Booking double up - poor advice from Qantas costs [now sorted with refund promised]

[caduncan]

Hi, new member by recommendation. Very upset at the handling of a recent booking with Qantas using points and seemingly have no genuine way for help. I fear I've lost a lot of money on this.

Tried to book online SYD/JFK/SYD for myself and my son.

Online service advised insufficient points so I purchased a small top up.

Went to book online, still 'insufficient points'.

Went to online chat for help and told it was fixed and to simply make the return flight bookings online, which I did.

But in doing so I've been charged $3600 for the JFK/SYD flights instead of around $1100.

When I contacted Qantas, I was told it was because the return flight was treated as a separate booking.

Yet I did this on THEIR OWN ADVICE!

So now I have 2 x return flights to NYC that have cost me over $4000 and 110,000 points.

Distressed.

 

[Steady]

Welcome aboard caduncan, sorry to hear about your experience.

If you hang around and read up, I’m sure you will get an understanding on how to get the best vale for your points in the future.

your experience may warrant a thread in a different part of the foru, I have reported you posts so the mods can consider moving it

 

[JessicaTam]

Hi @caduncan and welcome to AFF. A pity it is not under better circumstances.

If this booking was made today you do have 24 hours to cancel. If not I would ring them back and explain your predicament again. Sometimes it helps to HUACA (hang up and call again) if you got short shrift last time.

(I have moved the thread from Introductions to the QF forum so you get better exposure and hopefully a solution.)

 

[caduncan]

Hi @caduncan and welcome to AFF. A pity it is not under better circumstances.

If this booking was made today you do have 24 hours to cancel. If not I would ring them back and explain your predicament again. Sometimes it helps to HUACA (hang up and call again) if you got short shrift last time.

(I have moved the thread from Introductions to the QF forum so you get better exposure and hopefully a solution.)

Thank you

 

[opusman]

Assuming you successfully cancel your flight (and you may have to wait a while to get the points refunded), how many points do you actually have?

SYD/JFK return in economy is 55200 points per person each way, so you would need 220,800 points for a return journey for 2 people (plus taxes).

Note that most users here will argue that economy flights are a poor use of points. When sales are on, the taxes and other charges that you have to pay on a reward booking can often be a significant proportion of the total fare (so you, e.g., end up spending 55000 points to save a couple of hundred dollars).

 

[Steady]

If this booking was made today you do have 24 hours to cancel.

Ot maybe but I made a mistake on a booking a few weeks before Christmas and contacted QF via chat (the wait time on the phone was quoted as 6+ hours) within an hour or so and they denied my request to cancel as I had used this once and apparently you only get 1 free cancellation..... ever

 

[serfty]

they denied my request to cancel as I had used this once and apparently you only get 1 free cancellation..... ever

Seems like bulldust to me, how are they to know you have 'cancelled' before?

While outright cancellation is not listed as an option for Same Day No Mistake | Qantas, I have successfully done so. Other changes (Spelling, origin, destination, class, dates, times) are documented as possible with no 'once ever' caveat.

... If this booking was made today you do have 24 hours to cancel. ...

To be clear for Australian bookings - it is same calendar day, so "up to" 24 hours.

 

[dajop]

To clarify/for future reference aren’t there two types of changes free? Namely:
1) For all QF bookings: if you make mistake you can change on same calendar day free of charge as per QF policy: Same Day No Mistake | Qantas
2) For QF booking (direct with the airline) purchased/originating in the US, it is a DoT requirement that you can cancel within 24hrs free of charge (applies to all airlines). I think this is the one applicable to the OP.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi, new member by recommendation. Very upset at the handling of a recent booking with Qantas using points and seemingly have no genuine way for help. I fear I've lost a lot of money on this.

Tried to book online SYD/JFK/SYD for myself and my son.

Online service advised insufficient points so I purchased a small top up.

Went to book online, still 'insufficient points'.

Went to online chat for help and told it was fixed and to simply make the return flight bookings online, which I did.

But in doing so I've been charged $3600 for the JFK/SYD flights instead of around $1100.

When I contacted Qantas, I was told it was because the return flight was treated as a separate booking.

Yet I did this on THEIR OWN ADVICE!

So now I have 2 x return flights to NYC that have cost me over $4000 and 110,000 points.

Distressed.

it's not clear what you were trying to do here?

On one scenario if you booked 2 x one ways to JFK, the return booking was for dollars? If so, it would be priced at the full one way fare, not half the discount return. The $3600 seems about right.

Or were you attempting something else? Like points + pay?

What you might have done was book one roundtrip as an award for one passenger, then purchase a second rountrip paid ticket for the other passenger.

 

[Steady]

Seems like bulldust to me, how are they to know you have 'cancelled' before?

While outright cancellation is not listed as an option for Same Day No Mistake | Qantas, I have successfully done so. Other changes (Spelling, origin, destination, class, dates, times) are documented as possible with no 'once ever' caveat.

To be clear for Australian bookings - it is same calendar day, so "up to" 24 hours.

To clarify/for future reference aren’t there two types of changes free? Namely:
1) For all QF bookings: if you make mistake you can change on same calendar day free of charge as per QF policy: Same Day No Mistake | Qantas
2) For QF booking (direct with the airline) purchased/originating in the US, it is a DoT requirement that you can cancel within 24hrs free of charge (applies to all airlines). I think this is the one applicable to the OP.

I just wanted to change the date.

 

[serfty]

I just wanted to change the date.

So it seems a poorly informed or at worst, simply lazy.

 

[trooper]

To clarify/for future reference aren’t there two types of changes free? Namely:
1) For all QF bookings: if you make mistake you can change on same calendar day free of charge as per QF policy: Same Day No Mistake | Qantas
2) For QF booking (direct with the airline) purchased/originating in the US, it is a DoT requirement that you can cancel within 24hrs free of charge (applies to all airlines). I think this is the one applicable to the OP.

OR.. to be able to hold a fare for 24 hours. It is the airlines choice WHICH of those to offer. I couldn't name an airline off the top of my head offering the hold rather than the 24 hr cancel...but it is unwise to assume all airlines "have" to offer the 24 hr cancel.

 

[dajop]

OR.. to be able to hold a fare for 24 hours. It is the airlines choice WHICH of those to offer. I couldn't name an airline off the top of my head offering the hold rather than the 24 hr cancel...but it is unwise to assume all airlines "have" to offer the 24 hr cancel.

Although isn’t the effect more or less the same ? Cancel within 24hrs = pay and cancel free of charge, hold for 24hrs, no payment processed but if you don’t pay the booking being held will be cancelled automatically (or payment will be processed automatically 24hrs after booking unless you cancel).

Essentially either scenario allow the flights you have booked not to be paid for if you change your mind within 24hrs of making the initial booking. Probably the main difference if paying using a foreign credit card you may lose up to 7% if book, pay and cancel, depending on when the payment is processed, and policies of the credit card provider, whereas holding this is not an issue.

 

[ALH]

So it seems a poorly informed or at worst, simply lazy.

Sounds like the person I get every time I contact Qantas

 

[justinbrett]

Although isn’t the effect more or less the same ? Cancel within 24hrs = pay and cancel free of charge, hold for 24hrs, no payment processed but if you don’t pay the booking being held will be cancelled automatically (or payment will be processed automatically 24hrs after booking unless you cancel).

Essentially either scenario allow the flights you have booked not to be paid for if you change your mind within 24hrs of making the initial booking. Probably the main difference if paying using a foreign credit card you may lose up to 7% if book, pay and cancel, depending on when the payment is processed, and policies of the credit card provider, whereas holding this is not an issue.

The Qantas policy lets you change, not cancel.

 

[Matt_01]

Sounds like the person I get every time I contact Qantas

That is why they have given you the SST email/ number, if/ when you make the odd booking error SST can work their magic.

 

[ftm]

Which cabin are we talking about here? If it is $3600 in Economy, then that fare will likely be 100% refundable and you’ll get the whole lot back. Have you had a look at the cancellation costs?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Which cabin are we talking about here? If it is $3600 in Economy, then that fare will likely be 100% refundable and you’ll get the whole lot back. Have you had a look at the cancellation costs?

Hopefully the OP can explain the booking strategy... was it 2 x one way on points and 2 x paid returns, was it points + pay... was it one paid ticket and one return on points. If it was $1800 per person one way that may not be fully refundable?

 

[dajop]

The Qantas policy lets you change, not cancel.

In the context of my post that you quoted, they do allow cancellation within 24hrs of booking (provided >7 days from first departure) for journeys that are ticketed in the US. The broader policy which allows changes to correct mistakes (that must be done on same calendar day as the booking), does, as you point out, only allow changes (at least as it is written)

 

[justinbrett]

In the context of my post that you quoted, they do allow cancellation within 24hrs of booking (provided >7 days from first departure) for journeys that are ticketed in the US. The broader policy which allows changes to correct mistakes (that must be done on same calendar day as the booking), does, as you point out, only allow changes (at least as it is written)

Sorry, that is what I meant. The Qantas policy being what the airline offers globally, the US policy is actually the US DoT policy that Qantas complies with. I have tried to cancel a booking within 24 hours (J to the US, leaving Australia) and was charged the cancellation fee. I tried to argue based on the 24 hour thing but they said I could only correct errors, not cancel the whole thing.