Earlier flight

[Flying mermaid]

Only asked once - at the beginning of this year. Had gone down to Sydney for a shopping weekend with Miss FM on really cheap Y tickets. Our flight was at 3ish on the Sunday and we were really tired and arrived at 12:30 at the QP. I think we only had carry on luggage. I asked at the desk in the lounge if we could change to an earlier flight and said I knew we weren't allowed to on our fare, but we were so tired..... She said they weren't allowed to normally but sometimes could due to operational reasons and she would check. She came back and said it was fine she could do it and put us on the 1 pm flight. (all times are approx ). There didn't seem to be any bad weather or delayed flights, but it was a Sunday with low numbers. I guess if you are polite and make it clear you don't expect to be changed, but would be grateful if you could, it doesn't do any harm.

 

[samh004]

I guess if you are polite and make it clear you don't expect to be changed, but would be grateful if you could, it doesn't do any harm.

That works with a lot of things. At the start of the year my sister was flying down to MEL, alone and as a Silver had no lounge access, so we burned a comp pass and I went with her and asked if I could wait with her, mentioning I was Gold at the time. They said ordinarily no, but because I didn’t just assume I had the right, they’d allow it. So I had breakfast with her and then she was away.

 

[docjames]

Have always asked politely and had about a 50% overall success rate.

It used to be easier but front line staff are now highly restricted without giving a reason (for which they can be audited). I gather they need some sort of code or "reason" so often they'll allow "flow forwarding" if there are issues in the system. There's multiple factors including available seats, expected weather / cancellations etc.

If you buy the restricted ticket, the airline should be free to say "no" unless it suits them.

 

[afflinesman]

If you're trying to get on an earlier flight there are 2 things that come into play. First, there may be an operational reason why you can't get on an earlier flight and second, you have to be lucky enough to find a staff member who is willing to help. Always be polite. I have been lucky enough to get an earlier flight a number of times just by asking when checking in. One time I got an earlier flight from Brisbane because there were storms due to hit later that afternoon. Don't go into a sob story unless it's real in which case you may want to speak to a supervisor.

Good luck, ask, be polite but expect a no.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Generally if thunderstorms are imminent there will be a 'flow forward' on all flights regardless of fare type so kiosks will offer earlier flights to everyone on all fares.

If you've ever been in the queue for checkin early afternoon you will frequently hear people in front of you say "I'm booked on the 6 o'clock but I was trying to get an earlier flight" so they can't say yes to everyone.

You'd be a bit annoyed if you'd bought a flexible fare only to be told the earlier flight was full only to run into a colleague in the lounge telling you he was able to change his red-e-deal.

If flights are full in some cases they may allow pax on flexible tickets to be put on commercial standby so in the event of noshow pax flights still go out full & some pax get away early. This is only if pax have no checked luggage.

 

[JohnK]

It would appear my luck is changing. No.... Not with delays but with given earlier flights on the cheapest tickets.

The last 3-4 weeks, if not longer, everyone of my requests for earlier flight has been granted And everyone of these if with checked luggage so I have not play the merry go round of check-in, Qantas lounge and then business lounge.

I wonder if this is a change in customer service attitude from Qantas or whether it is still up to the individual.