Be Ever Vigilant![Awards cancelled as QF fails to re-ticket in time]

[RooFlyer]

A month or so ago I booked a QFF award flight online on QR (ATH-DOH-IKA) and all good and a confirmation / e-ticket e-mail arrived overnight.

A few days ago, I booked the onward leg via QFF on QR IKA-DOH-MEL using points over the phone, as the flights aren't bookable on line (IKA I can understand, but you can't originate an award flight from DOH, which is weird). Again, all OK.

In a fit of housekeeping, I asked the 2 bookings to be joined onto the one PNR. That took a bit of umming and arring on the part of the agent, but all done; told I'd get an e-mail in a day or so.

This morning, I went to the QF web site to check that some Westpac points had landed (half had), and I went to MMB as one should do from time to time.

None of the QR flights were there. Eeek.

Call to QFF plat line was answered straight away and the agent confirmed that for some reason (probably to do with a glitch in the PRN joining) QR had cancelled all the flights!!

Fortunately the agent could retrieve all the flights on award (they are in November next year) and in the end, she was able to get all the tickets re-issued immediately, under the one PNR of course (new bookings effectively). Call took about 35 mins in all, but agent always helpful, checking back with me from time to time when I was on hold.

Excellent service recovery (although the issue wasn't QF's fault, except maybe the first agent who may have done something out of order when he joined the PNRs.)

Not sure if I would have heard anything had I not noticed that the flights had disappeared off MMB (and, eventually, I realised that I hadn't got a confirmation e-mail).

As they say, be ever vigilant with bookings, especially Award ones!

 

[yohy?!]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Something is going on at QFF with award bookings with OW partners - had the same thing happen to a CX itin recently. QFF didn't complete the ticketing and the itinerary auto-expired.

I had issues with multiple award bookings leaving me in negative balance that had to be resolved initially (and were or so I thought).

Luckily I was watching like a hawk as they were the only seats available over Christmas (and were still available to rebook).

May be due to QFF not being used to waitlisting of award bookings - may not be sufficient checks and balances in place to ensure bookings go all the way to being ticketed if there is a delay for any reason?

 

[Franky]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

And some would say, especially with QR..

 

[Pushka]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

I use My Flights. Would that pick up anything in error? Have QR award booking in July.

 

[Doctore1003]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

People have shared so many similar problems with QR bookings in the oneworld award thread. Is it worth lodging a complaint with Qantas?

 

[fairbasa]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

There's heaps of discussion of this in the Oneworld Award thread. But to summarise:

Whenever you make a change to an award booking, such as by adding a flight, the booking needs to be re-ticketed (receiving the itinerary in your email indicates the booking has been ticketed).

Until the ticketing takes place, every leg of the journey (including those previously ticketed) could be cancelled out by the carrier. QR are notorious for cancelling out unticketed bookings. I've had them cancel out previously ticketed flights within 4mins of a change to the itinerary!

Moral of the story is whenever you make an amendment to an award booking, especially with QR in the itinerary, stress that it needs to be ticketed ASAP. If you don't receive the itinerary in your email within 24hrs, call again until it is. Many of the QF agents don't even know of the problem with QR and so will often just leave the booking in the slow ticketing queue which means it won't be ticketed until a few months before your journey. If that's next year, you can guarantee you will lose some of your flights between now and then.

 

[Pushka]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Ok. Do not amend booking. Got it.

 

[RooFlyer]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Cripes. Blissfully unaware of the issue. Glad to have highlighted it (again).

 

[fairbasa]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Cripes. Blissfully unaware of the issue. Glad to have highlighted it (again).

Pretty amazing to me that despite it happening to numerous people on this forum, and QF having to go to great lengths to sometimes get the seats reinstated (they nearly had to buy my whole itinerary as a revenue fare because QR were playing hardball reinstating the original flights) that you still come across plenty of staff in the call centre who are totally oblivious to the issue. I wrote feedback a month back to QF online about this very issue, seems training still hasn't been actioned.

 

[serfty]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Cripes. Blissfully unaware of the issue. Glad to have highlighted it (again).

For quite a big recent saga due to Qantas failing to ticket an amended itinerary having QR segments, see here:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....d-booking-cancelled-without-notice-77731.html

(Qantas came good in the end, but it seems at significant cost to them.)

 

[Radio8tiv]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Pretty amazing to me that despite it happening to numerous people on this forum, and QF having to go to great lengths to sometimes get the seats reinstated (they nearly had to buy my whole itinerary as a revenue fare because QR were playing hardball reinstating the original flights) that you still come across plenty of staff in the call centre who are totally oblivious to the issue. I wrote feedback a month back to QF online about this very issue, seems training still hasn't been actioned.

I have had this happen also on a few occasions in a one world award booking, long story short one of my segments is now J instead of U, so be persistent and QF will try their best to help, looks like QR and CX are a real issue for Qantas

 

[JohnM]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Some of the QF agents know about the problems.

I phoned at the start of the week to add a DXB-PER F redemption booking to a previously made F outbound reservation. Turned out to be a little tricky and Mandy had to get a supervisor to help (maybe being Sunday did not help). Mandy says it seems something to do with married segments and asks was I aware of that term. Yes, says me, but full understanding is not on the tip of my tongue. Academic interest only.

Anyway, it gets sorted but she advises me to keep an eagle eye on it as EK can be a little erratic. I say, surely not as bad as QR. She agrees that QR is really bad for cancelling redemption changes quickly, so it's something that she was clearly aware of.

Ticketing came through on Monday, so all is sweet.

Now to organise getting to IKA to meet Rooflyer for our little Iran sojourn next November .

 

[Danger]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Add me to the list of those who've experienced similar issues. Mine was on a oneworld Explorer paid booking with QR flights. Qantas failed to ticket the changed itinerary quick enough so QR cancelled the flights. Fortunately, seats in the same class were still available.

 

[JohnPhelan]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Not sure that this is actually a QF problem - though they seem to have to fix it. The real issue is with QR.

 

[get me outta here]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Count me in too. I had a redemption to HKG for my daughter. On the morning of my departure to somewhere long haul I noticed my points balance had risen. They had cancelled my daughter's QF/CX after making I'd made a small change. It was very stressful as QF had me on hold for 90 minutes whilst trying to reinstate, no apology - just a comment that they would not charge me the phone fee.

 

[Jack_OC]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Not sure that this is actually a QF problem - though they seem to have to fix it. The real issue is with QR.

Is it? Seems to me that QR are just cancelling bookings that are not ticketed within a certain period of time, which doesn't seem particularly unreasonable to me. And it seems CX does the same, based on some comments above. Maybe this is a naive comment on my part, but it's completely beyond me why award bookings through QF are not ticketed within 24 hours or so as a matter of course. Until now, I had no idea that was the case, but I can't say I'd be comfortable waiting a prolonged period of time waiting for any itinerary to be ticketed.

 

[get me outta here]

re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Well, if it is QF's fault for not ticketing sooner it is causing them a huge waste of time dealing with rebookings instead of ticketing them and sending an email promptly in the first place. My daughter's flight was cancelled by QF, instead of making a small change that was organised and approved on the phone. Thanks to that QF agent's c*ck-up it was cancelled instead of changed. My daughter's bkg was only fixed because Red Roo, moments before their enhancement to invisibility, kindly fixed it for us whilst I made my flights.

Could happen to anyone. And, if one knows from previous experience that QF does not look after many of their customers any longer and every phone call can result in 24 hours of non answers/ no call backs and general high levels of stress, why would people take them on. I will not bore with all the other issues I have had w' QF in the past 12 moths or so. Perhaps it's because Ia m only a lowly LTS and I 'deserve' it.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

In my case the second QF agent apparently was aware of the QR issue, as she made all the arrangements, and I think calls in the background while I remained on the phone (and she checked in with me from time to time to advise progress) and it was ticketed there and then.

I see the thread title has been enhanced. I was pretty happy with the original version, but to complete the editing, maybe it can be "Be ever vigilant: QR Awards cancelled after QF fails to re-ticket in time "

 

[serfty]

Re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

...
I see the thread title has been enhanced. I was pretty happy with the original version, but to complete the editing, maybe it can be "Be ever vigilant: QR Awards cancelled after QF fails to re-ticket in time "

Need a succinct headline to describe main issue, 20 chars is better than 40 due to display truncation.

 

[borsa]

Re: Be Vigilant![Awards cancelled, QF fails to re-ticket]

Had a problem with an original (not an amended) booking made over the phone because the website wouldn't allow it. It involved QF flights leaving and returning to Australia, all the other flights being on EK. Just by chance, I checked my booking on the Qantas website and found that all my EK flights on which I had made seat reservations had disappeared - the reason apparently being that EK cancelled them because my itinerary had not yet been ticketed. Fortunately they were able to be reinstated and I was also able make one date change that I wanted at no penalty but only because it had not yet been ticketed.

Now that I have checked my previously booked EK seats they are no longer available unless I pay a seat booking fee for each flight.

Thanks Qantas.