attention red roo - resolution of award bookings ex bkk and china

[Aussie_flyer]

It is not a requirement when booking Jetstar, CX, Air Asia, or a multitude of other carriers ex BKK.

indeed!! Certainly there is no such Thai law.

 

[Archphoto]

Paid for my Dec 24 ticket for a flight to AUS the same day, and the lady who served me, said come February 2013, you'll no longer need to come into the office for CC verification. You can just arrive at the airport and check in.

Guess I'll have to wait and see; need to change my flight back, and last time, was asked to front up to the BKK office with my CC. Hoping not needed this time around, and the online change, will be accepted without all the "need to sight" hoo-haa. . . . .

 

[oz_mark]

It's not just Thailand and China you know.

In some countries, before the ticket is issued, the credit card holder must present themselves at the local Qantas office within 24 hours of the booking being created. Countries that this applies to are:

• China
• India
• Indonesia
• Philippines
• South Africa
• Thailand

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/help-frequent-flyer/global/en

 

[Princess Fiona]

It's not just Thailand and China you know.


http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/help-frequent-flyer/global/en

Am I being cynical or is there a profit motive behind this ?

 

[MrJetset]

So it's not law (my bad as I assumed) but common practice. Also, it appears that EK ex BKK has the same requirement. One way around this is to book via Expedia.

I guess credit card fraud is rife so they try to limit their liability?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So it's not law (my bad as I assumed) but common practice. Also, it appears that EK ex BKK has the same requirement. One way around this is to book via Expedia.

I guess credit card fraud is rife so they try to limit their liability?

No. It's not law and neither is it common practice. I've just attempted a booking on EK ex Bangkok and the requirement is only to present the card at check-in.

Qantas requires you to present yourself at their office before they will even issue the ticket. Please don't try and excuse Qantas' actions as being reasonable based on some common practice. Qantas are (as far as I'm aware) entirely alone in this respect - they have had years to fix this but have chosen to do nothing.

Princes Fiona - yes I think there must be a profit motive behind this - they don't want to spend the money putting a system in place to allow on-line credit card verification, and they are happy to have people call and pay the assisted booking fee. If it is not profit then I don't know what it is?

As Jock28 points out - you can get around this for paid tickets by using an online travel agency, but you can't do the same for award bookings. If fraud was a reason, then there should be a policy in place to manually review tickets and allow ticketing in cases where fraud could be ruled out (passenger with status, redeeming their own points for travel themselves, using a credit card in their own name).

I have had a reply from Red Roo but as the contents would be useful and of interest to a number of people (and given it was a PM) I thought he might like time to post the outcome in his own right.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Definitely no ridiculous requirements to visit Emirates offices in Bangkok to show them credit cards in advance.

I am very much on MEL_Traveller's side here.

 

[Mal]

It really surprises me that Qantas doesn't use Verified by Visa or Mastercard Securecode for eligible cards. It's pretty much mandated for a heap of merchants, and does reduce the chance of fraud significantly.

 

[Happy Trails]

Am I being cynical or is there a profit motive behind this ?

I can't see any profit in it for QF, if anything it's turning people away.
The only thing that springs to mind is that the agency might have some sort of exclusivity deal which requires bookings to be channelled through them. This is pure speculation though.

 

[Archphoto]

I can't see any profit in it for QF, if anything it's turning people away.
The only thing that springs to mind is that the agency might have some sort of exclusivity deal which requires bookings to be channelled through them. This is pure speculation though.

They expect you to pay for an "Assisted Booking" if you need to change a flight, as you can't make it to the BKK office to present your card, if you've already commenced your journey. Last September, that amounted to wanting an extra $95.00, on top of the fare difference . . . . . . .

 

[flyingfan]

indeed!! Certainly there is no such Thai law.

I had four internal flights in Thailand recently (TG and PG) - I think I was asked for the booking credit card for at most one of them and certainly not all four.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I had four internal flights in Thailand recently (TG and PG) - I think I was asked for the booking credit card for at most one of them and certainly not all four.

if it's a return or multi segment booking you only need to show cc at first flight check-in

 

[flyingfan]

if it's a return or multi segment booking you only need to show cc at first flight check-in

Mine were all one way. In fact I can't quite remember if I had to show it at all - I do remember being asked to present my card at least once but that might have been for a hotel booking.

 

[Happy Trails]

They expect you to pay for an "Assisted Booking" if you need to change a flight, as you can't make it to the BKK office to present your card, if you've already commenced your journey. Last September, that amounted to wanting an extra $95.00, on top of the fare difference . . . . . . .

I guess it must be YMMV but I've not had to pay a service fee for an initial booking or a change after departure.
I did cop the $30 credit card fee but that was compensated by not paying the cc foreign exchange charge.
Only ever done three or four of these phone transactions though.

 

[Archphoto]

I guess it must be YMMV but I've not had to pay a service fee for an initial booking or a change after departure.
I did cop the $30 credit card fee but that was compensated by not paying the cc foreign exchange charge.
Only ever done three or four of these phone transactions though.

Happened to me this past September, and I had to insist on speaking with a supervisor to get it sorted. Even then I had to explain it step by step before the lightbulb seemed to go on.

Thing is, you shouldn't have to - it's not my fault they have a system in place in BKK that makes it *impossible* to show a CC for verification once you leave Thailand. The ticket clearly shows the flight originated in Bangkok, and a CC has to be produced - it should have been waived without the need to speak with a supervisor, or indeed, the need to explain their "rules" can't work if you leave BKK.

I did it all online - except the payment wouldn't be charged until you front up in person at the office - real customer friendly QF to charge someone when they can't possibly do so. I wonder how many people have been ripped off, through not fault of their own, with this nice, little *scam*?

 

[cmon0005]

I have booked via Qantas India site before, and you don't have to show for the CC verification, however you do get a manual email from the QF India ticketing office asking to fill an online verification form through their CC gateway provider, you essentially enter the same info you entered at booking, Name address phone number etc. then you get a ticket emailed to you manually by QF India.
Was quite coughbersome and took 4 days to get ticket, as booked on a Friday, submitted CC verification info Fri afternoon, Ticket office closed on weekends, ticket issued Monday!

 

[Ben174]

I have booked a few tickets Ex BKK online and i have had a phone call the next day from Qantas in BKK or sometimes Qantas in Aus and they are able to either Verify the card on the phone (if BKK Calls) or they convert it to AUD based on the days exchange rates and process you in aus meaning no verification needed!

Never found it a problem beign an Aussie, maybe WP helps

 

[LAH]

well I actually did an award booking Jetstar from Indonesia recently, and the booking notes said I had to present at office with CC to pay taxes within a certain time period (I think 48 hours). I rang Denpasar and said it was impossible and they took my Mastercard over the phone : no problems, no extra charges.

 

[LAH]

BUT ... a little OT. Very annoying when trying to change flight online - doesn't work so I have to ring and do it over phone. Get charged service fee for ringing!!! And if the fare had fees for changing - the service fee was on top! Most annoying not to be able to change it online. Sometimes they have not charged fee as I have registered my frustration and annoyance : but most times fee has been charged. Yes, Qantas needs to fix this.

Singapore Airlines : I change more flights on SQ than I have ever done on QF and can do this online no problem.

 

[serfty]

I can't see any profit in it for QF, if anything it's turning people away.
The only thing that springs to mind is that the agency might have some sort of exclusivity deal which requires bookings to be channelled through them. This is pure speculation though.

Actually, it's pretty basic, often fares from those counties to Oz can be significantly less than from Oz to those countries.

e.g. In February, ou can get a return fare from Johannesburg to Sydney for ZAR12K (~AUD1,330) while similar flights/dates on a return fare from Sydney to Johannesburg cost AUD1,970.