Qantas Revenue booking cancellations (under covid19)

[knightfall88]

You can redeem for both domestic and international flights departing from Australia, if your original booking originated in Australia. The only restriction is that it's only possible to redeem online for new flights departing from the same country as your original booking was made from (i.e. in the same currency).

It's quite possible that the Qantas website could be broken, however, or there may be no flights to the international destination you're looking at. In which case you may need to call.

Thanks so much, something wrong with their website then. Cheers

 

[RUSSELLMACQ]

I just received an email from Qantas about flight credits. They've extended them until December 2022.

Added flexibility for your Flight Credit​

​

Following customer feedback, our team has been working hard to improve the conditions of our Flight Credits and provide more time to book and travel and more flexibility and choice for our customers.​

​

We’re extending the expiry date on eligible Flight Credits until the end of 2022, so you have more time to plan future trips.​

They've also finally made the system changes to enable them to be used across multiple bookings.

is the flight credit validity for flights commenced and completed before end of Dec 2022 or can you just commence your flight before Dec 2022 and complete the flight in say Jan 2023

 

[BorisWood]

Is there any reason to accept a flight credit over asking for a refund?
The 2 reasons I can think of are the waiting time on the phone to get a refund over doing the credit on line and if your original booking had double status credits so the new flight will also have this.

 

[Pete98765432]

is the flight credit validity for flights commenced and completed before end of Dec 2022 or can you just commence your flight before Dec 2022 and complete the flight in say Jan 2023

The information on the QF site says travel must be completed by 31 December 2022.

• Book your Qantas flights and ensure all travel is completed before 31 December 2022.

Qantas Flight Credits | Qantas

Find out about Qantas Flight Credits, usually offered on cancelled bookings and how to redeem flight credit online or via your local Qantas office.

www.qantas.com

Of course it’s too early now to test whether their booking system allows you to book travel after 31 December 2022.

 

[Justinf]

My cash booking (J INTL, ~$5K worth) was cancelled by Qantas today. I called to get a refund, was no issue - but was told it will take 8-10 weeks.

Same here.
$8500 for two J flights Melbourne to Honolulu return.
First call waited an hour and got disconnected.
Second call same thing.
Got on the online chat, saw it go from 23rd in the queue down to 3rd and then it said there were no agents availablke.
Third call got through after nearly three hours and the refund was pretty painless.
8 to 10 week wait for the refund.

 

[offshore171]

ACCC takes Qantas to task over COVID-19 flight refunds

The consumer watchdog has raised concerns that Qantas may have encouraged customers to cancel bookings in order to receive a flight credit when many would have been entitled to a refund.

www.smh.com.au

 

[Melburnian1]

This media release was issued by the ACCC on Friday 19 June 2020:

Qantas offers refunds for flight cancellations
19 June 2020
The ACCC says it is pleased Qantas has begun contacting its customers to tell them they are entitled to a refund for domestic or international flights cancelled or suspended due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The ACCC’s COVID-19 Taskforce raised concerns with the airline after receiving hundreds of complaints from passengers whose flights were suspended or cancelled due to travel restrictions, but who were given credits by Qantas instead of the refunds they were entitled to.
Qantas’ terms and conditions state that customers with fares booked on any of its domestic and international flights are entitled to have their fare refunded if Qantas makes a significant change to their flight, and Qantas cannot offer another booking which is acceptable to the customer.
The ACCC was concerned that Qantas’ communications to customers between 17 March 2020 and 31 May 2020 did not adequately inform them of their right to receive a refund.
In some cases, the ACCC considers Qantas’ emails may have encouraged these customers to cancel bookings themselves in order to receive a credit when many would have been eligible for a refund.
“We want to ensure that customers are aware that when Qantas suspends or cancels flights due to travel restrictions and fails to provide them with an acceptable alternative flight, they are entitled to a refund,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
This decision by Qantas to send a new email to customers in recent days to “remind” customers about their right to a refund follows weeks of pressure from the ACCC, but the ACCC says even the most recent communication is not particularly clear.
“From our perspective, from the outset, Qantas did not communicate clearly with customers about their rights and, in a large number of cases, simply omitted they were entitled to a refund,” Mr Sims said.
“We do appreciate that the airline industry globally is significantly impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, but I think that customers can and should expect better from Qantas, particularly when many of those customers may be out of work or experiencing financial hardship.”
“If any customer in this situation is unhappy with receiving a credit, or no longer wants one due to continuing uncertainty about when flights will resume, we strongly encourage them to contact Qantas and seek a refund,” Mr Sims said.
Notes to editors
Clause 9.2 of Qantas’ Conditions of Carriage states:
Where we make a Significant Change to your flight due to an Event Beyond Our Control, whether you have checked in or not, we will:

• use reasonable endeavours to rebook you on the next available flight on our services at no additional cost to you
• alternatively, if we are unable to rebook you on services acceptable to you, we will refund the applicable fare.

 

[jakeseven7]

This media release was issued by the ACCC on Friday 19 June 2020:

Qantas offers refunds for flight cancellations
19 June 2020
The ACCC says it is pleased Qantas has begun contacting its customers to tell them they are entitled to a refund for domestic or international flights cancelled or suspended due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The ACCC’s COVID-19 Taskforce raised concerns with the airline after receiving hundreds of complaints from passengers whose flights were suspended or cancelled due to travel restrictions, but who were given credits by Qantas instead of the refunds they were entitled to.
Qantas’ terms and conditions state that customers with fares booked on any of its domestic and international flights are entitled to have their fare refunded if Qantas makes a significant change to their flight, and Qantas cannot offer another booking which is acceptable to the customer.
The ACCC was concerned that Qantas’ communications to customers between 17 March 2020 and 31 May 2020 did not adequately inform them of their right to receive a refund.
In some cases, the ACCC considers Qantas’ emails may have encouraged these customers to cancel bookings themselves in order to receive a credit when many would have been eligible for a refund.
“We want to ensure that customers are aware that when Qantas suspends or cancels flights due to travel restrictions and fails to provide them with an acceptable alternative flight, they are entitled to a refund,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
This decision by Qantas to send a new email to customers in recent days to “remind” customers about their right to a refund follows weeks of pressure from the ACCC, but the ACCC says even the most recent communication is not particularly clear.
“From our perspective, from the outset, Qantas did not communicate clearly with customers about their rights and, in a large number of cases, simply omitted they were entitled to a refund,” Mr Sims said.
“We do appreciate that the airline industry globally is significantly impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, but I think that customers can and should expect better from Qantas, particularly when many of those customers may be out of work or experiencing financial hardship.”
“If any customer in this situation is unhappy with receiving a credit, or no longer wants one due to continuing uncertainty about when flights will resume, we strongly encourage them to contact Qantas and seek a refund,” Mr Sims said.
Notes to editors
Clause 9.2 of Qantas’ Conditions of Carriage states:
Where we make a Significant Change to your flight due to an Event Beyond Our Control, whether you have checked in or not, we will:

• use reasonable endeavours to rebook you on the next available flight on our services at no additional cost to you
• alternatively, if we are unable to rebook you on services acceptable to you, we will refund the applicable fare.

Does this also cover VA or are they still able to not refund due to insolvency?

 

[Danger]

Is there any reason to accept a flight credit over asking for a refund?
The 2 reasons I can think of are the waiting time on the phone to get a refund over doing the credit on line and if your original booking had double status credits so the new flight will also have this.

With respect to DSCs, note that the first hurdle is for your new booking to be within the travel period for the DSC promo. I think the DSC promo from around early March this year ends around 19 February 2021.

 

[Jean Prouvaire]

With respect to DSCs, note that the first hurdle is for your new booking to be within the travel period for the DSC promo. I think the DSC promo from around early March this year ends around 19 February 2021.

What are the chances of Qantas extending the travel period dates for the DSC offer? I had a number of bookings, including two international trips, within the DSC travel period which would have allowed me to retain Platinum. All have been cancelled of course.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

What are the chances of Qantas extending the travel period dates for the DSC offer? I had a number of bookings, including two international trips, within the DSC travel period which would have allowed me to retain Platinum. All have been cancelled of course.

Nil.

I feel they are just moving forward wherever possible.

They have started offering DSC on certain domestic routes ie SYD-BNK. And triple points. Maybe they might do something when the Trans-Tasman bubble opens.

 

[Mqrko]

If I had cancelled the flight by myself before and it falls in the date range eligible for a refund, does that mean I can request a complete refund and get rid of my voucher ?

 

[UP4014]

I was speaking to QF today to re-book a voucher into a flight on July 3. All good and took my CC details to refund the difference, they insisted I take a refund and not issue another voucher, advise 5 business days for the refund. All good.

 

[doctau]

Is there any reason to accept a flight credit over asking for a refund?
The 2 reasons I can think of are the waiting time on the phone to get a refund over doing the credit on line and if your original booking had double status credits so the new flight will also have this.

Some government taxes in certain countries are non-refundable, so you wouldn't get them back. However if you use the credit to go to any other destination you'll also lose them, and they don't usually make up a lot of the value so largely it's not an issue.

Refunds go to the original form of payment (due to ACCC and anti-money laundering regulations), so it can be a pain if that was a credit card you have since cancelled.


That said, neither of those are necessarily reasons to go for the credit.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Qantas responds to the ACCC on news.com: Qantas savaged for virus refund policy

Qantas said it did not think its initial advice to customers was unclear.​

“We hope the ACCC is not inferring that we haven’t done the right thing by our customers, particularly given the efforts we have made to manage an exceptional level of upheaval.”​

I believe Qantas went to considerable efforts to drive customers into thinking their options were limited by removing the full refund options from the website, and encouraging people the 'self cancel' so they would only be entitled to a voucher.

We raised the issue very early on on AFF, and there would be no reason for this thread to have generated 47 pages if the policy had been a full refund from the outset.

Nor do I believe they have managed the situation well given it's taking 8-12 weeks to process refunds.

The irony is that the great 'efforts' they have been making to manage the upheaval have been driven by their own attempts to manipulate the refund/voucher situation. If they had accepted refunds from the outset, they would have saved themselves all this work they claim they had to do.

 

[p--and--t]

Qantas responds to the ACCC on news.com: Qantas savaged for virus refund policy

Qantas said it did not think its initial advice to customers was unclear.​

“We hope the ACCC is not inferring that we haven’t done the right thing by our customers, particularly given the efforts we have made to manage an exceptional level of upheaval.”​

I believe Qantas absolutely did the wrong thing by customers, to the point of being misleading, by removing the full refund options from the website, and encouraging people the 'self cancel' so they would only be entitled to a voucher.

We raised the issue very early on on AFF, and there would be no reason for this thread to have generated 47 pages if the policy had been a full refund from the outset.

Nor do I believe they have managed the situation well given it's taking 8-12 weeks to process refunds.

The complete irony is that the great 'efforts' they have been making to manage the upheaval have been 100% driven by their own attempts to manipulate the refund/voucher situation. If they had accepted they owed refunds from the outset, they would have saved themselves all this work they claim they had to do.

Unfortunately most airlines have been giving customers the run around. Not much difference to my experience with other airlines:

MH - voucher only, no refund
EK, MS, AT - refund minus ~30% of paid fare even though flight cancelled and border closed, weeks to get money.

Except surprisingly JQ, money in full refunded in my account within 24 hours

 

[Melburnian1]

Unfortunately most airlines have been giving customers the run around. Not much difference to my experience with other airlines:

MH - voucher only, no refund
EK, MS, AT - refund minus ~30% of paid fare even though flight cancelled and border closed, weeks to get money...

No one disputes that's typical of many airlines, but five wrongs don't make a right, to mangle the original Arthur Calwell MHR (in)famous quote.

 

[ChrisMars]

I cant remember seeing someone speculating that the DSC offer run mid Feb was in prevision of serious risks of pandemie and future travel restriction.

Is that too crazy to think that? Everyone thought DSC offer were a thing of the past, and boom, there is one. The bookings I made at that time were flex J. I never book flex, but this time I had personal concerns of travel issues with the rise of the cases. I can imagine that execs at Qantas had larger concerns, and launch this offer to hedge from the risk of pandemie...

 

[Jean Prouvaire]

I cant remember seeing someone speculating that the DSC offer run mid Feb was in prevision of serious risks of pandemie and future travel restriction. [...] I can imagine that execs at Qantas had larger concerns, and launch this offer to hedge from the risk of pandemie...

I'm not sure if that reasoning holds. I booked a bunch of flights on the basis of that DSC offer. Now that Qantas has cancelled all those flights (not me, but the airline), there's no incentive for me to get credit vouchers if the DSC period isn't extended. I might a well get cash refunds. On the other hand, if the eligible DSC travel period was extended by a year, I'd have a reason to get vouchers instead.

 

[justinbrett]

At this point DSC are meaningless. I’m WP, status reset end of March (not extended, I already requalified). My international trips have been cancelled by Qantas. As it stands most domestic flights are still off limits.

I’m not sure how I would requalify just using domestic flights - That’s a lot of domestic travel. I’m assuming there’s going to be some kind of assistance in order to retain WP, but as it stands I’m not going out of my way to earn SCs until I know where the goal posts are.