[Gollywobbler]

Hi All

I have just put the phone down from speaking with Qantas in London. One thing I will say in their favour is that the call was answered within seconds, unlike trying to phone Singapore Airlines Reservations where it takes half an hour of listening to Muzak interspersed with a bird saying to be patient and keep holding on before one gets a human on the other end of the line.

Word reached my ear yesterday that Qantas are offering a "special migrant fare" - one way ticket, 40kgs baggage per adult.

They are indeed offering a special deal for anyone who wants the 40kgs of baggage. The deal is £795 one-way from Heathrow to Perth. Alternatively if "mother" (the supposed traveller) is content with only 20kgs of baggage, apparently she could book an "ordinary" ticket for £550.

Well, when Mother (the real version) did the one way trip from London to Perth a little over a year ago, we used Singapore Airlines. The flight was around the £450 mark and they chucked in the 40kgs for this price.

Unless I am being particularly thick, Qantas are trying to charge up-front for 20kgs of excess baggage - at the full excess baggage rate - regardless of whether or not the passenger actually turns up at check in with the extra 20kgs of baggage.

This notion will doubtless earn the customer loyalty of millions, I would expect...

It is nearly as amusing as when Virgin put up a huge sign on the entrance to the road-tunnels to Heathrow. Back then, no-one had really heard of Phuket and everyone thought it must be pronounced with the PH as an "f". The sign said, "FLY VIRGIN TO BANGKOK AND PHUKET." The Police made them take it down because it was causing accidents on the roundabout just before the tunnels......

I told the Brain of Britain at Quantas that Singapore Airlines would do the migrant + baggage deal for £250 less. She agreed that in this case, using Singapore Airlines would be a better option but warned me that it would involve a couple of hours on the ground in Singapore if "mother" were to use SA instead.

Do Qantas go straight to Perth without stopping in Singapore nowadays? I am intrigued.

Cheers all

Gill