Entry 14 – Flying between Canada and
Australia, overview. – 2022
This could be called a “humorous entry,” probably worth reading and
unfortunately was reality for us.
On finishing compiling this entry and re-reading the finished article
we initially thought this entry to be too negative and possibly inappropriate
to publish. We decided to leave it as is and add some further “positive” notations.
When recording this entry we were suffering from “jet lag.”
For those reading this entry may we suggest consideration of adding
your own thoughts of our entry and perhaps include memories of your flight
experiences? Any thoughts for how we could do it better when we next fly?
So, here goes.
As long as we can remember, we have been bombarded through the media
with constant publicity campaigns promoting flying as a glamorous lifestyle.
For us reality was another thing, even though we were not expecting to
be pampered. To put it bluntly, it felt more like the live animal stock transport
industry. We were pushed, shoved, copped the occasional whipping and eventually
staggered out of their clutches feeling exhausted, battered and bruised.
Adding to our diminished state of well-being they had fleeced a
substantial amount of money from us, including extra hidden costs.
So how can we avoid the real drama of the airline industry?
Unfortunately, you can’t.
We have listed “some” of the flight issues we incurred during our
Canada trip 2022. This is our personal journal, recording our life experiences
at given times. Will we travel by air again, most likely. Hopefully this
information might help us the next time we look at flying again.
When booking a flight, you are required to pay in full at the time of
making a booking, regardless if the chosen flight is in a week or a year. And
you are locked in. As we found out the airlines can cancel your flights and you
are still locked in. Grrr.
We booked our Australia to Canada flights with Air New Zealand who
provided a more direct route with less stopovers. We paid a higher premium in
comparison to cheaper flights available with other airlines to our chosen
destination.
1 After a couple of
months from booking our flights, one of our 2 flights was cancelled and we had
to add an extra stop over. We could have obtained cheaper flights from other
airlines for the same number of stopovers.
If we had decided to cancel our booked flights, we would have lost
nearly 50% of our paid money due to imposed fees.
Culprits for fleecing our
money and camouflaging the truth, Air New Zealand and Flight Centre whom we
made our bookings through.
We found ourselves constantly checking the airlines flight schedule
for any changes. This included the night before our early morning first flight
and all appeared good.
2 We presented at the
counter at the designated time to be informed our seats had been cancelled
and we had no flight.
This flight had been arranged by Air New Zealand with an associate
airline, Qantas.
Qantas staff were inflexible and we refused to budge from the counter.
Eventually we were allocated other seats on the same flight. We saw other
people seated in the seats we had originally been allocated.
Adding to this problem we were now required to collect our baggage at
the arrival airport and personally book them in for our next scheduled flight,
instead of the automatic baggage transfer between flights. At least we were
advised of this requirement by the Qantas customer officer. Though it did add
extra time pressures to make it on time to the departure gate for our next flight.
We suspect there had been a
computer glitch either with Qantas, Air New Zealand or Flight Centre. Or was it human
error? We rang Flight Centre 24-hour help line (6 am) and they informed us
their records showed no flight seating cancellations. Thus no one took any
responsibility. It seemed, once we presented at the airport we were on our own.
3 Our next scheduled flight
from Melbourne airport departed
around 2-hours
late due
to a comedy of events. It had landed late, everyone was on board for
departure and we were stalled further waiting for some extra baggage to arrive
for loading, once out on the runway a passenger suffered a medical condition
and we had to return to the terminal for medical treatment.
When we arrived at our next destination we sprinted through the
airport, constantly looking about for signage indicating the direction of our
next departure gate. We arrived at the gate, boarding with the last 5
passengers. Thankfully at the time the airport wasn’t crowded and we managed to
get through security screening with minimal fuss.
Appreciatively, our final destination flight arrived on time. Though,
we were extremely exhausted feeling a bit like we had just negotiated
our way through a war zone. It had involved plenty of weaving, ducking,
side stepping, the occasional tactical attack with some retreating.
4 Whilst in Canada we
took a flight between cities. We had to pay extra for baggage and paid an additional $60 fee for the
privilege to be seated together. When checking in at the airport we
were no longer seated together. The customer service officer couldn’t assist
with our seating. We rang the help line and they claimed we hadn’t paid the
seating fee as the receipt they had provided didn’t show the itemised payments
we had incurred. And they refused to acknowledge our allocated seats together
on the original receipt as proof of payment. And yes, the flight departed an
hour late. Culprit
Air Canada.
5 Another reason we had
originally booked with Air New Zealand was due to their change of flight fee policy
of $100 each plus any difference of seat fees. Due to personal reasons, we requested
a change of flight returning home earlier than anticipated. We requested a
certain flight that was showing available seating for the type we had originally
booked. We were only provided with an option of a flight a day later which we
had to accept. We had already paid an additional $700 fee for a sky couch. For
our change of flights, the sky couch was unavailable and we were required to
pay $1,700 in additional fees. We were not provided with an itemised account. Our
thoughts, we had been charged the hypothetical full fare price, even though
there were seats available at a cheaper rate on their web site for that flight.
We were disappointed by the deceptive tactics of misleading information. Culprit Air New Zealand
and Flight Centre.
For our return flight to Australia, we were to fly out from Toronto
Pearson airport, Canada’s busiest airport. 2019 statistics show 50.5 million
passengers processed. It was a big, vast busy airport.
Leaving Canada our first leg of the flight was with, Air Canada. It
took considerable time to find a customer service officer to advise us the
correct self-service kiosk we needed to utilize for the required check in.
There were hundreds of self-service kiosks scattered out along about a 200-metre
stretch in numbered areas. Our provided flight information showed no reference
for a location to check in. Culprit Air Canada, skimping on required information.
Of interest during our time in Canada we had a conversation with a
local business man. He travelled by air regularly each year. Air Canada had a
monopoly on flights throughout Canada. He had no choice but to utilize Air
Canada and he regularly incurred problems caused by a poor culture embedded
with staff of Air Canada.
6 We travelled through Toronto
airport security screening process reasonably pain free. From the screening
room we moved into another room controlled by American customs. There were
hundreds of people queued waiting to clear customs. It took us about 1 ½ hours
to clear customs. Thankfully we struck a nice officer who cleared us within a
couple of minutes. Avoid
flights with transit stops in America. The provided picture shows a
small section where we were queued, awaiting our turn to clear customs.
We were happy with our decision to arrive at Toronto airport 5 hours
prior our departure flight. It had taken nearly 2 ½ hours to progress a few
metres into the inner sanctum of the airport.
We had originally booked our 2022 flights with Air New Zealand as they
provided flights avoiding a stopover in America. Sadly, we had memories of poor
treatment by American customs/security in 2017 even though we were only
transiting through America. Unfortunately, Air New Zealand had suspended their
direct flights between Canada and New Zealand, including our original booked
flight.
7 And yes, our flight
from Toronto departed an hour late. We were provided with a couple of explanations
via the intercom for our late departure, both we thought untruthful. Our
assessment, more likely there was a problem with our plane. Culprit, Air Canada with a
culture of misrepresentation. Picture attached showing our missing
aircraft at our departure gate. Of note no aircraft docked at this gate during
our time at the airport. When boarding we walked between 100-200 metres to
another boarding location.
8 Leaving Canada we were
transiting through San Francisco airport. We had researched the airports web
site for the location of our arrival gate and next departure gate. This
included the provided information how to navigate your way around the airport
which was sketchy lacking detailed information. In this instance it was
recommended to utilize a driverless sky train. There was no information
relating to distances between the different sections of the airport. As per
normal once you leave the plane you are on your own. We were an hour late for
an allocated 2 ½ hour turn around. Thus, our anxiety levels were elevated before
we departed the aircraft. As per normal there were no customer service officers
about to provide assistance. As per normal, the much-needed advisory signage was
lacking. We walked as fast as we could in the direction of the only visible displayed
signage - baggage collection. It was around midnight, all the shops were
closed, the internal airport lighting had been adjusted to twilight and
thankfully on a positive it was nearly deserted of people. Basically, we saw no
signage for the sky train. Well into the bowels of the airport we did find
signage indicating the direction of our departure area. After about ½ hour of
pacing out we stumbled into our departure gate. By then our bodies were
screaming out, “No More.” Somehow, we had bypassed security screening??? Culprit, all airports
should provide better guidance signage for their customers, these very
customers, the sole reason for their existence! Even consideration of an app to
assist customers to track their progress through the maze of passageways. And the airlines
could easily provide reference information on how to move between arrival and
departure locations they had locked you into! Hmmm.
9 Just to keep us on our
toes, our next departure fight left on time. Prior to departure we were
summoned to the counter. Evidently you could only board the plane with an
original Air New Zealand ticket and not the Air Canada tickets we had been
issued at our originating flight. There was no reference to this information we
had been provided by the airline. Culprit Air New Zealand technicalities. Yes,
a minor complaint but at the time we were getting rather frustrated with the never-ending
lack of helpful information.
10 Our last transit airport
was at Auckland airport. By then our brains were fried, our bodies were aching
and we were suffering from sleep deprivation. At one stage during our flights
when checking via the web the airport departure information showed our
departure gate number had changed from the recorded one on our tickets. It was
5 am and the human traffic was minimal. The airport display board showed our departure
flight time and next to that was displayed, “RELAX.” Yes, in this instance
there was no need to rush about, we were on time and the airport had been
reasonably easy to navigate. Unfortunately, there was no reference to any
designated departure gate. It was a nice gesture but we were unable to close
our eyes in case there was an announcement calling for us if we had deposited
our bodies in the wrong location. Admittedly, we were “so,” over the fiasco of
flying.
11 Over about a 37-hour
period, we had spent nearly 24 hours in flight, seated in a cramped position
with the rest negotiating foreign airports.
Our resilient younger bodies were no more, now aging too quickly, struggling
to cope with the body punishment inflicted by plane travel. Though we did speak
to a much younger person who had recently taken a 3-hour flight and it seemed
their body had incurred similar fatigue.
Should we take some responsibility for our inflicted pain, with due
consideration of our age? Any future planned flights, perhaps deliberation for breaking
up the long journey with a few stop overs along our route?
Admittedly a number of problems incurred were caused by the “human
element.”
More appropriately, perhaps the airline industry should be more
accountable for the turmoil inflicted on its customers?
Would we travel by air again. Most definitely not at this point in
time. The feeling of our fatigued bodies, questioning if we had been through
some form, similar to child birth? Excruciatingly painful but over time the
“pain,” memory diminishes and you do it again!
On a positive, once we were onboard Air New Zealand aircrafts the
customer service and food was satisfactory to good. Their on-board
entertainment systems had a section showing various exercises you could do from
your seated position which our bodies appreciated.
Our bodies were extremely fatigued by the time we returned to our
home. We had a couple of 12-hour sleep sessions over the following 48-hour
period with a few siestas in between. We exercised in the garden and took a
couple of walks around our suburb helping to reset our internal time clock.
The airline industry does provide movement around the world within
reasonable timelines. It provides timely transportation of goods and people. Its
existence has created a large international tourism industry, which we
participated in. For like-minded people like us we are able to visit family living
elsewhere in the world. There are many positives for the airline industry.
With systems in place for movement of people and goods, perhaps it is
now time for the airline industry to be looking at ways to improve the services
they provide? Like lessening the turmoil experienced by customers which in turn
would greatly assist minimising the flow on impacts, operating their business?
Some of our thoughts; when transiting through various airports the appropriate
airline take responsibility for your movement through the airport, the airports
to provide an app where you can track your movement around the airport assisting
with prompt passage and in turn the airlines could use this app to see if you
were nearby at that crucial time, “about to close the aircraft door?”
