Tiger Airways,, anyone flown with them yet??

[Boosh Brus]

I wish they would come to Sydney

[MNM96]

Originally Posted by XWGS351

OK Just got back from Adelaide..........

Yes we got there 50 minutes (only just) before takeoff.
There was a hefty que leading to 3 check in counters.
5 minutes later one shut shop so there are only 2 counters.

One of the counters had a blonde European lady serving a Family of about 6 to 7.
They had heaps of very small cases and hand luggage.
The other girl a brunette Pommy sounding girl, was faster and processing a lot more passengers. She served us thank god.

Joanne (my Mrs) asked the girl, whats the story with the 45 minute rule?
She said, all the people in the que will be looked after, and no one after that.
I said well fair enough.
At this stage, basically with only her processing passengers,(as the blonde was so slow with that family) the flight was to leave in 20 minutes, we went through but the blonde decided that the cut off was 5 or so people from the front of the que, now this was so unfair cause she was so slow in the first place.

I said to Jo, this is when the action starts. I heard a bit of heated arguing etc but i couldnt hang around as the departure time was now only about 15 minutes.

Whilst at the departure lounge, we where waiting at least 30 minutes,when i saw the pommy girl in a fluorescent vest, now looking after us passengers and directing us to the plane. "I joked with my Mrs, saying wouldnt surprise me if she will be a hostess also!"

After entering the plane, we found the plane to be clean, quiet and a very smooth flight to Melbourne.

In Melbourne we went down the stairs to the tarmac, and after a very long walk to a covered bit of carpark, there was a makeshift baggage claim area with portable toilets, the type you see on building sites. Thank god that the busses used for the long term car park also passed in front of the baggage claim.

Yes a few corners have been cut at the airports, but seriously, if they looked after their passengers during check in, i think they can become a great airline in Oz,
If I was refused entry and my Tickets and Dollars where lost cause of their staff being slow or lacking in numbers, there would be no way id fly with them again.

There was 2 girls and i guy working in the terminal, to look after Check In and Departure, thats it.

Even REX airlines next door had a decent lounge.

Tigers was enclosed in cyclone fencing LOL im serious.

A few photos to come soon

Paul

You should have received no shocks if you read my comments.

All I will say is get your ***** to the airport for check in early, and you will be fine!

[Thornie]

Originally Posted by 84ltd

my brother and i have flown with them between melbourne and mackay several times and have never had a problem. just make sure you check-in at least 1 hour before the time of the flight or you will be left behind.

my mates flew from melbourne to rockhampton, they were a on the tinyest bit late and they wouldnt let them on the plane, even though it sat on the tarmac for another 20mins.

[MNM96]

Originally Posted by RaTTuS

my mates flew from melbourne to rockhampton, they were a on the tinyest bit late and they wouldnt let them on the plane, even though it sat on the tarmac for another 20mins.

They were late! They were at fault!

[adrianb]

A mate of mine flew PER-MEL with Tiger to come back to Melbs after a holiday. The flight was delayed due to issues with the aircraft so they spent 45mins waiting around before being told they had no engineers available to service the aircraft but had secured a Virgin engineer to do the work.

The Virgin guy apparently got pulled off (fair call - imagine the law suit against Virgin if something went wrong) and the passengers got told that a Tiger engineer had been paged - this is about 90mins after scheduled departure.

Another hour later they got told that the plane wasn't going to be flying and the flight was cancelled and to go to the service desk for booking on another flight. This was on a Sunday night and my mate and his girlfriend both had to be at work Monday morning. The best Tiger could do for a flight was the following Wednesday. Apparently all hell broke loose and people were obviously ****ed - Tiger refused to pay for any accomodation.

My mate had no choice but to get a flight on Virgin and pay for it out of his own pocket then and there. Tiger would only reimburse the cost of their flight and would not even discuss paying the difference between the Tiger flight and the last-minute booked Virgin flight.

Personally, after this and picking my mate up over 5 hours late from another airline flight, I wouldn't fly with Tiger. I am sure all airlines are perfectly fine when things are running smoothly - the measure is how they handle it when things go wrong. It seems Tiger just don't have the staff or fleet to handle issues when they come up.

[MNM96]

Originally Posted by adrianb

I am sure all airlines are perfectly fine when things are running smoothly - the measure is how they handle it when things go wrong. It seems Tiger just don't have the staff or fleet to handle issues when they come up.

This statement is sensible! That said, Flight insurance would cover this, and you would still be better off than paying Qantas prices!
You would find Virgin would not be much better off, where as Jetstar could likely rely on some mop up from Qantas.

Virgin have the financial backing of Singapore Airlines. They will come good!
I have no dramas recommending them, and will personally use them again!

[Dark Horse]

For those interested, sit down, buckle up and enjoy a drink or two....

What a lot of you guys are saying is synonymous with the rapid expansion of air travel in Australia in recent years and is typical of organisational shortcomings due to staffing or lack thereof - where the growth has outstripped the capacity with which to handle it all.

Regardless of which of the airlines you fly be it Qantas, Virgin Blue, Tiger, Jetstar, and I am certainly not defending any of their records or actions by any means, but there are going to be these sorts of issues because of lack of infrastructure or manpower to deal with operational scenarios as they arise. Offer cheap fares, pay staff peanuts, get monkeys. That's the reality, and clearly demonstrated in a few lively examples here.

Now, I honestly have to laugh at those who got denied boarding because they did not adhere to their check-in instructions - running late, yet the aircraft sat on the tarmac for a certain period of time afterwards which one would think would give you time to board, or that the aircraft hadn't yet arrived from a previous flight. There is a lot more behind the scenes than simply that. Airlines have enough trouble getting their already checked-in passengers to board their aircraft on-time at the assigned gate!

Basically there is a cut off which allows the flight operations people time to work out the weight and balance of the aircraft, with information from those working in load control that work out what goes where and in which sized containers, before loading, pushback and start-up. Then there's the working out of the fuel to take to carry that weight according to the flightplan. That's just one of many flights that they have to work out, sometimes simultaneously and sometimes with last minute changes in aircraft allocation. The flight ops people cannot afford to get the aircraft weight and balance thing wrong for obvious reasons.

There is also the slot allocation for that particular flight - that is the time that air traffic control allocates them in sequence in conjunction with other aircraft, which means it cannot leave the gate until a certain time and if it's delayed may not have an available slot for a significant period of time afterwards. The aircraft may also be deliberately ground delayed by air traffic control which saves burning unnecessary fuel and added additional cost stuck in a holding pattern waiting for it's allocated slot time and arrival runway at the other end. In poor weather, the available slots decrease, so any delays earlier on in the day are pretty much well blown out at the end of it.

My advice is with any of these airlines for a somewhat pleasant experience is book ahead, get in early and allow for any unforeseen delays. I've flown lots too and have had my fair share of delays, setbacks and off-loads. Don't expect everything to be hunkey dorey as I explained above for the situation that exists in the aviation industry at present.

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

For those interested, sit down, buckle up and enjoy a drink or two....

What a lot of you guys are saying is synonymous with the rapid expansion of air travel in Australia in recent years and is typical of organisational shortcomings due to staffing or lack thereof - where the growth has outstripped the capacity with which to handle it all.

Regardless of which of the airlines you fly be it Qantas, Virgin Blue, Tiger, Jetstar, and I am certainly not defending any of their records or actions by any means, but there are going to be these sorts of issues because of lack of infrastructure or manpower to deal with operational scenarios as they arise. Offer cheap fares, pay staff peanuts, get monkeys. That's the reality, and clearly demonstrated in a few lively examples here.

Now, I honestly have to laugh at those who got denied boarding because they did not adhere to their check-in instructions - running late, yet the aircraft sat on the tarmac for a certain period of time afterwards which one would think would give you time to board, or that the aircraft hadn't yet arrived from a previous flight. There is a lot more behind the scenes than simply that. Airlines have enough trouble getting their already checked-in passengers to board their aircraft on-time at the assigned gate!

Basically there is a cut off which allows the flight operations people time to work out the weight and balance of the aircraft, with information from those working in load control that work out what goes where and in which sized containers, before loading, pushback and start-up. Then there's the working out of the fuel to take to carry that weight according to the flightplan. That's just one of many flights that they have to work out, sometimes simultaneously and sometimes with last minute changes in aircraft allocation. The flight ops people cannot afford to get the aircraft weight and balance thing wrong for obvious reasons.

There is also the slot allocation for that particular flight - that is the time that air traffic control allocates them in sequence in conjunction with other aircraft, which means it cannot leave the gate until a certain time and if it's delayed may not have an available slot for a significant period of time afterwards. The aircraft may also be deliberately ground delayed by air traffic control which saves burning unnecessary fuel and added additional cost stuck in a holding pattern waiting for it's allocated slot time and arrival runway at the other end. In poor weather, the available slots decrease, so any delays earlier on in the day are pretty much well blown out at the end of it.

My advice is with any of these airlines for a somewhat pleasant experience is book ahead, get in early and allow for any unforeseen delays. I've flown lots too and have had my fair share of delays, setbacks and off-loads. Don't expect everything to be hunkey dorey as I explained above for the situation that exists in the aviation industry at present.

Couldnt agree more mate. well said.

[devilracer_01]

Originally Posted by AU-MUSTD

My only reservations for flying with them were the planes are mostly old, old planes from airlines that have moved on to newer aircraft. So god only knows the amount of trips they have done and who knows what short cuts could be taken with up keep. Might just be paranoid but check there planes against virgins next time at the airport and youll see what l mean. Worth the extra 20 dollars for a decent plane for my family.

Two of their A320-200's VH-VNB and VH-VNC are older aircraft the other three are all brand new aircraft.

Our fleet of B737's are alot older than Tigers A320's VH-VBA and VH-VBB were delivered back in 2001, we do have a lot of brand new B737's also our newest B737 was delivered in March this year VH-VUO, we also have our new Embraer 170/190 aircraft currently being delivered.

[devilracer_01]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

For those interested, sit down, buckle up and enjoy a drink or two....

What a lot of you guys are saying is synonymous with the rapid expansion of air travel in Australia in recent years and is typical of organisational shortcomings due to staffing or lack thereof - where the growth has outstripped the capacity with which to handle it all.

Regardless of which of the airlines you fly be it Qantas, Virgin Blue, Tiger, Jetstar, and I am certainly not defending any of their records or actions by any means, but there are going to be these sorts of issues because of lack of infrastructure or manpower to deal with operational scenarios as they arise. Offer cheap fares, pay staff peanuts, get monkeys. That's the reality, and clearly demonstrated in a few lively examples here.

Now, I honestly have to laugh at those who got denied boarding because they did not adhere to their check-in instructions - running late, yet the aircraft sat on the tarmac for a certain period of time afterwards which one would think would give you time to board, or that the aircraft hadn't yet arrived from a previous flight. There is a lot more behind the scenes than simply that. Airlines have enough trouble getting their already checked-in passengers to board their aircraft on-time at the assigned gate!

Basically there is a cut off which allows the flight operations people time to work out the weight and balance of the aircraft, with information from those working in load control that work out what goes where and in which sized containers, before loading, pushback and start-up. Then there's the working out of the fuel to take to carry that weight according to the flightplan. That's just one of many flights that they have to work out, sometimes simultaneously and sometimes with last minute changes in aircraft allocation. The flight ops people cannot afford to get the aircraft weight and balance thing wrong for obvious reasons.

There is also the slot allocation for that particular flight - that is the time that air traffic control allocates them in sequence in conjunction with other aircraft, which means it cannot leave the gate until a certain time and if it's delayed may not have an available slot for a significant period of time afterwards. The aircraft may also be deliberately ground delayed by air traffic control which saves burning unnecessary fuel and added additional cost stuck in a holding pattern waiting for it's allocated slot time and arrival runway at the other end. In poor weather, the available slots decrease, so any delays earlier on in the day are pretty much well blown out at the end of it.

My advice is with any of these airlines for a somewhat pleasant experience is book ahead, get in early and allow for any unforeseen delays. I've flown lots too and have had my fair share of delays, setbacks and off-loads. Don't expect everything to be hunkey dorey as I explained above for the situation that exists in the aviation industry at present.

Mmmmm close but no cigar, the main reason for them closing check in 45mins before hand as the people at checkin then have to board the aircraft also, so they need to ensure they have that process complete and then move to the boarding gate to commence boarding the aircraft which in MEL with the facilities they have in place takes around 25 mins.

Weight and balance information is done in an instance and is probably already completed hell at Virgin Blue we turn an aircraft in 30mins thats a full unload of pax/bags/freight, clean, refuel, catering and loaded with pax/bags/freight again.

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by XWGS351

In their web site they ask you where you want to sit, then they charge you for the privilege.

I’d tell them that I want to sit in the Cockpit and see what they have to say.