$40 fee to change fully-flexible ticket. Really?

[Febs]

Hi all,

Last week I rang Qantas directly to switch to an earlier MEL-SYD flight the following day. I was on a fully-flexible Y ticket and they did so no hassles.

Today I rang to do the same with my BNE-SYD flight tomorrow, and was told there's a $40 fee, despite this also being a full Y ticket. Apparently, I need to go through my TA (who of course, charge a fee of their own...)

The lady on the phone ended up doing it for free anyway (I would've asked for clarification from her manager if she hadn't. Being WP probably helped), but she was pretty insistent that usually there's a $40 fee, and only business class tickets are immune.

Doesn't seem right to me? I can understand if I could change my flight through the Qantas website, but I've never seen that option. Apart from dealing with my TA (which is something I like to do as little as possible), my only option would have been to switch directly at the airport (and almost definitely miss out on the flight I wanted).

Am I missing something here?

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Dave Noble]

If you book with a TA it is normally their responsibilty to change the ticket anyway; QF does have a service fee for doing it over the phone

If you do book on the website, you can change free of charge online; obviously bookings made via a TA cannot be changed online

Dave

 

[MelUser]

This is a reissue/revalidation fee which QF charges.

It is very difficult to get out of as it is part of all economy tickets now - changed for fully flexible about 12-18 months ago.

It is actually cheaper to cancel the ticket - full refund and then book a new one but this is fiddlier and has cash flow implication while you wait for refund.

 

[Febs]

Thanks guys. Learn something new everyday.

obviously bookings made via a TA cannot be changed online

Dave

Perhaps this is a matter of opinion, but I don't see why it's so "obvious". The TA had done their job and made the booking. Now it's *my* booking. Given how useless most corporate TAs are, the less involvement from them the better IMO!

It's like using your CC concierge to make a restaurant reservation, then needing to change it. You'd call the restaurant directly. Why unnecessarily add another layer of time, cost and complexity? Just my 2c...

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Dave Noble]

Perhaps this is a matter of opinion, but I don't see why it's so "obvious". The TA had done their job and made the booking. Now it's *my* booking. .

When a booking is made via an agent , the agent "owns" the booking and is responsible for dealing with any changes, refunds etc and not the airline. Since the airline does not own the booking then the airline will not provide facilities to change it. It is never "your" booking

If you make a booking through an agent then the agent is the appropriate contact for making changes; if you want to be able to change online, then booking online is the way to go

Not liking an agent isn't really a reason to expect to bypass them

Dave

 

[Febs]

Not liking an agent isn't really a reason to expect to bypass them

Dave

Fair call. But as long as it keeps working, you can bet I'll keep doing it!

 

[albatross710]

If you make a booking through an agent then the agent is the appropriate contact for making changes; if you want to be able to change online, then booking online is the way to go

I was introduced to this fee on the fully (not so) flexible fare booked via a travel agent. 24 hours prior to first departure I asked the agent to amend my return journey. They hadn't done it by the time I departed on the first leg and it then became Qantas's 'booking' . In order to return earlier I had to cop the $40 charge.

I agree it is in the fare conditions doesn't mean I have to like them!

 

[NM]

I was introduced to this fee on the fully (not so) flexible fare booked via a travel agent. 24 hours prior to first departure I asked the agent to amend my return journey. They hadn't done it by the time I departed on the first leg and it then became Qantas's 'booking' . In order to return earlier I had to cop the $40 charge.

I agree it is in the fare conditions doesn't mean I have to like them!

The agent should still be able to make the change even after the first sector has been flown. I do this regularly with a quick phone call to the TA to make changes to the return flight of my agent issued ticket. Our corp TA does not charge a fee for changing fully flexible fares (such as B and Y). Its part of the service fee we pay when the original ticket is issued. They then look after it for the duration of the ticket validity.

 

[Febs]

The agent should still be able to make the change even after the first sector has been flown. I do this regularly with a quick phone call to the TA to make changes to the return flight of my agent issued ticket. Our corp TA does not charge a fee for changing fully flexible fares (such as B and Y). Its part of the service fee we pay when the original ticket is issued. They then look after it for the duration of the ticket validity.

If you don't mind me asking, what does yours charge for a simple SYD-MEL-SYD with accommodation/car?

Ours charges $22 for web-only domestic/trans-Tasman bookings (i.e. we make them ourselves using their website, and there's no human interaction). An additional $33 gets charged the moment we deal with a member of their staff, and then it's capped at $55 for any further changes.

For International trips it's $250/$350 depending on the number of sectors.

The biggest value in using them is the savings they get on airfares (the hotel and car savings we can get directly). The service itself doesn't justify the cost, IMO.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[dajop]

In order to return earlier I had to cop the $40 charge.

Unless the flights are completely full, earlier (same day) flights on fully flexible economy tickets can be done free of charge at the airport on check in. Or are they charging for that as well now?? I guess there's always a risk of a full flight and being stuck with the original booking.

 

[NM]

If you don't mind me asking, what does yours charge for a simple SYD-MEL-SYD with accommodation/car?

Hmm, can't remember for sure since I have not made a domestic booking for a while.

Ours charges $22 for web-only domestic/trans-Tasman bookings (i.e. we make them ourselves using their website, and there's no human interaction). An additional $33 gets charged the moment we deal with a member of their staff, and then it's capped at $55 for any further changes.

For domestic bookings we also have a web interface to their booking system. I think its less than $30, maybe something like $27.50 or similar.

For International trips it's $250/$350 depending on the number of sectors.

International is always $99, no matter if its a SYD-AKL-SYD or a 16-sector DONE4.

The biggest value in using them is the savings they get on airfares (the hotel and car savings we can get directly). The service itself doesn't justify the cost, IMO.

For B and Y international fares I find our total ticket price is about the published fare price before taxes.

I have found our corp travel centre to be very efficient and easy to deal with. In my experience, they do a fantastic job. Always pleasant and not even my complex routings and specific flight/fare combinations phase them.

 

[Febs]

I have found our corp travel centre to be very efficient and easy to deal with. In my experience, they do a fantastic job. Always pleasant and not even my complex routings and specific flight/fare combinations phase them.

Consider yourself lucky! I've dealt with a few, and it's pretty rare that I have a positive experience.

I don't even consider making an international booking without sending through a list of the exact flight numbers, dates and times I want to book (the OW tool is handy for this when doing RTW fares), and sometimes even the fare class. Even then, there's usually a bit of to-ing and fro-ing before everything gets sorted out.

For example - one hotel I booked came in at $40 more expensive than another colleague's booking, same hotel same day. I asked them to look into it, and the answer came back "Sorry, that rate is no longer available." Yet when I rang the hotel directly, they switched rates straight away (the cheaper rate had the same flexibility of the more expensive rate). Ended up saving over $500 on that one.

Funniest example though was when we asked them to book a flight to Nashville, TN. The agent assumed that Nashville airport must have been "NAS", and booked flights accordingly. Colleague got her itinerary, complete with flights to the Bahamas (lovely, but unfortunately not where she needed to be!)

I could go on...