Qantas Promises to Fix Ongoing Reward Flight Ticketing Failures

[ValWhellens]

This is exactly the problem I faced with my booking made last June. Three CX sectors that had previously been confirmed and ticketed dropped off my booking without warning and when I followed up I was told that all Qantas could do was to submit a re-instatement request (which was subsequently denied). I've spoken with 22 agents about this booking so far and have submitted 2 formal complaints - no resolution! The problems seem to be compounded by the fact that the Manila call centre staff just do not know what they are doing when it comes to One World bookings!
I have sent an email as AFF suggested so let's hope that gets some action.
Thanks AFF - my hopes have just risen by 5%

 

[billbro]

Wow just saw this, after spending the last 2 weeks trying to resolve ticketing issues this would have been a blessing.

In any event, this is a great step in the right direction and hopefully no issues when we actually fly or at least there is a dedicated team to resolve it.

 

[renatts]

Great news.

I am one of many who have had to make 100+ calls over the past 18 months dealing with OWA ticketing issues/flight changes/cancellations/autocancels ect.

I have an upcoming booking that will almost certainly need to be addressed, wondering if it's worth just sending off an email outlining the issues to see if we can get a proactive solution instead of reactive. Although the invention of this team makes me more comfortable with the wait-and-see approach...

In short, we're flying MAD - HKG - BNE on Cathay Pacific, departing Madrid on a Sunday.
Cathay have Zeroed out all Sunday Madrid departures from July. After contacting them directly they said the route is 'under review'.

I feel it is extremely unlikely they will add the Sunday flight back into the system, but they haven't officially cancelled the flight yet either. I could be wrong, but would rather a more certain booking.

What would you all do? Wait and see, or e-mail the new team?

 

[AFF Editor]

The dedicated email inbox is now working. Please note that the email address is slightly different to that previously published in my article.

You can send an email with your name and PNR to [email protected] if you need assistance with a Classic Flight Reward ticketing problem.

 

[SydneySwan]

Is it a promising sign that the no-one has reported that the mail box is full yet? Or is that too cynical even for me?

 

[eminere]

Great work by the AFF team.

 

[ZenFlyer]

Great work by the AFF team.

Indeed -- even if the solution proves not to be perfect, you've done a great service to community members by getting Qantas to acknowledge and focus attention on the problem.

 

[J-P]

Well done to the AFF team on this work and a very interesting article.
I have emailed that address after checking and seeing that a booking I made is not ticketed correctly, will report back with any progress.

 

[Quickstatus]

What's the trigger to use the email? - when a booking autocancels without an eticket?

 

[RooFlyer]

Great work by the AFF team.

Sure, but only pay out when we can say great work by Qantas and the problem has gone away.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Not entirely sure it's a band-aid solution.
The creation of this dedicated team I think is an excellent initiative and ideally will be a permanent inclusion to QF staffing.
To be able to reticket cancellations from partner airlines in the most efficient and prompt method, and also have a means for punters like you & me to get in touch is a good move.

It's clear that prior to this team there was no one at QF who had responsibility for reticketing as it just wouldn't happen (in many cases anyway). Hopefully this team will resolve the issues.

I'm looking forward to QF regaining the trust of Aussie flyers!

I’m not suggesting it’s bad. Quite the opposite.

If it operates as indicated I can see how it will improve things for some customers.

I described it as a band-aid because it doesn’t address the root cause.

Whether the root cause is IT, poorly trained contract agents, or something else, I don’t know.

The story just read to me as though QF knows there is an issue and either can’t, or won’t, fix it.

So instead they’ve put in place a work-around.

 

[pomona]

As usual, too little too late
I hit a brick wall with EK advising me my "travel agent" aka QF had cancelled the flight. No contact possible with QF by any form & the ACA ? totally useless.
After 6months+ my points suddenly re-appeared, again zero contact nor apology nor compensation as I had to shell out $7K+ to purchase a ticket.
Busy burning points/pesos so that I never use JoyceAir ever again.

 

[Quickstatus]

The airline Ticketing issues are not necessarily limited to the Classic rewards sphere: Passenger and kids out of pocket "thousands" and no communication from QF when they arrived back to OZ.

They were put on AF to LHR 2 days later and QF LHr-SYD. Kids seating remote to mother.

(Paywalled)

 

[Quickstatus]

I described it as a band-aid because it doesn’t address the root cause.

Why does it take an organisation outside the company to alert it of failures while their executives are paid millions?. Don't they do quality reviews?. Don't they know what's happening?

 

[jpp42]

Why does it take an organisation outside the company to alert it of failures while their executives are paid millions?. Don't they do quality reviews?. Don't they know what's happening?

I would say they have been alerted by various means, such as the numerous escalations to executives made by members of this forum and others (this isn't the only forum complaining of this issue), as well as through their legal department when things escalated that far (as in the "Taking Qantas to NCAT" thread on here). I'm sure the contact from the AFF Editor(s) has been helpful but it's hardly their only way of knowing about these problems. They've chosen to engage in this case because they know the AFF Editor will help get the word out about their planned improvements.

 

[Quickstatus]

I would say they have been alerted

That they have. But my point is why don't they know without people outside of the company letting them know?. What is their level of executive oversight?. What are they doing for all the millions in executive remuneration?

Are the "this call is recorded for training and quality purposes" hollow?

 

[Guvner]

The airline Ticketing issues are not necessarily limited to the Classic rewards sphere: Passenger and kids out of pocket "thousands" and no communication from QF when they arrived back to OZ.

They were put on AF to LHR 2 days later and QF LHr-SYD. Kids seating remote to mother.

(Paywalled)

View attachment 315378
View attachment 315377

news dot com dot au posted this image on their website. Umm....

https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/e46ed7ce15313c50035b9c3f6cf4faf0

 

[Mr H]

news dot com dot au posted this image on their website. Umm....

https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/e46ed7ce15313c50035b9c3f6cf4faf0

Is that a problem?

 

[Guvner]

Would you want your last name and QFF number splashed across the screen? If so, then there's no problem. Her account will be locked out in milliseconds with people trying to access it. If that's not an issue, then again, no problem.
As we speak there'll be myriad people trying to get her PIN changed by many known methods and draining her points. If that's not an issue, then no problem.

 

[Mr H]

Would you want your last name and QFF number splashed across the screen? If so, then there's no problem. Her account will be locked out in milliseconds with people trying to access it. If that's not an issue, then again, no problem.
As we speak there'll be myriad people trying to get her PIN changed by many known methods and draining her points. If that's not an issue, then no problem.

Really? You can find the same information on countless boarding pass stubs left lying around and the sky doesn’t fall in. Used to be printed on luggage tags. Just my personal take but I think people sometimes get overly precious about personal details that are useless to other people.