Is the Qantas booking website borked or something?

[blastoise]

So this has happened twice in the last few days, I've looked at booking flights to Fiji in biz class and when logged in, it says there are fewer than five seats available. So I go to book it in the middle of the night, then when clicking on Checkout, the website locks up and says it's loading the flight confirmation.

I reload the page after five minutes, and it says the Business Classic Flight Rewards seat is no longer available!

Does Qantas have an issue with updating their seat availability until you actually go to book it or something?

 

[RooFlyer]

Is the Qantas booking website borked or something?

Yes.

Welcome to AFF @blastoise. Have a trawl around the Qantas threads and you'll see what you are up against.

 

[Anna]

One annoying thing the QF website does if you're logged in is create a booking reference for you when you're only looking at flights. So those seats get taken out of availability because effectively the QF website has unilaterally decided to hold them for you. The booking ref will disappear after several hours if you don't complete the booking but it is really irritating that one minute you can see seats and availability then come back 2 mins later and they're gone. But go into 'my bookings' and there they are even though you didn't book!

 

[TheInsider]

One annoying thing the QF website does if you're logged in is create a booking reference for you when you're only looking at flights. So those seats get taken out of availability because effectively the QF website has unilaterally decided to hold them for you. The booking ref will disappear after several hours if you don't complete the booking but it is really irritating that one minute you can see seats and availability then come back 2 mins later and they're gone. But go into 'my bookings' and there they are even though you didn't book!

That's actually not an error, but a marketing tool. Also doesn't create a booking until you actually enter the passenger details screen.

 

[Townsend]

We are having problems using points at present so I think that there is a problem.

 

[dylarr]

That's actually not an error, but a marketing tool. Also doesn't create a booking until you actually enter the passenger details screen.

Yeah the PNR gets created when you land on the payment screen. Qantas will keep it until midnight. They recently started e-mailing people with links that would take you back to the payment screen to complete the booking (as long as you clicked it before midnight).

 

[SYD]

Yeah the PNR gets created when you land on the payment screen. Qantas will keep it until midnight. They recently started e-mailing people with links that would take you back to the payment screen to complete the booking (as long as you clicked it before midnight).View attachment 279610

Slightly off topic, I’ve actually used that *feature* several times to hold a spur of the moment booking to then see if other planets align eg hotels etc. But a couple of times, I was unable to actually go through with the final payment and had to wait until after midnight/next day to complete the booking.

But if you managed to grab the last sale fares on a particular flight and your payment doesn’t get processed, then those seats are gone until the booking drops out of the system - which might be what the OP is seeing (if not just phantom fare buckets - which is common for award but not so much on revenue bookings?).

Another cautionary note, if you select seats on that initial PNR, those seats are obviously then blocked until the booking drops out.

 

[RooFlyer]

That's actually not an error, but a marketing tool. Also doesn't create a booking until you actually enter the passenger details screen.

Sorry, not sure if I understand. I haven't seen this myself. But someone looks at a flight but doesn't book, takes inventory out of the system, so the next person, who actually would go through and pay, can't?

That's marketing?

 

[TheInsider]

Sorry, not sure if I understand. I haven't seen this myself. But someone looks at a flight but doesn't book, takes inventory out of the system, so the next person, who actually would go through and pay, can't?

That's marketing?

If they have looked at the flight and have entered their details it will create the booking with a time limit on it.
It's not about the next person it's about the person who has abondened their cart. The marketing is getting that person back and competing their purchase.

 

[Joy6328]

I'm having this issue right now - it is showing in 'MY BOOKINGS' but I can't see any way to actually pay for them and secure.... do you know how? Or do I just wait a few hours for them to be available again?

One annoying thing the QF website does if you're logged in is create a booking reference for you when you're only looking at flights. So those seats get taken out of availability because effectively the QF website has unilaterally decided to hold them for you. The booking ref will disappear after several hours if you don't complete the booking but it is really irritating that one minute you can see seats and availability then come back 2 mins later and they're gone. But go into 'my bookings' and there they are even though you didn't book!I

 

[RealtimeY]

Does it show up in the shopping cart below your FF/name at the top right?

 

[RooFlyer]

If they have looked at the flight and have entered their details it will create the booking with a time limit on it.
It's not about the next person it's about the person who has abondened their cart. The marketing is getting that person back and competing their purchase.

Hey! I just noticed the little shopping cart thing noted in the post above. Never noticed it before. It was generated when I was just playing around with schedules for a trip later this year. I do this many times, no intention of booking. So not so much 'abandoning a cart' as never realising there was a 'cart'.

 

[dylarr]

Sorry, not sure if I understand. I haven't seen this myself. But someone looks at a flight but doesn't book, takes inventory out of the system, so the next person, who actually would go through and pay, can't?

That's marketing?

From my experience the PNR is created (and inventory utilised) when you get through to the payment screen which is the last step of the booking flow. Just searching for flights, even clicking on them and going 'Next' won't do it — you have to go right through to the last step.

 

[serfty]

From my experience the PNR is created (and inventory utilised) when you get through to the payment screen which is the last step of the booking flow. Just searching for flights, even clicking on them and going 'Next' won't do it — you have to go right through to the last step.

You basically have to get to the stage of selecting seats and / or the payment page.

It is a technique that has been used in recent times to find out actual booking class (fare bucket) before paying. Mainly important for those crediting to Partner frequent flyer programs.

 

[Joy6328]

Does it show up in the shopping cart below your FF/name at the top right?
View attachment 279838

No it doesnt, I have 4 other paid bookings in my account, and it shows as the 5th one right down the bottom. But when I open it up / manage it - it looks like a booking (with passenger names etc) but I know I haven't paid for it yet... there's no payment options etc... very strange. Maybe I just have to wait for them to disappear? It's been about 2.5 hours now

 

[AIRwin]

Maybe I just have to wait for them to disappear? It's been about 2.5 hours now

Until midnight?

 

[Anna]

I'm having this issue right now - it is showing in 'MY BOOKINGS' but I can't see any way to actually pay for them and secure.... do you know how? Or do I just wait a few hours for them to be available again?

I ended up ringing to book them. I wasn't on hold long, but it took quite a while for the agent to manage to apply my voucher to the flights (courtesy of the unhelpful PNR unilaterally created by the website).

I had no problems when I flew, but I've been back for nearly a month and the website is still telling me the credit voucher is there to be used Wonder what would happen if I tried to use it again. (No, there should be no remaining balance on the voucher).

 

[Anna]

If they have looked at the flight and have entered their details

If you're logged in when you're looking at flights, you don't have to enter your details. It does it for you, whether you want it to or not. It isn't marketing, it's bullying.

 

[Joy6328]

Until midnight?

You were right, flights came back after midnight

 

[TheInsider]

If you're logged in when you're looking at flights, you don't have to enter your details. It does it for you, whether you want it to or not. It isn't marketing, it's bullying.

Yeah, right