Qantas Loyalty; [QP@EK] lounge rules change [after booking] - Tough luck

[roomer]

Having Qantas Club membership, I paid the extra to fly Qantas codeshare on the Adelaide - Dubai - Paris route and return rather than just with Emirates. However as we will be staying a few days in Dubai on the way over, a departing flight to Paris on the Qantas codeshare was not permitted. It had to be Emirates.

As a new to be traveller on this route, and having already paid my fare, I was extremely annoyed finding out that there was no lounge access allowed to the Emirates lounge for the Paris departure, even though I was flying Qantas codeshare. ( although will be able to fork out and use the AA lounge nearby)

So I checked what my access would be when departing Dubai for Paris and was assured that access to the Dubai lounge was permitted as my travel agent had emailed me an extract from the Qantas website " Qantas Club members will ... be welcomed at the Emirates Business lounge in Dubai when their next onward flight that day is with Qantas or Emirates"

And what do I find out now? Access to the Emirates lounge is only permitted when the next onward flight is Qantas ! But we are not allowed to fly Qantas because we have a stopover!

Now I know this sounds petty and is quite clearly a first world problem, but having paid the extra to fly Qantas to take advantage of the lounge access that was offered at the time of booking, how can this retrospectively be changed. Fair enough if this change occurred before I had booked, but lounge access was the basis upon which I booked.

Having spoked directly with Qantas I have been told ( in a polite manner) the equivalent of Tough Luck !
When I asked if I could state my case to someone, I was directed to the feedback page but I thought if I am going to spend the time writing about it, I might as well do so here. Perhaps Red Roo might see this post and take on board my grievance. ( I couldn't find the appropriate area on the site)

Anyway, as my wife and I intend to undertake further travels to Europe could anyone suggest how I could have planned this better to take advantage of the Qantas club membership ( our treat , as we sadly fly cattle class but am working out how to improve that situation, 250k QFF points plus more after this trip that we undertake next month)

Or alternatively can someone remind me why we should still fly Qantas?

And as some supplementary info, we have a son now married in the USA ( Houston) so there will be more than a few flights fom here to Dallas in the near future. It might be time to abandon Qantas and go AA and thence to Europe.

Anyway your thoughts would be gratefuly appreciated

regards

Roomer

 

[opusman]

If your onward flight is on a QF codeshare then you should have access in Dubai.

 

[maninblack]

Qantas Loyalty ; lounge rules change - Tough luck

Quite clear on QF website. You have a QF flight number you have access http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/qantas-club-lounge-access/global/en

 

[janelarm]

I know how you're feeling here Roomer. I'm flying to Rome with a Dubai stopover which means Qantas does not provide a codeshare to Rome, has to be EK but if you fly without a break then you get the codeshare and access to the club. After nearly 20 years as a Club member I've decided to let it go at end of October and am looking at AA. Anyway let's hope the Dubai break is worthwhile.

 

[roomer]

Quite clear on QF website. You have a QF flight number you have access Eligibility and Access to The Qantas Club Lounges | Qantas

I think you have missed my point, at the time of booking you had lounge access if you flew out on Qantas OR Emirates but as we were having a few days in Dubai, the rules were/ are you CANNOT fly out on a Qantas code share, it had to be Emirates.

Now as you have correctly pointed out currently its only if you fly out on Qantas BUT at the time of booking , you could fly out on either Emirates or Qantas.

in other words they have changed the conditions of lounge access AFTER we had made a booking on the basis of being allowed lounge access when flying out on Emirates. That's it, tough luck.

Any other contractural arrangement made with a organisation or a company wishing to maintain goodwill would honour the conditions made at the time of booking but not Qantas ! Tough luck

 

[Daver6]

They really should honour what the situation was at the time of booking.

My solution is in these scenarios where they just fob you off is to take to social media to get the situation remedied. Be polite, state the situation and ask what can be done to remedy the situation. I think one of two reasonable outcomes is either they let you and no cost change to the cheaper EK flight or arrange for lounge access.

 

[maninblack]

Qantas Loyalty ; lounge rules change - Tough luck

I think you have missed my point, at the time of booking you had lounge access if you flew out on Qantas OR Emirates but as we were having a few days in Dubai, the rules were/ are you CANNOT fly out on a Qantas code share, it had to be Emirates.

Now as you have correctly pointed out currently its only if you fly out on Qantas BUT at the time of booking , you could fly out on either Emirates or Qantas.

Tough luck

You are right, I missed your point. That is poor.

Advice. Skip Dubai and go to straight to Paris. The QF/EK hookup has its positives and negatives. It's interesting that when SIN, HKG and BKK ( I think BKK was a share with CX and BA ) were the stopovers for QF into Europe they had their own lounges in those airports but not in Dubai. You are at the mercy of contractual arrangements with EK.

 

[katiebell]

It is not at all unreasonable to expect to get what you paid for: this is part of the contract. Changing rules after paying and then applying them to your ticket is unreasonable and unfair. You have every right to be annoyed. Even more so as you are based in ADL and QFi have abandoned you.

When flying to North America I prefer Cathay as HKG is a much nicer transfer point than SYD (for DFW) or LAX (for anywhere else in North America).

It would be good to know more about Marco Polo club (I cannot find the T&C on their website) as this may be becoming a more attractive option than QF FF after all the enhancements.

An alternative to Qantas Club may be Priority Pass: an advantage of this is that you are not tied to any airline or alliance. I have no personal experience but have been thinking about joining.

In the meantime, I agree about taking your legitimate complaint to social media

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I understand the OP's frustration.

I know how you're feeling here Roomer. I'm flying to Rome with a Dubai stopover which means Qantas does not provide a codeshare to Rome, has to be EK but if you fly without a break then you get the codeshare and access to the club. After nearly 20 years as a Club member I've decided to let it go at end of October and am looking at AA. Anyway let's hope the Dubai break is worthwhile.

Same with Qantas to Budapest. It's QF from Australia to Dubai, then EK from Dubai to Budapest - no codeshare = no lounge.

I truly find it bizarre that Qantas is in a joint venture with Emirates and can't offer a code-share(s).

 

[aikman]

Qantas Club access rules is not really a part of the specific airfare that the OP bought so I'm not sure there is an argument for a broken contract in relation to the airfare.

Plus the OP still gets QFF points, status credits and lounge access for the other legs so it probably couldn't be argued that the OP wouldn't have bought the more expensive QF ticket had the current rules been known at the time of booking.

I'd be annoyed too but an hour or two of lost lounge access probably isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things. Maybe spend that time in the hotel or sightseeing?

 

[RooFlyer]

Reminds me of when Qantas abolished chauffeur drive at LAX and others.

People had CD reservations, and no doubt used all the T&Cs when selecting flights / airlines.

Qantas did not honour the existing reservations beyond the abolition date. Very confusing compo trail ( nothing offered until fuss was made IIRC).

"You have a CD booking? Not any more. Tough luck. But remember, you are the reason we fly."

 

[maninblack]

Reminds me of when Qantas abolished chauffeur drive at LAX and others.

People had CD reservations, and no doubt used all the T&Cs when selecting flights / airlines.

Qantas did not honour the existing reservations beyond the abolition date. Very confusing compo trail ( nothing offered until fuss was made IIRC).

"You have a CD booking? Not any more. Tough luck. But remember, you are the reason we fly."

Correct. I was one of them but they did at least ring me to tell me. The Qantas guy who rang me didn't have "tough luck" attitude though, I remember he was actually pretty apologetic, he knew it was piss poor effort from QF.

 

[timster]

All this EK/DXB/loss-of-QP-rights-in-Europe rubbish was the straw that broke the camel's back of my near 100% loyalty to QF.

Moved most of my flying to *A, got *G (via A3). Did not renew 20 year QP membership - even at corporate rates it was no longer worth half that. Lots of choice flying *A to Europe via Asia. Will use AA 30 day membership if QF ever happens to be BFOD (eg to US). Not expecting to ever see DXB.

 

[medhead]

I'm a bit surprised about not being able to get a codeshare with a stop over in DXB. So I tested it and couldn't get a codeshare for MEL-DXB-CDG. But I've since checked MEL-DXB-MUC, LHR-MEL with a 3 day stopover in DXB and can see QF codes on the DXB-MUC flight. Could it be something about CDG? I know I had some funny business with awards not showing from IST but available from MUC.

Anyway, I don't see any reason you can't get a QF code from DXB.

 

[madrooster]

Anyway, I don't see any reason you can't get a QF code from DXB.

It's actually the destination country at fault here.

These countries won't permit QF to sell seats for DXB-CDG/NCE/BUD/MXP/FCO etc. which is required, if the passenger decides to stopover in DXB:

France
Greece
Italy
Netherlands
Hungary

There may be other countries, these are the ones which come to mind.

The same restriction used to apply to FCO when it was a QF codeshare on CX. If you did a stopover in HKG, you had to fly on the CX prime onwards to FCO. Hypothetically, if QF/CX were in an alliance rather than QF/EK, the same restrictions would apply to the above mentioned countries.

 

[roomer]

All this EK/DXB/loss-of-QP-rights-in-Europe rubbish was the straw that broke the camel's back of my near 100% loyalty to QF.

Moved most of my flying to *A, got *G (via A3). Did not renew 20 year QP membership - even at corporate rates it was no longer worth half that. Lots of choice flying *A to Europe via Asia. Will use AA 30 day membership if QF ever happens to be BFOD (eg to US). Not expecting to ever see DXB.

Yes I quite agree, leave on Qantas codeshare from Paris and no access to the Emirates lounge, so here's a case of actually flying Emirates on a Qantas codeshare but no reciprocity for the lounge use! Yet you would get lounge access if flying in or out of Dubai! So your Qantas Club membership functionality is only 50%.

As you have suggested, I certainly now will be looking into flying AA and buying the AA 30 day lounge access for future journeys but actually paid for 2 years QC membership on the basis of taking on some trips as a loyal Qantas flyer.

 

[roomer]

When flying to North America I prefer Cathay as HKG is a much nicer transfer point than SYD (for DFW) or LAX (for anywhere else in North America).

It would be good to know more about Marco Polo club (I cannot find the T&C on their website) as this may be becoming a more attractive option than QF FF after all the enhancements.

An alternative to Qantas Club may be Priority Pass: an advantage of this is that you are not tied to any airline or alliance. I have no personal experience but have been thinking about joining.
a

Thanks katiebell ell for your suggestions,, I'll take that onboard (and thank you all for your comments or support. )

 

[por930]

Yes I quite agree, leave on Qantas codeshare from Paris and no access to the Emirates lounge, so here's a case of actually flying Emirates on a Qantas codeshare but no reciprocity for the lounge use! Yet you would get lounge access if flying in or out of Dubai! So your Qantas Club membership functionality is only 50%.

As you have suggested, I certainly now will be looking into flying AA and buying the AA 30 day lounge access for future journeys but actually paid for 2 years QC membership on the basis of taking on some trips as a loyal Qantas flyer.

We are just in the process of understanding the QF/EK bookings through Dubai. Be great to have a 24/48 hour break in Dubai, which you would think be good for their economy.....But if you lose the codeshare ability, then you lose the status credits!!! umm, need to think about this...

As for AA. We recently did a trip to the USA on QF (into DFW)and flew AA about the states. We also have QC membership. We were welcome into the AA lounge with our QF membership and did not need the 30 day membership. Maybe because we were flying AA and had a QC membership, no worries.

 

[roomer]

We are just in the process of understanding the QF/EK bookings through Dubai. Be great to have a 24/48 hour break in Dubai, which you would think be good for their economy.....But if you lose the codeshare ability, then you lose the status credits!!! umm, need to think about this...

yes do! And as I have said no lounge access when leaving Paris if flying Qantas !

As for AA. We recently did a trip to the USA and flew AA. We also have QC membership. We were welcome into the AA lounge with our QF membership and did not need the 30 day membership. Maybe because we were flying AA and had a QC membership, no worries.

Well that's the thing, when you do ditch the QC membership you can buy the 30 day pass for your trips and I have found a good app called LoungeBuddy that tells you what lounges are available and if you can purchase a day pass. I mean if Qantas arent going to allow you lounge access when you specifically fly with them , why would you bother ?

 

[Mr_Orange]

If your onward flight is on a QF codeshare then you should have access in Dubai.

One liners, when you have not properly read the OP's complaint are not really that helpful!