Loss of Qantas Platinum 1 member points due to members accidental death....

[reductionist]

I wondered if part of the requirement of Qantas to provide a refund of the booked fare was for the booker of the ticket to satisfy one of a list of parameters, one of which was the death of the PAX.

I'm pretty sure the OP stated that her husband's fare was full Y. You don't need to provide a reason if you want to refund a full economy ticket (do you?)

Having said that, the colleague may not have known it was full Y. In fact, they may have next to no knowledge of the different fare types, possibly not even knowing that a fully refundable ticket even exists?

I work in a medium sized company and I'm very likely the only one there who knows about this stuff. If I passed away and they needed to refund a ticket I'm reasonably certain they'd go ahead and explain my passing to QF without too much thought as to whether or not they actually needed to or not.

Again, this is a very sad situation. P1s do spend a lot of time away from families and a lot of money with QF.

 

[amaroo]

Do any of the experts know what the T & C's say in relation to refunds ??

Not an expert however, a few years go I had to cancel an (expensive) special QF ticket due to breaking my ankle..........to get a refund I had to produce a doctors certificate stating unfit to fly. They won't joking - took three weeks for the swelling to go down before they could operate.

 

[yohy?!]

Think this thread may have run it's course - would hate to see any further upset to the OP during this difficult time, condolences on your loss OP.

 

[pshepvic]

Chapter 5: Protection of a right to personal privacyThe Privacy Act provide a statutory cause of action for
invasion of privacy. The Act contain a non-exhaustive list of the types
of invasion that fall within the cause of action. For example, an invasion of


privacy may occur where:
(a) there has been an interference with an individual’s home or family life;
(b) an individual has been subjected to unauthorised surveillance;
(c) an individual’s correspondence or private written, oral or electronic
communication has been interfered with, misused or disclosed; or
(d) sensitive facts relating to an individual’s private life have been disclosed.

http://www.privacy.gov.au/materials/types/infosheets/view/6549

15. Does the Privacy Act apply to public information about deceased persons?
No.
Information about deceased persons does not fall within the definition of personal information in the Privacy Act. So, the Privacy Act does not apply to any information, public or not, about deceased people. However, the Privacy Act could apply if the information also includes or divulges personal information about a living person.



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[fersea]

Sorry, but by saying you are offended by posts where someone is simply pointing out a fact is uncalled for. You started this post, claiming that privacy has been breached, and you asked for advice. When someone who actually has detailed knowledge of the privacy act provides an answer it would be good to listen to what they have to say. Whilst you personally may feel that privacy has been breached, under Australian law it hasn't.

As far as my occupation goes, that is irrelevant. You don't need to be a lawyer to have an understanding of the privacy act. A 30 second google search to find the specific page on the privacy website confirmed my understanding.


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Very well said. I find on this forum there are too many posts that say "I think this" or "I was hard done by here" and as soon as someone disagrees with them they are offended. If you come here looking for advice you have to accept that the advice may not be what you want to hear.

 

[harvyk]

Just out of interest, have you sort actual legal advice? No so much on the points front, but because your husband died on a work trip, the company (and not travel insurance) may be liable for certain things.
I personally would be speaking with a lawyer asap, as you don't want to leave things to chance IMHO...

Besides they would also be able to state for a 100% fact if the privacy act is still relevant in the case of a deceased person and / or what affects that may have on a persons next of kin far better than a group of anonymous internet forum posters, most of which love arguing legal stuff, but in reality (myself included) don't really know the first thing...

 

[legroom]

Very well said. I find on this forum there are too many posts that say "I think this" or "I was hard done by here" and as soon as someone disagrees with them they are offended. If you come here looking for advice you have to accept that the advice may not be what you want to hear.

Kathleen01

Condolences to you & your family.

My simple 2-cent thought is this: be wary, in fact, very wary of any "advisers" who make it a mission to agree to your point of view.

Their thoughts may not be about your situation - it may totally be about the impending rolls of invoices.

You are aggrieved, no doubt.

You are confused, maybe.

But all of us here are offering you what we think is right for you - with supporting facts / experience.

After some $400K going up in smoke after listening to specialist legal advice, I wish someone had pointed this simple pearl out to me earlier.

In my case, he pointed out - after I made an official complaint to the Legal Services Commissioner - that his initial letter had a small footnote "no responsibility taken for any advice".

The consensus here on this thread on what you could / should consider is overwhelming.

You are free to accept or reject but please do not claim any offence against anyone here who is kind enough to pen a few lines to help you.

Regards

 

[harvyk]

In my case, he pointed out - after I made an official complaint to the Legal Services Commissioner - that his initial letter had a small footnote "no responsibility taken for any advice".

Yeah, talk about weasel words... I wonder how binding / enforceable that really is? I'm pretty sure that if you pay for advice, the adviser is required to provide the best advise possible for a person in your situation, and I also suspect that any risks involved in following said advice should be clearly spelled out during the consultation, and I also suspect that a little foot note doesn't really wash a lawyers hands of this requirement. To have a foot note stating "if we get it wrong, tough luck" on the bottom of one of their letters, whilst it may be legal, I suspect it's probably not overly ethical. That said, who is really going to take on a solicitor at their own game?

 

[legroom]

Yeah, talk about weasel words... I wonder how binding / enforceable that really is? I'm pretty sure that if you pay for advice, the adviser is required to provide the best advise possible for a person in your situation, and I also suspect that any risks involved in following said advice should be clearly spelled out during the consultation, and I also suspect that a little foot note doesn't really wash a lawyers hands of this requirement. To have a foot note stating "if we get it wrong, tough luck" on the bottom of one of their letters, whilst it may be legal, I suspect it's probably not overly ethical. That said, who is really going to take on a solicitor at their own game?

It may be off topic here but yes, I did "take on a solicitor at their own game" by going to the Legal Services Commissioner who very smoothly accepted his footnote as sufficient warning - "buyer beware", in other words.

That guy I engaged used to be a judge, of all things !!!!

That's why I raised this issue to Kathleen01 as she can always, yes always, find some heavily credentialed adviser(s) who will happily dish out what she wants to hear - in exchange for fat invoices.

Whether or not the advice is worth the ink is another matter.

 

[fersea]

Another issues is there is a register of births deaths and marriages. This is public information. Therefore I would question how anyone informing anyone of a birth death or marriage can breach the privacy act.

 

[munitalP]

Sometimes it's better to say nothing.

I think this would apply to many posts in this thread.

 

[ashleyn]

Sometimes it's better to say nothing.

I think this would apply to many posts in this thread.

Very true munitalP but the OP did ask for advice from the forum. Have to take the good with the bad I'm afraid. I'm sure every poster meant well, just a very tricky topic.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

As someone else mentioned earlier what is stopping me from contacting Qantas and advising them random AFF member has passed so please close their account without any verification whatsoever? Last names and/or QFF numbers are available all over the place (seat pockets are a major source!)

If privacy does go when one passes does this mean I can request personal information about someone who is deceased?

 

[pshepvic]

If privacy does go when one passes does this mean I can request personal information about someone who is deceased?

Yes it does. Whether a company chooses to give it to you is up to them though, many companies won't, but under the privacy act that information is no longer covered.


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[mannej]

This is really a terrible situation, and I really do feel for the OP.

However, there has been the indication that the OP did repatriate the body with QF, so QF may have been aware of the death even before the company had mentioned it, add to that with the Death notice in the paper, it is a bit hard to hit the company up for breach of privacy (with or without the implications of the privacy act).

It is hard to see if QF acted without any written confirmation of the death, or just acted on the advise of the call. If it is the latter, then questions do need to be asked.

Anyone in Sydney willing to take this case on for me against Qantas Amex and US company?

It amazes me that when a member comes on here to ask for advice, yet it is not the advice they are after, they start along the lines of taking offense and you must work for that airline (or similar comments). Please take the comments on here as what they are worth. It is a public forum, and the advice should not be taken as professional in any way shape or form.

It is a terrible situation to be in, however I would be looking outside of this forum for professional advice.

 

[oz_mark]

If privacy does go when one passes does this mean I can request personal information about someone who is deceased?

Depends on what you are asking for and who you are asking. You may still have restrictions based on confidentiality provisions which may live on, and individual companies may still have policies to restrict what thay will release.

The OP would probably be best served by finding a qualified legal practitioner to determine if there is an avenue to recover the lost points.

 

[Pushka]

I recall when my mother in law, who was in receipt of a super fund pension died, the super fund contacted us within a couple of days of death to advise us of the cancellation. We hadn't notified them but they check the death notices in the public section of the papers. So there are no privacy concerns where death notices are published.

I am sorry for the loss of your husband.

 

[straitman]

I recall when my mother in law, who was in receipt of a super fund pension died, the super fund contacted us within a couple of days of death to advise us of the cancellation. We hadn't notified them but they check the death notices in the public section of the papers. So there are no privacy concerns where death notices are published.

I am sorry for the loss of your husband.

...or in the case of ComSuper as I have just found out. Births, deaths and Marriages notify them as a matter of course.

 

[Pushka]

I suspect that death is a matter of public record and anyone has access to information. It is the circumstances surrounding the death that may be subject to privacy issues.

 

[cove]

Early on in this thread there was a suggestion of calling the P1 desk to negotiate flights with those points over 12 months.
That was the best idea but it means we should then never know the outcome as it would not be appropriate that anyone else gets to hear about what would be a good news story but not totally in accordance with the rule book.
Typically that is the approach I take when I am helping a widow get to Yes when something has not gone too well. I am not a lawyer but I believe a fair negotiation is possible.