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

[neokok]

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?

 

[tassie6]

Qantas A380 to Hong Kong - Airline Hub Buzz Aviation News Australia

Qantas, which recently resumed scheduled flights to Hong Kong, is set to significantly increase capacity. The airline’s current four times weekly A330 service from Sydney, will be upgraded to daily services using the Airbus A380. This is scheduled to come into effect from 26 March 2023 and run...

airlinehubbuzz.com

This was linked to in another forum, looks like starting to implementing the changes. My guess is you will get re-routed through Sydney unfortunately. We are coming back on QF30 on June 29 but can still book that and is beyond the date the article says the changes go to (for now)

 

[muppet]

Looks like they are preparing to cancel or do some major change as all the fare classes are zerod out:

 

[Virgin Bart]

Qantas A380 to Hong Kong - Airline Hub Buzz Aviation News Australia

Qantas, which recently resumed scheduled flights to Hong Kong, is set to significantly increase capacity. The airline’s current four times weekly A330 service from Sydney, will be upgraded to daily services using the Airbus A380. This is scheduled to come into effect from 26 March 2023 and run...

airlinehubbuzz.com

 

[alexcheng3]

Gosh, yep looks like it. I booked SYD-HKG via MEL Classic Award in J. Phantom booking now appears for SYD-MEL in Y. Anyway I can potentially prevent a downgrade?

 

[Mattg]

I'm booked on QF30 in May as well. So far the booking still shows as "confirmed" but the availability is zeroed out for new ticket sales. This is a completely normal (albeit frustrating) QF practice for flights it intends to cancel at a later date. I'm fully expecting that Qantas will officially cancel the flight in around a month and re-route me through Sydney.

No need to do anything now as it would be considered a "voluntary" change and fees charged accordingly.

 

[neokok]

I'm booked on QF30 in May as well. So far the booking still shows as "confirmed" but the availability is zeroed out for new ticket sales. This is a completely normal (albeit frustrating) QF practice for flights it intends to cancel at a later date. I'm fully expecting that Qantas will officially cancel the flight in around a month and re-route me through Sydney.

No need to do anything now as it would be considered a "voluntary" change and fees charged accordingly.

May I ask if QF will automatically re-route without discussing with me or will contact me first? If contact me, will it normally be phone call or email? Thx

 

[exLXCXFF]

May I ask if QF will automatically re-route without discussing with me or will contact me first? If contact me, will it normally be phone call or email? Thx

More often you will get options to choose in the app (with the full refund being one of them). If you don’t like either, it’s up on you to call them and sort it out…

 

[anyonebutqantas]

No wonder there's no MEL-HKG award availability...

 

[kangarooflyer88]

No need to do anything now as it would be considered a "voluntary" change and fees charged accordingly.

This point is crucial. Let the airline do the change/cancellation first so your ticket becomes fully flexible meaning you can request a different routing and/or refund without paying a nickel to the airline! I can't tell you the number of times I've had airlines cancel a flight or issue a schedule change allowing me to receive a full refund on a flight I no longer wanted to take, or allowing me to rebook that award flight on a date I actually wanted to depart on!

Here's to great cancellations and adventures!

-RooFlyer88

 

[alexcheng3]

This point is crucial. Let the airline do the change/cancellation first so your ticket becomes fully flexible meaning you can request a different routing and/or refund without paying a nickel to the airline! I can't tell you the number of times I've had airlines cancel a flight or issue a schedule change allowing me to receive a full refund on a flight I no longer wanted to take, or allowing me to rebook that award flight on a date I actually wanted to depart on!

Here's to great cancellations and adventures!

-RooFlyer88

Although, if this ticket is the start of a 5-stop multi-city classic award booking, is there a risk that it might put the rest in jeopardy?

 

[ANstar]

I can't see the HKG market recovering as quick as others have.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Although, if this ticket is the start of a 5-stop multi-city classic award booking, is there a risk that it might put the rest in jeopardy?

If it is Qantas yes there is a risk, since they don't seem to honour their obligations of their booking, one of the first airlines I have seen that do that. However, there is a couple of things to keep in mind. First Qantas does have an escalation support set up should you encounter a change/cancellation of a segment by an airline that Qantas mishandles (i.e. segments vanishing). Second, if the segment involves international travel between two signatory countries of the Montreal Convention (which lets face it is most countries) the airline is on the hook for providing up to $7000 USD in compensation for these types of shenanigans meaning in theory you could just buy the ticket to complete the missing segment and just collect the money from the airline.

-RooFlyer88

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I can't see the HKG market recovering as quick as others have.

Whilst I don't see passenger movement data listed for HKG by the UK's CAA, I will say that at least elsewhere in the UK passenger volumes are returning to pre-pandemic levels. In particular London area airports (i.e. LGW, LHR, LCY,LTN,STN and SEN) boasted carrying 70.34 million passengers in November 2022 compared to 44.9 million in November 2021. For contrast in November 2019 some 82.6 million passengers were carried.

Now yes, it is true, HKG had more restrictions than other parts of the world with things like mandatory quarantine, PCR testing, etc., however given parliament's decision a couple of months ago to ease these measures I have no doubt that in time things will recover. What is less certain is whether we'll see a resurgence in travel as we've seen in other Asian markets like Singapore or Tokyo or whether it'll be a slow recovery. Talking with my colleagues who travelled to HKG during the pandemic, the airport was like a ghost town with all shops closed, key lounges like Centurion lounge closed, etc. Even outside HKG the effects can be seen with CX lounges closed in YVR and other major markets.

What I think is obvious that HKG needs right now is to give travellers (and especially tourists) the incentive to want to come back to HKG meaning cheap fares across the board and resumption of the many services at HKG airport which at one time (before the advent of modern LAX) made HKG the destination airport for transits.

-RooFlyer88

 

[neokok]

If it is Qantas yes there is a risk, since they don't seem to honour their obligations of their booking, one of the first airlines I have seen that do that. However, there is a couple of things to keep in mind. First Qantas does have an escalation support set up should you encounter a change/cancellation of a segment by an airline that Qantas mishandles (i.e. segments vanishing). Second, if the segment involves international travel between two signatory countries of the Montreal Convention (which lets face it is most countries) the airline is on the hook for providing up to $7000 USD in compensation for these types of shenanigans meaning in theory you could just buy the ticket to complete the missing segment and just collect the money from the airline.

-RooFlyer88

Is there a contact number of the escalated support/rewards team in case I need to request different day change?thx

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Gosh, yep looks like it. I booked SYD-HKG via MEL Classic Award in J. Phantom booking now appears for SYD-MEL in Y. Anyway I can potentially prevent a downgrade?

If you have the int J class BP for the next flight, you will have access to the J lounge in SYD dom T3, if its a linked PNR.
As for you being down the back with the plebs, if in the end it works like that, for that I leave others to say, but in regards to lounge access, if you have a J tix linked to a dom Y, you get lounge access at the Y port of departure.
But if they are putting all QF pax from Aust through SYD to HKG, you might have to go to SYD T1 and go direct, bypassing MEL, depending on your travel dates.

 

[Kiwiash]

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...

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

For Awah, maybe start a new thread rather than piggy back on this one.
Might get an answer to your Q.

 

[alexcheng3]

Sorry, I think a wrote that incorrectly - I’ve had a phantom booking from SYD - HKG appear.

My (SYD - MEL - HKG) booking is still there though (which was my original booking).

If by the time Qantas reroutes us, there is no Classic Award Business left, is it worthwhile just trying to change the dates of the first flight now?

Or should I just wait for when Qantas reroutes us (and assume they’ll try to keep us in the same class)

 

[Mattg]

Or should I just wait for when Qantas reroutes us (and assume they’ll try to keep us in the same class)

Yes, this. Wait for Qantas to move you onto the direct flight.