I Don't Believe This……Pathetic

[Rejuvenated]

Well I am here at the Mandarin Oriental in Raffles Blvd still in disbelief of what had just transpired on my journey from YYZ to SIN via YVR. I had a ticket going YYZ-YVR-SIN-AKL designated with a transit only in YVR and overnighting in SIN before continuance to AKL. Everything was under one ticket issued under an SQ stock with the first as an AC sector and the remaining two on SQ.

When I checked in with AC at YYZ Monday morning, the idiotic agent told me they could neither check my bags all the way to SIN nor issue the YVR-SIN boarding pass and could only proceed as far as tagging my bags to YVR. Wait a minute lady, I have a ONE single ticket in which all the sectors were ticketed together, all sectors were either in J or F, and making a same alliance connection and you’re telling me I have to retrieve my bags in YVR and recheck them with SQ again there? Yup that is correct she snapped back at me with an arrogant smirk written all over her face. “You’re connecting flight is neither an AC flight nor an AC codeshare thus you are responsible for getting your bags and your onward boarding pass beyond YVR”. So what are you implying……..did interline agreement between AC & SQ just expired today or was their a shaken break up in the *A family between the two or what? I responded. Despite this, she wasn’t taking any of my words seriously and resorted to “I have already explained the situation” type of cover up.

I was fuming by this time and asked if I could speak to a ground supervisor. Only to once again be rejected with a claim “A supervisor is not present at this time”. I just cannot believe that as a premium customer and as a Super Elite member of Aeroplan for years that I would be subject to such treatment by a knowledgeless and uncaring employee. Anyways by then I was getting restless and wanted to be out of the check-in counters so unwillingly got my bags checked in only to YVR and at the same time the YYZ-YVR boarding pass while realizing I’d have some scrambling to do once I get to YVR.

So after a light breakfast bite inside the MLL of YYZ’s T1, I boarded AC105 which had a schedule arrival time of noon and giving me about two hours of time in YVR before connecting to SQ17. But the flight to YVR encountered massive head winds and we ended up arriving into YVR 40 mintues behind schedule, giving me only 1hr 20 min to make the connection. To add more insult (but no surprise), my priority tagged bags was anything but a priority at the claims as I had to wait 30 minutes before they landed on the carousel. A warning to those who travel with AC and have bags tagged with priority, don’t hedge your bet because they seldom come out fast.

Anyways after baggage retrieval, my margin of connection time was shrinking and thus I made a mad dash towards the SQ counters. Fortunately the raffles counter when I got there was empty unlike economy which was a total zoo (god knows what would have happened if I was flying Y instead). I got my bags retagged as well as my blue boarding pass there without trouble and quickly proceeded to security. Not did a sigh of relief finally sunk in until I reached the boarding gate and realized the doors have not been closed. Got to SIN on time at 11:30 pm and unlike AC, my Raffles priority tagged bags came out # 3.

So here I am resting at the Oriental in the morning before boarding my AKL bound flight later this evening but not before writing a letter of displeasure complaint to AC CS. Thanks to AC’s incompetence, bone-headed, and stubborn employee, I nearly missed my SQ flight and nearly missed being stranded in YVR.



I apologize for the rant, but when an airline employee serving a premium and loyalty customer can’t do the basic things right, veins will start popping out of my head.

[impresta]

Sorry to hear about your experience with AC but I sort of expect that kind of ignorance with them. When I was at YEG when they implimented the new self serve check in stations the AC staff forming the lineup for the checkin was really rude to the elderly that were not computer literate.

Another one of my stories was I was on a flight similar to yours on SQ 17. My cargo was checked in at YEG all the way to BWN. After the transit at ICN I got on the plane. I had to show my boarding pass and transit slip. The greeter would not let me on the plane because I did not have an SQ boarding pass but had a AC one instead since they checked me in all the way to BWN. I was not allowed on the flight and had to stay in ICN for them to clear up things, the SQ agent at the counter said that there was no problem with my boarding pass and that the steward was just being a PITA to me!

[CGK]

Hi Rejuvenated,
I have no status on AC. Indeed, AC can not check me in for my continuing flight on LH in the same PNR. The nice guy at AC counter was trying pretty hard, because he knew it worked couple months ago. Perhaps AC CRS is the cause of all of these unable to check-in on different airlines? But in my case, I don't have check-in bags.

[yyzprincess]

Rejuvenated,

AC no longer interlines. This was implemented last year.
It is one of the issues I intend to bring up with Philip Saunders,VP,Sales & Marketing,Star Alliance ( Canada),at the Cocktail reception to celebrate the Star Alliance 10th anniversary to be held in YYZ Thursday 17th May.

Curious, at YYZ why did you not seek out the YYZ concierg's help (an AC SE benefit) They would have called YVR concierge who would have met your AC flight and expediate the procedure.

I do not check bags, but I have been in siniliar situations International connections, YYZ concierge has called ahead to YVR Concierge, been met at the jetbride and has had the procedure expediated.

[UMD]

There goes the streamline service from *A. I had the same bad experience with BD last year at BRU not wanting to check through my luggage to SYD on SQ (via LHR). I had to throw away my BD ticket and purchased a last minute ticket on KLM to fly to LHR (via AMS) to catch my SQ flight to SYD.

When I checked in on the KLM flight, the agent offered to interline me all the way to SYD. I was pleasantly surprised that Skyteam could interline me with another airline in Star Alliance but the I couldn't do it with *A. When I informed the BD ticket agent later about this, I was told that some airlines were just willing to do more for the passengers (but definitely not BD).

[CGK]

AC no longer interlines. This was implemented last year.

I thought last year from my experience, if same PNR, AC agent would do interline. If not in the same PNR, they would not do it.

[yyzprincess]

I thought last year from my experience, if same PNR, AC agent would do interline. If not in the same PNR, they would not do it.

Same PNR or not;no interlining.
There have been several threads on in AC Forum on FT on this topic.

The policy was set late last year.And like any other new policy takes time to become known to all its employees.

For example when UA no longer offered E+ seats to *A Gold for months there posting *A gold were getting E+. Now that the policy has been in force for a year,very few stories of *A Gold snagging an E+.

[jhm]

I thought last year from my experience, if same PNR, AC agent would do interline. If not in the same PNR, they would not do it.

From what I remember last August, I could check my bags on a CRW YVR-YYC-JFK on AC but then had to check them again for JFK-FRA-LHR on SQ/BA.