Made any travel mistakes lately?

[JohnK]

I'm reasonably confident that I've cancelled and refunded a red e-deal (normally non-refundable) with this policy before. Can't pull up any evidence since they don't really send you any confirmation of a refund though.

When I commuted SYD-BNE regularly I cancelled quite a few red e-deals when I'd made a mistake.

I also changed quite a few red e-deals as well. One of my tricks was to book cheap flights that were offered by Qantas website and then call and get the connection flights changed to ensure enough connection time.

I never did any of these changes/cancellations online it was all done via the call centre when there weren't issues with waiting times. But I always thought free changes were until midnight of the day you made the booking not 24 hours.

 

[dylarr]

I never did any of these changes/cancellations online it was all done via the call centre when there weren't issues with waiting times. But I always thought free changes were until midnight of the day you made the booking not 24 hours.

These are two seperate policies and they run side by side -

Same Day No Mistake is until midnight: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/manage-booking/same-day-no-mistake.html
Cancel For Any Reason is 24 hours: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/manage-booking/cancel-for-any-reason.html

 

[Flyfrequently]

My mistake was thinking this applies to any fare type booked throught the Qantas website. I had a return ticket that was for more than 30 days out and I cancelled online within 24 hours. Several weeks go by and I receive a refund for 183.96 on a 1411.86 fare.

I fill in the complaint form asking why I only received the taxes back when I met all the terms and conditions and received this back.

View attachment 324569
I check the website and clearly says you don't have to call the contact center for the 'Cancel Any Reason' policy.

View attachment 324571

I send them a screenshot of this and I receive the exact same response back.

I call Qantas customer service and the first few people I talk to weren't able to give an explanation until I was passed onto someone more experieced. She explained that the cancel for any reason policy waives the cancellation fee and as I didn't buy a flex fare, my fare had no cancellation fee to waive in the first place as it wasn't refundable.

I have read through (again) Qantas "Cancel For Any Reason" policy @TerenceM , perhaps their definition/interpretation of refund the VALUE of your flight is found in the t's & c's of your flight ie taxes only if non refundable/sale fare.
If that is the case, then misleading?
Hope you get a better resolution.

 

[Lost Redditor]

I let go of 2x SIN-SYD J for August this year because I didn't know there were lots of ways for me to get from OSL-SIN in J. Cancelled them in favor of a more tortuous route via US. I've been accumulating close to 1M points since late 2019, but only this year did I start learning about redeeming them. Should have studied up a lot more before beginning to book. I've spent 24k points and $1400 on cancellations in the last two months

Learned many expensive lessons these last few months. I blame it on baby brain - didn't really have the energy or the cognitive capacity to sort this all out before the little man turned 1. Oh well, for our next trip I will be better equipped!

 

[Mattg]

Got into a taxi without a meter and tried negotiating the price after the trip, rather than before it.

I should know better

 

[Flashback]

Got into a taxi without a meter and tried negotiating the price after the trip, rather than before it.

I should know better

Although ever that isn't a surefire way.... Vietnam (HCMC) and Thailand (Bangkok) comes to mind where a price was agreed and then more demanded on arrival.

 

[Mattg]

Although ever that isn't a surefire way.... Vietnam (HCMC) and Thailand (Bangkok) comes to mind where a price was agreed and then more demanded on arrival.

Thankfully, I did have an idea of what the “correct” fare should have been. So, even though the negotiation occurred at the destination, I was able to get the price down from 4x the market rate to double. Luckily taxis here in Uzbekistan are not expensive anyway.

 

[straitman]

Where we are in Fiji (Pacific Harbour) the fare to/from the shops is $FJ3 ($A2) and sometimes if we don't negotiate it becomes $FJ5 ($A3.30) so we don't argue too hard at those prices.

 

[kevviek]

Speaking of Vietnam...my daughter flew Air Vietnam Melb to Paris last week, with a local hop from Ho Chi Min to Hanoi along the way.

Unaware of the need for a Visa for the transit flight in Vietnam, she was told she could not board the flight in Melbourne, but conveniently the flight centre office could get an emergency visa for $500, which is only 15x the usual price.

There were about 10 other people in the queue with the same issue, and apparently this happen *every single day*. So flight centre at Melb Airport is making a roaring trade and I wonder if someone somewhere is getting a commission.....

For a uni student it was very hard for her to take, especially compared to the $600 each way flight fees, a $500 Visa destroys the whole proposition. Not sure who to complain to about this one though.

 

[sudoer]

Unaware of the need for a Visa for the transit flight in Vietnam, she was told she could not board the flight in Melbourne, but conveniently the flight centre office could get an emergency visa for $500, which is only 15x the usual price.

There were about 10 other people in the queue with the same issue, and apparently this happen *every single day*. So flight centre at Melb Airport is making a roaring trade and I wonder if someone somewhere is getting a commission.....

Looks like she paid the "super urgent" VOA fee (2-4 working hours processing time)

Vietnam Evisa vs. Vietnam visa on arrival - Which one should you choose

What are similiarities and differences between Vietnam evisa and Vietnam visa on arrival. Check out here to know which one is better for you.

vietnamconsulate-sydney.org

While I agree it would be nice for the airline to have warned her, around 25 nationalities are able to enter Vietnam without a visa - mostly Asian and European passports. I don't think there's necessarily anything untoward going on here - onus is on the traveller to do their own research etc. At least she was still able to travel and didn't need to cancel the trip.

 

[Lynda2475]

onus is on the traveller to do their own research

Homepage | Smartraveller always good to verify entry requirements if travelling on an Aussie passport

 

[Pushka]

Although ever that isn't a surefire way.... Vietnam (HCMC) and Thailand (Bangkok) comes to mind where a price was agreed and then more demanded on arrival.

Add India to the mix where they think because they took you to their mates souvenir shop (where you didn't want to even enter), they should get more than agreed. We refused and went straight to the security guy at the hotel gate. Seemed to have sorted it.

 

[kevviek]

Looks like she paid the "super urgent" VOA fee (2-4 working hours processing time)

Vietnam Evisa vs. Vietnam visa on arrival - Which one should you choose

What are similiarities and differences between Vietnam evisa and Vietnam visa on arrival. Check out here to know which one is better for you.

vietnamconsulate-sydney.org

While I agree it would be nice for the airline to have warned her, around 25 nationalities are able to enter Vietnam without a visa - mostly Asian and European passports. I don't think there's necessarily anything untoward going on here - onus is on the traveller to do their own research etc. At least she was still able to travel and didn't need to cancel the trip.

The official guide says that Visa on Arrival is possible, so why do people get forced to have one before they board in Melbourne?

 

[straitman]

The official guide says that Visa on Arrival is possible, so why do people get forced to have one before they board in Melbourne?

We have done Visa on arrival but that was over 10 years ago.

 

[Flashback]

The official guide says that Visa on Arrival is possible, so why do people get forced to have one before they board in Melbourne?

Unless its changed in the last 5 years or so, the VOA still required a pre-auth of sorts which you do online beforehand.

 

[sudoer]

The official guide says that Visa on Arrival is possible, so why do people get forced to have one before they board in Melbourne?

Which official guide are you referring to?

 

[Pushka]

The official guide says that Visa on Arrival is possible, so why do people get forced to have one before they board in Melbourne?

Because reading that info provided earlier by @sudoer, the only On Arrival bit is the stamp which is given once they've sighted all the pre arrival documentation. The VOA is not VOA at all in the usual sense.

And I'm interested because we are doing a land river cruise in Vietnam in a year or so and thus need a multi entry visa.

 

[Quickstatus]

Not sure who to complain to about this one though.

From whom did she buy the ticket from?
....
Most people that travels to another country and is not a resident of that country needs a visa to enter that country. A visa is an authorisation often conditional to enter a country

My take on visas :
Sometimes a visa is required prior to departure - (visiting a consulate and getting passport stamped or stickered). sometimes a visa is provided on arrival. Of the visas that are provided on arrival, some need a pre departure application to travel (ESTA type and get a stamp on arrival) and some don't (get a stamp on arrival or increasingly they don't). Sometimes there are bilateral arrangements which waive visa requirements. But for many of these arrangements a visa is deemed to have been give .

In all cases whether a visa is obtained or a application to travel predeparture, or a visa is provided on arrival, the final authority to enter is still given by the border officials. In other words a visa or application to enter just gets you to the border. The visa holds obviously holds more weight in your application to enter than an application to travel.

 

[randompunter]

Unless its changed in the last 5 years or so, the VOA still required a pre-auth of sorts which you do online beforehand.

Indeed, the VOA requires an approval letter that you apply for online (dare I say electronically??) so offering both this and an e-visa is quite confusing for first time tourists to Vietnam. Would be great if they could offer the e-visa for multi trips and trips > 1 month. Of course, even better would be visa-free entry like our UK friends enjoy although that is limited to a 15 day visit.

 

[Quickstatus]

even better would be visa-free entry like our UK friends enjoy although that is limited to a 15 day visit.

i dont think that is true If you are referring to UK citizens requesting entry into Australia

UK citizens travelling on UK passport seeking entry into Australia require a visa prior to arrival
Usually the free E-Visitor Visa which gives 3 months. or the ETA which is similar but not free.
its still a visa as per Immigration and Homeaffairs department

Even our NZ cousins require a Visa on arrival

Visa selection here