Qantas kept me Hostage and now won't reimburse me for out of pocket expenses!

[bneslsc]

{Deleted}

 

[ketsuzei]

I'm back in America now and not sure of the best approach?

Best approach is to accept the explanation for why they couldn’t unload you in Brisbane and then move on with life.

 

[offshore171]

Ultimately I can't see QF being responsibility for reimbursing you in this case. Unfortunate series of events, but not QF fault.

It was a combination of weather factors and the fact that you had two separate itineraries. In that event their only responsibility is to get you to Sydney - which they did, despite horrendous weather conditions. The subsequent UA flight, or a cruise, a wedding, or any other time critical event is not their concern.

The explanation about tarmac work being suspended due to lightning risk is legit.

Lightning safety at airports: know when to stop & resume airfield operations

Know exactly when to leave the ramp before lightning strikes and to return as soon as the threat is over. Read the airport thunderstorm saftey guide here!

www.ubimet.com

 

[cmon0005]

"Kept hostage" is a bit extreme of a headline, sounds like a pretty valid reason to not to retrieve your luggage due to storm.
3 hours changeover time is too small especially for non-alliance/non-partner airlines, this is the risk you take unfortunately.
In my opinion no compensation should/would be awarded for you missing a competitors flight on a separate ticket.

This is an example of where you have to just take it part and parcel of travel and learn for next time.

 

[ChrisMars]

Same here. The amount of energy OP would have to spend to have a small chance at maybe (but unlikly imho) getting reimbursed an amount that is small, compared to the general cost of traveling, is definitly not worth it.

 

[jb747]

So, in a period of horrendous weather, and with the overhang of covid, you thought 3 hours would be enough. That was silly, for a start.

You were not held hostage, though in a way, you were attempting to inconvenience all of the other passengers. There will be no ground handling when lightning is within 5 miles of the airport. End of story.

As I see it, you’re simply trying to blame others for your own poor planning. I can imagine that you were extremely insistent to the agent/manager, even after being told “no”.

 

[Notyourbag]

Not the fault of Qantas from my perspective. They fulfilled their obligation to get you to Sydney. Nice clickbait headline though!

 

[Cddc]

This was an extreme weather event over many days and you requested QF to fly you back into the disaster in BNE to save on a nights accommodation? This is crazy as you would have gone through the same stress the following day. I'd thank yourself lucky UA put you on the following days flight without penalty and put it down to a learning experience.

 

[DC3]

{Deleted}

The OP has created a thread and has deleted the post? What gives?

Edited

 

[Pushka]

The OP has to deleted the post? What gives?

Maybe they think this place isn't going to support their views, which I didn't, or maybe they realised their expectations were unreasonable. And just wanted it gone. For I'd say, all on this forum, there were so many red flags in the situation.

 

[DC3]

Maybe they think this place isn't going to support their views, which I didn't, or maybe they realised their expectations were unreasonable. And just wanted it gone.

Ah. OP falls on sword?

 

[Mwenenzi]

The OP has created a thread and has deleted the post? What gives?

Edited

For newbie or contentious posts always worth quoting the post. At times worth making a pdf the contentious post

 

[Scarlett]

I grabbed my popcorn based on the headline alone. Figured I’d be settling in for a decent rant but alas consigned to history now.

 

[serfty]

Member joinded AFF in 2010.

Cliff notes:

Separate bookings BNE-SYD on QF then SYD to USA on United. 3 hour transit in SYD.

Date Sunday 27th February - severe weather that day in South East QLD.

Missed connection, UA rebooked at no charge.

Had to pay one nights accom in SYD - wanted to know chances of Qantas reimbursing cost.

Will leave thread open for a time, but ultimately will be locked.

 

[Pushka]

Member joinded AFF in 2010.

Cliff notes:

Separate bookings BNE-SYD on QF then SYD to USA on United. 3 hour transit in SYD.

Date Sunday 27th February - severe weather that day in South East QLD.

Missed connection, UA rebooked at no charge.

Had to pay one nights accom in SYD - wanted to know chances of Qantas reimbursing cost.

Will leave thread open for a time, but ultimately will be locked.

And more relevant details. Domestic and international flight booked on separate tickets with a 3 hour gap. Plane delayed then wanted to offload luggage and disembark which was refused. Then because of separate tickets Qantas stated they bear no liability for extra night accom.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

I think a little compassion is worth while.

We don't know when the booking was made - it could have been months ago, so saying 3 hours transit is silly during the current deluge would be a little harsh. The OP did try to get bumped for free to an earlier flight. In hindsight, probably got the best outcome - paid only a couple of hundred for the hotel/taxi and got on UA next day without having to pay a penalty/fare difference.

The other possible option of paying a fare difference to change to an earlier flight might have been a worse financial outcome. Being flown back for free was never going to happen.

Wasn't one of the flights a reward/points booking? But yes risky for something without alliance

 

[DC3]

Some may be comfortable with 3 hours to connect, different airlines, domestic to International. . Too tight for me, for planning purposes, via SYD. And, yes, I know that it’s possible.

Hostage? No.

 

[pippen_2k]

Whenever I book an International flight from Canberra, I never get more than 1.5 hours connection at Syd or Melb.

 

[AIRwin]

Whenever I book an International flight from Canberra, I never get more than 1.5 hours connection at Syd or Melb.

On the same ticket?

 

[kangarooflyer88]

What the airlines "owes" you in terms of compensation or accommodation varies depending on the itinerary in question. In your case, and I could be mistaken here, you've got two separate tickets: a domestic itinerary from BNE to SYD and then an international itinerary from SYD to USA on UA. In the case of BNE to SYD, part of the question is what type of ticket is it. Is it the outbound of a return ticket or a one-way ticket? If either, then technically they don't owe you a thing in terms of accommodation (maybe a sandwich but that's about it) since they can claim you can just go home if your flight gets cancelled or delayed. You could ask for a refund on the ticket, but I reckon you'd want to get to SYD to catch that flight. This is true even if you have top tier status with QF. If, on the other hand, this trip represented the return portion of a ticket and you had to "overnight" it in BNE or you are connecting through BNE (i.e. you aren't at your origin) then maybe you might have something in providing accommodation. I don't know what the rules are with respect to weather for compensation for QF and OW airlines, I only know that for Star Alliance, if you were travelling in J or were Star Gold, weather would be considered a controllable event and thus eligible for compensation, again supposing the impacted flight isn't leaving from your origin.

One avenue that might be worth pursuing if you used a credit card to book is the travel insurance provided there. For instance, AmEx will provide things like hotel accommodation and other sundry expenses charged to your card for trip interruptions like this.

Lastly, one of the things you must understand when you do these separate bookings is that they are separate, you are ultimately responsible for showing up at SYD on time to catch your connecting flight regardless of how you get there. It's true that some airlines have a flat tyre rule whereby if you miss getting to the airport on time (e.g. due to a flat tyre) they'll rebook you on the next available flight, but that's merely a courtesy. There are plenty of benefits for booking separate tickets, especially for international travel, and I myself have done it many of times. But one of the things you need to consider when making these bookings is to provide enough time for things like delays. For instance, in 2019 I had a number of trips booked on separate tickets such as Toronto to London Heathrow with Toronto to Newark on an AC ticket and Newark to Heathrow being the return portion of a multi city ticket I booked. In that case I baked in a 9 hour connection. That way, I'd have some options. Similarly, when I was flying from Berlin to Osaka I had two tickets booked there: Berlin to Las Vegas on EuroWings and Las Vegas to Osaka on United, the latter ticket's departure occurring the day after I arrive in Las Vegas. So far I have been lucky in that respect and haven't missed anything due to misconnections, but it's a risk I'm willing to accept having built in some safe guards to the booking.

-RooFlyer88