Qantas double booking: staff member took precedence

[Melburnian1]

On board QF431 (the 0930 hours SYD - MEL, B738 VH-VYJ) on Thursday 9 June 2022, there was a double booking between a passenger and a QF staff member. The flight was close to full.

So what was the solution?

The passenger was seated in 3A, but was then moved right down the back to seat 30C in whY, a seat that does not recline.

The QF staff member (who boarded after the above passenger) got to sit in 3A in J.

Not good enough. The entitlement mentality on show, even on a brief flight.

The passenger meekly accepted, probably not wanting to make a fuss (saintly behaviour, minimising delays) but what is the chance of this person who was downgraded receiving compensation, plus a refund of the difference between the business class fare paid and the discount economy fare, or similar in points if that was the method of payment?

It would be a different matter if this was an international flight and the booking system had mistakenly allocated a seat to a passenger that ought be used for vital crew rest in J, and there were no other spare J seats, but on a flight meant to take 95 minutes from go to whoa, surely employees can travel in whY if need be?

Paying passengers ought come first as without them, employees from the CEO down, including flight and cabin crew, lack a job.

 

[TheInsider]

On board QF431 (the 0930 hours SYD - MEL, B738 VH-VYJ) on Thursday 9 June 2022, there was a double booking between a passenger and a QF staff member. The flight was close to full.

So what was the solution?

The passenger was seated in 3A, but was then moved right down the back to seat 30C in whY, a seat that does not recline.

The QF staff member (who boarded after the above passenger) got to sit in 3A in J.

Not good enough. The entitlement mentality on show, even on a brief flight.

The passenger meekly accepted, probably not wanting to make a fuss (saintly behaviour, minimising delays) but what is the chance of this person who was downgraded receiving compensation, plus a refund of the difference between the business class fare paid and the discount economy fare, or similar in points if that was the method of payment?

It would be a different matter if this was an international flight and the booking system had mistakenly allocated a seat to a passenger that ought be used for vital crew rest in J, and there were no other spare J seats, but on a flight meant to take 95 minutes from go to whoa, surely employees can travel in whY if need be?

Paying passengers ought come first as without them, employees from the CEO down, including flight and cabin crew, lack a job.

Not this cough again.

The only reason why a 'staff member' would take precedence over a commercial passenger is when the tech crew are on duty travel, either starting their work or finishing. Also this is ONLY for Qantas employed tech crew.

 

[RooFlyer]

Not this cough again.

The only reason why a 'staff member' would take precedence over a commercial passenger is when the tech crew are on duty travel, either starting their work or finishing. Also this is ONLY for Qantas employed tech crew.

It's not cough as you so elegantly put it, although possibly appropriate when talking about Qantas these days

Do you know the particular circumstances in question? Procedures never get abused? Pity is, we can so readily believe what the OP had outlined. That's not the customers fault.

If you can't put up with the bloody customer's experiences and observations on today's Qantas without expletives, maybe block the Qantas part of the forum?

 

[TheInsider]

It's not cough as you so elegantly put it, although possibly appropriate when talking about Qantas these days

Do you know the particular circumstances in question? Procedures never get abused? Pity is, we can so readily believe what the OP had outlined. That's not the customers fault.

If you can't put up with the bloody customer's experiences and observations on today's Qantas without expletives, maybe block the Qantas part of the forum?

Sorry, didn't realise I had to speak 'proper' here...
I never said it was the customer's fault.
No, procedures at airports in regards to regrades do NOT get abused, especially when downgrading a commercial passenger. I've outlined the situation above as to why it would've happened.
The passenger that was downgraded would've highly likely to have been a points upgrade and would've been the lowest 'ranked' passenger too in terms of FQTV tier and ticket type.

 

[samh004]

Without said customer providing their side, this thread is a lovely bit of hearsay, but I would have to agree with @TheInsider as the first thought that came to my mind before I was even halfway through the first post was that the staff member was obviously on duty. It sucks, and I'd honestly probably get off the flight if it was me and make them re-book me J on the next service, even if that meant delays as they had to unload my bags (though I don't check bags usually).

 

[Guvner]

Not this cough again.

The only reason why a 'staff member' would take precedence over a commercial passenger is when the tech crew are on duty travel, either starting their work or finishing. Also this is ONLY for Qantas employed tech crew.

Triggered much? You "may" know the procedures and protocols at play here, but most passengers wouldn't. The end result is one pax got shoved down the back, apparently without a say in the matter, and did not receive what they paid for. I'd be annoyed as well. This "blame the passenger" mentality seems to be seeping in to all corners at Qantas, starting with the CEO who set the tone with his ridiculous "not match fit" comment.

 

[samh004]

but on a flight meant to take 95 minutes from go to whoa, surely employees can travel in whY if need be?

Paying passengers ought come first as without them, employees from the CEO down, including flight and cabin crew, lack a job.

Unless it's in their contracts, or are you in favour of eroding staff benefits that have been painstakingly negotiated? Removing such benefits would likely lead to lower morale and worse standards of service.

 

[TheInsider]

Triggered much? You "may" know the procedures and protocols at play here, but most passengers wouldn't. The end result is one pax got shoved down the back, apparently without a say in the matter, and did not receive what they paid for. I'd be annoyed as well. This "blame the passenger" mentality seems to be seeping in to all corners at Qantas, starting with the CEO who set the tone with his ridiculous "not match fit" comment.

And neither does the OP. The OP doesn't know anything about the downgraded passenger. They could've been a staff traveller for all we know. Unless it was the OP who was downgraded.

I'm not triggered at all, I'm just stating what the situation is.

 

[RooFlyer]

I never said it was the customer's fault.
No, procedures at airports in regards to regrades do NOT get abused, especially when downgrading a commercial passenger. I've outlined the situation above as to why it would've happened.
The passenger that was downgraded would've highly likely to have been a points upgrade and would've been the lowest 'ranked' passenger too in terms of FQTV tier and ticket type.

Yes @samh004 it is heresay, but as I wrote, it's all to believable on today's Qantas. Check out the 'what is Qantas playing at' thread.

And theinsider, I challenge that 'regrade' ( that's a new term for me - so it wasn't a downgrade ? ) procedures are never abused. A perfect system I've yet to see. And your commentary of the the the status of the pax's ticket is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

But as an insider, what do you think of the chances of the pax bring as proactively offered compensation for the 'regrade as quick as they were bundled down the back? Or being able to get compensation as all?

 

[Guvner]

I'm just stating what the situation is.

In your opinion. You have no more facts at hand than the rest of us.
Maybe if "this cough" is getting too repetitive for you, perhaps provide some constructive advice on how the passenger should have/could have handled it so we are all as educated on the subject as you make out to be.

 

[TheInsider]

And theinsider, I challenge that 'regrade' ( that's a new term for me - so it wasn't a downgrade ? ) procedures are never abused. A perfect system I've yet to see. And your commentary of the the the status of the pax's ticket is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

But as an insider, what do you think of the chances of the pax bring as proactively offered compensation for the 'regrade as quick as they were bundled down the back? Or being able to get compensation as all?

That's what it's called, a regrade. That's literally the word used in the check-in system as part of it's programming.
Challenge it as much as you'd like, provide evidence though.
And yes, the status of the passengers ticket has EVERYTHING to do with offloads/downgrades/upgrades, it's all a part of the algorithm that is in place to determine the customer value (PCV - which has been spoken about many times on here in the past)
As for compensation, they would get their points back and everything else would be through QF 'customer care', which in reality will be nothing (that's if they even reply after 6 months), because QF (nor any other airline in Australia) have any minimum standards for that.

 

[RooFlyer]

Unless it's in their contracts, or are you in favour of eroding staff benefits that have been painstakingly negotiated? Removing such benefits would likely lead to lower morale and worse standards of service.

I appreciate your comment was made to someone else but the staff and Airlines'contracts are their business and between them. Personally I don’t see why passengers should be a de facto party to it, to their detriment. and as I know that it wouldn’t be so bad except that we all know that the passenger won’t be adequately compensated for the difference in ticket price between what the back seat would’ve cost when he bought the business class ticket

 

[Vic]

Sorry, didn't realise I had to speak 'proper' here...
I never said it was the customer's fault.
No, procedures at airports in regards to regrades do NOT get abused, especially when downgrading a commercial passenger. I've outlined the situation above as to why it would've happened.
The passenger that was downgraded would've highly likely to have been a points upgrade and would've been the lowest 'ranked' passenger too in terms of FQTV tier and ticket type.


Maybe if you always have an issue with what I'm saying, you more than welcome to block me.

How do you know it was the airport regrade process?
Are you sure it wasn't just crew on board moving the passenger without informing anyone off the plane?

 

[RooFlyer]

And yes, the status of the passengers ticket has EVERYTHING to do with offloads/downgrades/upgrades, it's all a part of the algorithm that is in place to determine the customer value.

'Determine the customer value' Sounds so much like the call centre message "your call is important to us" for a few hours before cutting you off.

I honestly don't doubt your knowledge of proceedures etc - so, so we can learn, what's the Qantas proceedure of getting compensation to pax in these types of situation? As you avoided it above.

 

[offshore171]

On board QF431 (the 0930 hours SYD - MEL, B738 VH-VYJ) on Thursday 9 June 2022, there was a double booking between a passenger and a QF staff member. The flight was close to full.

Was the passenger yourself/part of your travelling party, or a random?

 

[TheInsider]

'Determine the customer value' Sounds so much like the call centre message "your call is important to us" for a few hours before cutting you off.

I honestly don't doubt your knowledge of proceedures etc - so, so we can learn, what's the Qantas proceedure of getting compensation to pax in these types of situation?

At the airport, there is no procedure of getting compensation for domestic flights. It's basically either Y on the current flight or J on a later flight.
After the fact and only if the customer initiated the complaint, QF would highly likely just send one of their rubbish emails that doesn't even address the issue and say 'sorry'.
International is a different story and with $$ amounts for downgrades.

 

[RooFlyer]

Challenge it as much as you'd like, provide evidence though.

Missed this, sorry. What sort of evidence would you like That no system is foolproof or perfect? A lifetime of experience? Oh and by the way can you provide evidence that procedures were strictly followed in the case outlined above? I don’t think you can so as it’s been alluded to, its all speculation but oh so believable in today’s Qantas.

 

[Vic]

Sorry, didn't realise I had to speak 'proper' here...

The are community rules here, they exclude profanity.
Ironically, ISTR you taking exception to me using "WTF" on the basis of swearing. Really surprised to see you now have no problem with swearing.

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[Melburnian1]

Was the passenger yourself/part of your travelling party, or a random?

No, not connected to me in any way shape or form.

I can't tell you if it was 'random' but one other staff member said to a third QFd employee 'we arranged for (person X who was the affected party) to move/be moved...' leading to the conclusion it was some hurriedly put together, last minute arrangement at the gate.

 

[TheInsider]

I love how this has become a bashing thread towards myself. I guess I don't know anything about anything then, Good luck with your theories then.