Can Qantas reject my QFF from an EK Booking after the flight?

[TLC93]

Hi All,

Really appreciate any guidance on this. I flew EK Premium Economy in March this year return to Europe. I added my QF number to the flight booking because I thought I would gain SC and Points for my QFF. I realised after the flight that you do not earn QF SC on EK Premium Economy seats and the points associated were hardly anything. If I added my EK Skywards number to the booking I would be at Skywards Gold which is worth a lot more to me now that I travel to Europe more. I'm relatively young and getting my head around maximising FF benefits across multiple airlines

Emirates were really easy to contact/deal with and they advised that they can retroactively change the associated FF from QF to Skywards if within 6 months (which this was). They said I needed to contact Qantas and have them reject the points associated and once done they can assign it to my Skywards on their end.
Straightforward, however I called QFF phone number and was given an absolute run around which included them locking me out of QFF account and saying there is an error with the set up of my account (an account I have had for years) and that they need to have an internal team look at it for me.

My question to the brains trust here:
Is it possible to have Qantas reject the points from my EK flight and disassociate my QFF number from the booking after the flight has been credited? Has anyone done this in the past? Emirates assured me it could be done but the Qantas call rep was a bit unhelpful.

Sincerely appreciate any help or insights. Thanks!

 

[kpro]

I've never been in a situation where I needed to retroactively change crediting FF programs before so not sure how successful you'll be.

However, wanted to point out that you don't earn QFF SC's on any EK coded flight, not just one booked in PE. You need to book the QF code share to be eligible for SC's.

I realised after the flight that you do not earn QF SC on EK Premium Economy seats and the points associated were hardly anything.

 

[offshore171]

Straightforward, however I called QFF phone number and was given an absolute run around which included them locking me out of QFF account and saying there is an error with the set up of my account (an account I have had for years) and that they need to have an internal team look at it for me.

QFF have troubles even actioning very routine transactions over the phone.

For something unusual like this, I reckon you've got an uphill battle even getting them to understand what it is that you want, let alone actually processing it correctly.

In fact there's probably a better than 50% chance they will make things worse.

 

[TLC93]

Thanks for the replies.

I realise now that SC only apply to QF tickets booked through Qantas, however Qantas do not offer Premium Economy as an option with EK on codeshare. And our CEO doesn't allow J (even though I'm 6'5" and flying Sydney-Vienna haha) so PE the best option and had to book through EK direct. I know for future reference now..

Agree with everything else said here regarding chances of sorting it out. My first call this morning has done exactly what offshore171 says above, it has made the situation worse because they have put a hold on my account due to suspicious activity.. I have to book domestic flights for work in the coming days and I'm being told it will take 3-5 business days for me to get access to my account again!

 

[encryptededdy]

I have to book domestic flights for work in the coming days and I'm being told it will take 3-5 business days for me to get access to my account again!

You don't need to be logged in to attach your QFF number to your booking

 

[TLC93]

You don't need to be logged in to attach your QFF number to your booking

Thank mate, I am aware but I wanted the flexibility to look at reward seats etc.. It's just a hassle that my account is now locked for 3-5 business days because someone at the call centre didn't understand my request

Post automatically merged: Jul 24, 2023

Also to add, I appreciate it might not be a request within the scope of Qantas to action and I am prepared to own the mistake on my end. However the people I have spoken to at QFF give me no certain answer and do not seem to comprehend anything I say!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I realise now that SC only apply to QF tickets booked through Qantas, however Qantas do not offer Premium Economy as an option with EK on codeshare. And our CEO doesn't allow J (even though I'm 6'5" and flying Sydney-Vienna haha) so PE the best option and had to book through EK direct. I know for future reference now..

One thing I should warn you about and this is true with any frequent flyer program be it Qantas, United or Air France, is that you need to be a stickler for the rules. Each program has its own requirements to accrue status credits and frequent flyer points, particularly with partners and if you stray from the rules even slightly you'll get penalized (sometimes heavily with 0% accrual). So yes, with Emirates the flight needs to carry a Qantas flight number to earn status credits. But also there are rules for many of the partners (including JetStar) and you'll want to dig in deeply before making that booking. For instance, did you know you'll only accrue status credits at the Flexible Economy rate when booking a Malaysian Airlines flight in business between Australia and Malaysia or Europe? Or what about the fact that on JetStar a Business ticket earns no status credits (just Business Max?)

Some food for thought, especially if you are planning on hitting a serious status level with Qantas (i.e. Gold or Platinum)

-RooFlyer88

 

[RooFlyer]

One thing I should warn you about and this is true with any frequent flyer program be it Qantas, United or Air France, is that you need to be a stickler for the rules. Each program has its own requirements to accrue status credits and frequent flyer points, particularly with partners and if you stray from the rules even slightly you'll get penalized (sometimes heavily with 0% accrual). So yes, with Emirates the flight needs to carry a Qantas flight number to earn status credits. But also there are rules for many of the partners (including JetStar) and you'll want to dig in deeply before making that booking. For instance, did you know you'll only accrue status credits at the Flexible Economy rate when booking a Malaysian Airlines flight in business between Australia and Malaysia or Europe? Or what about the fact that on JetStar a Business ticket earns no status credits (just Business Max?)

Some food for thought, especially if you are planning on hitting a serious status level with Qantas (i.e. Gold or Platinum)

-RooFlyer88

I don't think the OP is trying to break any rules etc etc. And the earn rates for Malaysian etc is hardly relevant - only confusing. Why bring that up?

The question is whether they can retrospectively change the FF program associated with a flight. I don't know the answer, but the EK rep said yes. Any suggestions on how to get sense out of the Qantas call centre? Now that would be helpful!

 

[justinbrett]

It is possible to get QF to remove points credits from your account. But this is done manually via a request to the call centre.

I think this is the only way once it posts, and that probably doesn't meet the requirement for EK to re-credit them.

I have done this several times and it should be very easy with an email to QF FF. This is a bit of a gamble in your case as I'm 95% certain you'll get the points removed and less than 5% certain EK will re-credit them.

 

[encryptededdy]

I think your best bet is to email [email protected] (maybe after your account is unlocked?). They seem usually a little more competent than the call center.

This way you'll also get a written record of the points being removed from your account when they reply to your email, which may come in useful if you have issues with EK re-crediting (depending on if their system can actually detect the un-crediting, which I highly doubt).

 

[Mwenenzi]

I think your best bet is to email [email protected] (maybe after your account is unlocked?). They seem usually a little more competent than the call center.

This way you'll also get a written record of the points being removed from your account when they reply to your email, which may come in useful if you have issues with EK re-crediting (depending on if their system can actually detect the un-crediting, which I highly doubt).

Agree on trying email. Would not use the word "reject" , by phone or email. Ask for the QF points to be uncredited.

 

[TLC93]

It is possible to get QF to remove points credits from your account. But this is done manually via a request to the call centre.

I think this is the only way once it posts, and that probably doesn't meet the requirement for EK to re-credit them.

I have done this several times and it should be very easy with an email to QF FF. This is a bit of a gamble in your case as I'm 95% certain you'll get the points removed and less than 5% certain EK will re-credit them.

That is essentially what I have requested via email. Emirates seem to be very confident they can do it. I even asked them: "if Qantas remove the points from my account do you have a way of checking with them that it has been done and you can then credit my Skywards account?" They replied yes we do..

I am prepared to lose 20,000 qantas points if they manually cancel them and Emirates turn around eventually and say no.. It's worth it as if I can pull it off I will be Emirates Gold and on the way to Platinum

I appreciate everyone's help and guidance! I think the smart thing to do is to email Qantas as it sounds like you get a bit more luck than the lottery phone line (not being platinum means I don't get to speak to the Hobart centre unfortunately).

Post automatically merged: Jul 25, 2023

I don't think the OP is trying to break any rules etc etc. And the earn rates for Malaysian etc is hardly relevant - only confusing. Why bring that up?

The question is whether they can retrospectively change the FF program associated with a flight. I don't know the answer, but the EK rep said yes. Any suggestions on how to get sense out of the Qantas call centre? Now that would be helpful!

Yeah certainly not trying to break the rules and double up on points. I even made that very clear on the phone to Qantas.. I simply need 20,000ish points removed from my account and Emirates can then do their thing. I will update this when I hear back from Qantas

 

[TLC93]

UPDATE: Success! So Far..

Qantas advised my account was locked for security reasons but has now been unlocked as it clearly is me trying to access it. They also advised on the phone call that they could not reverse the charge from the Emirates flight. When I questioned her and asked if she could manually remove the points via a manual one time reduction she said she would look into it. 5 minutes later on hold she came back and asked for the flight details in question and another 5 minutes later the flights vanished from my account! So not a manual points reduction but a manual removal of the flights.. my original request!!
I was sent a confirmation email which I have sent to Emirates along with my acitivity statement that shows the points are no longer on the account at all.. They have passed onto their backend team to look into. Fingers crossed it goes through!

Moral of this story ladies and gents, don't take no for an answer! Within 5 minutes of being told no I magically had a yes..