Qantas cancelled my Business Class classic reward and tried to charge me $3000 to reinstate!

[Pushka]

There does seem a pattern…

small or inconsequential awards… ticketed immediately. For example Qantas domestic, or US domestic. Anything ‘small’.

anything ‘big’… like finding a long haul premium award… well that needs closer examination to make sure no one is gaming the system. Or if they’re not gaming it, how can we make sure such good value redemptions don’t happen again?

Of course if you’re CL or P1, you are important. Your tickets get issued instantly. (Really, premium awards should only be available to CL or P1, and we even hold them back so you can ask for them to be created and ‘released’.)

Our long haul was ticketed immediately.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Our long haul was ticketed immediately.

Platinum

 

[Franky]

I know but happening so often one has to think yield management possibly involved.

Are you sure you want to cancel these flights? If Qantas are doing SQA reviews on the recordings this should come up in the review. Anyone we know work in Qantas IT?

I'm lead to believe there are lots of work experience kids there...

 

[Mr H]

anything ‘big’… like finding a long haul premium award… well that needs closer examination to make sure no one is gaming the system. Or if they’re not gaming it, how can we make sure such good value redemptions don’t happen again?

This is just nuts. There isn't the manpower to vet awards and judge whether members are sufficiently deserving of good awards. Where awards unravel, it is easy to point to the specific conversation that caused it, and invariably it is an agent who deletes a ticketed sector before the replacement one is ticketed. Please can we stop with the conspiracy theories as they obscure the real issue which is that the staff in the overseas call centre lack the experience, training and systems to enable them to do what Hobart does.

Also worth bearing in mind that we are not typical members and our preferences - for the longest, most convoluted routes or seeking out specific planes, seat layouts and lounges - will seem counter-intuitive when most pax want convenience. Some of the old hands in Hobart will get it, but the newer agents overseas haven't seen enough of it yet to understand how much it matters to some of us.

And yes, there are some agents who are naughty and lie.

 

[JohnK]

Not all, one of the worst was when a call was made to enquire about availability. They had an existing booking with no need to mention it in the context of the call but they did.

Well then that's gross incompetence. Not really acceptable but that's what happens when staff outsourced to lowest bidder with poor training and insufficient authorities to fix things.

This I will never understand. Customer service is a cost of doing business and should never be outsourced to lowest bidder. Call centre belongs in Australia filled with highly skilled staff.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This is just nuts. There isn't the manpower to vet awards and judge whether members are sufficiently deserving of good awards. Where awards unravel, it is easy to point to the specific conversation that caused it, and invariably it is an agent who deletes a ticketed sector before the replacement one is ticketed. Please can we stop with the conspiracy theories as they obscure the real issue which is that the staff in the overseas call centre lack the experience, training and systems to enable them to do what Hobart does.

Also worth bearing in mind that we are not typical members and our preferences - for the longest, most convoluted routes or seeking out specific planes, seat layouts and lounges - will seem counter-intuitive when most pax want convenience. Some of the old hands in Hobart will get it, but the newer agents overseas haven't seen enough of it yet to understand how much it matters to some of us.

And yes, there are some agents who are naughty and lie.

Of course my post was slightly flippant.

But the fact that call centre agents overseas can’t ticket… that it has to go to a manual queue for processing seems like a way for management to keep tabs on what’s happening Can’t do more than five sectors on line. Can’t make a simple change without another person having to verify. No other airline I know of has such antiquated systems.

Not ticketing until APIS is added? On what planet is that a ‘thing’?

There shouldn’t be any ‘big deal’ with ticketing. If the computer oks it, just ticket!

 

[algae]

But the fact that call centre agents overseas can’t ticket

I made a long haul booking 2 weeks ago all in J for 2x passengers (Perth>Canada>Morocco>London>Sweden>Japan). But couldnt get the Japan>Perth booking to work online. Called up and got an overseas call centre to add the new flights (took 3 tries and several hours).

Next day called back and asked them to ticket it. Again got overseas, and within 10mins total (including hold time) was all done and the pdf was in my inbox. So it's certainly possible. I seem to have got lucky that i didnt have to HUACA much in my whole 'ordeal')

I do want to make one more change, but all these experiences are making me a tad nervous....

 

[offshore171]

I do want to make one more change, but all these experiences are making me a tad nervous....

Don’t. Mess. With. It

Perfect is the enemy of good.

 

[Zanzara]

I made a long haul booking 2 weeks ago all in J for 2x passengers (Perth>Canada>Morocco>London>Sweden>Japan). But couldnt get the Japan>Perth booking to work online. Called up and got an overseas call centre to add the new flights (took 3 tries and several hours).

Next day called back and asked them to ticket it. Again got overseas, and within 10mins total (including hold time) was all done and the pdf was in my inbox. So it's certainly possible. I seem to have got lucky that i didnt have to HUACA much in my whole 'ordeal')

I do want to make one more change, but all these experiences are making me a tad nervous....

The fact that the call centre is overseas is a red herring (although it is done to save money, entitlements, allow some flexibility and circumvent local employment laws in Australia). It's the fact that the 'make it up as you go along' QF call centre staff are poorly trained, clearly not monitored on the essentials, disinterested/unmotivated & not actually empowered to fix anything. It should be normal to expect a reward booking to actually work & not a triumph!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The fact that the call centre is overseas is a red herring (although it is done to save money, entitlements, allow some flexibility and circumvent local employment laws in Australia). It's the fact that the 'make it up as you go along' QF call centre staff are poorly trained, clearly not monitored on the essentials, disinterested/unmotivated & not actually empowered to fix anything. It should be normal to expect a reward booking to actually work & not a triumph!

I think on of our members with some inside knowledge explained that in fact o/s call centres aren’t allowed to do the ticketing… hence why it gets sent to a manual queue. No doubt part of it is to check compliance.

 

[Lynda2475]

No doubt part of it is to check compliance

If their systems were up to scrtatch, the computer should be able to validate the booking complies with riles and issue ticket immediately.

If Qantas would just invest a few more $$ in their systems, such that we could book more than 6 sectors in a single online booking and amend OWAs online, then they wouldnt need so many untrusted incapabale overseas call centres.

Fact is hiring staff in developing world cheaper in short term than decent onshore IT development, but long term, better systems pay off.

 

[serfty]

Not ticketing until APIS is added? On what planet is that a ‘thing’?

Qantas been doing this automatically for USA bookings for maybe a decade or more.

 

[Lynda2475]

Qantas been doing this automatically for USA bookings for at least a decade.

Not always, Ive received US tickets ahead of entering the APIS from QF multiple times in the last decade (actually everytime Ive travelled there with QF).

What i have noticed is that APIS info is different between airlines, so on a OWA with multiple airlines, you will often need to go into the BA or AA sites and enter some extra detail to what QF collect in their APIS screen, so that you can check in online for those legs.

 

[serfty]

Not always, Ive received US tickets ahead of entering the APIS from QF multiple times int he last decade (actually everytime Ive travelled there)

Mine haven't ticketed without API in recent memory. However, it has been an automatic process - book, get PNR, do API, e-ticket shows up a few minutes later.

But this is getting off topic.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Mine haven't ticketed without API in recent memory. However, it has been an automatic process - book, get PNR, do API, e-ticket shows up a few minutes later.

But this is getting off topic.

My point was that as far as I’m concerned there is no valid reason to block ticketing pending APIS. And if there is a block for that, what other flags or restrictions exist in QF’s systems which could disrupt ticketing and cause the loss of partner seats?

 

[Tmcsyd]

By working with the agents do you mean:
- being called a liar,
- calling 15 times to discuss the same issue,
- being hung up on mid call,
- being told there are no options even when you've done the homework and provided them,
- promised call backs that never happen,
- having tickets incorrectly repriced,
- being told OW airlines are not eligible for OWA's
- any or all of the above?

don't forget being told that classic rewards don't exist and a flight to lhr is 1.3million qantas points!

 

[Tmcsyd]

Update - I had a lovely lady from Qantas call me today (I assume thanks to Matt (AFF editor) reaching out or maybe the emails I sent to various qantas staff/ desks) and helped rebook me in business on Qantas metal. It’s so great getting a Qantas agent who knows what to do because when they do they’re great. Thank you all for your tips and advice!

 

[Zanzara]

Update - I had a lovely lady from Qantas call me today (I assume thanks to Matt (AFF editor) reaching out or maybe the emails I sent to various qantas staff/ desks) and helped rebook me in business on Qantas metal. It’s so great getting a Qantas agent who knows what to do because when they do they’re great. Thank you all for your tips and advice!

Great outcome. However, getting a QF agent who ‘knows what to do’ should be normal, not a freak occurrence.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Update - I had a lovely lady from Qantas call me today (I assume thanks to Matt (AFF editor) reaching out or maybe the emails I sent to various qantas staff/ desks) and helped rebook me in business on Qantas metal. It’s so great getting a Qantas agent who knows what to do because when they do they’re great. Thank you all for your tips and advice!

I have a similar issue that I need to solve. If you're willing, would you mind sharing the email addresses you used by PM?

 

[Tmcsyd]

I have a similar issue that I need to solve. If you're willing, would you mind sharing the email addresses you used by PM?

Sorry to hear just PMd you