Sorry (Noosa)

Warning: First world problem following. All text, no picutres.

Ahhh Jeststar! The airline you have when you're not having an airline. I surpassed frustration and even anger today at Sydney Domestic airport, terminal 2 and moved into sympathy for the Jetstar employees. Hence the title of this post, I was sorry for them given that they had to smile and be patient and nice to the increasing number of disgruntled passengers who were waiting in the queue for the baggage drop.  Let's move back in time a little.

Our flight this morning was at 11:35 and sadly with Jetstar. This was not by choice. We never ever fly Jetstar by choice. We were flying to the Sunshine Coast and Qantas no longer flies that route. In his infinite wisdom, or lack thereof, the CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce has signed the route over to Jetstar. So, if we want frequent flyer points we fly with the budget carrier.

Due to my extreme paranoia about being late for a flight, we left with plenty of time to spare - and it was just as well, because it took almost an hour to get through the baggage drop and security check into the terminal. I get queues, I get busy periods, I get school holiday crowds (occupational hazard) but I don't get poor planning, out-dated facilities and incompetence. You know how many planes you have leaving at any given time, you know how many tickets you've sold, I'm guessing it's not rocket science to work out when the peak times will be and staff it accordingly.

Not with Jetstar. And they have temerity to have signs everywhere informing passengers that they must check-in 30 minutes prior to departure. Many people in the serpentine queue had arrived within a reasonable time period and still found themselves running late.

It is 2015. We are in the technological age. I might remember a time without the internet or mobile phones but that is not our world now. We checked in online 48 hours or so before departure. We went to the kiosk and printed out bag tags and attached them. Then we asked the unhappy, unhelpful Jetstar employee where the self-drop baggage kiosk was - you know just like Qantas have. "Don't have one. You have bags to drop. Join the end of the queue" which was now snaking it's way towards the Virgin counters ... tempting.

So, we joined the queue and made friends with lots of other disgruntled travellers who also would prefer not fly Jetstar. As we slithered our way past the coffe stall towards the bag drop, the happy Jetstar employee came over and informed us that we needed to move our conga-line out the door! This caused some small measure of confusion as people coming through the door tried to join the queue. As we finally made our way to the cordoned area I looked back to see the line now stretching out the door and moving along side the drop off and taxi rank areas.

Given every passenger with bags had to endure this process, why do they bother to have online check-in? It mystifies me. As we reached the front of the queue I spoke with the female assistant directing people to individual counters - at banks they have a light that signifies their availablity. This is even possible with car spots at shopping malls, but not Jetstar - they yell "Next!" and wave a hand in the air which this lady spots and then directs you towards the latest hand waver. "How's your day been?" I enquired. "You really don't want to know," she replied as we were directed to the hand waver at counter 32. Leaving the 1980s behind we moved to the security check. Curiously, the line here was almost non-existent and we progressed quickly, surviving once again the ubiquitous explosives tester who always gets me as I wait for Jayne to re-assemble her belongings from the blue trays. Only a few steps from the 80s back to the 21st century.

Once inside I became even sadder as Jayne pointed out that there was no Qantas Lounge for us to wait in. No lounge, no free food, no champagne. Sad face :-( If Qantas force me to fly with another carrier then I should have the same benefits. I want my Qantas Lounge!

We decided to eat something because I (mistakenly as it turns out) believed that we had opted not to pre-purchase food on the plane. After a quick toastie - no queue - we strolled past the Wine Selectors stand and had a chat with the delightful young lady working there. We may also have tasted some wine. Purely to alleviate the frustration of standing so long in a queue that had no right to exist. And, OK, I purchased another dozen. Well it was on special and will be on the way to your place shortly Dave - lucky for us, you don't drink.

The flight was relatively uneventful. We had seats 1a and 1b. Sadly not First Class or even Business but they did afford extra legroom and, dear reader, you know how important that is with my height. The hostess informed us that we had pre-ordered food, well, it is called food on a plane. A mini pie and mini sausage roll from Pie Face. I now have an insight as to why they went into receivership.

Being in the front row we were able to watch the faces of the cabin staff as the plane landed. I believe they thought my 6/10 rating was a tad generous according to their visages.

And so a short shuttle ride to The Sebel at Noosa and I'm wondering already if I should have spent the extra cash and gone back to Netanya. Lots of children in the resort. We'll see.

A wander down Hastings Street to re-acquaint ourselves with the eateries and decide where we will dine tonight and a quick trip to the bottle shop for much needed supplies sees me now sitting on my balcony, sipping champagne and writing this blog as the sun sets. As I said at the outset, first world problems. It's a tough life, but someone has to keep the Queensland economy ticking over.

Incidentally, we last visited Noosa in 2011 and it was experiencing a bit of a downturn, a number of shops were vacant and restaurants that had been recommended to us had closed. We can report that in 2015 things are looking much better.

That might do for today's rant. The bubbles have mellowed my spirit and soon we shall turn our thoughts to dinner. I will endeavour to blog everynight, but make no promise, I am only half-way through Bram Stoker's Dracula and that will take precedence.

au demain