Monumental Stuff up by Qantas

[Jack_OC]

I humbly disagree that there is a greater downside to breaking the QF shackles here. But it depends on how wedded the OP is to chasing points, award flights, upgrades, etc. And how profoundly disgusted she is with QF. For me, I was not heavily into the former (but still 'hooked'), and extremely fed up with QF. With that mindset, a change of alliance to Star (and a single-alliance mindset rather than single-airline mindset), plus a BFOD mentality, made me a much happier flyer. And mostly my international flight options are vastly increased compared to the contracted QF network. The feeling that I was being ripped off / suckered / addicted every time I stepped on a (QF) plane was gone. I do sometimes fly domestically with QF if it suits me, but that would cease if VA joined Star.

Okay, but by your own admission you have not decided to "never to do business with Qantas again", which is what you suggested to the OP. Just to be clear, I certainly wasn't suggesting that the OP should "shackle" herself to QF - just that she would be very unwise to rule QF/partners out.

If you're just suggesting that the OP should give preference to other airlines as long as she doesn't lose out by doing so, that's absolutely fair enough.

The fact is, it has become much harder to earn SQ/VA points in recent times (primarily due to credit card changes), so I would say completely ruling out QFF as a way to get award flights would be a very big call to make.

QF/partners also offer some routes that are not available with VA/*A etc, and believe it or not, there are times when QF has the cheapest fares. I know that it can often be the other way around too, but you say you have a BFOD mentality, and the concept of excluding any airline/alliance from your options is completely inconsistent with a BFOD mentality. I have to book work flights on a BFOD basis (to an extent - i.e. I can ignore LCCs), and the amount of travel I have done with QF in recent years has increased dramatically, from almost none a couple of years back to enough to get me to Platinum now. Plus of course if you were adhering to BFOD in the strict sense, it would be relatively hard to completely avoid JQ.

I would stick to my previous advice - don't cut yourself off from a whole raft of options over a grudge. It's just not worth it, and the airline won't care.

 

[drron]

Actually cutting myself off QF opened up a whole raft of better options.F awards on SQ,ANA,TG.LTP on AA giving me a higher percentage of F awards/upgrades and now approaching gold with BAEC.And virtually all awards with the others cheaper than the QF option.

 

[Jack_OC]

Actually cutting myself off QF opened up a whole raft of better options.F awards on SQ,ANA,TG.LTP on AA giving me a higher percentage of F awards/upgrades and now approaching gold with BAEC.And virtually all awards with the others cheaper than the QF option.

But cutting yourself off from QF wouldn't have changed what awards were available with other programs. Perhaps you never looked at other programs before deciding to avoid QF, but if so that was just a choice you made. You could just as easily have remained open to using QF and considered all other options at the same time, which is all I am suggesting that the OP does. I certainly have no particular loyalty to QF - I just use them to the extent that it's in my interests to do so.

BTW, I very much doubt if many people in Australia could achieve those status levels with AA and/or BA, especially while boycotting QF, so I have to assume that your travel patterns are not exactly typical. Based on the OP's comments, it seems pretty unlikely that your circumstances are in any way comparable to hers, so I suspect that focussing on AA or BA would not be a good option for her.

Additionally, earning AA/BA points via credit cards/other methods is extremely difficult for most Australians, and as I said, earning SQ/VA points is now much harder than it was - much to my disappointment, as I have relied heavily on SQ awards over the past 6 or 7 years.

 

[JohnM]

I just made FF redemption booking online at QF to fly (the notoriously touchy for ensuring bookings stick) QR EZE-xDOH-PER in April next year. The advice in the booking confirmation is clear. The E-ticket lobbed in within a few minutes. Printed, checked and re-checked.

Now to select seats.

 

[drron]

Actually it was much easier to get awards through Aadvantage than QFF even on a couple of occasions when mrsdrron couldn't as a WP get awards with QFF I could using AA.Then of course there were the fuel fines.most of my AA F awards the total taxes etc was $US5.60.
And I find it much easier getting to gold with BAEC than WP on QFF.The only difficult part is 4 BA flights.Hint-look at flights to Asia and what SCs you earn on partner airlines with QFF.

 

[Jack_OC]

Actually it was much easier to get awards through Aadvantage than QFF even on a couple of occasions when mrsdrron couldn't as a WP get awards with QFF I could using AA.Then of course there were the fuel fines.most of my AA F awards the total taxes etc was $US5.60.
And I find it much easier getting to gold with BAEC than WP on QFF.The only difficult part is 4 BA flights.Hint-look at flights to Asia and what SCs you earn on partner airlines with QFF.

I'm not disputing that it's easier to redeem through Aadvantage, or that the fuel fines are much lower. However, that is completely irrelevant unless you have the means to accrue enough points with Aadvantage in the first place, and most Australians would find that very difficult IMHO. For example, my wife and I have accrued more than 600,000 QFF points between us in the last 12 months, but only 90,000 of those were earned through flying. I don't think we could have accrued anything like an equivalent number of points with Aadvantage.

It might also be easier for you to get Gold with BAEC than Platinum with QFF. However, I very much doubt if the same is true for most people in Australia. I fly a fair bit, including regularly to the UK, but I have not taken 4 flights with BA within a year in a long time.

Furthermore, your ability to take advantage of Aadvantage (pun intended!) and or BAEC is almost certainly hindered by a decision to boycott QF. So even if you are better off with Aadvantage/BAEC from a loyalty program perspective, it still makes no sense to boycott QF when it comes to who you actually fly with.

Finally, I think the idea of moving business to AA or BA to avoid poor service is a strange one. Talk about out of the frying pan but into the fire!

 

[Jack_OC]

I just made FF redemption booking online at QF to fly (the notoriously touchy for ensuring bookings stick) QR EZE-xDOH-PER in April next year. The advice in the booking confirmation is clear. The E-ticket lobbed in within a few minutes. Printed, checked and re-checked.

Now to select seats.

View attachment 128148

It would be interesting to know if the confirmation email received by the OP was the same as this one.

 

[BettyB]

I would stick to my previous advice - don't cut yourself off from a whole raft of options over a grudge. It's just not worth it, and the airline won't care.

Very well said. Too many people do this without thinking how it hurts them.

 

[drron]

Well Jack you are wrong.You have no idea who I am or what I do with my loyalty schemes.Yes it is not easy now to get lots of miles to AA but in the day Diners,Amex via SPG was a great option.I managed to rack up 1 million points in just under 18 months to lock in my LTP before AA changed the rules.And that was without any manufactured spending or sign on bonuses.
I get better service flying AA premium cabins in general than I do on QF-basically I have to use them domestically.And BA F service is at least on par with QF J and besides is cheaper than QF J.Hence my ability to get to BAEC gold easier than QF WP.

 

[RichardMEL]

Just as an aside flight centre were refusing to give someone an eticket printout saying that they didn't need it. Needless to say I insisited that the person keep pushing the issue and eventually they got it. That person won't be going back there!!

And there's a reason they are known as Fright Centre.

Isn't it funny the agent there telling the CUSTOMER they don't need something they've reasonably requested. Now sure, if I asked for a print of my actual GDS PNR they might reasonably tell me to go jump, but an eticket receipt? There's probably a law someplace about having to provide such things full stop....

Again... Fright Centre.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Actually it was much easier to get awards through Aadvantage than QFF even on a couple of occasions when mrsdrron couldn't as a WP get awards with QFF I could using AA.Then of course there were the fuel fines.most of my AA F awards the total taxes etc was $US5.60.

And I find it much easier getting to gold with BAEC than WP on QFF.The only difficult part is 4 BA flights.Hint-look at flights to Asia and what SCs you earn on partner airlines with QFF.

As BA codeshare with QF domestically it's possible to knock off the 4 x BA 'squiggles' with an AU return to SIN eg ex BNE BA x/SYD BA SIN vv or your domestic city of choice.

 

[drron]

As BA codeshare with QF domestically it's possible to knock off the 4 x BA 'squiggles' with an AU return to SIN eg ex BNE BA x/SYD BA SIN vv or your domestic city of choice.

You need to read my TRs.

 

[Jack_OC]

Well Jack you are wrong.

Wrong about what?

You have no idea who I am or what I do with my loyalty schemes.

I never suggested otherwise. FWIW, I have absolutely no interest in who you are, or what you do.

Yes it is not easy now to get lots of miles to AA but in the day Diners,Amex via SPG was a great option.I managed to rack up 1 million points in just under 18 months to lock in my LTP before AA changed the rules.And that was without any manufactured spending or sign on bonuses.
I get better service flying AA premium cabins in general than I do on QF-basically I have to use them domestically.And BA F service is at least on par with QF J and besides is cheaper than QF J.Hence my ability to get to BAEC gold easier than QF WP.

So you actually agree with me that AA is not likely to be a viable alternative for the OP? And you now admit that you do not actually boycott QF? What point are you trying to make?

As BA codeshare with QF domestically it's possible to knock off the 4 x BA 'squiggles' with an AU return to SIN eg ex BNE BA x/SYD BA SIN vv or your domestic city of choice.

As it happens I was aware of that, but this isn't necessarily an easy thing to do!

 

[burmans]

I'm not disputing that it's easier to redeem through Aadvantage, or that the fuel fines are much lower. However, that is completely irrelevant unless you have the means to accrue enough points with Aadvantage in the first place, and most Australians would find that very difficult IMHO. For example, my wife and I have accrued more than 600,000 QFF points between us in the last 12 months, but only 90,000 of those were earned through flying. I don't think we could have accrued anything like an equivalent number of points with Aadvantage.

I've got 1.2M with AA, my wife and daughters had about 300K each (had because they recently booked award flights). 0 of these were from flights. Now sure some were left over USDM buy/share miles but I got these by multiple methods, including referrals, Amex MR to SPG to AA.

I've also managed to earn and burn nearly a million SQ miles over the last few years and almost none were from flying.

My point, it is possible as an Australian to earn points on different airlines, this is not an opinion as I have actually done it. The hardest thing is getting past the initial "its all too hard" mentality, this very forum has many, many clues as to how to get these points if you want to achieve this.

 

[serfty]

Comments such as these are unnecessary.

[moderator hat]

This thread has been pruned in relation to posting that was unhelpful.

Please abide by the forum rules.​

[/moderator hat]

 

[Jack_OC]

I've got 1.2M with AA, my wife and daughters had about 300K each (had because they recently booked award flights). 0 of these were from flights. Now sure some were left over USDM buy/share miles but I got these by multiple methods, including referrals, Amex MR to SPG to AA.

I've also managed to earn and burn nearly a million SQ miles over the last few years and almost none were from flying.

My point, it is possible as an Australian to earn points on different airlines, this is not an opinion as I have actually done it. The hardest thing is getting past the initial "its all too hard" mentality, this very forum has many, many clues as to how to get these points if you want to achieve this.

I don’t think I said it was impossible or “too hard”. Just that it’s harder than with QFF as things stand. I have spent a fair bit of time researching options and concluded that I would find it difficult if not impossible earn the equivalent of 600k points in a 12 month period with any other program right now. Things like QF Assure, Epicure, and other random QFF partners offer substantial earning opportunities that can’t easily be redirected elsewhere, while QFF credit card bonuses/earn rates have not been decimated to the same extent as others. I still collect Velocity and KF points too though, primarily to get SQ awards.

Anyway, I think this has strayed OT. I got into this particular discussion in response to a suggestion that the OP should refuse to do any further business with QF. I still think that would be a bad decision, but just to stress again that I’m not saying she should be married to QF either. I’m just saying she should keep her options open, rather than engaging in any futile attempt to teach QF a lesson.

If you disagree with that, fair enough - happy to agree to disagree.

 

[Sheenaec7]

Thanks for sharing your experience and I hope Qantas take your complaint seriously. From your original post, can you please tell me what "QFF Flyer Solutions" is?

I was left standing at a QANTAS check-in desk in Singapore with my daughter (then 9) holding a printed out QANTAS booking for onward flights back to Australia. I had booked months prior and provided a credit card which had been rejected and accordingly e-tickets were never issued. Of course I learnt my lesson big time and now triple check everything BUT if QANTAS had sent me an email or any kind of notification that my payment had failed then I would have fixed it. Can't help wondering why QANTAS don't do this? Even if an automated advice: "Your booking has been cancelled for the following reason.... please contact....".

Exactly! they told me on the phone last week that they cancelled it in October last year. So, why don't they send you an email clearly stating that??? And why send an email in Jan this year telling me of a time change to that flight???

 

[Sheenaec7]

I went to Cuba in 2016 and all I worried about was having enough money. So much so, I found an ATM in Havana that would dispense cash on one of my cards and noted the location. I figured worst case scenario a taxi would take me there and I could get cash. I also made sure I hade euros left over as I could easily change them back at home or use them on my next trip.

Of course rechecking flights is also something I do and you should be able to see all the one world bookings when you log onto your frequent flyer account.

Anyway I'd argue that Qantas probably stuffed up to some degree, but it was avoidable also. That said I'm very well travelled and I always take precautions, even as I write this from Riga in Latvia, a fairly easy place to get around, I have about 100 Euros in cash I'm trying to not use, just in case. However, I've met other intrepid travellers who feel everything will work out eventually and ing it far too much for my liking! I'm sure you were, however, thinking everything was fine and planned.

I was detained in China once and I know you don't think straight and just take whatever option it is to get out of there, but you probably could have flown to Panama city cheaper and then looked at onward flights to Madrid perhaps.

I'm not sure you'll get much out of Qantas, because it should have been clear to you there was no ticket issued. Anyway, I hope over time you'll look back at the whole situation as an experience and maybe even laugh about it. I know I do with some of my more horrific experiences over the years. Now I better get going I'm off to the bus station to go to Tallinn and worried my online ticket purchase may have issues as I can't print it out!

Thanks for your response. I hope you got to Tallinn with no hiccups. I'll definitely being hanging on to more Euros next time l go to Cuba ;-)

 

[Sheenaec7]

What a strange question and post after seven pages of fairly detailed discussion and explanation. Something for nothing? A freebie? Wow.

Yes, l was a bit stunned by that one as well. I normally do everything in my power NOT to sabotage my own travel

 

[Sheenaec7]

Not trying to defend QF here or to criticise the OP, but just to add to the advice for future reference - problems with ticketing award flights on partner airlines are not at all unusual. In fact, sometimes there can even be problems ticketing much more straightforward bookings.

In an ideal world you should be able to book online (or on the phone) and then forget about it until you show up at the airport, but in reality you should never do that.

You always must ensure that you have a ticket (not just booking confirmation) for every flight that you plan to take, and I would also strongly recommend checking your booking online in the lead up to the flight (at regular intervals if you book a long time in advance, but at a minimum a few days before travel, so you have time to sort alternative arrangements out if necessary). If nothing else, it's worth doing this to make sure you haven't lost your pre-selected seats, or missed a notification about a schedule change - and these are things that can easily happen even if your flight is ticketed properly in the first place.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience anyway, but hopefully with what you know now you won't be left in a similar situation in future.

EDIT: PS - did you ever get any kind of email confirmation from QF saying that the flights had been booked (not necessarily ticketed)? In my experience, when I have made award bookings and they have taken a while to ticket, I have received no email confirmation whatsoever until ticketing takes place - even though the (unticketed) booking shows up online.

I thought l had responded to this days ago but can't find it now. Yes, l received an email booking confirmation with a booking number, flight times and stating the amount of points deducted and fees charged.