Tiger trips

[Steve Jones]

Hi guys

Might be a bit controversial, but I've just come back from a weekend of Tiger flying (for $20 a ticket, why not?), and I've been very, very impressed with them.

My 4 sectors CBR-MEL-ROK/MKY-MEL-CBR were on 4 different aircraft: VH-VNB,C,F,G, and all were spotless, no matter whether it was a morning or evening flight. That's more than can be said for other airlines I have flown domestically.

Secondly, all 4 flights were on time, a rarity these days.

Thirdly, by checking in early I secured an emergency exit window on all 4 sectors. Basically, very few people pay the extra $25 to get an exit row (even on the longer flights it seems), so if you ask at check-in, you usually get one. Interestingly, while all my flights were reasonably full (from 135-170 pax depending which flight), I invariably had the seat next to me at the exit free - seems like the last seat they allocate.

Fourth, the check-in staff and on board crews were very friendly, the pilots usually made 2 on-board announcements per flight (versus the one or none that you generally get elsewhere) - even on the short MEL-CBR flight. Interestingly on 3 of the 4 flights, we had at least one british cabin crew - I wonder if that's coincidence or whether they have some deal for an exchange with a UK airline or they target UK working visa people - most were quite young.

So for $80 all up for 4 sectors, it was a very good weekend on Tiger. Last year I did the same to DRW (when they were still going there) and my comments would be similar. So low cost doesn't always mean awful!

[chrisb]

I think the true test would have been how they reacted if you found yourself in ROK or MKY with a canceled flight home...

[Justin L]

Steve,

I have had similar experiences to you on NTL-MEL, MEL-NTL, CBR-MEL, MEL-CBR, SIN-HAN, HAN-SIN sectors as well. I have also got an exit seat row on every sector so far by checking in two hours before the flight. I also find their exit row explanations before the flight are the most thorough of any airline I have flown. My CBR sectors were delayed by about 40 minutes, but it was handled well by TT, through information sharing. I noticed passengers at MEL T4 arriving past the 45 minutes cut off for other flights while I was in the line for my flight. TT staff handled it well. I mean, the cut off details are a large banner on the e-ticket. Tiger even put the check-in time under the departure time, so really no excuses. Passengers need to take responsibility too.

I have booked SYD-MEL return on Tiger for AFL Grand Final weekend for $97 return, including credit card fees so am interested to see how they go for this leg.

By Tiger offering cheap late Friday night SYD-ADL flights, I can get to my hometown of Adelaide more often if I need to, straight from work on Friday without rushing. I wish they had a later Sunday ADL-SYD flight though.

At any rate, I find all of Australia's airlines to be generally good. I have had flight cancellations, delays, schedule changes, etc. across all of them and have never had any major complications or complaints with their handling.