Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Sale]

To and from Aus QR only allow married segments to transit at DOH, the other option is to make DOH a stopover.

That was my problem - i didn't realise that (and now i finally understand what a married segment actually means - thank you!).

Anyway, flukeing a Hobart agent who knew it saved me giving up and booking a Doha stopover, because I would never otherwise have thought of cancelling the IST-DOH leg. None of the seven morning OS agents realised it or even looked to see what the problem was - just kept telling me that the flights were sold etc.

 

[Danger]

Re: saving money, the proportion of calls regarding complex award itineraries (OWA) is surely rather small. Wouldn't most calls be about refunds or cancellations/delays - rebooking PAX from these flights should be fairly simple (even for poorly trained agents?). Managing refund calls is easy as it's just fobbing off the caller by telling them they are in the queue.

I think we overestimate how rubbish the support is in this thread because everyone here is trying to get 10 segments on different partners ticketed, rather than trying to rebook their SYD-MEL because it was canceled.

Not saying it's not adding up for QF, but good to remember we are in the (small) minority.

I don't recall reports of these issues pre-covid, however. Without giving it too much though, my thinking is the onshore agents are gone and Qantas is now playing catch-up with poorly or simply incompetent offshore staff.

In my last 9 calls to Qantas as a platinum, only 1 was answered onshore. In my recent call, Dolly in Cape Town told me my flex Y ticket was 100% refundable, yet when I click on the fare conditions of the ticket in my booking, it says, "Refund permitted. A cancellation fee of AUD $99 per person applies for bookings." In the call immediately prior to that, Ilana in Suva told me that if I wanted to cancel the reservation and keep it in credit with Qantas, I would need to rebook in at least the flex category or higher. That's not the rule, of course; you simply need to book a fare of equal or higher value.

Call my crazy but understanding how to read fare rules is probably something that should be taught before graduating to real customers.

But from the QF perspective, how will they ever get better if they aren't allowed to deal with these calls? And we are not the most loyal customers who they need to retain - those are the Plats who do get access to the better trained, better equipped agents.

As Lynda2475 said, train them properly in the first place. When frequent flyer seats can be as rare as hens' teeth, there's simply too much to lose.

Email to QFFF.

And good luck with a response. My most recent email is now at the 14-week mark and not a whisper other than the automated reference.

 

[cathalm8]

Hi Guys, I have an economy rewards booking as per the below screenshot. This was the one of the only rewards flights I could find at short notice after my Business reward flight was cancelled recently (another story).

I have checked the first flight number QF489 Syd-Melb on flightradar24 - Live Flight Tracker - Real-Time Flight Tracker Map | Flightradar24 and here on planemapper - QF489 Flight Tracker-Sydney to Melbourne (Qantas Airways QF 489)-PlaneMapper.

Unfortunately this domestic Qantas flight has been cancelled 5 out of the last 8 times it was scheduled. This worries me a lot. If QF489 is cancelled then I may/will miss the Qatar international flight.

I am now wondering the following:

If this flight is cancelled are Qantas obligated to get me on another flight so I can make the Qatar international flight from Melbourne?

If they cancel it will the remaining Qatar flights still remain intact and I can make my own way to Melbourne?

If they cancel the QF489 flight last minute while at the airport then there will be little chance I will get to Melbourne in time anyway. I am just wondering what are Qantas's obligations if they cancel the QF489 domestic flight from Syd to Melbourne?

There is such high demand and low supply for flights going in this direction at the start of July. Its almost unprecedented which makes me even more nervous.

Thanks for any advice, itinerary below:

 

[ozflier]

Hi, you confirm what a lot of us realise - award flights are few and far between at the moment and in the short to medium term future.
I would be concerned with your SYD-MEL connection - in the current flying environment , it is too tight at least from the hold baggage getting there point of view.
I would look at paying for an earlier flight to give you some more wriggle room if delays occur.
I would not be too confident Qantas would or could find alternative flights to get you thru to Dublin in a timely fashion if you didn't make Melbourne on time.

 

[vetrade]

cathalm8, like ozflier I'd be concerned at your present arrangements.
QF has disruptions / cancellations occurring ATM because flight crew are regularly unavailable at short notice because of Covid and isolating rules.
Then there's you luggage in MEL...........a 1hr 30min transit time in MEL isn't enough. Melbourne is one of the airports struggling with a lack of baggage handlers so your luggage is at risk of not making the Doha flight even if you do - and keep in mind that you're flying during a very busy school holiday period.

In these Covid times 90 minute connection times are risky anywhere so I'd look for any alternative to get yourself on an earlier award flight to MEL, even if that meant flying the day before and overnighting there. I wouldn't just pay for an earlier flight because if you're a no-show on your award flight you risk the rest of your itinerary being cancelled.

 

[cathalm8]

cathalm8, like ozflier I'd be concerned at your present arrangements.
QF has disruptions / cancellations occurring ATM because flight crew are regularly unavailable at short notice because of Covid and isolating rules.
Then there's you luggage in MEL...........a 1hr 30min transit time in MEL isn't enough. Melbourne is one of the airports struggling with a lack of baggage handlers so your luggage is at risk of not making the Doha flight even if you do - and keep in mind that you're flying during a very busy school holiday period.

In these Covid times 90 minute connection times are risky anywhere so I'd look for any alternative to get yourself on an earlier award flight to MEL, even if that meant flying the day before and overnighting there. I wouldn't just pay for an earlier flight because if you're a no-show on your award flight you risk the rest of your itinerary being cancelled.

Thanks for your responses. If I find an earlier reward flight are you suggesting that I replace the existing reward flight to Melbourne with it? There is an earlier rewards flightgoing at 6am that morning so I would have a full day in Melbourne. Is it possible to replace the existing rewards flight with that flight? And if I did would I need to collect my bags and re-check-in for the international Qatar flight?

 

[vetrade]

Thanks for your responses. If I find an earlier reward flight are you suggesting that I replace the existing reward flight to Melbourne with it? There is an earlier rewards flightgoing at 6am that morning so I would have a full day in Melbourne. Is it possible to replace the existing rewards flight with that flight? And if I did would I need to collect my bags and re-check-in for the international Qatar flight?

In your circumstances I'd definitely take the 6am flight. We fly OS from SYD soon and have chosen to fly from MEL the day before to avoid the same type of delay or cancellation risks you are facing. Half a day sitting around MEL airport isn't ideal but it will give you peace of mind.
Normally I'd expect your bags to be interlined but I'm not sure whether you'd have to collect them in MEL and re-check them nowadays. I would suggest that you ask someone at the SYD check-in counter, but you'd probably struggle to find anyone these days. Hopefully someone on this thread who knows for sure can chime in with the answer.

 

[flapper]

Thanks for your responses. If I find an earlier reward flight are you suggesting that I replace the existing reward flight to Melbourne with it? There is an earlier rewards flightgoing at 6am that morning so I would have a full day in Melbourne. Is it possible to replace the existing rewards flight with that flight? And if I did would I need to collect my bags and re-check-in for the international Qatar flight?

If it's less than 24 hours it is considered as transit so bags can be checked through to final destination. I have had overnight transits and bags were always checked to final destination.

 

[kctt]

7th call to Cape Town: No wait time. Agent asked me to provide details of itinerary for verification purpose
Ticket is not issued 48 hours after 6th call
I told him previous agent put my booking in queue to be ticketed in 24-48 hours but it did not happen.
I asked him to get in touch with support or ticket team to get the ticket issued. He replied saying travel is not imminent so he's not allowed to phone ticket team. He will save some change and put booking in ticket queue and it should be processed in 48 hours.
At the end of the call, a QANTAS ITINERARY email sent from [email protected] to my email with details of flight in text format.
I'm wondering if ticket process is automatic or someone in ticket team has to review and issue ticket?

8th call to Fiji on Monday 27/6: about 30 minutes waiting in queue. Agent got my booking details from input QFF number and did not ask anything for verification.
I asked what's the status of my booking when previous agent said it will be ticketed in 24-48 hours.
Agent checked with Support and said it's in queue to be processed. Travel is not imminent so booking is still in queue. Ticket should be completed this week. She will check everyday and will give me a call back before the end of this week or when ticket is issued.

 

[cathalm8]

In your circumstances I'd definitely take the 6am flight. We fly OS from SYD soon and have chosen to fly from MEL the day before to avoid the same type of delay or cancellation risks you are facing. Half a day sitting around MEL airport isn't ideal but it will give you peace of mind.
Normally I'd expect your bags to be interlined but I'm not sure whether you'd have to collect them in MEL and re-check them nowadays. I would suggest that you ask someone at the SYD check-in counter, but you'd probably struggle to find anyone these days. Hopefully someone on this thread who knows for sure can chime in with the answer.

If I did go down on the 6am flight would there be anything stopping me leaving the airport, and going into Melbourne and then coming back later for the flight?

 

[jeza]

Thanks for your responses. If I find an earlier reward flight are you suggesting that I replace the existing reward flight to Melbourne with it? There is an earlier rewards flightgoing at 6am that morning so I would have a full day in Melbourne. Is it possible to replace the existing rewards flight with that flight? And if I did would I need to collect my bags and re-check-in for the international Qatar flight?

@cathalm8 sorry to read that your J flights were cancelled.

When you booked the flights was it booked as 1 single flight SYD-MEL-DOH-DUB or 2 separate flights? ie Flight 1 SYD-MEL Flight 2 MEL-DOH-DUB

If it was booked as a single flight then Married Segments may be an issue.

What are Married Segments?

Image: Adobe Stock. If you've ever booked a flight, chances are you've come across the issue of "married segments". But what are they, and how do they

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[vetrade]

If I did go down on the 6am flight would there be anything stopping me leaving the airport, and going into Melbourne and then coming back later for the flight?

Can do that if you wanted.

 

[cathalm8]

@cathalm8 sorry to read that your J flights were cancelled.

When you booked the flights was it booked as 1 single flight SYD-MEL-DOH-DUB or 2 separate flights? ie Flight 1 SYD-MEL Flight 2 MEL-DOH-DUB

If it was booked as a single flight then Married Segments may be an issue.

What are Married Segments?

Image: Adobe Stock. If you've ever booked a flight, chances are you've come across the issue of "married segments". But what are they, and how do they

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Hi I booked it online as one single flight booking. Does that mean I could have problems replacing the first flight between Sydney and Melbourne?

 

[vetrade]

...........If it was booked as a single flight then Married Segments may be an issue.

What are Married Segments?

Image: Adobe Stock. If you've ever booked a flight, chances are you've come across the issue of "married segments". But what are they, and how do they

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

If married segments come into play at all they would relate to the MEL - DOH and DOH - DUB flights. The SYD - MEL flight won't be "married" to the another flight even if they were booked together.

Married segments are about two flights with the same airline. You wouldn't have a QF flight "married" to a QR one.

 

[cathalm8]

cathalm8, like ozflier I'd be concerned at your present arrangements.
QF has disruptions / cancellations occurring ATM because flight crew are regularly unavailable at short notice because of Covid and isolating rules.
Then there's you luggage in MEL...........a 1hr 30min transit time in MEL isn't enough. Melbourne is one of the airports struggling with a lack of baggage handlers so your luggage is at risk of not making the Doha flight even if you do - and keep in mind that you're flying during a very busy school holiday period.

In these Covid times 90 minute connection times are risky anywhere so I'd look for any alternative to get yourself on an earlier award flight to MEL, even if that meant flying the day before and overnighting there. I wouldn't just pay for an earlier flight because if you're a no-show on your award flight you risk the rest of your itinerary being cancelled.

Just going back to this original comment. Lets say for example I do make the 90 min connection in Melbourne but my bags don't. Will the luggage not just get sent on one of the next flights and delivered to me at my final destination?

 

[vetrade]

Just going back to this original comment. Lets say for example I do make the 90 min connection in Melbourne but my bags don't. Will the luggage not just get sent on one of the next flights and delivered to me at my final destination?

Good luck with that. There was another thread recently about a guy flying from Tassie to London whose bag went missing in SYD. It eventually made it to LHR a few days after he had already left London.

 

[cathalm8]

Good luck with that. There was another thread recently about a guy flying from Tassie to London whose bag went missing in SYD. It eventually made it to LHR a few days after he had already left London.

Yeah doesn't sound great hey

 

[jeza]

Hi I booked it online as one single flight booking. Does that mean I could have problems replacing the first flight between Sydney and Melbourne?

@vetrade I believe knows the ins & outs of these better than me so their advice is much more likely on the money

I did find an older thread which discusses this a bit.

Award Booking - Married Segments?

Hi all, I'm looking at booking flights from AU to Europe next year. I've searched for AUS to Europe and can't find any results on the days I'm looking at when I do a simple one-way award search. However I've done a multi-city search and can see availability from AUS to HKG on Cathay Pacific...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[cathalm8]

Good luck with that. There was another thread recently about a guy flying from Tassie to London whose bag went missing in SYD. It eventually made it to LHR a few days after he had already left London.

The other concern as well is even if I I do take the 6am flight I still run the risk of luggage being misplaced in Melbourne airport, as it will be sitting there for 14 hours before next flight takes off.

 

[vetrade]

The other concern as well is even if I I do take the 6am flight I still run the risk of luggage being misplaced in Melbourne airport, as it will be sitting there for 14 hours before next flight takes off.

True, but what alternative do you have which would involve less risk?