Long wait for refund for cancelled reward flights Qantas - a common experience?

[MPP2768]

Hi All,

Just reviewing out travel plans to Europe booked for May , I have booked my Europe tickets using Qantas points all booked under classic reward flights . There are 3 different booking reference nos. as i booked them as the classic award tickets became available as below
Leg 1 Mel-Sin- Mel
Leg 2 Singapore-Doha- Vienna
Leg 3 Paris-Dubai-Singapore
I understand cancellation charges are 6000 points per passenger , does this mean i will be charged 6000X3 points per passenger or juts 6000 points per passenger for all 3 cancellations.
Can we pay cash instead of points for the cancellations? does anyone know how much do 6000 points translate to in terms of AUD

Thanks

 

[Melburnian1]

Well, miracles can happen.

An email from QF saying that they have processed the $$ refund has just hit my inbox.

But they are rare, as the Pope says! So maybe others ought not expect identical results.

 

[bPeteb]

I called today to escalate the refund for my flights cancelled on April 7. Once that was done I asked about the missing refund of the credit card fee for the reward booking cancelled on April 20. Went away, came back, said that’s fine, and email received within 30 mins advising credit had been issued. No email yet for the revenue flight refund that was escalated...

 

[NM]

On 25 March I cancelled my QF return PE flight to UK booked for May and paid via AMEX.

After 6 weeks called QF FF phone number to follow up. Recorded announcement advised refunds being processed in 8 to 10 weeks.

Called QF FF phone after 10 weeks and recording still advised that refunds were being processed in 8 to 10 weeks AND that QF FF team were not dealing with Enquiries about refunds. No alternative contact point was suggested.

Its 12 weeks tomorrow since I cancelled my flight and still no word from QF.

I dislike that I received no confirmation by email of cancellation and I have no evidence other than the screenshot of the acknowledgment taken at the time of cancellation.

So glad I opted for a refund rather than a credit voucher. When Qantas shut down all flights during its brawl with the unions I boycottEd them for 2 years. I think I will be doing that for longer this time.

Was your cancellation done on-line or via an agent over the phone?

I cancelled a QFF award earlier this week and received no email, though I did print the on-line confirmation page that was displayed. Then today when speaking with an agent to cancel a different QFF (not classic) award, I asked about the on-line cancelled one and she looked it up and said it was not in the refund queue. She manually cancelled it and selected the non-default option for the card payment fee to be included in the refund amount. So now the 10 weeks wait begins.

So note that cancelling on-line may not actually trigger the refund process as it would be expected to do. A call to check that it actually cancelled properly might be needed.

 

[serfty]

So note that cancelling on-line may not actually trigger the refund process as it would be expected to do. A call to check that it actually cancelled properly might be needed

See my earlier posts in this thread.

When Qantas advised free free award cancellations for June flights in early April I cancelled two such bookings online. This was April 5th - a Sunday.

One booking was refunded within 48 hours both points and funds, dated 5th April.

The other took 8 weeks for the points and 10 weeks (and three phone calls) for the funds to be refunded.

 

[NM]

See my earlier posts in this thread.

When Qantas advised free free award cancellations for June flights in early April I cancelled two such bookings online. This was April 5th - a Sunday.

One booking was refunded within 48 hours both points and funds, dated 5th April.

The other took 8 weeks for the points and 10 weeks (and three phone calls) for the funds to be refunded.

Consistently inconsistent! Not even that changes when it comes to QF's refund procedures.

 

[KingPrawn]

Over 12 weeks since I cancelled now. 8 weeks since I was told "due to unprecedented volumes this will be within the next 4 weeks.". Yesterday, I received an unsolicited email from Qantas FF that read:

Dear Mr xx_xx_
We are writing regarding you Classic Rewards booking with reference xx_xx_.

The refund of your Qantas Points for this booking has been processed on 01 May 2020 and should have already appeared on your account

If you have not yet received a refund for any taxes or airport charges that weren't paid with Qantas Points, we ask for your patience and can reassure you that all refunds that will need to be made will be processed.

If you are waiting on other bookings to be refunded, please note that the team will not be able to process them at the same time. Depending on the type of request received, it is possible they will be actioned by different dedicated teams.

We apologise for any delay between the refund date and this notice and we appreciate your patience as we continue to work and meet all requests that we are receiving.

We thank you for your continued loyalty during this time and look forward to welcoming you on board as soon as we are able.

We welcome your feedback. For us to improve our service, please complete our customer feedback survey via [link removed]

Kind regards,

[Name deleted]
Qantas Frequent Flyer Team
qantas.com/frequentflyer

I'm genuinely gobsmacked.

12 weeks and they won't even give me any indication of how much longer I'm going to be waiting. I appreciate that these are 'unprecedented' times but I had a BA award booking too. That took a 6 minute call (including navigating options menus and waiting time) to cancel that booking and my credit card received the tax/surcharge refund on the next working day.

This is well beyond a joke now.

 

[RooFlyer]

Cancelled points flight (QR, QF) via phone mid March. Checked mid-May and told its in the works, "8-10 weeks" from cancellation. I lost track and today, at 12 weeks, I called again. Short wait for Premium line.

Agent checked with a supervisor and then told me points would be back in my account in 15 minutes, and I'd then get an e-mail re taxes, fees refund on its way, money to land '2-10 business days'.

I got the e-mail in 30 mins (from 'Qantas refunds team'), but no points returned yet, 2 hours later.

I'm not holding my breath for either points or cash.

Edit: just re-read the e-mail. It says (my bolding):

If you requested a refund for a booking made using Qantas Points (e.g. a Classic Flight Reward or Points Plus Pay- Flight booking), please allow up to 10 business days for the Qantas Points to be credited to the nominated Frequent Flyer account in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the fare.

Why it takes Qantas up to 10 days to re-credit points, the same time they say it takes to re-credit funds into a credit card account, is a mystery.

 

[offshore171]

I have just cancelled 4 PAX reward seats for 4 separate flights SYD > HND > HEL > HND > SYD, intended for later this year. 16 seats in total. All booked through QFF scheme, but some flights operated JAL (and some QF).

Will report back on how long this all takes.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Why it takes Qantas up to 10 days to re-credit points, the same time they say it takes to re-credit funds into a credit card appoint, is a mystery.

I wonder if it's due to the nature of the relationship between Qantas Points (loyalty) and QF operations? QF ops prolly has to 'refund' QF loyalty, the same way they refund a pax paying by cash?

 

[RooFlyer]

I wonder if it's due to the nature of the relationship between Qantas Points (loyalty) and QF operations? QF ops prolly has to 'refund' QF loyalty, the same way they refund a pax paying by cash?

Good point ... there probably is an inter-company 'commercial' transaction to be unwound, but really, it should only be an overnight reconciliation

 

[sanne]

After waiting nearly 11 weeks now for my refund of taxes for award flight and emails and phone calls promising refund is being processed, I rang QF again yesterday. The person I spoke to was quite abrupt, told me it had been processed to my CC and to check with them, which I did.

AMEX confirmed there was no refund from QF. She took all the details of the original transaction and said we‘ll leave it til Friday to see if it turns up. She promised to call me on Sunday when she’s back in the office to discuss options.

So we’ll see., Has anyone else gone the credit dispute way with Qantas? I’ve done it with a cruise company with success. Am getting very frustrated at all the excessively long delays for refunds.

I‘ll be back after I have heard from AMEX.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes. I too am wondering at what point a chargeback would be reasonable?

 

[jakeseven7]

After waiting nearly 11 weeks now for my refund of taxes for award flight and emails and phone calls promising refund is being processed, I rang QF again yesterday. The person I spoke to was quite abrupt, told me it had been processed to my CC and to check with them, which I did.

AMEX confirmed there was no refund from QF. She took all the details of the original transaction and said we‘ll leave it til Friday to see if it turns up. She promised to call me on Sunday when she’s back in the office to discuss options.

So we’ll see., Has anyone else gone the credit dispute way with Qantas? I’ve done it with a cruise company with success. Am getting very frustrated at all the excessively long delays for refunds.

I‘ll be back after I have heard from AMEX.

Qantas can provide you with some form of 'remittance advice/transaction refund record' - someone will correct my words, that you can take to your bank and give them, if QF have indeed processed it on their end. I've done this before.

 

[sanne]

Thank you for that advice, Jakeseven7. I will try that if necessary.

 

[NoName]

Why it takes Qantas up to 10 days to re-credit points, the same time they say it takes to re-credit funds into a credit card appoint, is a mystery.

The whole thing is a mystery IMO. Why in 2020 does it take “8-12 weeks” to get a refund to a customer? Why isn’t this process automated so that as soon as you click the cancel button the points are back in your account and a refund made to the credit card charged at booking (or bank transfer scheduled etc) right away? Please tell me I’m missing something here but if they can fully automate the process of booking and paying then surely the same can be done for cancelling and refunding?

 

[RooFlyer]

Good point ... there probably is an inter-company 'commercial' transaction to be unwound, but really, it should only be an overnight reconciliation

Points back - 2 days this time. No cash yet, of course ...

 

[jakeseven7]

Points back - 2 days this time. No cash yet, of course ...

Well at least its not Virgin Atlantic who are taking 16 weeks to refund anyone....

 

[RooFlyer]

Well at least its not Virgin Atlantic who are taking 16 weeks to refund anyone....

Yet ... (for the money component)

 

[hopefulQFF]

Hi all,

I cancelled two J reward tickets on 18/03/2020. The first (LHR-KUL-BNE) was refunded in full (points and money) within two weeks (Qantas UK). I received my points for the outbound (BNE-HKG-LHR-ZRH) two weeks ago and the taxes yesterday. Glad I've got it but 3 months is way too long for a simple refund.

Good luck to those still waiting.

 

[Maca44]

Yesterday I 'rang QF' and cancelled my award J flights from SYD-HND, and then NRT-SEA on 3SEP and 4SEP respectively. Now that I am retired I do not have any status so had to ring the normal call centre number. Both flights were naturally booked through the QF website to use the points, but on JAL metal. Told that points should be back in account within 5 working days, BUT refund of taxes etc could take up to 8 weeks so I am basically in the same situation as others. Checked my account and booking has been removed. Luckily taxes were less than AU$300.