igel

Hi everyone,
I am wondering at the feasibility of a same plane turnaround at Whyalla on QF Link to clock up points and SC. I am looking at flying ADL-Whyalla-ADL with same plane turnaround. The aircraft only spends 20 mins on the ground at Whyalla. I seem to be able to book the turnaround online.
I am not travelling with any checked luggage at all. I know that I can do online check-in for both legs but the problem with most QFLink flights is that as WP I am automatically assigned exit row window seats and sometimes due to weight balance, the online check-in system does not allow me to shift myself away from the assigned seat.
So if the inbound plane lands at Whyalla, will I have time to run disembark, run out to check-in to show myself in case if I am assigned an exit row seat, and then go through security again?
Cheers, Gerald

seat_4D

You can do all of that with no hassles whatsoever. I have flown to Whyalla, handed a spare part to a client and flown back per your example

igel

Thanks seat_4D.
Actually is there anything worthwhile to see in Whyalla for a few hours?
I also have the option of taking the morning flight out, stick around in Whyalla for a few hours, and then back to Adelaide late afternoon. This will be on a Sunday sometime in Jan 2016.
If I did this, I do not intend to rent a car but simply order the taxi on board to get me into town and make an arrangement with the taxi to send me back to the airport later that day.
Cheers, Gerald

og

Don't assume a taxi will be ordered for YOU personally - just that the FA will ask who wants a taxi and a certain number will be ordered. If you are last out, someone else may have grabbed your cab. Just a warning.

seat_4D

Trying to think of a worse place to spend a few hours in the middle of summer on a Sunday. Other than Marble Bar, drawing blanks!

I would stick to your original plan!

m0hamed

As a WP you can select any seat on the aircraft, however I would book two one way flights.

Recently I have found QFLink return reservations don't let you check in for the second sector. QF Premium said it's a known glitch and there's nothing they can do.

You won't be able to remain on the aircraft. You will have to disembark, clear security and go though the gate to the airport.

I have calculated this is also easily done at other QFLink ports like PQQ.

AustralianPoochie

One option is to fly QFlink up and fly REX down.
While REX does not have a FF program anymore, they have more than one flight a day.

AustralianPoochie

Mmm, FlightAware shows up one of the best routes ever for the Whyalla to ADL flight with QFlink!
Something you will never get to see on mainline QF.
Type in QLK70.
I am very envious.
Good on you for aiming to do this Igel.

nux

The OP's question states they want to "clock up points and SC".. Why would they fly Rex?

What do you mean by this?

igel

Well in Jan I did the QF Link flight from ADL to PLO, but stayed overnight at PLO to enjoy the fresh oysters there.
They do take taxi orders on board and upon disembarkation, the drivers of the booked taxis actually asked to see our boarding passes from the flight - looks like they also radioed the seat numbers with the taxi bookings.
I found out that if I was automatically assigned exit row seats at online check-in, then the system also did not allow me to move myself elsewhere in the cabin, so on both legs, I had to present myself at the check-in counters.
Actually in Jan next year, I am also heading out to PLO as well with this current QF Link sale going on - AUD 79 to PLO (and AUD 89 to WYA) oneway for 10 SC and 800 points.

og

That's good to read. Quite the opposite to past experience(s) on ZL and QF where those collecting bags have missed out on their reserved cabs because the cabbies didn't care so long as they got a fare - ie the first person to walk up and get in.

eminere

I am guessing maybe he stumbled across historical data on FlightAware to back when QF70 was a B763 service from NRT to PER.

Or something else OT.

AustralianPoochie

On FlightAware, if you type in QFA2069 or QFA2070, it will come up as invalid.
If you want to see the routings that that QFLink flies from Whyalla to line up for the NE ADL approach, you have to type in QFL70!
It flies down from Whyalla on a more or less straight route, over Gulf St Vicent, then does a bendy route, and then banks to make a turn on a way point above Golden Grove and turns to come in with ADL CBD on the left hand side of the plane.
Like flying from BNE to ADL.
Sorry if I don't make a lot of sense.

igel

Probably getting a bit OT here, but standard approach into ADL into the SW direction is pretty scenic - you get views of the city and the hills on the LHS.
From MEL, SYD and CBR, the aircraft will bank over the hills to line up with the approach.
Coming in from the west eg PER or PLO will require a right turn at some point over the NW surburbs in ADL.
In any case, for these flights to PLO and WYA, since the Dash 8 flies at a relatively low level and under the blazing blue skies in the summer months, there should be good views of the Spencer Gulf and gulf St. Vincent and the Yorke Peninsular on these flights. That is why I am taking these flights next summer - my membership year also starts in Jan, so any flights taken for the rest of this year will not count towards renewal of WP for 2017 (have already requalified for WP to Dec 2016).

og

Hardly a problem. . On this Board, it'd be rare for a thread to strictly follow the OP's issue.