Travel fans it has been a very long time since I have written a blog post for the Tigerista……. but my experience today has made me smile despite inauspicious beginnings.
I am currently at T4 in Melbourne waiting to board a 12.15 flight to Brisvegas to see my parents….. bless. Today”s flight was paid for by a cancelled at the last minute by Tiger flight and a two hour wait on hold in early December. If I had been writing this a month ago I would have been far less positive that I am today. Even in my complaint to customer service I was petty positive, I have found Tiger to be everything I need a from an airline. You get me from A to B, mostly on time and my luggage arrives with me and for a single parent with several large offspring, I get to travel almost as often as I would like which I could not do on any other airline….. so cudos.
But today made a mistake. In the tips of my toes on my way to the airport I knew that I had made a mistake….. I had underestimated how much the Christmas presents in my bag weighed. I even had an opportunity to weigh my bags before I left and I didn’t so I only have myself to blame. So here is the good bit – I confessed pretty quickly. One lovely customer service lady was concerned that I thought I had to line up to check my bags, to which I responded no – my bags were overweight. Not by a little bit either, by 4 kilos. The sad news imparted to be at check in was that this would cost me an additional $25 per kilo to Brisbane. She must have seen me go pale under my Chanel foundation because her next suggestion was to move 4 kilos of luggage to my hand luggage and pay the $49 at the gate. Half off is half off in my books – so a move of Christmas presents from suitcase to hand luggage and a quick re-weight I was on my way to the boarding gate to pay the additional cost. The staff at the boarding gate were delightful – such a pleasure to deal with. My flight details were updated and I will not be holding the line up to board my 12.15 flight.
So fellow travelers, the moral to my cautionary tale – this would have cost me an additional $10 if I had followed my gut instinct in the car prior to 10.15 am (2 hours before my flight) or if I had taken two seconds to weigh my bags at home. So weigh your bags, luggage limits are there for a reason and part of that reason is to maintain low ticket prices. It’s the drawback of budget travel, but hey, it’s really not that bad.
To the lovely Tiger staff who helped me this morning – Happy New Year, keep smiling and I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon (Thursday 5 January to be exact!)
totallyterrifictigerista 