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  1. Great post, DK! Only thing missing is the #whinge hashtag 😉

    This pointless debate needed some balance. I made a few comments at some other blog posts, but their owners have decided to not publish them. (Truth hurts, huh?)

    Nothing, other than a freebie of some sort, is going to placate the ‘victim’ mindset now it’s deeply embedded thanks to group-think.

    Amusingly, the people who actually deserved/were entitled to an upgrade – have already been looked after. It’s the screaming mass of people who travel every six months on $1, $10 and $39 budget tickets who seem to be most distressed. Oh, their shattered illusions – that they were worth SO MUCH to an airline.

    Cut ’em free, Virgin. Let Jetstar or Tiger absorb them and get on with it. Margins in this industry are tight and we don’t need another Ansett situation.

    DJ

  2. At last. The only sensible blog post I’ve read on the whole affair. The angst that’s been poured out by simple minded fools who knew they had not qualified beggars comprehension. The twitters on the matter confirm that twitter is for twits. The threats to take Virgin to the OFT or TPC are infantile. Comments such as “I’ll never fly Virgin again” are welcome, as I’ll never have to sit next to such prats.

    It was a *mistake* people. They’ve said so. They’ve apologised. Move on.

  3. Well said, Darryl. I was astounded to see so many people whinging about needing to be “compensated” — some even demanding free flights — and I was thinking “compensated for what?” Compensated for being too stupid to realise that the email was obviously a mistake of some kind? Compensated for having a vastly over-inflated sense of entitlement?

    I don’t think that’s Virgin’s fault!

    @Crain Welch: The old “Twitter is for twits” line confuses, as always, the person with the medium. By all means don’t use Twitter if you don’t find any value in it. However there’s plenty of people who do, and calling them all “twits” is also, in my opinion, infantile.

  4. Hear Hear! Great post.

    I was quite surprised (and somewhat saddened) by the great outpouring of perceived injustice and entitlement. Lazy social media bandwagons. Sigh.

    Katie
    @ZebraBites

  5. I think this post is 100% correct. I just wish that Virgin would have the guts to say to people what Derek in comment 1 here says: Margins are tight and people who don’t get that are a drain on resources. Let them go elsewhere.

    And does anyone *really* fly Virgin for any reason other than cheap flights? I usually end up with Virgin for just that reason. I feel no loyalty to them, and I expect nothing from them except getting me from point A to point B.

    Twitter can be great for arousing people to anger in cases of real injustice. But this isn’t one of them – this is just entitled whining from privileged people who need to neck a cup of concrete. People need to realise they can either have the “good customer service” they demand, or they can have cheap prices, but not both. That customer service is provided by working people, often less privileged and worse-paid than the people who use Twitter or comment on blogs.

    So, no sympathy at all for people who are sad because they don’t get a special luggage tag. Cry me a goddamned river.

  6. Prior to this year I was quite the frequent traveller. I’ve flown Jetstar, Virgin and Qantas. I only fly Qantas when it’s the only option (sadly some rural flights are only catered by Qantas). I will never ever ever ever ever fly Jetstar for as long as I live.

    Every time I flew with them it wasn’t a good experience. I am one of those notorous “excess baggage” people. That has a big impact on who my choice of airline is..

    Get this.. one time.. whilst the airfare was ‘free’ (someone else had bought the ticket and bought on price alone) .. I had to pay nearly the same due to excess baggage. I did the math. Excess baggage on Virgin is ALWAYS cheaper than Jetstar. Always.

    Whilst I’m not a frequent plane flight traveller and may not have excess baggage anymore.. I will still rather pay that little bit more for a Virgin flight vs Jetstar. I won’t ever touch Tiger unless I want to be stranded at an airport for hours upon hours.

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