Qantas Promises to Fix Ongoing Reward Flight Ticketing Failures

[flapper]

Question on this topic. I have an upcoming rewards trip - ADL-MEL-DOH-CDG and then EDI-DOH-MEL-ADL in a couple of weeks.

As some might remember a QF change in the order of minutes combined with their casual re-ticketing practices meant the whole QR portion of the trip got cancelled. I managed to get this reinstated and re-ticketed after some back and forth however it was quite stressful.

Last night I received the dreaded message that one of the flights had changed. It turns out it is a change to the MEL-DOH leg and a change by QR to leave 5 mins later. Everything is still in the app and looks ok but just wondering whether this will need to be re-ticketed again?

Last time the change was on a QF leg, this time on QR and I only found out when I checked my QF app for another reason and noticed all my bookings gone.

When I recently had a minor time change on a OWA I emailed ticketing escalations and asked them to accept the change and reticket. After nothing happened after waiting over a week I emailed again they emailed to confirm it was done and reticketed in a few hours.

 

[VeeVeeTop]

Any ideas on how to escalate it up the chain? Twitter have gone radio silent, I called the contact centre and we had a back and forth about if "I was sure I wanted to cancel my booking for 18/3/23." One that was booked in error when they tried to fix my third booking on tht day (and was like India to Japan, so no chance I was ever gonna use it ). They're also telling me they 'have' to charge me 6000pts to cancel my booking.

I can see alternate flights I could apply to the new booking (frustrating but doable), but the refund of points and cash will take at least a week, at which point things will have no doubt changed again.

I just wanna get this sorted and ticketed

For those following along at home I'll be posting background/updates below...

 

[VeeVeeTop]

The scene: I'm up to my fourth 'booking' and have been on the phone ~30hr over the last 4 months with no end in sight...

Booking 1: Back in November, I tried to book our first RTW trip. I'd spent all of the many Melbourne lockdowns trawling the guides and accruing QFF points and I was prepared. We were meant to be traveling for a month June-July and would be hitting NY and western Europe. Picked the perfect business class flights, called up, and after a bit of hassle and 1.5hrs on the phone we were set.

Except that their payment system wasn't working. I had to call 4 times to get the payment processed. During this time, I'd noticed in the app that my partner's surname was wrong. I mentioned this each time I called up to pay, and was told that it could be fixed after we made the booking.

As I soon learnt, that can't happen on codeshare flights. You need to cancel the booking and create a new one with the same flight and correct details. But I didn't know this. The agents didn't know this. And I spent Nov-March talking to people who promised to get it done and call me back, which never happened.

Post automatically merged: Mar 25, 2023

Booking 2: It'd been over a month since I'd lodged a complaint with the Customer Advocate and complained to Customer Care, who told me the only way forward was to cancel and rebook, and they were not at fault (?) but could waive the cancellation fee as a goodwill gesture.

I was told 3-5 days for the points and refund to be processed. It took over 2 weeks and 3 calls to get the refund, the last agent did it during the call. With my points back, I decided to review the slim pickings and rebook.

I called that night and spoke to another agent who seemed confident. All seemed to be going well... I looked in the app while on the call, she'd just taken my payment details, and there was another typo. My surname was spelt incorrectly this time and our middle and surnames were transposed. When I pointed it out we got 'dosconnected'. I'd been on the phone 2.5hrs at that point and it was nearly midnight, so I wasn't going to bother calling back.

 

[VeeVeeTop]

Booking 3: Having learnt my lesson, I called Customer Care the next day a couple of hours after they opened. The agent I got started of nicely, but when it wasn't a simple fix she got huffy and tried to puh me off the call and to callback during the week (it was a Saturday). Eventually she agreed to create a new booking, but some of the flights weren't available. After some back and forth she agreed to put in a reinstatement request.

Which somehow led to her adding 3 flights for that day (18/3) from different parts of our trip. One of which (India to Japan) was already in transit at the time it was added.

Then flights started disappearing. I called Wednesday to try and get stuff sorted as the second booking was never cancelled and the points were debited. The first person I got couldn't help but kept asking if I was sure I wanted to remove the 18/3 flight? After I got of the call I realised that was still there and deleted more flights.

Called Thursday morning and got through to someone helpful who readded the missing flights/found alternatives where required and said he'd give me a call back. He also processed the points refund immediately. He cancelled the second booking, confirmed everything was correct, and that he'd remove the weird flight and have it ticketed ASAP. He promised a callback with 24-48hr

 

[VeeVeeTop]

Booking 4: I got no callback, but I did get a Twitter message on Twitter this morning saying my second booking had been refunded and did I need anything else? No response so far...

I called the contact centre and got through to an agent who didn't seem confident but was persistent. After a lot of looking into it, he told me they couldn't ticket the third booking because the 18/3 BLR-NRT had already departed. But he could make a new booking and replicate the flights (again).

We were on the phone for 3hrs (dropped halfway through and he called me back, gem). But at the end the flight he couldn't replicate was a QF one and it couldn't be reinstated. We found an alternative which I reluctantly accepted. And then he quoted me 651,000 points because it was an 'assisted' booking. We got disconnected again and I never got a booking ref number or confirmation of how our names were spelled, so I don't know whether there's another booking in the system or who the passengers are. I guess that's a story for tomorrow...

 

[henrus]

And then he quoted me 651,000 points because it was an 'assisted' booking.

That doesn't sound like an assisted booking but more like a points plus pay fare.

 

[Mr H]

I looked in the app while on the call, she'd just taken my payment details, and there was another typo. My surname was spelt incorrectly this time and our middle and surnames were transposed.

Is there a reason your and your companion's names are difficult? If so, it would make sense to get the names spelled back to you before the bookings are finalised.

 

[adenda]

Booking 4: I got no callback, but I did get a Twitter message on Twitter this morning saying my second booking had been refunded and did I need anything else? No response so far...

I called the contact centre and got through to an agent who didn't seem confident but was persistent. After a lot of looking into it, he told me they couldn't ticket the third booking because the 18/3 BLR-NRT had already departed. But he could make a new booking and replicate the flights (again).

We were on the phone for 3hrs (dropped halfway through and he called me back, gem). But at the end the flight he couldn't replicate was a QF one and it couldn't be reinstated. We found an alternative which I reluctantly accepted. And then he quoted me 651,000 points because it was an 'assisted' booking. We got disconnected again and I never got a booking ref number or confirmation of how our names were spelled, so I don't know whether there's another booking in the system or who the passengers are. I guess that's a story for tomorrow...

Until I read of your travails I thought I'd had a rough time! Don't they take name details from your FF profile?

 

[VeeVeeTop]

Is there a reason your and your companion's names are difficult? If so, it would make sense to get the names spelled back to you before the bookings are finalised.

Nope, and I did. On his name they misheard a 'd' for a 't' - easy mistake to make but I did confirm with him that it was a "D for dog". My name they missed a letter. I called through with my QFF details and spelled both of our names multiple times to confirm they were correct. She kept calling me "Mrs Name" (not married) until after she took payment, then she called me Mrs Wrong Name and corrected herself. I think it clicked at that point but she just hoped I wouldn't notice the booking til after the call.

 

[henrus]

Nope, and I did. On his name they misheard a 'd' for a 't' - easy mistake to make but I did confirm with him that it was a "D for dog". My name they missed a letter.

I'd starting using a phonetic alphabet when booking to make it easier, just google it and you'll find a table of letters. I've found most phone agents are very familiar with the common phonetic words which makes it easier when booking.

 

[RichardMEL]

I'd starting using a phonetic alphabet when booking to make it easier, just google it and you'll find a table of letters. I've found most phone agents are very familiar with the common phonetic words which makes it easier when booking.

I do this too. I think many agents (and not just QF, I've done it with AA too) are quite happy to deal with Alpha-Bravo-Charlie and it works really well. I think some are grateful because there's no ambiguity for them.

 

[VeeVeeTop]

I have tried and sometimes it's successful, other times it's "P for Papa". "B for Brave?" "No P, for Peter." "Oh, P. And M for Mango?" "T for Tango. For Timothy." "Oh..."

I don't have a broad Aussie accent, maybe it's a bit posh (South Australian) style, but nothing that (I think) would hinder the NATO alphabet.

It feels a bit like that scene from Archer (never have I ever said 'mancy' when spelling something)

 

[adenda]

Couple of data points - got 2 separate emails this morning from Qantas (actually middle of the night) advising minor time changes for flights on 2 separate Award bookings - one a OWA with a QR flight!
Logged in and accepted both changes - new etickets received within 20 minutes for each! Maybe things are improving?

 

[Shanye2233]

But whether or not Qantas needs to fix the mistake can be dependent on where the fault lies.

In this particular case, as a customer you could try and take qantas to court, incur costs, and even if you win, you’re unlikely to have had your holiday by the time it all gets sorted. At least without considerable expense on your behalf if you needed to buy new tickets for seven people and claim them back.

The availability of an fix in this allows qantas to rectify its fault, and get the customer where they need to go, when they need to go. It’s a win-win.

But if this was an event outside QF’s control, it may not have an obligation to assist other than a refund. If JAL had actually cancelled its flights, i’m not sure there’s an obligation on QF to pull out the corporate card and accommodate you on another airline, or even their own services.

I am still ok to fly. But what would have happened if the JAL flights full? Then what are my rights , because from the agents telling me my rights are only a refund.

 

[kyle]

So this made the news: https://www.news.com.au/travel/trav...r/news-story/2365b40323d948ba7c23c025b10f3daf

 

[VeeVeeTop]

Qantas said it will reach out to Mr Jones to apologise for his experience and refund the money that he spent on purchasing flights as a result of the agent error.

I love this hanging out at the bottom of the article.

 

[Mr H]

Qantas said it will reach out to Mr Jones to apologise for his experience and refund the money that he spent on purchasing flights as a result of the agent error.

I love this hanging out at the bottom of the article.

Absolutely - within 8-12 weeks.

 

[VeeVeeTop]

Absolutely - within 8-12 weeks.

Wow, they've really prioritised it if they get it back that quickly!

 

[BD1959]

So this made the news: https://www.news.com.au/travel/trav...r/news-story/2365b40323d948ba7c23c025b10f3daf

and ...

Qantas said it will reach out to Mr Jones to apologise for his experience and refund the money that he spent on purchasing flights as a result of the agent error.

I love this hanging out at the bottom of the article.

I wonder at the timings of this ... the issue was encountered last August. Qantas are - presumably after being contacted by the media - now looking to resolve the dispute.

My guess is that the real back-story here is not that Qantas stuffed up the original ticketing (no surprises there given the 28 pages of anecdotes in this thread alone) but that the passenger has been trying to get a refund on his replacement fares since August.

Regards,

BD

 

[sykoticx]

Hi AFF members,
I’ve been reading everyone’s horror stories and trying to navigate through my own booking issues.

Long story short but on 15 Mar I booked reward tickets to Taipei on QF website on China Airlines.
The following day I made a change to the booking and requested the QF team send me the e-ticket via email which they said would take up to 48 hours to be issued.
This obviously didn’t happen and I chased them every few days with the agent reassuring me that it’s fine and it takes time. Fast forward a month after chasing them non stop via phone and FB messenger, I find out someone an error of some sort and now they will issue the ticket. The next day the flights disappear from the QF app and when I called they advised me that China Airlines had cancelled the flights as tickets weren’t issued in time.

Now the agent then tells me that there are no more J class reward tickets from TPE-SYD and I was adamant that this wasn’t my fault as I had chased them constantly they’ve said they have contacted China Airlines to reinstate the tickets.
Now it’s been 2 weeks and no update and they keep telling me to wait until they hear back. Some agents even telling me don’t worry your trip isn’t until November.

I’ve called back again today as now my flights to TPE have also disappeared from the app and QF agent said they’ve reached out to China Airlines and I will need to wait another 3-5 working days before they can follow up again.
I have emailed that reservations email and called so many times I am so annoyed at the incompetence of these call centres.

Any insights on how to proceed? Should I keep calling until I get an agent that is able to resolve the issue on the phone?
All of them keep saying they need to call me back or to keep waiting until they hear back from China Airlines.

Appreciate everyone’s thoughts.