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

[Must...Fly!]

I'm in a similar position (except my original Citibank card was recently changed from Visa to Mastercard), and would also be interested to know...

FYI Citi told me that when they receive a refund for a closed credit account, the amount is sent via cheque to your postal address.

 

[sudoer]

I cancelled some flights back in mid-August and the card I used was subsequently cancelled prior to this. I've called Citibank, they claim that no refund has been received on their end and to check with the merchant. Before I bother hanging on the phone for ages to QF (inevitable I presume...) to confirm the refund has been processed, just wondering if anyone else has received money back yet from around this period...

You should definitely call. Qantas are quoting up to 12 weeks. If your refund has taken longer than 12 weeks and you call them, they'll put your refund into a "high priority" queue which seems to get processed in 2-3 days. (first hand experience in August)

I'm skeptical whether there is actually a 12 week backlog of refunds, or this is a cashflow management tactic from Qantas. They are among the slowest airlines to refund globally.

With regards to refunds to closed cards - QF refunded some taxes to an already closed Qantas Money card, which is issued by Citi. Qantas Money sent a cheque which took 2-3 weeks to arrive.

Following that experience Qantas cancelled another of my bookings last month which had been paid using the same Qantas Money card. Rather than having to deal with Citi and cheques again, I went through a different process with Qantas where they'll refund to a different card if I send proof of card closure. Had to email the booking details and supporting docs to [email protected], gave them the new card number over the phone. That one's now up to about 6 weeks with no sign of refund yet.

 

[AIRwin]

FYI Citi told me that when they receive a refund for a closed credit account, the amount is sent via cheque to your postal address.

Thanks @Must...Fly! ! I'll look out for it in the mail...

 

[flapper]

Does anyone have any recent experience of how long it takes for charges to be refunded back to the payment card for taxes etc?

I cancelled some flights back in mid-August and the card I used was subsequently cancelled prior to this. I've called Citibank, they claim that no refund has been received on their end and to check with the merchant. Before I bother hanging on the phone for ages to QF (inevitable I presume...) to confirm the refund has been processed, just wondering if anyone else has received money back yet from around this period...

In my experience QF won’t refund taxes unless you keep calling. I waited 6 months. You will need to confirm WF have sent taxes then contact bank. One lot of my taxes are still lost somewhere between QF and ANZ. I’m still waiting on ANZ to trace it.

 

[serfty]

I cancelled an award booking 8 weeks ago and was told I it would take 10 weeks for the $$$. Points came back right away.

Today I received an email "they are processing you refund".

 

[Seat0B]

Does anyone have any recent experience of how long it takes for charges to be refunded back to the payment card for taxes etc?

I cancelled some flights back in mid-August and the card I used was subsequently cancelled prior to this. I've called Citibank, they claim that no refund has been received on their end and to check with the merchant. Before I bother hanging on the phone for ages to QF (inevitable I presume...) to confirm the refund has been processed, just wondering if anyone else has received money back yet from around this period...

I have not yet received refund of taxes and charges. My cancellations were on 8 October. I have put a reminder in my diary to call them at the 10 week mark. I will post when my refund comes through.

 

[sudoer]

Today I received an email "they are processing you refund".

I also received the same email yesterday for a one of two award bookings cancelled on the exact same phone call in early October.

The PNR I received the email for was entirely operated by JL, the other PNR operated by QF. Wonder if that makes any diff in the speed of refunds.

 

[serfty]

Wonder if that makes any diff in the speed of refunds.

Interesting ... my most pain free/fastest refund this year was an award MEL-(QF)-SIN-(JL)-HND.

 

[AIRwin]

I'll look out for it in the mail...

Refund was directly credited into my new credit card account (also with Citibank but now MasterCard instead of Visa previously)...

 

[dylarr]

This has been extended until 31 March 2021.

Fly Flexible | Qantas

To ensure you can book with confidence, we're introducing further flight flexibility on eligible flights.

www.qantas.com

 

[dylarr]

It should be no surprise that this has been extended again.

This has been extended to 30 April 2021.

For Classic Flight Rewards bookings, you can cancel or change your booking without fees until 30 April 2021 regardless of travel date. However this only applies to itineraries that consist only of Classic Flight Rewards. If you have combined a Classic Flight Reward with a non-Classic Flight Reward fare, the waiver won’t apply.

Fly Flexible | Qantas

To ensure you can book with confidence, we're introducing further flight flexibility on eligible flights.

www.qantas.com

 

[Mattg]

So will they extend it until May next month, or just extend it all the way until 30 June next time?

 

[mrmerc500]

If we cancel bookings now, is there still a 6000 cancellation fee? No chance of a London trip without restrictions & ease of travel in July now. Repeat of 2020 at this stage. Perth in lockdown!

 

[sudoer]

If we cancel bookings now, is there still a 6000 cancellation fee? No chance of a London trip without restrictions & ease of travel in July now. Repeat of 2020 at this stage. Perth in lockdown!

Assume you are referring to the 6000 point cancellation fee attached to classic award bookings?

Classic awards can be cancelled or changed without penalty until 31 April (regardless of travel date) and that bar has been shifted forward a couple of times already. More info here.

Zero chance of travel to the UK in July. Best case scenario for Europe/UK is early 2022 I think.

 

[Seat0B]

The fuss free cancellation for award flights is what tipped me over into making a booking today. It would be great if they would implement the same approach for paid flights too. It is a confidence issue, along with minimising hassle, for me that does actually encourage me to finally give it a go after a whole year of going nowhere.

 

[Greg555]

The fuss free cancellation for award flights is what tipped me over into making a booking today. It would be great if they would implement the same approach for paid flights too. It is a confidence issue, along with minimising hassle, for me that does actually encourage me to finally give it a go after a whole year of going nowhere.

Agreed that the award flight free cancellation is a good offer that I have taken advantage of four times now, but don't hold your breath waiting for the refunds. The points came back within 14 to 24 days however the $$ took more than 40 days on both occasions. There isn't any real reason for this other than the conscious decision by Qantas to hang onto your cash and also to provide lousy customer service. Hire some people Qantas and provide refunds in a timely manner!!!!!!!!

 

[aikman]

Agreed that the award flight free cancellation is a good offer that I have taken advantage of four times now, but don't hold your breath waiting for the refunds. The points came back within 14 to 24 days however the $$ took more than 40 days on both occasions. There isn't any real reason for this other than the conscious decision by Qantas to hang onto your cash and also to provide lousy customer service. Hire some people Qantas and provide refunds in a timely manner!!!!!!!!

I'm curious if you cancelled the flights online or over the phone. I seem to get refunds in only a few days for the ones I cancelled online.

 

[astrosly]

Agreed that the award flight free cancellation is a good offer that I have taken advantage of four times now, but don't hold your breath waiting for the refunds. The points came back within 14 to 24 days however the $$ took more than 40 days on both occasions. There isn't any real reason for this other than the conscious decision by Qantas to hang onto your cash and also to provide lousy customer service. Hire some people Qantas and provide refunds in a timely manner!!!!!!!!

My return of points for a classic award cancellation done online from 22 Dec is still pending. I called on 16 Jan and was told it will take 10 weeks for the refund. I said in my recent experience I get the points back in 2-5 days and the taxes refund a few weeks later, to which she replied that she could see my points balance and then stated that as as I have plenty of points I don't need a refund any time soon (!)

 

[AIRwin]

I said in my recent experience I get the points back in 2-5 days and the taxes refund a few weeks later, to which she replied that she could see my points balance and then stated that as as I have plenty of points I don't need a refund any time soon (!)

Wow, can QF also see bank account balances to determine urgency of tax refunds?

 

[astrosly]

Wow, can QF also see bank account balances to determine urgency of tax refunds?

I felt like saying something to that effect Especially when passenger taxes are strictly not their revenue. But I didn't need an argument at the time.