Downgraded from Business Class.

[Princess Fiona]

It would be a shame if an airline response was to be considered final and all further discussion gagged.

I totally agree. However until such time as there is further responses from both parties there doesn't seem to be much left to discuss.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Should the OP receive a satisfactory outcome, it is likely that it will be subject to a gag order anyway. Let's hope that common sense prevails and someone at QF still understands the term 'brand damage'.

 

[JohnK]

All the more poignant given JohnK's often expressed rusted-on loyalty to QF.

Loyal to Qantas because I have been treated fairly although I do agree service is inconsistent.

But this just doesn't sound right. I wouldn't want this to happen me.

 

[QF WP]

I always OLCI when overseas - I just don't print the boarding pass. The Qantas system has no idea if I've printed or not! I then just go to the counter and tell them I couldn't print the BP when I get to the airport - never had an issue

This is exactly the method I use.

I used to check-in at T-24 (wherever possible) but in the past couple of years, but after hearing advice from serfty and others, changed to only check-in on the day of travel, but always longer than an hour before travel (so can still do online).

I might re-consider this as well (and go back to T-24) after the concerns raised in this thread.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I used to check-in at T-24 (wherever possible) but in the past couple of years, but after hearing advice from serfty and others, changed to only check-in on the day of travel, but always longer than an hour before travel (so can still do online).

I might re-consider this as well (and go back to T-24) after the concerns raised in this thread.

Curious to know what was the advice given that check-in should be done on day of travel ?

 

[QF WP]

Might be time for moderators to close this - we've all said our bit. This happens from time. Lets all move on.

As long as the original participants are willing to acknowledge some final resolution (with or without details) probably it is time to continue elsewhere.
Especially before the "grammar naz_s" start mentioning bits that would be disgusting to teachers of classical English grammar. :mrgreen:

Happy wandering Fred

I disagree with closing the thread. Those who no longer wish to read it can unsubscribe or ignore notifications.

It would be a shame if an airline response was to be considered final and all further discussion gagged.

I totally agree. However until such time as there is further responses from both parties there doesn't seem to be much left to discuss.

I think it's in everybody's interest (for those that wish to continue reading this thread) that if the parties agrees, there should be some notification that the incident has been finalised before the thread is closed (as obviously any agreement may have a privacy clause and the outcome may not be able to be disclosed).

Other than new people indicating their POV, I think everybody has put their case and argued similar points to death - and surprisingly, some degree of self moderation is apparent in the answers. Very impressed with all your willpower

 

[Baysider]

But this just doesn't sound right. I wouldn't want this to happen me.

Yep, that's the worry for all of us. Any one of us could be ripped off to the tune of around $2500 at the whim of Qantas. The cynic would say its an easy way to boost full Y bookings, overbook J and then shunt a few pax and only refund the delta to full Y.

 

[Baysider]

Curious to know what was the advice given that check-in should be done on day of travel ?

Op-up opportunity perhaps?

 

[DC3]

Is anyone being forced to read these posts? Rhetorical question, of course.

 

[maninblack]

This thread is disgusting. Close it down put a black mark next to the name of everyone who participated and you're all downgraded to Jetstar Oh, and have a great weekend.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Op-up opportunity perhaps?

Having already checked in won't exclude you from an op-up. I'm sure many people on here will attest to that.

 

[serfty]

Curious to know what was the advice given that check-in should be done on day of travel ?

I think QF WP was getting confused with VA ...

 

[Princess Fiona]

I think QF WP was getting confused with VA ...

Cheers, couldn't figure out what info I was missing

 

[ozbeachbabe]

It has just occurred to me - there is one other thing that QF does - I have a suspicion that it priorities ex USA purchased tickets. More competition, different market - it doesn't want to upset USA customers.

I really think you're reading too much into it. I don't believe the system interrogates bookings to the extent that it would look at whether the LAX/BNE flight was the outbound flight on a booking (USA customer) or the return leg of someone's journey (Australian returning home) nor do I think that booking through FC or any other TA for that matter makes any difference.

I know someone mentioned earlier in this thread that some/all the commercial standby pax in DXB were all FC bookings however given the sheer volume of pax who book through FC, a large percentage of that flight in question would be clutching the red itineraries so it may appear like they were targeted however it's probably more to do with those pax being booked in a lower yield fare bucket. I wouldn't mind betting that a lot of those people didn't not have pre-allocated seats or had done OLCI.

Agree. Which relates to my thought that they are also less likely to bump people with connections to other airlines or who have non QF issued tickets as they then have potential potential problems with other carriers to deal with.

So in the direction LAX/BNE (as per the OP's case) what other airlines are you going to be connecting to besides QF or JQ? TT or VA would be booked on separate tickets so would not show up as oncarriage flights anyway. It would be quite easy to rebook someone LAX/BNE then on to PER, DRW or CNS 24 hours later if they were bumped to the next day so I don't think having a connecting flight is necessarily a 'get out of jail free' card.

Even if the downgrade was in the other direction ie BNE/LAX & the pax were on a non 081 ticket (eg Alaskan ticket with an 027 prefix) the particular flight coupon of the BNE/LAX sector still belongs to QF and AFAIK they have authority to reissue their coupon plus any coupons thereafter on that eticket eg if the remainder of the journey was BNE QF LAX AS YVR.

In any case if pax were bumped BNE/LAX/YVR the pax probably wouldn't even need to have their eticket reissued anyway unless there was a change of routing, so the original flight coupons could most likely be used BNE/LAX/YVR 24 hours later if required.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Was wondering how much the travel agent's commission comes into play with refunds? I mean if I book a $10,000 fare direct with Qantas and someone books the same fare with flight centre they might pay a little bit less, but it wouldn't be much cheaper. However in the flight centre case Qantas would be getting the $10,000 less commissions. So when it came to a refund, perhaps the travel agents don't refund commissions to the traveler and that is why it ends up so low? This is why the TA has to do the calculation as there is nothing stopping them from refunding some of their commission if they choose to do so? This is all guess work - perhaps someone who works in the industry would know?

 

[maninblack]

So in the direction LAX/BNE (as per the OP's case) what other airlines are you going to be connecting to besides QF or JQ? TT or VA would be booked on separate tickets so would not show up as oncarriage flights anyway. It would be quite easy to rebook someone LAX/BNE then on to PER, DRW or CNS 24 hours later if they were bumped to the next day so I don't think having a connecting flight is necessarily a 'get out of jail free' card.

Even if the downgrade was in the other direction ie BNE/LAX & the pax were on a non 081 ticket (eg Alaskan ticket with an 027 prefix) the particular flight coupon of the BNE/LAX sector still belongs to QF and AFAIK they have authority to reissue their coupon plus any coupons thereafter on that eticket eg if the remainder of the journey was BNE QF LAX AS YVR.

In any case if pax were bumped BNE/LAX/YVR the pax probably wouldn't even need to have their eticket reissued anyway unless there was a change of routing, so the original flight coupons could most likely be used BNE/LAX/YVR 24 hours later if required.

Whilst your points are probably correct, it is also surely far simpler to bump people with no ongoing connections to re-book, no potential fare bucket issues for those ongoing connections, no other carriers involved, no refunds due via other carriers and so on. Exactly why the OP's friends were a good choice for bumping.

 

[JohnK]

I don't quite understand why this thread needs to close.

I am hoping that at some point they end up with a decent refund/compensation for the inconvenience and heartache.

But for me this thread has been an eye opener. I didn't think it was possible to be bullied to give up the seat you paid a lot of money to book and then find yourself downgraded. Huge downer. It would spoil the triip.

 

[RAM]

I don't quite understand why this thread needs to close.

I am hoping that at some point they end up with a decent refund/compensation for the inconvenience and heartache.

But for me this thread has been an eye opener. I didn't think it was possible to be bullied to give up the seat you paid a lot of money to book and then find yourself downgraded. Huge downer. It would spoil the triip.

Succinctly put.

If you opt to buy Y with chance to upgrade and then miss out - that's part of the game and you-win-some-lose-some.

This example (& others mentioned or other thread) if it happened to me (prior to this thread) would be shattering and leave a sour taste with initial "you're downgraded or fly tomorrow". The subsequent 'we've done nothing wrong and been generous' - like putting the boot in when someone's on the ground.

Very, very bad for one's reputation.

Still not too late for a mea culpa but I'm not holding my breath after the "disappointed misleading" piece from RR.

 

[amaroo]

I don't quite understand why this thread needs to close.

I am hoping that at some point they end up with a decent refund/compensation for the inconvenience and heartache.

But for me this thread has been an eye opener. I didn't think it was possible to be bullied to give up the seat you paid a lot of money to book and then find yourself downgraded. Huge downer. It would spoil the triip.

+ 1

I've got real life experience of this rubbish being dealt out ... although I got it sorted and someone else got the cough, it certainly can spoil a holiday!

 

[mannej]

Still not too late for a mea culpa but I'm not holding my breath after the "disappointed misleading" piece from RR.

Hang on, the only reference to misleading I can relating to RR and misleading is #631 relating to QF staff being on the flight in F and premium cabins.

That was debunked considering that this was a 3-class service with no F, and RR has stated there were no staff member in the premium cabins.