Qantas passenger disruption policy

[VPS]

Has this been discussed elsewhere on the forum?

QANTAS changes its passenger disruption policies - Airline Hub Buzz Aviation News Australia

QANTAS will change the way it handles disrupted passengers for flight delays beyond the airline's control such as weather and Air Traffic Control events.

airlinehubbuzz.com

 

[Franky]

Has this been discussed elsewhere on the forum?

QANTAS changes its passenger disruption policies - Airline Hub Buzz Aviation News Australia

QANTAS will change the way it handles disrupted passengers for flight delays beyond the airline's control such as weather and Air Traffic Control events.

airlinehubbuzz.com

I believe that including the recommendation in their conditions of carriage contract that passengers have adequate travel insurance is a good idea as well. In fact, I believe travel insurance should be compulsory. Travellers should have as much responsibility for their own circumstances whilst travelling as do the carriers.

 

[Mattg]

AFF put out an article about it this morning: Qantas, Jetstar Waive Change Fees for New International Bookings

Personally I find the waiver not particularly generous and relatively uncompetitive compared to most other international airlines. The waiver only applies to new bookings made from today, and you can only change to a flight departing before the end of June.

 

[ja1]

I believe that including the recommendation in their conditions of carriage contract that passengers have adequate travel insurance is a good idea as well. In fact, I believe travel insurance should be compulsory. Travellers should have as much responsibility for their own circumstances whilst travelling as do the carriers.

Can't agree on the compulsory part. Why do you think a traveller might not take responsibility while at the same time not necessarily having travel insurance. And then you're down the rabbit hole of which travel insurance should they have exactly. Compulsory to have the $1300 policy for the $1200 fare ?

Certainly a good idea to remind the traveller that TI could be very helpful but with all the exclusions it's entirely possible to pay for TI that offers no value in many situations (not just edge/corner cases!)

I've never taken out or used TI domestically as I prefer to self insure. I've always taken out TI for international travel (particularly to the US). In 20 years of flying I've actually ended up using the TI just once for a total claim history of < $100.

I'd say the TI people are well and truly on the winning side of the ledger with my premiums to date.

 

[oz_mark]

I think the customer charter has excluded accommodation for weather events for a while now (even though I know Qantas would often give it anyway)

 

[esseeeayeenn]

This may sound reasonable but there is not always a clear distinction between weather events and events under Qantas' control.
For example when a cyclone passed New Caledonia in February Qantas decided to cancel some flights on following days even though the weather had improved, the airport remained open and other airlines operated normally.
Also travel insurance is helpful but in my experience I have always had to pay first and claim later.
So this could hit people returning from holidays who may not have cash reserves left.

 

[RooFlyer]

AFF put out an article about it this morning: Qantas, Jetstar Waive Change Fees for New International Bookings

I think the article VPS quotes is a different issue, MattG.

Also travel insurance is helpful but in my experience I have always had to pay first and claim later.

And most TI only covers international travel I think ( or is only taken out for international).

 

[VPS]

AFF put out an article about it this morning: Qantas, Jetstar Waive Change Fees for New International Bookings

Personally I find the waiver not particularly generous and relatively uncompetitive compared to most other international airlines. The waiver only applies to new bookings made from today, and you can only change to a flight departing before the end of June.

Hi Matt - I think this is different - this is saying if the weather is the cause of the delay then we're not giving you accommodation

 

[VPS]

I think the article VPS quotes is a different issue, MattG.


And most TI only covers international travel I think ( or is only taken out for international).

I have TI that covers me if I'm more than 200km from my home which is a little annoying - if I was on Yorke Peninsula and smashed my camera I think TI should cover it.

 

[ja1]

I have TI that covers me if I'm more than 200km from my home which is a little annoying - if I was on Yorke Peninsula and smashed my camera I think TI should cover it.

Well it might, if you had taken out the correct policy.

Someone had mentioned TI only being for international travel and I may have misunderstood because clearly TI is available for domestic travel as well (and is usually a default you have to turn off when you're booking direct with the airline..)

If you live in Australia but are creating a specific trip out to the Yorke peninsula, then you could absolutely take out coverage (and pay the premium) - you'd just have to make sure the coverage existing in the PDS and/or through a conversation with the insurance company.

This is where brokers do write a lot of business as they save you a lot of time by knowing exactly which product will work and which ones can be purchased but aren't actually what you need covered..

 

[VPS]

Well it might, if you had taken out the correct policy.

Someone had mentioned TI only being for international travel and I may have misunderstood because clearly TI is available for domestic travel as well (and is usually a default you have to turn off when you're booking direct with the airline..)

If you live in Australia but are creating a specific trip out to the Yorke peninsula, then you could absolutely take out coverage (and pay the premium) - you'd just have to make sure the coverage existing in the PDS and/or through a conversation with the insurance company.

This is where brokers do write a lot of business as they save you a lot of time by knowing exactly which product will work and which ones can be purchased but aren't actually what you need covered..

I have yet to find a TI policy that covers you within 200km of home and I've looked at a lot and had a lot

 

[eastwest101]

I imagine the main effect of this is going to be the weather and ATC delays in Qantas's hub of SYD. In the case of weather delays/single runway ops and then a curfew turning everything to pooh at Mascot with inbound and outbound International and Domestic pax transiting in SYD these can be quite expensive nights for Qantas and quite profitable nights for airports surrounding Mascot.

I think internationally people will either have travel insurance, and claim on it, or be self-insured. For domestic transit pax it could be a different story. Would definitely have to look at having travel insurance that covers weather delays if planning a complex domestic itinerary on Qantas with multiple connecting flights such as a status run, otherwise you could be up for quite an expensive hotel room at last minute rates. A lot of people here have annual policies so assume that most reputable annual policies would cover situations like this?

 

[RooFlyer]

Someone had mentioned TI only being for international travel and I may have misunderstood because clearly TI is available for domestic travel as well (and is usually a default you have to turn off when you're booking direct with the airline..)

What they actually said was:

And most TI only covers international travel I think ( or is only taken out for international).

I guess I was thinking more of my latter point rather than my first. 20 years of taking out policies for overseas travel has focused me a bit.

I have yet to find a TI policy that covers you within 200km of home and I've looked at a lot and had a lot

Yes, I discovered this recently when I took a 2 week trip for uni study to Launceston and wanted my laptop covered. Too close to home for coverage!!

 

[ja1]

I guess I was thinking more of my latter point rather than my first. 20 years of taking out policies for overseas travel has focused me a bit.

I wasn't sure.. but you're right, most people who fly a lot don't tend to bother with domestic insurance.

The other thing would be that a lot of work travel is covered under a corporate policy so you don't even think about the fact that you do have travel insurance which work might manage (in terms of claims coming back)..