QANTAS: Baggage tracking? Qantas says ‘me too’
ET is reporting that Qantas is introducing a bag tracking service on its App, just as Virgin Australia is trialling one in theirs. Hence the ‘me-too’ pun in the heading. The addition to the Qantas App is expected before the end of 2023.
When flying resumed as the pandemic calmed down a little, airlines internationally were bedevilled with luggage issues. Bags were lost, misplaced, arrived at the wrong destination, or didn’t even get off the ground. This caused immense traveller anger, so airlines that don’t already have the facility for customers to track their bags are clamouring to introduce such a facility.
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Q Bag Tags
Australia’s Qantas could have been ahead of the game with its infamous ‘coaster’ Q Bag Tags. The tags branded with your Frequent Flyer status have an embedded RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) chip. The Q bag tag was part of the Next Generation Check-in program which saw Qantas introduce ticketing kiosks and bag drops (Uuuuugh!). However, Qantas did not think that the ability for travellers to monitor their bags was important back in 2010.
Rumour has it that the Q Bag Tags are soon to be retired. Qantas couldn’t sell the concept to other airlines, so they were only ever a domestic phenomenon.
Apple AirTags
Passengers are reverting to Apple’s AirTags, or Tile so that they can monitor the whereabouts of their luggage. Often it is passengers that can tell airlines more about where their bags are than the airline’s lost baggage handlers. That’s just embarrassing for airlines.
Virgin Australia
Virgin, a Qantas competitor, is already trialling an addition to the Virgin Australia App,to let passengers track their bags. It’s currently available on selected routes and is being rolled out to more as the year progresses.
2PAXfly Takeout
About time Qantas! And while you are about it, could you completely overhaul your online booking system and Classic Rewards seat search facility? Could you overhaul your complete online processes, make them work, and be more customer friendly?
What did you say?