Sean Simmons Travel Pty Ltd

02/01/2024

Open letter to Virgin Australia.
What a total shambles at Melbourne Airport. Today
And of course, any excuse to cancel flights and upset hundreds of tired travellers.

Every flight from 430pm to Sydney has been either delayed or delayed then cancelled.

630pm flight had several clients booked in business class. You sent a message to monitor flights due to staff shortages in Air Traffic, that chestnut again, so we did all day. At 430pm the 630pm had a departure time on schedule, with an arrival time of 2047. Obviously flight was going to be delayed.
But you made everyone check in and at 530pm announce that the flight has been delayed to 830pm.

What a surprise.

Blame the weather. At 8pm as passengers were heading to the departure gate, you cancelled the flight. Nobody at the gate to help, no staff anywhere to be seen. Clients stranded just wanting to get home.

To add insult to injury, a message via sms, no real apology for wasting every passengers time, with a link to see options.

Your customer service is a disgrace.

Your airport staff morale is non existent, very obviously they are disgruntled.

Qantas, REX and Jetstar operated, not Virgin.

Worst airline in Australia 2023 by a large distance, and you still haven't learned anything.

Since August 2023,I have travelled to Sydney every week, 18 return trips in total.
Just one flight out of 36 has been on time. Most have been up to 2 hours late. 9 cancelled. Sending me sms messages at 4am to advise my 830am flight is cancelled and I am now booked for the 630am flight may work in some foreign world, it doesn't in mine.

I have supported Virgin Australia professionally and personally since the relaunch, as it was the Morrison government's most disgracefully low act to support the Crippled Wallaby and let every other airline fall by the wayside, yes we all know about Chairman's lounge lurks and perks to curry favour in the hallowed (sic) corridors of power, and the poisonous leprechauns more than sickening TAX PAYER PAID BONUSES, but enough is enough.

DEAR ACCC - it's about time you introduced severe penalties to stop the ongoing appalling treatment of CUSTOMERS , and stop the airlines treating them with total disdain.

740 client trips have been affected in the last 2 months. An average of $50 per person in parking overstay penalties, an average of 90 minutes per person per trip LOST due to these practices. Blamed on the weather, ATC staff shortages, employee sickness, any damned excuse they can get away with, then expecting Travel Agents to rebook customers for NIL remuneration, because they don't have the resources to manage their own mess!

I have yet to speak to any customer of ours that has a good word for Virgin Australia or Qantas. And we look after thousands.

And give REX the ability to compete by forcing Virgin and Qantas to hand back any airport slot that is cancelled 3 times in one year.

Maybe then we will start to get a world class system again instead of this Liberal backed duopoly of arrogance.

A total disgrace

21/11/2023

Please help end their suffering. Support vulnerable animals with a monthly donation. Only your vital ongoing support can help stop this.

16/04/2021

Interesting read. And some really good ideas. Let's hope someone "up there" takes notice.

Australia needs a strategy, any strategy, if it has any hope of reopening itself to the world.

30/03/2021

Looks like a great hotel. What a transformation!!

The opening of Hilton Melbourne Little Queen Street marks the grand return of the Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand to our nation's cultural capital.

05/03/2021

When will the elephant in the room be addressed?

As a collective, supportive and proud industry, we find ourselves continually waiting for ‘that announcement’.

*When will it come?
*When will the relentless uncertainty end?
*When will any news ‘eluded to’ be known?
*When will we be armed to make a decision?
*When will we be equipped to move forward?

The industry fully understands the government border bans and its need to keep our nation safe. We get that!

We understand health should come first. We wholeheartedly agree!

But at whose expense?

The travel/tourism industry, that’s who!

We are also appreciative of JobKeeper’s support over the past 12 months, albeit at reduced rates and we have not stopped working whilst receiving this support.

But who will suffer at its end?

The travel/tourism industry, and, ultimately, the consumer. YOU!

We thought the travel agent consumer support program released in late 2020 would help us support consumers, however, design flaws meant 65 per cent of businesses don’t benefit with the majority currently caught up in a tedious appeal process.

So who did it fail?

The travel and tourism industry along with consumers, that’s who!

The industry has been denied the ability to trade, through no fault of its own, so far for 12 months, now recently extended into June 2021.

We are, and continue to be, ‘sacrificed’ for the good of the nation, for where it stands, it’s recovery post covid.

We are supportive but equally, we are anguished and deeply conflicted, especially when hearing other businesses are “doing well” (some at the expense of govt support programs), that the economy is “thriving”, that the nation is moving past covid into recovery, all whilst our industry faces the hard truth that we are nowhere near this.

Unfortunately, our industry has been negatively impacted, yet we still wait on forthcoming news to provide clarity about our industry post JobKeeper, the direct consequence of said bans.

On top of organising countless refunds and credits to the tune of $10 billion, all as non-income generating and at times self-funded works, we have needed to take on the additional and at times urgent lobbying of our plight along with the unnecessary justification of our worth to government in why the industry should be helped. Some would suggest is an insult.

Collectively we have been advocating since mid-2020. Standing up for beliefs, for clients, for industry and for the future.
This tireless work continues.

MP letters, zoom meetings, face to face parliamentary meetings, interviews with all forms of media print/TV/radio along with multiple and ongoing industry campaigns.

We have been told that we have been heard, that our message has gotten through, yet we find ourselves all these months on now asking …Have we?

We cannot believe we still find ourselves questioning when our worth to the Australian economy will be addressed.

The wait for a response is cruel and with each day passed, heightens the real struggles …
*Struggles in loss of direction and motivation.
*Struggles in feelings of loss and abandonment.
*Struggles in being heard and understood.
*Struggles in finances.
*Struggles in industry support failings.
*Struggles in feeling stuck.
*Struggles in having to justify our worth.
*Struggles in having to defend our actions.
*Struggles in watching a nation move on.
*Struggles in the inability to plan for the future.

Above all …

The struggle in understanding WHY we are here and being made to wait for certainty.

We see the odd carrot tease, and the short sharp sweeping statement, but nothing concrete.
*Nothing to arm us with what we need and have been screaming for all these months.
*Nothing to help us make clear, informed and increasingly pressing decisions about our future.

We implore the government to stand up and ACT NOW.
*Provide ‘that announcement’.
*Provide that clarity.

Let us know where we stand so that we can get on with it.
*Get on and avoid the unnecessary distraction in time and effort spent on all this shouting and pleading.
*Get on and make informed choices about our business and it’s future
*Get on and focus back on our clients, where our true worth and value is
*Get on and focus on our own futures, ourselves and our own personal health.
*Offer us the courtesy and basic decency in letting us know where we stand.

Especially after all the sacrifices our industry has made in good faith, for the good of the nation and as Australians looking after Australians.

25/01/2021

To get a real insight into the devastation heading our way at the end of March, please have a read.
And please also keep in mind that so far, collectively, we have processed in excess of $6bn in refund claims and are working on approx $4bn more. For free. Gratis. Still paging rent, bills piling up, no income, for more than 12 months now, with little or.nothing to sell because of the non stop opening and closing of borders, I have never worked so hard, for.so many hours, and ended up with nothing in my pocket, literally.

Yes we could pivot, if you could tell me how to do 2 full time jobs, or.just give up, and leave our long time clients and friends screwed over. I have a.conscience, and I have always put my clients first, ALWAYS.
We can't get funding from banks. The big 4 have compete bans on lending to Travel Agents. Even with government backed loan guarantees. The sense of that is?? Yes, the banks getting richer and fatter on the neck of the upcoming business failures and their predatory nature. 25 years with Westpac, multi millions of dollars thru the business, westpac raking in fees without a thank you, and when we are in crisis, ha, suffer, we got ours so we don't care. (I was literally told by Westpac that they aren't interested in any business from the travel industry and have nil intention of supporting us) .

Having battled severe illness for 3 years prior to this pandemic, and surviving, by the skin of my teeth, I now face total ruin because this inept government can't even LISTEN to the advice of our advocacy body, AFTA, ignore the pleas of agents across the country to re-look at the support package and fix it, and their total arrogance that what they have done is perfect. ITS NOT.
They have given more to Hillsong in the last 3.months than to the Travel Industry in 12. And all they do is puff their chests out and preen like stuffed peacocks.

Hopefully, people will understand and help us, because, once travel agents are gone, good luck dealing with Google, Facebook, and all the.other online thieves who want 2 things... money and power. Consumers will be ripped off like.never before.

WA’s mid-sized travel agents look set to go to the wall after a known flaw in the rollout of a $128 million federal government package will end up paying out less than state support.

24/01/2021

Under assault from online booking platforms and shrinking commissions, the death of the travel agent has been predicted for years. Could 2021 be the year it happens?

31/12/2020

Cracker of an idea!!

Perhaps something we should consider too!

While we don't want to rekindle inflight smoking, this failed 'smokers only' airline might hold the key to saving the Australian airline industry.

31/12/2020

Looks rather good to me. When we can travel again!!

The Dubai-based airline has a completely new premium economy cabin waiting for Australians once we're allowed to travel internationally again.

01/12/2020

Check with our team before booking these rates.....

[email protected]

From swanky inner city stays to VIP haunts in South Yarra, if you're after somewhere a little different in Melbourne we've got you covered.

29/10/2020

When the fire erupted. It was like watching hell on earth. The collective heart broke for Liverpool.
Then the lies started. The cover up. The deceit and manipulation of a grieving nation.
I lost a family member in this atrocity. He was trampled under foot by, South Yorkshire Police in their rush to escape. They didn't help, they watched people burn, suffocate; young and old, from memory the youngest an 8 year old boy, the eldest his grandfather 82 years old

This article is confronting. Brought back horrific sadness. And loss.

I will never purchase anything from News Corp, and will not dine, shop, spend one cent in any business that supports them.

Melbourne, we have all gone through hell, the type I never thought we would ever have to endure. I don't know how to survive the aftermath, I am sad to my core, but I am also angry. Bloody furious at the way so many have been manipulated when they needed support, that's many have believed the bu****it spewing from Bolts mouth, Credlins moronic, arrogant, rude and demeaning attacks; Baxendale's stupidity and almost blind sheep like attitude, Newman's narcissistic, pompous self importance; Frydenburgs antagonistic self promotion and uncalled for personal attacks; Scomos constant passing of the buck and refusal to accept his government's responsibilities; and most of all, the politicising of death, the death of our innocent elderly, of our fu***ng hero frontline workers, all done to try and score a win.

Don't let them win.

We need to rebuild Melbourne into a stronger, more community based, WORLD LEADING city, to get our pride back, to show the world that yes, we beat the second wave, but we are so much more than that. We were the worlds most liveable city for many years. We all need to work towards that collectively, and part of that process is sending a clear message to Murdoch... STAY THE F**K OUT OF OUR CITY, OUR HOMES AND OUR LIVES.

The Herald Sun failed Melbourne in its time of greatest need.