Article: The Challenges of Booking Qantas Reward Tickets By Phone

[AFF Editor]

The Challenges of Booking Qantas Reward Tickets By Phone is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

The Challenges of Booking & Changing Qantas Classic Reward Tickets By Phone

Many Qantas customers are already well aware of the major problems right now with the Qantas call centre. To Qantas' credit, the horrifyingly long wait

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[adenda]

Can't read it - Adblocker issue

 

[Berlin]

Well- this has been discussed up and down on so many threads here before: If you end up with one of those off shore call centres (not counting Auckland, as you say they’re usually okay), you might as well put the phone down. And if you’re “only” Gold or below, then fat chance to get anywhere.

Being badly skilled uneducated cheap labour is one thing though- what really cracks me up if they then have the audacity to lecture you or showing some attitude. Totally unacceptable but I’m quite certain that the bean counters at Qantas will ensure that this won’t change- unless there’s a full change in management and attitudes. Not likely, but you can always hope.

 

[Guvner]

If anyone from Qantas wants to chat to me about the last three months of dealing with their call center staff after experiencing pretty much every issue identified in that article, on multiple occasions, I'd be more than happy to meet with them. I'll even buy the coffee. The editor has my contact info.

 

[Matt_01]

Although VIP are excellent they to sometimes get things wrong. Earlier this year I booked the first part of a OW booking that was starting in AKL to JP back to AU then 6 months later to the EU (not yet booked). We have changed our plans and will no longer go to JP however we will still start in AKL. A couple of weeks back I changed the bookings and as some of the points had not come back I called on Monday to request the points be sent back to my account and was informed that the bookings had not been setup correctly, have not been re ticketed and this would be sorted within the hour. Today I received Mrs&MissM's ticket but not mine, I am sure mine will come through shortly and am not to worried I will lose the reward seats as they are with QF. If booking with partner airlines I will stay on the line until the trip has been re ticketed as I am aware of TTL issues with other carriers. Pre Covid I had lost F rewards with the likes of EK, QR and JL due to QF delays however on all occasions QF were able to get them back and I assume that my status played a big factor in that.

 

[Jousams]

I had a bit of a chuckle when i read the 'not knowing basic geography' commentary. When it happened to me it was such an unreal experience I thought i must have been the only one who had experienced it. Along the lines of "I haven't heard of Rome before, where abouts is that?" "Italy?, i don't think so".

In the past 9 months I've flown SYD-LAX, YVR-SYD, SYD-YVR on QF J awards and I can honestly say I've spent at least as much time on the phone to Fiji and South Africa as I did in the air.

 

[Danger]

I feel the title of this article could have ended at "tickets".

 

[RooFlyer]

And sadly, some here just dismiss these problems as 'ranting' or some form of racism when the shortcomings of overseas call centres are brought up.

Anything but the fact that Qantas' offshore call centres (ex Auckland) are poorly trained and the resultant problems are at the feet of Qantas management. The issue isn't those who complain about their award seats being lost, it the the sheer volume of these issues. (And all the other service issues with Qantas at the moment.)

 

[Franky]

And sadly, some here just dismiss these problems as 'ranting' or some form of racism when the shortcomings of overseas call centres are brought up.

Anything but the fact that Qantas' offshore call centres (ex Auckland) are poorly trained and the resultant problems are at the feet of Qantas management. The issue isn't those who complain about their award seats being lost, it the the sheer volume of these issues. (And all the other service issues with Qantas at the moment.)

Prejudice is a more appropriate word, but I certainly get what you’re saying…

 

[RooFlyer]

Prejudice is a more appropriate word, but I certainly get what you’re saying…

You are correct, but 'racism' or 'casual racism' or something like that were the words used.

 

[DC3]

… Qantas' offshore call centres (ex Auckland) are poorly trained …

Although, Hobart is very good

 

[Franky]

Although, Hobart is very good

'Gasp' - is that being prejudicial?...

 

[DC3]

'Gasp' - is that being prejudicial?...

Eloquently so.

 

[BD1959]

Maybe just me but "Article" implies objective, factual prose. I understand the author's frustrations with the scenarios presented but this piece is representation of many scenarios already discussed in different thread and presented from a personal, subjective viewpoint.

Who is this Article aimed at? If the readers of this forum then it would be better placed to offer the same advice for the scenarios as within those threads, eg if you happen to be Platinum and the call is answered by a "lesser capable CC" simply HUACA until you reach Hobart.

I'd like to think that this piece is aimed externally and at a wider readership. Even better one where comment could be made in a wider media pool and now general highlighting of Qantas's shortcomings - bad press going into an AGM is surely more likely to effect change than anything else? I'm just not sure that some of the blog-like sentences would sit well in that forum though.

We can sit here and rehash threads into a comment-piece but not sure that achieves too much. Maybe I just expect too much when I read the word "Article" ... maybe it's just Friday !!!

Regards,

BD

 

[Berlin]

We can sit here and rehash threads into a comment-piece but not sure that achieves too much. Maybe I just expect too much when I read the word "Article" ... maybe it's just Friday !!!

Maybe your words are a bit harsh but I generally agree with the sentiment. I also clicked, read and then wondered why the heck we need yet another article on this- there's already plenty of chatter on this forum. Not excusing Qantas, rather the opposite, it sucks so badly but yet another forum thread, as you rightly say, won't change it.

 

[BD1959]

Maybe your words are a bit harsh but I generally agree with the sentiment. I also clicked, read and then wondered why the heck we need yet another article on this- there's already plenty of chatter on this forum. Not excusing Qantas, rather the opposite, it sucks so badly but yet another forum thread, as you rightly say, won't change it.

Thanks Berlin.

I can imagine some poor forum member putting this together rather than it being some background "journalist" and, when being requested to do so, not having the full audience explained to them. I apologise to that person, unreservedly if I've caused offence with my comments, that was not the intent of my observations. Moreso, it is disappointment that these examples may not be hitting a proper audience (the wider media) who may help effect the changes - normalisation - we're all wishing for.

Regards,

BD

 

[RooFlyer]

Maybe just me but "Article" implies objective, factual prose.

Maybe just you, maybe not. To me an 'article' is a story written by someone for distribution or publication. Might be opinion, might be observation, might be some other angle. In this case its a summary of the topic in the headline, which is rather current at the moment - its an easy thing to link it to anyone asking about the topic, rather than needing to re-hash from scratch.

I can imagine some poor forum member putting this together rather than it being some background "journalist" and, when being requested to do so, not having the full audience explained to them.

Finding that difficult to follow, sorry. You seem not to know who "AFF Editor" is? (Genuine question.) Click on the name, then 'posts' and you'll get an idea of what "AFF Editor" writes about. And if you then figure out who the person is, you hopefully will have a bit more respect for them and what they write, than what you've posted here - your pre-emptive apology notwithstanding. Just IMHO, of course!!

 

[glennp]

The only way to reliably change flights with Qantas is to rebook online and cancel the original booking. My flight was changed by Emirates, Qantas failed to re-ticket my flights, I called Mindpearl Manila multiple times and eventually they ticketed my first class booking in economy, I told them of their mistake, they hung-up. After about a week of trying to contact someone competent in Hobart I gave-up and rebooked. I still have my first class tickets but Qantas all but called me a liar, they only saw an economy booking and were unable to receive emails, so I could not prove otherwise. That was in February. I'm still waiting to hear back from Qantas (ie the airline, not the wine merchants - they call me regularly). I would prefer to sit on hold for a day knowing eventually I would get someone competent, than spend a week trying to avoid Mindpearl. Qantas has done irreparable brand damage to itself. Time to shut down Mindpearl or change your core business to selling wine.

 

[sudoer]

I also clicked, read and then wondered why the heck we need yet another article on this

While I don't think the article covered much that hasn't already been said on the forums, I do think it's the good way of potentially reaching the Qantas PR machine. Not only would AFF reach out to Qantas for a right of reply (presumably) but a summary like this has a reasonable chance of being read by someone in Qantas management, whereas they'd be quite unlikely to trawl through page upon page of forum threads.

 

[BD1959]

While I don't think the article covered much that hasn't already been said on the forums, I do think it's the good way of potentially reaching the Qantas PR machine. Not only would AFF reach out to Qantas for a right of reply (presumably) but a summary like this has a reasonable chance of being read by someone in Qantas management, whereas they'd be quite unlikely to trawl through page upon page of forum threads.

It would indeed be good if this has actually happened.

Regards,

BD