Cancelled Qantas flight, what are my options...?

[harvyk]

It's interesting for Qantas the cancellation and full refund of the applicable fare is not offered as an option in the policy relating to this. If a 24H change is to be considered "Significant" then that policy may be in direct conflict with their own CoC's. (Maybe they are hoping no-one notices.)

I'd consider a 24 hour change to be significant, if nothing else that means altering hotel bookings.
The fact it's not listed there doesn't mean anything, if it's in the terms \ conditions then they can omit all they like from the info page, it doesn't change a thing towards the pax rights.

 

[markis10]

I wonder what the reasoning is behind QF not offering the refund choice, all the other waivers have it?

 

[Must...Fly!]

I wonder what the reasoning is behind QF not offering the refund choice, all the other waivers have it?

Keep the money and the pax.

People can't exercise an option they don't know exists

 

[MEL_Traveller]

No, rerouting is the only option:
Latest Qantas News

I see what you say, but legally, qantas MUST offer a refund in this case.

regarding the other discussions pin this thread, what constitutes a 'significant time' will vary on a case by case basis. but it would not be unreasonable to assume that anything more than a couple of hours might start to be considered 'significant'. (you can have a loom at the EU compensation laws as a guideline... while not binding on Australian courts, they certainly give an indication of what can start to be considered as an event that materially affects the passenger).

 

[dajop]

regarding the other discussions pin this thread, what constitutes a 'significant time' will vary on a case by case basis. but it would not be unreasonable to assume that anything more than a couple of hours might start to be considered 'significant'.

Casting OP's personal reasons for wanting direct flight aside for one moment, if QF instead of offering a 22:25 departure and 06:40 arrival offered a 23:30 departure and 10:50 arrival, or 20:20 departure and 09:00 arrival - is that a significant difference?

 

[Deleted User]

Firstly, I really appreciate all the feedback within this site, it is so wonderful to have so much information made available from such informative members while I waited to get hold of someone at Qantas customer service....

I did eventually get hold of someone at Qantas and I must first say how pleasant and clearly spoken the customer service rep was, the phone line was crystal clear and its nice to talk on the phone where information is provided in a clear and professional manner... Well done to Qantas in this regard.

There was a push to re-route us through SYD or MEL, or even to push our return flights back one day to match up with the Saturday QF82 SIN > ADL return flight, there was not a clear or direct option / offer for a full refund, however it was mentioned that Qantas had a obligation to make the situation better for us so that we were happy. I firmly replyed to the many re-routing suggestions that I booked return direct flights and this is what I wanted and expected as paid for, I also wanted to fly on the dates I booked since all accommodation and transfers had been locked in, so the changes to QF82 that Qantas made now made our travel not possible with them and I wanted a refund for the full return fares...

I was offered a period of time if I needed to ensure I made other arrangements with another airline before cancelling the entire booking with Qantas. Being prepared I already had SQ open on my computer browser and had already entered all pax details, right up to where CC payment is required. So on confirmation from Qantas that the bookings were cancelled and the refunds processed, I completed the SQ booking...

10 min after speaking with Qantas, the refund confirmation email hit my inbox.

• SQ was nearly / exactly the same price as what we paid Qantas (at the time we booked there was ~30% difference - SQ being dearer)
• SQ clearly offer better timing in regard to Departure time. (QF81 ADL > SIN)
• SQ daily connection to SIN is fantastic and I really should have booked with them in the first place (However there was approx ~1.4k difference in price when originally booking for all pax)

So its nice to get through this one, honestly I thought we would have been forced into a re-route as per Markis comments, this would have made the trip very uncomfortable for us. I'm really just glad it all worked out ok in the end...

More than likely never to book this route again with Qantas. With flights only every other day, when they make a schedule change it can become really messy. I guess they have lost a few more reasons to fly this route at all... (I usually fly this route on SQ for business, and generally only Qantas if SQ is full, So now if I can not get on a SQ flight number, I will really have to look into other options in more detail and perhaps need to be more flexible and only fly SQ when I can...)No wonder Qantas International is in trouble...!

Thanks to everybody for your helpful comments...

 

[Princess Fiona]

That's a fair outcome and good to hear a positive tale of QF Customer service.

 

[Must...Fly!]

That's the thing about the QF Agents, you often have to wait quite a while on the phone, but 9 times out of 10 I have a good agent who can assist with my enquiry effectively, and is more than willing to do so.

 

[Deleted User]

While it doesn't help resolve the issue, the reason for the changed date on the SIN-ADL is that the aircraft (A330) is no longer being flown SIN-BOM-SIN during its "stay" in SIN. The aircraft currently operates ADL-SIN-BOM-SIN-ADL and when BOM is dropped from the QF schedules, the aircraft will be operating ADL-SIN-ADL with the return operating the same day as the outbound, changing the day of departure of the SIN-ADL services....

How does one find out the full route of an aircraft, I never knew of the SIN-BOM-SIN, I knew the plane went somewhere but never know how to look-up / find this information...?

 

[MELso]

Glad to hear it worked out okay...

EDIT - and VN has agreed to my rescheduling now too! Barcelona, here I come!

 

[markis10]

How does one find out the full route of an aircraft, I never knew of the SIN-BOM-SIN, I knew the plane went somewhere but never know how to look-up / find this information...?

You can follow an aircraft on Qantas Source, in fact it was often the BNE aircraft that did the BOM leg, or the PER one, very rarely it was the ADL plane, the swaps being necesary to ensure aircraft are close to a maintenance base at the right time!

Date	Flight No	From	Via	To	Registration	Type	Configuration	Notes
01/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPD	A330-300	30J/267Y
02/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPC	A330-300	30J/267Y
02/02/2012	QF51	Singapore		Mumbai	VH-QPC	A330-300	30J/267Y
03/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPD	A330-300	30J/267Y
04/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPE	A330-300	30J/267Y
04/02/2012	QF51	Singapore		Mumbai	VH-QPH	A330-300	30J/267Y
05/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPI	A330-300	30J/267Y
06/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPH	A330-300	30J/267Y
07/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPH	A330-300	30J/267Y
07/02/2012	QF51	Singapore		Mumbai	VH-QPE	A330-300	30J/267Y
08/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPH	A330-300	30J/267Y
09/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPI	A330-300	30J/267Y
09/02/2012	QF51	Singapore		Mumbai	VH-QPF	A330-300	30J/267Y
10/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPI	A330-300	30J/267Y
11/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPB	A330-300	30J/267Y
11/02/2012	QF51	Singapore		Mumbai	VH-QPB	A330-300	30J/267Y
12/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPI	A330-300	30J/267Y
13/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPI	A330-300	30J/267Y
14/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPI	A330-300	30J/267Y
15/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPD	A330-300	30J/267Y
16/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPC	A330-300	30J/267Y
17/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPC	A330-300	30J/267Y
18/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPA	A330-300	30J/267Y
19/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPE	A330-300	30J/267Y
20/02/2012	QF51	Brisbane		Singapore	VH-QPI	A330-300	30J/267Y

With QF51 going to a 747, and the BKK flights going to A330, they had to get equipment from somewhere to maintain the flow.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Casting OP's personal reasons for wanting direct flight aside for one moment, if QF instead of offering a 22:25 departure and 06:40 arrival offered a 23:30 departure and 10:50 arrival, or 20:20 departure and 09:00 arrival - is that a significant difference?

it all depends on the circumstances and the length of the flight. an hour or two on a 24 hour flight is unlikely to be considered a material difference (and again it would depend on the reasons for the flight changes, whether or not they were in the control of the airline or not).

but in the cases outlined above, we're looking at an extra 3 to 4 hours on a 7 hour flight... that is certainly significant in adding 50% to the flight times.

but even with somewhat less than 50%, flight changes could be considered significant. if you booked a 7pm departure on a domestic trunk route, times to finish work at 5.30 and make it to the airport in time, moving that flight earlier by an hour could make the change significant. on the other hand, moving it later by an hour may not be so

 

[harvyk]

Casting OP's personal reasons for wanting direct flight aside for one moment, if QF instead of offering a 22:25 departure and 06:40 arrival offered a 23:30 departure and 10:50 arrival, or 20:20 departure and 09:00 arrival - is that a significant difference?

It is very dependant on your own personal set of circumstances. For example, where you've stated a 22:25 departure moved to 20:20, well at 20:20, if I was connecting to a the flight from another flight, 20:20 may mean I'm no longer able to make the MCT. Even a half hour schedule change could cause that issue.

Same problem at the other end, a scheduled late arrival could easily cause me to miss connections or in some cases miss the reason why I was travelling in the first place.

So as far as I'm concerned any sort of schedule change made after flights are booked, the airline needs to be flexible as to any sort of changes or cancellations, as even a seemingly small one could have consequences, either travel related as in missing a connection, or non travel related, as in missing the reason why your travelling in the first place.

 

[Deleted User]

In closing off this thread, I am happy with the outcome and getting a full refund from Qantas, its even better that the replacement SQ flights worked out about 3% better / cheaper than Qantas. Better departure and Arrival times both ways, plus better aircraft as per normal with SQ...

So all is happy in the Shintaro camp, however I have found one thing that Qantas have over SQ....that is a far better website, the SQ website is an absolute basket case and is horrible...!