Downgraded from Business Class.

[opusman]

The fare difference between Y and J, if refunded, would be simply that - a refund for services not delivered. From my point of view compensation would be on top of that, for psychological trauma, and three figures definitely wouldn't cut it.

 

[Quickstatus]

Well it seems like the extremely rare event has occurred to another pax and the same fare recalculation has occured. J to full fare Y.

Qantas takes a gamble re overbooking and so its not fair that if the gamble is not successful, that the airline should profit and the customer lose out.

From now on I will take a screen shot of all fare classes available on the QF website when booking.

 

[serfty]

Note that EU261 regulation is designed as being a penalty and if it had been relevant here would apply over and above any such compensation as being discussed in the last few posts.

 

[UP4014]

I have a friend who travels first everywhere and only ever buys his ticket on the day of travel when he arrives at the airport, perhaps so he knows he is getting the seat he is paying for. :shock:

 

[get me outta here]

I'm envious of how the other .1% live. :mrgreen:

I have a friend who travels first everywhere and only ever buys his ticket on the day of travel when he arrives at the airport, perhaps so he knows he is getting the seat he is paying for. :shock:

 

[UP4014]

I'm envious of how the other .1% live. :mrgreen:

I have a friend who travels first everywhere and only ever buys his ticket on the day of travel when he arrives at the airport, perhaps so he knows he is getting the seat he is paying for. :shock:

You're not the only one! He's offered to buy me a beer tomorrow afternoon, if I think of it I will ask him.

 

[Pushka]

People keep talking about the compo. I couldn't really care less about it. They couldn't pay me enough to fly LAX-MEL in Y. It's being bumped from the seat that i would care about.

Absolutely. But having been bumped to then be offered a pittance of refund (even though it's according to "the rules") is the last straw.

Which means it's about time "the rules" changed. No other industry could get away with selling a product twice and telling the unlucky one they would not be appropriately reimbursed.

 

[UP4014]

Absolutely. But having been bumped to then be offered a pittance of refund (even though it's according to "the rules") is the last straw.

Which means it's about time "the rules" changed. No other industry could get away with selling a product twice and telling the unlucky one they would not be appropriately reimbursed.

Agree, this event has shown QF is no leader in the sector of fair fares and has pointed to the "everyone else does it" excuse.

 

[Pushka]

I was going to say the reimbursement offered was the "icing on the cake" after being bumped from J to Y but that sounded too pleasant.

 

[Timba-Jet]

The fare difference between Y and J, if refunded, would be simply that - a refund for services not delivered. From my point of view compensation would be on top of that, for psychological trauma, and three figures definitely wouldn't cut it.

Fair game to criticise the unfair compensation structure, but to refer to 'psychological trauma' for flying Y - oh come on, have done perspective. That is not trauma.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Fair game to criticise the unfair compensation structure, but to refer to 'psychological trauma' for flying Y - oh come on, have done perspective. That is not trauma.

not trauma, but I wonder whether it might squeeze in under 'loss of enjoyment'... particularly if this was a purchase with comfort/enjoyment in mind (ie leisure purchase rather than business).

 

[OATEK]

Fair game to criticise the unfair compensation structure, but to refer to 'psychological trauma' for flying Y - oh come on, have done perspective. That is not trauma.

Maybe hard to prove the 'psychological trauma', but the last time I did a long leg on QF2 in Y I hobbled for hours afterwards, and took some days to recover from the impact on various joints quite apart from the jet lag. So definitely some 'physical trauma' involved to the point where both SWMBO and I said never again for long international flights, something we have put into practice already! Yes its age related, which I am sure played a part in the OPs parents case.

 

[JohnK]

People keep talking about the compo. I couldn't really care less about it. They couldn't pay me enough to fly LAX-MEL in Y. It's being bumped from the seat that i would care about.

That's fine if that's what you decide. If you can afford to waste time then go in business another day. Another week possibly if flights are overbooked. The airline covers your costs in that situation.

So why can't they be reasonable about refund + compensation if you decide to take the downgrade? Why try to profit from a clear error on their part? Why put the person, people in this case, through additional trauma?

This could have been avoided the day Qantas found out there was an issue. But nope they decided to stand their ground and play hardball. Poor decision making process.

But you know the saddest part? Qantas has paid similar compensation to business class travellers when their IFE has not worked through the flight. How can you seriously compare loss of IFE to a downgrade?

 

[Denali]

Fair game to criticise the unfair compensation structure, but to refer to 'psychological trauma' for flying Y - oh come on, have done perspective. That is not trauma.

Pretty damn sure I would cry if I was prepared and paid for a J seat and got shoved into a Y seat for 14hrs. Ugly cry, snot, wailing. It would be damned traumatic for me and would have long term affects. Im constantly checking bookings now, screw me with a seat change like this. How could you ever trust your confirmed booking ever again and not develop some sort of emotional twitch from the screw up?

 

[Quickstatus]

But you know the saddest part? Qantas has paid similar compensation to business class travellers when their IFE has not worked through the flight. How can you seriously compare loss of IFE to a downgrade?

The saddest part for me is that a lot of Qantas' woes are self inflicted and then amplified in world of intense competition and high passenger expectations..

No company can get it right all the time but this issue is so simple to fix, would not cost QF much but would have engendered much goodwill.

When goodwill is degraded, customers are less engaged.

Qantas: every single customer counts irrespective of Tier Status because every customer is connected to other customers and potential customers and so on. Your customers remain your biggest advocate. You may say that you value each and every customer, but in this case its just lip-service and would be insincere.

 

[Pushka]

The saddest part for me is that a lot of Qantas' woes are self inflicted and then amplified in world of intense competition and high passenger expectations..

In this case the customers expectations weren't that high. Silly them, they just wanted to receive the seat they'd booked and paid for.

 

[UP4014]

Qantas: every single customer counts irrespective of Tier Status because every customer is connected to other customers and potential customers and so on. Your customers remain your biggest advocate. You may say that you value each and every customer, but in this case its just lip-service and would be insincere.

A classic, my line to my workers is - Don't tell me, show me.

 

[Quickstatus]

In this case the customers expectations weren't that high. Silly them, they just wanted to receive the seat they'd booked and paid for.

It is this reasonable and not over the top expectation that is fuelling this extended thread. Many laws in this country and around the world are based on the "reasonable". Without a doubt Qantas could not say they have acted reasonably in that a reasonable company/person would have acted the way they did.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The Qantas customer charter seems to indicate QF will only offer 'all assistance' provided you are prepared to fly on their services. Which could be 24 hours later.

Contrast with with BA - cancelled flight SYD-BKK and we were protected on Thai. Multiple times in the USA - cancelled or delayed services (even on awards) and the operating airline just finds you seats on any carrier to get you to where you need to go. UA paid for a seat on British Airways for me on a USDM ticket!

Friend of mine experienced delays ex HKG on QF (mechanical, nearly 24 hours) and were offered the next QF service. What about the four CX services leaving in the interim?

Are some airlines so reluctant to put passengers on the competition because they fear the... well.. competition?

This isn't necessarily Qantas bashing, there is a broader issue here. That of fair and transparent passenger rights. We understand things go wrong, but should we have to deal with the additional stress? If airlines are unwilling to be transparent (guidelines that aren't going to be shared - other than 'believe us, they're very generous'), perhaps there is going to eventually be a push for industry regulation from government.

 

[Pushka]

It is this reasonable and not over the top expectation that is fuelling this extended thread. Many laws in this country and around the world are based on the "reasonable". Without a doubt Qantas could not say they have acted reasonably in that a reasonable company/person would have acted the way they did.

Yes. And even in court proceedings, a guilty or not verdict is based on what a reasonable person would think based on the evidence presented.