Qantas to allow free changes, cancellations to Classic Flight Reward bookings to 30 September 2022

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

I changed a Classic Flight Award itinerary yesterday.
The itinerary did not include ANY sectors on QF.
All sectors in J.
The CSA said, ”there is no change fee at the moment”.

 

[FeirceWorm]

Still waiting for my refund 8 weeks later for a Qantas cancelled Classic rewards booking. Previous refunds were issued within 1 to 2 weeks for flights I cancelled.

 

[aikman]

Still waiting for my refund 8 weeks later for a Qantas cancelled Classic rewards booking. Previous refunds were issued within 1 to 2 weeks for flights I cancelled.

I reckon something's gone wrong and that your refund probably isn't in the refund queue.

 

[FeirceWorm]

Does Qantas have a live chat service? I'm sure that a popup appears on occasion but I can't locate it. Last time I phone I was on hold for several hours.

 

[Must...Fly!]

My refunds have typically been 8-10 weeks. Actually received two back this morning that I cancelled, I think, about 5 weeks ago.

 

[henrus]

Does Qantas have a live chat service? I'm sure that a popup appears on occasion but I can't locate it. Last time I phone I was on hold for several hours.

I don't think they've had it since the pandemic. I just wish they'd bring back the SMS service, currently you just get a message saying due to volumes please call. I'd have thought that the SMS would be more efficent than calling as someone is able to send all the details at once instead of having to read them out over the phone.

 

[jboy90]

I don't think they've had it since the pandemic. I just wish they'd bring back the SMS service, currently you just get a message saying due to volumes please call. I'd have thought that the SMS would be more efficent than calling as someone is able to send all the details at once instead of having to read them out over the phone.

I use their Facebook Messenger service and found it to be great with following up cancelled booking refunds or even changing classic reword bookings. Just send them through exactly what you want and you'll end up with a message back from then when they can get to it

 

[Etrust]

Has anyone seen this one before?:
Logged on to cancel a classic rewards flight (BNE-PER-BNE) which is 36,000 points + $70 fees.
The cancel page is proposing to issue a flight credit of $351. No points. WTF?

 

[FeirceWorm]

Has anyone seen this one before?:
Logged on to cancel a classic rewards flight (BNE-PER-BNE) which is 36,000 points + $70 fees.
The cancel page is proposing to issue a flight credit of $351. No points. WTF?

Yes. With my booking I had troubles with above. I had to call them. A couple of hours on hold. Quickly sorted once they answered. This is the first time I've had this issue. Qantas actually cancelled my original booking which was to NZ and put me on an alternate flight. I think this is where the problem arose.

 

[Mattg]

Has anyone seen this one before?:
Logged on to cancel a classic rewards flight (BNE-PER-BNE) which is 36,000 points + $70 fees.
The cancel page is proposing to issue a flight credit of $351. No points. WTF?

Yes I have come across this before. It's an error - if you cancel online, you should get back the original points and taxes. But if in doubt you can call/message Qantas to request a refund that way.

I posted about this previously in this thread:

Having to call Qantas for things that should be possible online

I'm trying to cancel a Classic Flight Reward booking for next week. Getting the same issue reported by others where the website is trying to give me a credit, even though I booked with points and am entitled to a full refund. Can someone please remind me what the best course of action is...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Etrust]

Thanks for the replies. Sorted after 30 min on hold. And you are right, Qantas had changed the original flights that were booked.

Post automatically merged: Sep 4, 2021

Thanks for the replies. Sorted after 30 min on hold. And you are right, Qantas had changed the original flights that were booked.

 

[andye]

Points back for J SYD-PER-SYD within 48 hours. They say 6-8 weeks for taxes

 

[AIRwin]

Noticed the following message now appears when cancelling a Classic Reward booking:

Information for Classic Reward Bookings: Due to an error, customers cancelling their Classic Reward Booking see information about receiving a Flight Credit. This is incorrect. Customers cancelling a Classic Reward Booking will receive a refund of their points, taxes, levies and surcharges.

 

[Mattg]

Noticed the following message now appears when cancelling a Classic Reward booking:

Information for Classic Reward Bookings: Due to an error, customers cancelling their Classic Reward Booking see information about receiving a Flight Credit. This is incorrect. Customers cancelling a Classic Reward Booking will receive a refund of their points, taxes, levies and surcharges.

Only took them a year!!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Only took them a year!!

That’s the thing… they must have had thousands of calls regarding this issue? All taking agent time and multiple thousands of hours of passenger time on hold. If QF really were serious about improving the customer experience they could have implemented the wording overnight. Unless agents handling the calls provided no feedback to their managers?

 

[Mattg]

That’s the thing… they must have had thousands of calls regarding this issue? All taking agent time and multiple thousands of hours of passenger time on hold. If QF really were serious about improving the customer experience they could have implemented the wording overnight. Unless agents handling the calls provided no feedback to their managers?

It beggars belief. I definitely informed the call centre staff of the problem when calling up due to the website saying I would get a voucher.

I suspect this reflects a culture in the QF call centre where staff are actively discouraged to speak up, provide feedback and report common bugs/known issues. Either that, or QF management was aware of the problem and did nothing for over a year, further adding to the burden on the overworked call centre staff.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Or if most of the calls for this end up in an outsourced call centre maybe there is incentive to hide the problem and ensure higher call volumes.

My usual cynical side is showing.

 

[Greg555]

That’s the thing… they must have had thousands of calls regarding this issue? All taking agent time and multiple thousands of hours of passenger time on hold. If QF really were serious about improving the customer experience they could have implemented the wording overnight. Unless agents handling the calls provided no feedback to their managers?

This is Qantas to a tee.
Absolutely, positively, could not care less about customer service in any way. We are victims of no competion...

I'm dealing with American Airlines quite a lot at the moment polishing an 18 flight trip with a mix of AA and Qantas paid and award flights.
They answer the phone immediately!!!!
Nothing is too much trouble, seats, bags, silly questions etc... Every question answered efficiently and with genuine interest.
In 2020 I got all my AA refunds back within 10 days. Qantas took 75+ days minimum and I had to chase missing ones.

I despise Joyce and Qantas.

 

[frodo]

Given the free changes and cancellations at the moment, is there any down side to booking a return trip as 2 separate bookings/tickets?
Would 2 separate bookings make it easier if I wanted to change one of the legs (date, airline, destination), or would it be the same process if I was to edit my existing booking?

 

[TheInsider]

It beggars belief. I definitely informed the call centre staff of the problem when calling up due to the website saying I would get a voucher.

I suspect this reflects a culture in the QF call centre where staff are actively discouraged to speak up, provide feedback and report common bugs/known issues. Either that, or QF management was aware of the problem and did nothing for over a year, further adding to the burden on the overworked call centre staff.

Must've just been a once off, like that ignorant manager said in the ACA interview.