Downgraded from Business Class.

[Princess Fiona]

Sorry Princess Fiona but while I understand your position and you do have empathy for the couple involved, I don't accept that you can be told at the gate that you either fly the next day or take your seat in Y and lump the $700 as settlement, on a flight that is scheduled to fly as planned and with no major unforeseen circumstance in sight. The only circumstance in sight is Qantas selling more seats than it had on the plane.

Overbooking is common place amongst all airlines not just Qantas. It rarely if ever results in someone being downgraded on a long haul flight.

I have never said that I think it's acceptable to be given $700 and fly in Y. Clearly you'd need rocks in your head to think that is a good deal. I did say that I would accept the fare difference on the table posted plus $500 Voucher plus 50K FF points. This is what has been offered by Customer Care.

One other small point Pushka, the couple were advised at check-in.

 

[blaz]

I definitely would have accepted the free sleep-over and J seats the next day....anything is better than cattle class for this distance...it is called "flexibility "
...a concept that some people have an issue with...unless it is a life and death issue, relax..smell the coffee and make the most of an extra days holiday....this could have been win, win.

 

[Princess Fiona]

If the parents were not asked to volunteer ... chances are no one else was either!

IMHO it all points to heavy handed bullying of two easy targets .... Pretty bloody pathetic!

What about the other passengers who were downgraded or re-booked?
Were they all picked because they were soft easy targets? Or were they picked due to a commercial algorithm which put them on the list.

IMHO there's nothing to indicate bullying of soft targets. Pure conjecture.

 

[anna2103]

Sorry Princess Fiona but while I understand your position and you do have empathy for the couple involved, I don't accept that you can be told at the gate that you either fly the next day or take your seat in Y and lump the $700 as settlement, on a flight that is scheduled to fly as planned and with no major unforeseen circumstance in sight. The only circumstance in sight is Qantas selling more seats than it had on the plane.

My 2 cents worth
For me, the issues that really matters in all of this are:
1. two elderly people being displaced on a flight where they met the check in conditions,
2. SG means very little, either in dealing with a "live situation" or in the compensation/resolution process
3. And most of all - QF MADE COLD HARD CASH out of this scenario, even when their compensation is taken into account. That is wrong

I do not usually advocate going to the media to get what you want, but in this case A Current Affair would snap up a story like this in a second. It would also make a great front page picture in the Courier Mail. QF, oh what a mess you have made........

 

[Ansett]

I definitely would have accepted the free sleep-over and J seats the next day....anything is better than cattle class for this distance...it is called "flexibility "
...a concept that some people have an issue with...unless it is a life and death issue, relax..smell the coffee and make the most of an extra days holiday....this could have been win, win.

Hi Blaz whilst I agree with your general comments I have to say that in this case the Customers were not in a position to accept as they needed to be back for a medical appointment, that could not be changed. IMO QF should have recognised this and off loaded other passengers.

Had this been my parents believe you me I would be fuming and kicking up a stink to ensure that they were returned back to the booked seats and class of travel.

It seems that QF took what they thought would be path of least resistance i.e. off load some poor oldies who probably will just shut up and put off. Not Good Enough in my opinion.

 

[Pushka]

Ok Princess Fiona, at check in they were told. . And then maybe they might be allowed to go to the club, even though eligible by virtue of their status to do so.

I understand that it isn't just Qantas who over book. And perhaps that policy just isn't acceptable anymore.

 

[blaz]

ok...agreed...although I'm not sure about timing a medical appointment so close to getting home from a flight such as this (long one)...things that can go wrong ,will go wrong.....I never assume that I will catch my flight...****e happens....but that's a lesson for another day..as for them being easy targets...this may be true...but it may not be..this is conjecture at this point.....hopefully they are happy with the compensation offered.

 

[amaroo]

What about the other passengers who were downgraded or re-booked?
Were they all picked because they were soft easy targets? Or were they picked due to a commercial algorithm which put them on the list.

IMHO there's nothing to indicate bullying of soft targets. Pure conjecture.

Having experienced this kind of bullying first hand - BA targeting my MIL (aged 76 at the time) to move her out of F and into J ..... booked separately but linked to my booking. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt - she was targeted and when they worked out they had to deal with me .... they quickly went and picked on some other poor sod.

BTW it was confirmed on board that another passenger was indeed bumped .

QF tactics in this case look exactly the same!

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I definitely would have accepted the free sleep-over and J seats the next day....anything is better than cattle class for this distance...it is called "flexibility "
...a concept that some people have an issue with...unless it is a life and death issue, relax..smell the coffee and make the most of an extra days holiday....this could have been win, win.

If they wanted to fly the following day they would have booked it to begin with. You may have all the time in the world to screw around with an extra day here and there but not everyone has that luxury.

Qantas are excellent at so many things and when they get it right - it's just wonderful and a real pleasure to fly with the Red Roo.
But when there is a mess.... you don't hear about too many positive outcomes. It's unfortunate but ultimately that is what drives away otherwise perfectly satisfied 10/10 NPS customers.

With FC - they can float your refund as they can see what happened and know they will receive funds from QF. Sure QF can speed up their end but FC can make it happen right now.
Also FC would have received notification of your class change but did nothing. Time to ditch flight centre imo. If it was booked direct with qantas this would have been sorted by now.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I do not usually advocate going to the media to get what you want, but in this case A Current Affair would snap up a story like this in a second. It would also make a great front page picture in the Courier Mail. QF, oh what a mess you have made........

Not too sure that downgraded J passengers would attract much sympathy outwith the Frequent Flying community to be honest.

 

[anna2103]

Not too sure that downgraded J passengers would attract much sympathy outwith the Frequent Flying community to be honest.

Its the elderly couple anxious about flying angle that would elicit the interest/sympathy. Elderly people often do fly premium cabin for medical reasons such as arthritis etc.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Having experienced this kind of bullying first hand - BA targeting my MIL (aged 76 at the time) to move her out of F and into J ..... booked separately but linked to my booking. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt - she was targeted and when they worked out they had to deal with me .... they quickly went and picked on some other poor sod.

BTW it was confirmed on board that another passenger was indeed bumped .

QF tactics in this case look exactly the same!

Was she targeted or was she picked out on an algorithm as a solo flyer with no status on BA?

 

[Princess Fiona]

Its the elderly couple anxious about flying angle that would elicit the interest/sympathy. Elderly people often do fly premium cabin for medical reasons such as arthritis etc.

Would have to be pretty selective reporting re: anxious flying as they are Gold FF who take frequent trips in business to the US.

 

[blaz]

in this day and age, nobody has time to screw around....but it's called making lemonade out of lemons...this is one of life's lessons...it is too short to stress over a lost day....and now they are still fuming(it seems)...is this an even bigger waste of their lives ?

 

[Pushka]

in this day and age, nobody has time to screw around....but it's called making lemonade out of lemons...this is one of life's lessons...it is too short to stress over a lost day....and now they are still fuming(it seems)...is this an even bigger waste of their lives ?

I think you are underestimating the impact of what has happened to this couple and the number of views and posts would support there is more than just this couple who are concerned.

Just a bit too Pollyanna methinks.

 

[amaroo]

Was she targeted or was she picked out on an algorithm as a solo flyer with no status on BA?

The four of us weren't asked to volunteer!

Clear case of targeted. I spoke to the agent that called and pushed back on all their BS. They called her on my phone around 8hrs before departure - poolside of the BKK Peninsula got a free show!

They quickly decided to move onto the next target....this is why standing your ground is critical to achieving a compromise you can live with.

 

[blaz]

I think you are underestimating the impact of what has happened to this couple and the number of views and posts would support there is more than just this couple who are concerned.

Just a bit too Pollyanna methinks.

..maybe...but I have seen people stress about a similar incident , and it went on for months....this is of course their choice...it wouldn't be mine....as I said, some people are less flexible than others.

 

[Princess Fiona]

The four of us weren't asked to volunteer!

Clear case of targeted. I spoke to the agent that called and pushed back on all their BS. They called her on my phone around 8hrs before departure - poolside of the BKK Peninsula got a free show!

They quickly decided to move onto the next target....this is why standing your ground is critical to achieving a compromise you can live with.

She was on a separate booking to the remainder of you. If BA had flagged the bookings as linked in the downgrade procedure they would never have called her IMO.
None of this proves that EmilyP's parents were picked out as soft targets, it's all conjecture.

 

[maninblack]

I agree. I also think that whilst the response provided so far has been unsatisfactory to the OP I don't think that Red Roo should take any blame for this.

I tend to doubt that Red Roo is a single person but whether they are or not I think that for the purposes of this forum they are QANTAS not a natural person. That's how I view their presence. As long as people remain within the bounds of politeness I think said Roo is fair game (pardon the pun) for Qantas aimed criticism.

 

[Katie]

(5) at lax qf seems to have removed qf staff and replaced them with contractors. Last Friday I noticed that the qantas triangle - ie special qantas check in person in term 4 AA lounge was no longer there. I used to like getting assistance from this dedicated airside qf help/check in desk.

I'm not surprised QF staff are no longer in the T4shared lounge in the evening, as QF no longer has any T4 departures. All departures are from TBIT, so QF staff there would only serve connecting customers using the lounge before making their way to TBIT.