Need some suggestions on flight changes..

[ally203]

Hi everyone,

Currently in Iceland but want to deal with this asap..

I flew from SYD-HKG on QF which was fine, the next day I flew HKG-SIN on Jetstar Asia.. there is no way to summerise this other than it was the worst flight I have ever been on. Won't go into details at the moment but looking for solutions to avoid flying back on them. I purchased the Starter Plus ticket.

I fly back from LHR to SIN on July 10. I am supposed to get on 3K on July 13th to go back to HKG. I really do not want to.

My questions are:

1. Is it possible to get my HKG-SYD ticket rerouted? So I fly out of SIN instead.
2. Should I just book with another carrier to get back to HKG?

I would ideally like to just fly from SIN home.

Looking forward to your suggestions..

 

[harvyk]

What sort of ticket are you on? Is it a flexi \ red-e-deal or award. Also who made the booking (both on JQ and in general)?

If it is a flexi fare you may be able to get the ticket changed without too much trouble, a red-e-deal should still be possible, but a points booking would probably be difficult. You will probably need to call QF to get the full story.

Also what where the problems which you experienced with JQ (3K)? There may be tricks of the trade which can be employed so if you are forced to fly them again you can at least be prepared.

 

[ally203]

My flight SYD-HKG-SYD on QF is a sale fare which doesn't give me a lot of hope..

My flight with 3K was 4hrs.. I didn't buy these tickets on a sale or cheaply.
It was packed and they don't enforce the cabin baggage thing much I noticed.. (thankfully I had enough brains to line up early to snaffle a spot in the overhead).
I suspect it was an older plane..
There was no IFE, not even a power point. The leg room was jack all..
The plane looked run down and the girl in front of me had no arm rest at all.
The seats were hideously uncomfy.
Thankfully I got a meal with my ticket however..

It was one of those flights where you are thinking... I really want off this now. That sorta vibe.

Throw in some very bad turbulence and you can see why I don't want to go back.

 

[dajop]

My flight with 3K was 4hrs.. I didn't buy these tickets on a sale or cheaply.
It was packed and they don't enforce the cabin baggage thing much I noticed.. (thankfully I had enough brains to line up early to snaffle a spot in the overhead).
I suspect it was an older plane..
There was no IFE, not even a power point. The leg room was jack all...

I can understand why 3K would be a shock after some long haul flights, although in my experience most of their aircraft are new and very clean. Are you sure the arm rest wasn't just up (in between the seats)?

CX and SQ are alternatives - but very expensive for one-way flights. Tiger is the other option - but not too different to 3K. If it turns out to be all too difficult to change your flights, consider paying the $30SGD ($24AUD) for getting an exit row seat. It makes a huge difference to comfort, and you may find an empty seat beside you as well unless the plane is full.

I've done 4 flights on 3K in the last little while (to/from BKK and HKG) and the BKK flights were atrocious as no exit row and flights both full. SIN-HKG I had empty seat beside me, which was definitely an improvement, but HKG-SIN I paid for exit row (as the flight was booked out well before departure)- well worth the investment - it made a huge difference in comfort. Had a book and laptop for IFE and catering came courtesy of a visit to the QF lounge before the flight. All in all quite a good flight, despite bad turbulence.

 

[ally203]

Oh I am sure the arm rest was gone cos you could see where it was supposed to be attached...
Might consider the exit row seat in which case.. I had my laptop but it ran out of juice 1.5hrs from the end of the flight..

 

[dajop]

Oh I am sure the arm rest was gone cos you could see where it was supposed to be attached...
Might consider the exit row seat in which case.. I had my laptop but it ran out of juice 1.5hrs from the end of the flight..

Must have had one of their older birds then. Just replaced the battery on my laptop, used to last all of 40 mins, now extends for a full four hours. But I will preface my comments that I paid only equiv of $210 AUD for return flights SIN-HKG-SIN. (CX & SQ were both about $500 AUD return). So when paying low fares like these expectations are low, and I don't mind as much putting up with discomfort, or stumping up another $30 for the exit row.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Hi everyone,Currently in Iceland but want to deal with this asap..I flew from SYD-HKG on QF which was fine, the next day I flew HKG-SIN on Jetstar Asia.. there is no way to summerise this other than it was the worst flight I have ever been on. Won't go into details at the moment but looking for solutions to avoid flying back on them. I purchased the Starter Plus ticket. I fly back from LHR to SIN on July 10. I am supposed to get on 3K on July 13th to go back to HKG. I really do not want to. My questions are:1. Is it possible to get my HKG-SYD ticket rerouted? So I fly out of SIN instead.2. Should I just book with another carrier to get back to HKG?I would ideally like to just fly from SIN home.Looking forward to your suggestions..

So you're booked to travel on 3K SIN/HKG on Friday the 13th.......eeeekkkk!

I'm assuming you got a separate ticket ex SIN to Europe & back. I would consider doing the following in order:

1. Call the carrier you are flying with from HEL(?) to SIN & ask them what it would cost to either fly HEL/SIN/HKG ie still with a stopover in SIN as planned but flying on to HKG on 13 July or HEL/xSIN/HKG doing a transit only in SIN.

2. Ask the airline if they can reissue your ticket from HEL/SIN to HEL/HKG instead. If they were happy to do this you could leave a day or so later ex HEL unless you wanted to stay 3 nights in HKG.

3. Fly HEL/SIN as planned & buy a new ticket SIN/HKG on someone else. Call JQ to cancel the flight & ask if you can hold that amount as a credit for future travel if if that can with within Australia on JQ - not 100% sure if they will but may as well ask anyway.

4. If you had 20,000 QF ff points spare there are several available flights 13 Jul SIN/HKG on CX with using a QF partner award. You would need to pay SGD70.00 on top of the points.

Let us know what you end up doing once you get it all under control!

Good luck.

 

[ally203]

So you're booked to travel on 3K SIN/HKG on Friday the 13th.......eeeekkkk!

I'm assuming you got a separate ticket ex SIN to Europe & back. I would consider doing the following in order:

1. Call the carrier you are flying with from HEL(?) to SIN & ask them what it would cost to either fly HEL/SIN/HKG ie still with a stopover in SIN as planned but flying on to HKG on 13 July or HEL/xSIN/HKG doing a transit only in SIN.

2. Ask the airline if they can reissue your ticket from HEL/SIN to HEL/HKG instead. If they were happy to do this you could leave a day or so later ex HEL unless you wanted to stay 3 nights in HKG.

3. Fly HEL/SIN as planned & buy a new ticket SIN/HKG on someone else. Call JQ to cancel the flight & ask if you can hold that amount as a credit for future travel if if that can with within Australia on JQ - not 100% sure if they will but may as well ask anyway.

4. If you had 20,000 QF ff points spare there are several available flights 13 Jul SIN/HKG on CX with using a QF partner award. You would need to pay SGD70.00 on top of the points.

Let us know what you end up doing once you get it all under control!

Good luck.

Hi Oz,

I am flying from London Heathrow to Singapore, not Helsinki The flight back to SIN is on QF which doesn't bother me much cos I have Qantas Pub membership and I managed to score an exit row seat going to London without having to pay for it so hoping for the same on return.. nearly scored an upgrade except it was full on the upper deck otherwise the lady would have done it!

I don't wish to miss out on Singapore as I have booked 2 nights accommodation there. Hence my wanting to completely miss HKG.

I have 20000 FF pts however.. this is where it gets tricky.. I am travelling on my old name and my QF FF is in my new name. So I would have to use the call centre I would imagine should I choose to use CX. The other thing is does CX offer more than 20/23kg of luggage? Cos I know for a fact I will be over 20kg.

Sorry to complicate things

 

[harvyk]

The allowance on CX excluding to \ from the America's is 20kg. If you have QF PS or above (or OWR or above, you don't mention CX status on your profile) you get additional allowances PS = +10KG, SG = +15KG, WP = +20KG.

 

[ally203]

The allowance on CX excluding to \ from the America's is 20kg. If you have QF PS or above (or OWR or above, you don't mention CX status on your profile) you get additional allowances PS = +10KG, SG = +15KG, WP = +20KG.

Unfortunately I don't have QF PS and if I was a member of Marco Polo, I'd be the equivalent of their bronze level.

 

[Isochronous]

The allowance on CX excluding to \ from the America's is 20kg. If you have QF PS or above (or OWR or above, you don't mention CX status on your profile) you get additional allowances PS = +10KG, SG = +15KG, WP = +20KG.

CX recognise QF status for luggage now??

 

[JohnK]

Have you tried calling Qantas?

Regardless of how cheap the tickets are or whether it was on sale you can still change it for a fee and any difference in airfare.

I suspect you should be able to change the HKG-SYD leg to SIN-SYD as your ticket would then become an open jaw SYD-HKG//SIN-SYD.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

My flight SYD-HKG-SYD on QF is a sale fare which doesn't give me a lot of hope..My flight with 3K was 4hrs.. I didn't buy these tickets on a sale or cheaply.It was packed and they don't enforce the cabin baggage thing much I noticed.. (thankfully I had enough brains to line up early to snaffle a spot in the overhead).I suspect it was an older plane.. There was no IFE, not even a power point. The leg room was jack all..The plane looked run down and the girl in front of me had no arm rest at all.The seats were hideously uncomfy. Thankfully I got a meal with my ticket however..It was one of those flights where you are thinking... I really want off this now. That sorta vibe.Throw in some very bad turbulence and you can see why I don't want to go back.

Hi Oz,I am flying from London Heathrow to Singapore, not Helsinki The flight back to SIN is on QF which doesn't bother me much cos I have Qantas Pub membership and I managed to score an exit row seat going to London without having to pay for it so hoping for the same on return.. nearly scored an upgrade except it was full on the upper deck otherwise the lady would have done it!I don't wish to miss out on Singapore as I have booked 2 nights accommodation there. Hence my wanting to completely miss HKG.I have 20000 FF pts however.. this is where it gets tricky.. I am travelling on my old name and my QF FF is in my new name. So I would have to use the call centre I would imagine should I choose to use CX. The other thing is does CX offer more than 20/23kg of luggage? Cos I know for a fact I will be over 20kg.Sorry to complicate things

Unfortunately I don't have QF PS and if I was a member of Marco Polo, I'd be the equivalent of their bronze level.

The trouble with having your booking in your maiden name but freq flyer/QP in your married name is you show up as a pax with no status. While you will still receive the ff points after the event, as the name on your ff account doesn't match the name in your pnr or on you passport, your ff number will not show on your boarding pass or next to your name on the flight manifest.

It really means you have to either change the name on all your docs or none - there's no room for half measures. This can make life difficult when you are trying to get your extra baggage allowances as the system will only allow you the allowance for a regular pax with no status which would mean you're going to have to do a bit of convincing at the airport.I don't know whether CX would only offer you the QF allowance if you were connecting to QF that day ie in SIN they would tag the bags SIN CX /xHKG QF SYD. If you are only flying SIN/HKG on CX that day they may enforce their 20 kg allowance. Ditto for 3K assuming you paid for luggage allowance.

If you did end up using your ff points for a CX sector plus any assistance fee to go through the call centre, you would be almost using the same amount of points needed for a one way fare Oz to Asia.

As it's monsoon reason right now all airlines are likely to experience more turbulence than at other times of the year.

As Dajop suggested above, why just pay the extra for the emergency exit row to give yourself some more room, fully charge the laptop & watch one of your own movies or listen to some of your favourite music to pass the time.

Just chalk the 3K flights up to experience and make different choice next time although it's always worth calling QF & asking them what the cost would be if you changed your HKG/SYD to a SIN/SYD flight.

Ultimately you are the one who's flying so you have to be totally happy with the decision you make despite what we're suggesting on AFF.

 

[ally203]

Have you tried calling Qantas?

Regardless of how cheap the tickets are or whether it was on sale you can still change it for a fee and any difference in airfare.

I suspect you should be able to change the HKG-SYD leg to SIN-SYD as your ticket would then become an open jaw SYD-HKG//SIN-SYD.

I was thinking about giving that a go, might try and call them in the next day or 2 to enquire..

 

[harvyk]

CX recognise QF status for luggage now??

Yes because QF PS = OW Ruby, etc... and CX recognise One World statuses. They at least did back in 2010 when I last flew with them.

 

[mannej]

The allowance on CX excluding to \ from the America's is 20kg. If you have QF PS or above (or OWR or above, you don't mention CX status on your profile) you get additional allowances PS = +10KG, SG = +15KG, WP = +20KG.

QF status doesn't get any published luggage benefits on CX