QF awards cancellation ... latest on refunds

[Infrequent]

G'day and almost Happy New Year,

Due to family medical problems it appears that I'll be cancelling the impossible-to-get international award bookings for next year

I understand that I can make a cancellation tomorrow (31 Dec) and not be hit for the cancellation fees in points (for what that's worth*),

but ... can anyone tell me:

• How long before the cash component ("taxes") is returned
  
  
• And, more importantly, what happens if the credit card used to pay is expired or has been cancelled in the interim???

I'm tempted to leave cancelling until close to the day of the flight - extremely unlikely to be a miracle in recovery of health - but the idea of giving the seats back now when the airlines will sell them for a tenfold markup to the price paid (even with exhorbitant taxes), and not offer them to others as award seats makes me
However, if they say "your credit card is no longer valid, so here's a voucher" ...

So, the conundrum ... save 36,000 points tomorrow, but the bookings are gone, or risk some crooked "credit" being issued, plus a huge delay in points return for rebooking in the incredibly unlikely event that the airlines computers say "despite all evidence, we think no-one will be flying in 2024, and so we'll make good seats available to lowly bronze members".

Thanks to anyone who can help with words of wisdom!

___________________________
*36,000 points ... probably will be less than the jack-up on awards pricing after the next devaluation/"improvement"... and what's the worth of any points if no bookings can ever be made???

 

[algae]

• And, more importantly, what happens if the credit card used to pay is expired or has been cancelled in the interim???

Ah yes, i've had this same issue in the past with Qantas bookings. I called them, explained the situation, they asked for a stat dec to be signed and details of the original CC and the new CC for the refund to go back to.

I fortunately got Hobart so they understood what i was asking for and happily processed it.

Didnt hear anything for weeks.

Eventually after months of silence and no refund, i assumed they sent it back to the original card :/

Contacted the old bank (ANZ) and they confirmed the refund had been issued. We then got it sent to a savings account.

So essentially, assume Qantas will be useless.

Also, ANZ informed us we got the refund in just a few weeks before they changed their policy around refunds to a closed account. Now they apparently will decline the refund and send it back to Qantas. So i'm sure it'll be even worse now.

Lesson learnt. I never use my 'churning qantas card' on flight booking fees.

 

[serfty]

As a data point, I have cancelled three international awards online this month and points were refunded withiin a couple of days with the $+++ a day or so later.

I don't churn cards so no issue with that. Even if I did I would not churn one used for an unflown booking.

 

[Scr77]

I agree with @algae It will be easier to get funds from cancelled card via bank than to get Qantas to refund to a different card.

The old bank will have a system in place, even if you’re no longer a customer.