17 March 2013

Lounging



I am in the Qantas lounge at Changi Airport - in Terminal One. I am awaiting the boarding call for my flight to Sydney. I am departing on the 8.10 pm flight. I would much rather be flying Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines are called SQ by we Frequent Fliers. My Employer has recently done some deal with Qantas where I no longer have the choice to fly Singapore Airlines. In order to not fly Qantas to Sydney I was required to seek an exemption and I gave this a shot. 

The Global Travel people rejected it.

The reason I offered up was that I don't like flying Qantas and that their service sucks. I find the staff to be quite rude and belligerent. In my exemption request I also advised that I was not very impressed when the Irish Boss of Qantas decided to stop all flights around the world last year in his battle with the Trade Unions. I believed that stranding all the Qantas passengers was a selfish and arrogant act and I said that I objected strongly to an Irish man running an Australian airline. I also told my Company's Global travel team that flying Qantas does my PPS status no good. 

PPS is an uber elite club for people who fly a lot. Like me. You only get PPS miles when you fly Business or First class. My Employer flies me Business Class everywhere I go. As they should. I travel a lot. In the PPS club we get special treatment. We get luxurious lounges all to ourselves and we are treated beautifully both on the planes and in the Singapore Airlines lounges. It is very nice. I have no idea what the acronym PPS stands for. 

So don't ask. 

Singapore Airlines are the best in the world - well I think so anyway. All this was to no avail anyway. My exemption request was denied and I was told quite firmly that I was not allowed to fly SQ. 

I had to fly Qantas.

Where I am now in the Qantas club there are bogans everywhere. Qantas have obviously not enforced the no bogan rule. Bogans would not be allowed in the PPS lounge that is operated by SQ. There are a couple of bogans sitting opposite to me now. I think that they have been to Phuket in Thailand. Their hair is braided and they are very sun burnt. They are drinking red wine like there is no tomorrow. They are pouring it down their throats. I suspect that they are determined to get as pissed as they can before they fly home. I hope they are flying to Melbourne and they are not on the same flight as me to Sydney. 

If I had to guess where these bogan people are returning to I would guess Adelaide or perhaps Darwin. Their tattoos and lack of teeth would suggest this. I don't want to sit near them or even be on the same plane as them.

I have my earphones in my ears and I am playing my music loud. 

I don't wish to speak to any bogans and I am afraid to make eye contact. Drunk bogans can be very unpredictable and they can be dangerous. I am looking around the lounge now. Yep, there are bogans all over the place here. They are drinking the lounge dry. 

They are everywhere.

No comments :

Post a Comment