A trip to a Sydney shouldn’t be this hard! The signs were not good at Melbourne Airport when I arrived at 11:20 yesterday morning. The longest queue I have ever seen stretched from one end of the QANTAS domestic terminal to the other… broken baggage conveyer. Half an hour in the queue and my flight gets called out for special treatment, I check in, but they don’t take my bag, I have to queue again to place my bag on a pile in the terminal.
In the plane now, and waiting again – the captain says they’re putting in the last containers of luggage. Uneventful flight and then we’re waiting on the tarmac at Sydney Airport while they find us an airbridge. Delay after delay – people are starting to get tetchy.
Now waiting at the baggage carousel – waiting, waiting. 40 minutes later the crowd starts to thin as some people catch on that they need to see Baggage services. Mass exodus – now everyone’s waiting in a queue for paperwork for missing baggage. An hour after the plane lands there is finally an official announcement that passengers should see Baggage services.
They take our details – too many people to be dealt with by the counter staff, so we just fill out forms and leave on a promise. That was more than a day and a half ago – still no bag, still no word. Phone calls to QANTAS are fruitless – they tell you nothing, simply referring you to Sydney Baggage Services, who in turn fail to answer the phone. I tried ringing the airport general number, but as soon as I mentioned baggage, I was cut off. Incredulous, I decided it was an unfortunate coincidence, so I rang again… once again, as soon as baggage is mentioned, the nice man hangs up on me.
I find it frustrating, expensive and inconvenient, but there were people on that flight bound for international connections, I feel sorry for them.