Qantas flight cancellation, costs incurred

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for reading my post, Scarlett. Yes, I have called the car rental desk and explained the problem to seek alternative solutions. Their solution was simply the one that the system spat out .. .. ie change the return location at the much higher cost. They declined to apply any other solutions that would lower the cost unfortunately.

On your point about 'factoring in' the rental car return location, we figured we had done so. We were wrong as follows:

- Our ORIGINAL rental car booking was pick up in MCY (Easter Thurs) and return to BRI (Easter Tues). We had to pay extra for that one-way hire.

- After Qantas screwed us over they ended up offering to fly us MCY-SYD-CHC (instead of BRI-CHC).

- In the call with Qantas (after they had looked at other awful alternatives, such as get to CHC after midnight) .. .. we made the decision to accept MCY-SYD-CHC. We had figured that by moving from a one-way rental to a "return to base" rental for the car .. .. we'd at least not incur the one-way fee.

'- Turns out we were wrong. Even *after* removing that one-way rental and returning to point of origination (at MCY) the car rental cost has still gone up by more than $350. This is probably because the car was booked months ago at the same time as we booked the Qantas flights. I believe the car rental costs increase a lot as you get closer to the date.

I think its kinda reasonable that we'd factor in the extra rental cost to our decision on a best endeavours basis. We used our best endeaviours. We haven't wasted money. We haven't tried to get something that's unreasonable. We're not looking to get something for nothing.

All we want is to be treated fairly. 'Turns out that new Qantas isn't doing that. There's a new emperor but new Qantas is just as bad as old Qantas on some fronts.

It's very unreasonable that Qantas should change their flights to make more money and then be dismissive of the customers who incur the extra cost. In other industries, that would be considered outrageous.

Not even the world’s toughest passenger rights scheme - EU261 - will compensate you for this circumstance.

Most people in your situation will be faced with a trade-off. Incur $350 or have to manage a late arrival or early departure.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sorry, but no airline will pay out money for incidentals like Car Hire for a change that is months in advance. Also, your assumption of Qantas changing their flights to 'make more money' is based on your opinion only, without any facts.

Re first sentence… TBH we don’t actually know.

It’s almost certain they won’t pay out voluntarily. But there may be legal channels open to the OP. All it would take is one test case - which may already exist, I don’t know - which equates a cancellation with a delay, and these sorts of incidentals may be recoverable.

 

[TheInsider]

Re first sentence… TBH we don’t actually know.

It’s almost certain they won’t pay out voluntarily. But there may be legal channels open to the OP. All it would take is one test case - which may already exist, I don’t know - which equates a cancellation with a delay, and these sorts of incidentals may be recoverable.

Let's be realistic here, we do know that QF nor any other airline, will pay out for a change of destination to car hire, when they had an option to go out of their original port for a flight that was changed months in advance. The OP can take it to some kind of court if they wish, but being realistic, highly likely won't be in the OPs favour.

OP already stated that the excess on their travel insurance policy was too much, so doubtful they will pay the application fees to whatever small claims court they decide to use.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Let's be realistic here, we do know that QF nor any other airline, will pay out for a change of destination to car hire, when they had an option to go out of their original port for a flight that was changed months in advance. The OP can take it to some kind of court if they wish, but being realistic, highly likely won't be in the OPs favour.

OP already stated that the excess on their travel insurance policy was too much, so doubtful they will pay the application fees to whatever small claims court they decide to use.

Agree. I’m just wary of the blanket statement. These costs might actually be recoverable under Montreal. It’s $350 this time, but it could easily be $5000+ for a non-ref package though say Luxury Escapes. And not everyone buys TI at the time of buying tickets,