found if you are on a JQ route, go Starclass, seldom full, and a pleasant service (where do they get the best meat pies I have ever eaten?) seriously. I guess the best advice is buy backup tickets and go for the refund if not used, (not easy if you have 4 kids) anyway, happy travelling.

[ampclamp]

Thanks to those for the updates on BKK.Seems to have improved.