Seconds, after booking my ticket on Tiger's user unfriendly website, I got my travel confirmation. As a very frequent flyer, I have had a lot of these in the past and I admit I didn't read it.  I filed it in my email and made sure it was entered onto my Tripit (see blog post on this useful travel app which creates your travel itineraries).

Yesterday,  I tried to use online check-in  but discovered  "Tiger Airways Australia's Web Check-in service is temporarily unavailable, as this will allow us to more efficiently process refunds for affected passengers". has shut their while they are rebuilding the airline.

This, of course, meant a check in at the airport. This made me a little nervous because of Tiger's carry on luggage limit. On my fare, my carry on limit was 10kg. Confession Time:  I had one bag at 8kg and one at 5kg which means if they weighed my hand luggage, they may have demanded payment. I don't mind paying- I just hate checking luggage in.

I knew Tiger has a really strict time cut off so I made sure I got to the airport before it.  Unfortunately I discovered on arrival at the airport that their cut off is 45 minutes NOT the thirty minutes I assumed it was. Qantas closes their flights 15 minutes (30 minutes with luggage) before the flight. At Jetstar its 30 minutes and Virgin recommends 30 minutes. Rex is 20 minute cut off in regional centres and 30 minutes in Capital cities. 

I and another gentleman arrived simultaneously 42 minutes before departure (16:58h) to find check in had closed. 3 minutes prior! 

The supervisor was unmoved: “on your ticket confirmation it says 45 minutes. Since the grounding we have to be very careful"

I said to him “45 minutes is not a CASA requirement”

He said:  "Its our system. It closes automatically and I can't get back into the system. We need that long to process things."

I said “thats not a friendly system!” How many empty seats have you got on the flight? “

He said “A lot, but I can't get you on”

The other passenger,  a young student was close to tears:  "I have to be in Sydney tonight"

Our Tiger guy said: "there are no more flights tonight, For 85 dollars I can get you on the first flight tomorrow."

Annoyed, I pulled the painful passenger attitude:  "For 109 dollars I can get a flight to Sydney with Virgin now."

He shrugged. I should know better than to argue with an agent in this situation. You cannot win but I tried: “I fly 120 times a year. You can either get me on this flight now or I promise you I will never fly tiger again”

He looked at me and said “if you had been here on time, I could have.  Check in opened two hours before departure”

I said:  "I obviously wasn't here, two hours before departure. So that comment isn't helpful. Good Bye. You have lost me Tiger."

I wheeled my bag to the Virgin Australia terminal next door and booked a $109 flight on my computer. I then checked in and was on the 18:15h flight which departed 35 minutes after my original flight.

Tiger Melbourne opening

I understand strict cut offs for check in. I acknowledge I need to check my travel confirmation more closely. Today, however, Tiger could have done better. Why could some allowance have not been made for the following reasons:

• there were only  two passengers affected- in an empty check in area
• it was a mere three minutes after check in has closed
• both passengers were unaware of the 45 minute check in rule
• Tiger have a need to rebuild a brand in Australia

If they had given me a polite warning about their strict check in policy and allowed me on, this would have resulted in:

1. the young student and I getting to our destination
2. less stress for us (and staff?) 
3. taking up less time than the argument with the supervisor
4. potentially keeping me as a customer (slim chance I know!)
5. turning this blog into a more pedestrian Trip Report of a Melbourne-Sydney flight with Tiger Airways Australia

They may have won this battle but now? Nothing will get me back on Tiger's crowded uncomfortable planes flying out of tacky cheap terminals! Their demise wont be missed a lot, I am sorry.