two weeks in NZ. what could go wrong? qantas

[Ken Gargett]

The start to a couple of weeks doing the wineries and vineyards in New Zealand from top to bottom. Really looking forward to it. Group of four or five of from around the world on the trip, arranged by a new group which focuses on the very best wineries in New Zealand. What could go wrong?

The stumbling wombat. Truly, qantas is the worst airline in history. You’d think after that vile Irishman slithered off, having rorted the idiots at qantas and the govt for squillions, it could not get worse. You’d be wrong.

Have to get up before dawn for the taxi to the airport and off we go. But wait. A text from qantas. Seems I have been dumped – I even had pointy end – and now will be on Air New Zealand hours later. Kind of them to do a text. At least I’m aware that I’ll be sitting around the airport for hours. That was good of them. Can’t get into the clubs and lounges to do any work. too early for anything to be open outside and even then it will be the joy of dozens of grey nomads or large families with endless tiny rats for whom discipline has been have another ice cream to drip everywhere.

And the people meeting me in New Zealand? I don’t have the details. This will be yet another disaster thanks to these muppets.

At least Air New Zealand was open and serving customers, so I could find out what had happened and sort seating etc. And they were pleasant and courteous and helpful. Clearly, none of them had ever read the qantas customer manual. qantas, which leaves well before any Air New Zealand flight, has not shown. Why would they? Someone might expect them to do some work.

I have Lifetime Gold Status with qantas, from a time when I was Platinum for a number of years and when they were a little less incompetent. Just as well as these days, one avoids them wherever possible. Like the plague. Today, my status would be Turd Brown to match their service.

The worst airline on the planet. Many years ago, I flew whatever the New Guinea or Indonesian airline was (the one we all used to make jokes about - Garuda?). I actually flew their third level on some internal death flight. And they were still so much better than these hopeless drunk hippos stuck in the mud. As I said to someone, I’d rather fly an airline run by rugby Australia. They’d have to be less imbecilic.

Anyway, it seems someone might have turned up to qantas. Off to have a chat. Won’t do any good but if they want ruin my day, I’m off to ruin theirs.

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Ken Gargett said:

. too early for anything to be open outside and even then it will be the joy of dozens of grey nomads or large families with endless tiny rats for whom discipline has been have another ice cream to drip everywhere.

 

 

Gold 

[westg]

Be nice Ken. You might just get that horrible barstool asterisk removed from alongside your name and this will never happen again. Enjoy NZ mate sounds like an amazing trip coming upl 😇

[Ken Gargett]

12 minutes ago, westg said:

Be nice Ken. You might just get that horrible barstool asterisk removed from alongside your name and this will never happen again. Enjoy NZ mate sounds like an amazing trip coming upl 😇

no chance after this morning. qantas customer service, an oxymoron if ever there was one, and i did not get on. i think i had 25 'so sorry's. then she tried to rejig the flight again to bump me from the Air NZ business to cattle. i have rarely been firmer in expressing the potential dire consequences if she proceeded. apparently they had to dump six people. so, as i pointed out, someone who is a lifetime gold frequent flyer is considered such trash as to be in the bottom six out of how many hundred? 

the best bit is pointing out that i am going to nz to do an international travel piece for a magazine out of London (well, we travel to the wineries) and that the first three paras have written themselves. she looked like she swallowed 8 day old rotten fish.

found myself on a bench chatting to my neighbour. turns out she was qantas staff. she'd been dumped as well. she said to me that the only reason she would ever fly qantas was because she gets flights for peanuts. as soon as it looked like she'd have to pay full whack, she was off to air nz. says it all. 

anyway, the excellent people at air nz opened up 30 minutes early for me, so i had the lounge to myself for a while. several large and very strong bloody marys and the world looks a better place.