So this new ticket escalation service is quite the hero, even if QF shouldn't need it.
Within a day, and on a Saturday no less, I received a ticket (not a reservation or travel document or whatever) confirming our original date and time. Happy with that outcome however we now have to make our own way between DXB and AUH. Not the end of the world but we did like the idea of the surface segment being included, one less thing to pay for and worry about.
It's great to see that QF escalation team put in the effort to sort this one out. Whilst not the outcome you had hoped for, having done the whole DXB to Abu Dhabi transfer before I can tell you that taxi/Uber is the best way to go (especially if EK doesn't offer a chauffeur service to Abu Dhabi).
It remains a mystery as to why it offered the destination and then couldn't be ticketed.
AUH is a valid destination, though that's what I must stress! You're telling me you can't fly BA or IB from Europe to AUH? Where the issue lies is that surface sector and why QF can't properly ticket that, and again, it's not your fault for booking that flight since how are you supposed to know that an option QF provides is invalid, particularly if you end up with an eTicket at the end? Again, I consider this a surprise since a bus connection is an air connection regardless of what the airlines tell us. IATA/ICAO have made this policy for quite some time with individual bus and train stations
having their own airport codes in addition to the countless airlines who offer surface sector connections from the airport. To give yet another example in Canada, Via Rail and Air Canada have a
re-protection agreement whereby if an AC flight gets cancelled, you can take that ticket over to a Via Rail station and hop on a train to your destination. And for those mentioning the SNCF/Air France partnership, yes
they've got one!
It could be removed from/changed in the system as quickly as it takes to say "Taiwan is not separate country".
I think there are some on this forum that would make the argument that China is a different country from PRC.
Anyway, great recovery but still need to fix the reasons for getting into the mess in the first place. Also glad we don't have to worry about EU261, if applicable. I'm sure
@kangarooflyer88 could set up a decent side hustle acting for affected pax
I'm out of the EU261 game (for now!). What I will tell everyone on this forum is please use cancellations and flight changes to your advantage. Every time an airline cancels a flight on me it brings a big smile to my face since I can now force the airline to give me the routing/flight I always wanted at no cost to me. The key thing people need to understand are what are their rights as a passenger. I know in Australia, consumer rights when it comes to air travel are virtually non-existent, but there are still some principles you can use to get what you need, especially if travelling between countries!
But in a case where an airline fails to ticket on their own metal/flight I’d say the valid reservation is created as soon as you have the PNR and you have paid, regardless of whether or not the airline sends something. It has to work that way otherwise no one would book an airline if it could put a ticket in a queue, then claim you didn’t have a reservation.
Correct. An eTicket number or PNR generally means you're good to go. Sure there might be those rare instances where you have an error fare where the price is too low, but in a situation like this with a valid origin, destination and price, I'd be surprised if QF could make any argument that they were allowed to break out of the agreement. And again to reiterate, Abu Dhabi is a valid destination, you can book flights with QF all day long to Abu Dhabi - they've got an airport and a number of OneWorld airlines fly there! Where something may be invalid are these opaque ticketing rules where there cannot be a surface sector, which again any layperson (which I think a judge would look at) would not have any reasonable expectation of knowing when booking.
I suspect common sense would prevail. Generally an e-ticket is issued.
Never take common sense for granted at QF!
It would be interesting what ticketing processes would be established by Qantas if they were subject to 261/2004 type regulation within Oz.
That's something Australia desperately needs is an EU261 like regulation. It will push prices down even further and result in more punctual flights. How do I know? Just look at the EU where they have tons of budget airlines selling tickets for as little as a Euro to numerous destinations, yet they are still on the hook for EU261. Consequently they have to run a good operation. They can't have none of this nonsense deferring maintenance as JQ and QF have done in the past resulting in planes breaking down and stranding passengers in DPS or elsewhere.
