Qantas MEL-HKG QF29/30 Delayed; A380 for SYD-HKG route

[AustraliaPoochie]

With all the horror stories, best to wait till they contact you.
Just have to read what has happened to others, as related on here, and on in the media.
Some really scary stuff, a lot of it through the mistakes of the QF/QFF outsourced agents, or through QF/QFF themselves.
Not sure of the ideal solution, to accept changes or to ask for a refund.
Just my 1.5 Aussie cents worth.

 

[RichardMEL]

Would someone with expertflyer mind checking fare bucket availability of QF29 on 23/7/2023? Some changes to my OWCA have forced me to take an economy sector and Hobart have said they've been unable to release any business seats on this specific flight - though I was told by the agent that it still has 20 seats unsold...

hmm well QF29 MEL-HKG is showing 9's across the board on 23JUL - including I9 (there are economy reward seats in X class) - that's what EF is saying.

of course that doesn't mean in any way that QF has to release a seat in J,

 

[imango]

I have a reword booking for QF29 on 26th May. I just called Qantas. The consultant said that my flight status is still shown as confirmed. No schedule or flight change at this moment.
Last year I had a reward flight booking with Qantas. The flight was cancelled one month before departure date. And there was no other flight available. At the end they refund points to my account. I had to book a new flight with another airline. I am afraid that it would happen again.

 

[Virgin Bart]

I have a reword booking for QF29 on 26th May. I just called Qantas. The consultant said that my flight status is still shown as confirmed. No schedule or flight change at this moment.
Last year I had a reward flight booking with Qantas. The flight was cancelled one month before departure date. And there was no other flight available. At the end they refund points to my account. I had to book a new flight with another airline. I am afraid that it would happen again.

You are absolutely right to worry.

 

[anyonebutqantas]

Is anyone else finding that there is a surprising lack of U class availability on HKG services?

 

[encryptededdy]

Is anyone else finding that there is a surprising lack of U class availability on HKG services?

I saw quite a bit back when I was booking a Taiwan trip last month (like ~15/30 days in June 2023), however unsure if they were WP-only.

 

[tassie6]

Looks like they are doing the shuffling now, our QF127 on May 31 has switched to 380 on MMB and there is an article on ET explaining the switch and delay to QF29/30 restarting. We have QF30 coming back on June 30 which still exists and showing as A330 (after their mid june planned restart)

 

[alexcheng3]

Looks like they've shuffled too. Although they've done something a bit silly, and not canceled my SYD - MEL flight. They're telling me if I cancel the SYD - MEL flight, it will destroy the rest of my multi-city booking...

 

[RichardMEL]

Looks like they've shuffled too. Although they've done something a bit silly, and not canceled my SYD - MEL flight. They're telling me if I cancel the SYD - MEL flight, it will destroy the rest of my multi-city booking...

Well yes, if YOU cancelled the first sector of an itin the whole thing will go. That will need some sort of manual intervention because it's obviously nonsensical. It's a change made by them (not you) so they need to fix this (since clearly you wanted to fly SYD-HKG-.... anyway

 

[imango]

update on my QF29 flight. Qantas moved me to a connection flight via Sydney yesterday.
I called Qantas this morning and asked if they could rebook me on a direct flight CX134 from Melbourne. They booked me in using points and then refunded points for old QF29 booking. very happy now.

 

[Chongstein]

Qantas is set to resume MEL/HKG flight form 26 Mar.
Booked in MEL/HKG Flight last week for flight in May.
Last night did a price check on Qantas website, noticed QF29/30 flight no longer on sale only connection flight via Syd available.
Went back to my account my flight status still shows normal.
Any idea what's going on?

Turns out that there’s a labour shortage in hk - Qantas’s ground handler. So they’ve delayed resumption of those flights… alll bookings rerouted through Sydney

 

[geezy90]

Would someone with expertflyer mind checking fare bucket availability of QF29 on 23/7/2023? Some changes to my OWCA have forced me to take an economy sector and Hobart have said they've been unable to release any business seats on this specific flight - though I was told by the agent that it still has 20 seats unsold...

I am booked in J on QF29 through redemption a few days before you and then onward to LHR in F with CZ (well Z ). I am panicking now to say the least...with the flight only a month after Qantas intend to resume MEL-HKG!! What are the chances they delay resuming QF29 further??

Usually I wouldn't mind slight changes in scheduling or potential issues that could delays things even by a few days here and there, but I have already lined up accommodation, tours and other flights for when I get to Europe from HK. TBH I would take a Y ticket now via SYD if it guarantees no stuffing around. I know if things change they should be able to re-route me easily, but the problem is the CX flight when I have a very little faith in Qantas ticketing correctly if anything does end up changing.

 

[jpp42]

Usually I wouldn't mind slight changes in scheduling or potential issues that could delays things even by a few days here and there, but I have already lined up accommodation, tours and other flights for when I get to Europe from HK.

To be honest, schedule changes and cancellations are rife with most airlines these days as they struggle with staff shortages and other challenges... even here in early 2023, the airline industry isn't fully "match fit" for the number of travellers trying to return to the skies, especially if you consider that HK was later to open up compared to many other cities. So I think you would be better off making sure your first few days' accommodation is on refundable/changeable conditions (yes you might pay a little more but usually not *much* more), and avoid any nonrefundable tours/bookings. It's just the way you need to travel nowadays to reduce anxiety and losses due to the inevitable cancellation.

 

[BD1959]

Turns out that there’s a labour shortage in hk - Qantas’s ground handler. So they’ve delayed resumption of those flights… alll bookings rerouted through Sydney

Delayed beyond the June 20 resumption? A couple of weeks ago I posted (different thread) that QF had zeroed all QF29 up to June 19. Today I see that QF29 is still available for sale June 20 onwards but that the previously zeroed June 19 flight has been removed completely.

Regards,

BD

 

[geezy90]

To be honest, schedule changes and cancellations are rife with most airlines these days as they struggle with staff shortages and other challenges... even here in early 2023, the airline industry isn't fully "match fit" for the number of travellers trying to return to the skies, especially if you consider that HK was later to open up compared to many other cities. So I think you would be better off making sure your first few days' accommodation is on refundable/changeable conditions (yes you might pay a little more but usually not *much* more), and avoid any nonrefundable tours/bookings. It's just the way you need to travel nowadays to reduce anxiety and losses due to the inevitable cancellation.

yes this is good advice, most of my bookings are refundable or changeable but if the tour is missed unfortunately it means missing out entirely (or at best joining half way)…I do have 3 days to spare so the margin for error is quite generous but the industry wide issues coupled with it being a reward booking is going to make for a stressful few months for me!!

 

[downloadingdata]

Is the A380 used on the SYD-HKG route skybed II with 6 abrest in J (e.g. OQA / OQL)? I read this on ET.

 

[dylarr]

Is the A380 used on the SYD-HKG route skybed II with 6 abrest in J (e.g. OQA / OQL)? I read this on ET.

Yes looking at the seat maps in EF the older style config with Skybed MK2 is being used.

Also on the seat maps the F cabin is being classified as J, and the W cabin is being classified as Y (per the ET article however the seats are being blocked for high tier frequent flyers).

 

[downloadingdata]

Yes looking at the seat maps in EF the older style config with Skybed MK2 is being used.

Also on the seat maps the F cabin is being classified as J, and the W cabin is being classified as Y (per the ET article however the seats are being blocked for high tier frequent flyers).

Yikes. Can't select the F cabin as a WP. Also annoying that the seat selection is still showing the refurbished layout ...

 

[jase05]

Why wouldn’t QF sell the F seats rather than make them J service seats?
They would be plenty of QF fans that would happily pay top dollar for F so it seems like a strange move TBH

 

[mariew]

I received notice yesterday that our Melbourne to HongKong return flights booked for early June, have been cancelled. We have been rerouted through Sydney. They have honoured our classic rewards business seats. Apparently the issue is insufficient baggage handlers in Hong Kong