old.sparkles

I'm not sure all airports can read those tags although been a while since I worked airside. Most tag readers are bar code readers, whereas the Q tag looks like it uses RFID. Must say I haven't seen it before but it has been a few years and was LHR not an Aussie airport

bcworld

Well yes, it's a domestic only solution.

Clearly Qantas can't be held responsible for the limitations of technology at transfer airports worldwide. Some might disagree though!

old.sparkles

Thanks for that bc

If anyone is interested on the journey their checked bag takes - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...erminal-5.html

and think this is an older terminal looking at the sorter

GarryP

Yeah, that was what I was thinking of - although it should be

1. Free - it's an RFID tag, it costs pennies.
2. Inside the bag - it can be read over a reasonable range, so put it inside the bag and stop it getting ripped off.
3. Fixed with your details, not specifically destination, so it looks up where it's supposed to be going via your flight details.

old.sparkles

1. Even if it doesn't cost much it would never be free - why should it be? The cost of RFID is based on the memory of the chip, range, housing etc - just checked and Qantas sell there's at $30 which seems reasonable
2. You can't make the range too great or you could end up getting conflicting info from another bag. Tags that can't be read due to placement inside a bag would likely be routed off to be manually read which could delay them but for the most part would likely work
3. Fixed with your details - really - are airports supposed to store the details of every passenger that could be flying

GarryP

Why should it be? Because it gets rid of a bunch of the problems of baggage, and the tags really are cheap - cheap enough that they are integrating them into clothes. Since each bag need only be tagged once, it ends up cutting the overall cost. Hell, you could integrate the tag into the bag at manufacture (once you have a standard). $30 ain't reasonable.

Scanning of the barcodes needs a certain separation between bags anyway; easily enough for RFID tag discrimination. Half a meter range should be enough, maybe with special long range readers for finding a particular tag when needed in the hold of a aircraft.

That detail is already there, you are flying aren't you? Not an issue.

Swerv-o

Yes, it seems that Australia is one of the last countries that perform an outgoing immigration check. Even the Yanks have done away with them, and they are far more paranoid!

Last time I flew internationally from Sydney the outgoing immigration queue was a 45 minute wait. It's a massively unnecessary time sink.


S

bcworld

Not to mention that the staff manning the passport counter in Melbourne are some of the most unpleasant / rude people I've met in an airport anywhere!

Swerv-o

Very much the same in Sydney. The face of officialdom.


S

GarryP

IIRC The UK was supposed to have put back some outgoing security checks, after a wanted terrorist subject got away by covering himself head to foot in a burqa.

It's annoying and pointless since anyone who wants to get item X onto a plane is likely to be able to achieve it - and because the queues themselves make great targets.

Even if you kept it, there is an awful lot that could be done to streamline and improve matters - not least of which is linking the security check with the identity of the individual - risks are not equal.

Dorothy

Ditto Perth. Miserable, miserable lot.

paulry

The Perth lot weren't miserable to me, the one who stamped my passport even said "Welcome home!"

Dorothy

I was replying to a comment about the exit control asswads.

paulry

Strange that they should have a less pleasant clique on departures. Did they greet you cheerily when you returned?

Bermudashorts

TBH I have never felt welcomed by immigration staff. Not in Australia, UK, or anywhere else I can think of. Not incoming and not outgoing. They all make me feel like I have done something wrong.