QF Classic Award - Partner Changes

[Lemon_Party]

Having read a lot of stories regarding schedule changes, I expect the short answer is I'll lose my flights, but thought I'd ask for the expert advice.

Have 2 classic rewards flying MH from KL to BNE later next year and that route has been axed.
MH emailed me today to advise a new routing - KL - SYD - BNE.
Nothing from QF yet, but on the app and online it says that KL - SYD is waitlisted and SYD - BNE is confirmed.
The flights were in J.

I assume from posts so far that Qantas need to reticket this within a quick time frame or I'll definitely have no flights? And the likelihood of this happening is close to zero?
I'm assuming that waitlisted means MH haven't confirmed space for me yet (their email didn't say anything about flights being either confirmed or waitlisted) - has anyone had this come up on rescheduled awards before?

 

[sydney_kings]

I had a route being axed by AA in late September.
This resulted in a change of carrier AA to AS

These flights were not waitlisted and I even after the change the tickets were not reissued. The seats will show confirmed when I called in and then be cancelled (usually after 3 days) as Qantas didn't complete the ticketing in time.

It took Qantas until about a week prior to my departure to have the tickets formally reticketed.

 

[adenda]

Certainly in my experience your assumption regarding losing a booked flight due to slow Qantas reticketing is correct. I suggest you call ASAP and explain your concern - even say it's happened to you before - and see how much help you get. Call in business hours so the ticketing department is open.

Last time it happened to me (schedule change) I ended up calling 3 times in short succession and got Fiji each time. The first 2 agents just gave the scripted answer of 24-48 hours. The third agent took the initiative to immediately contact ticketing and wait in the queue while I was on hold with her. She even came back on line periodically to reassure me she was still in the queue. Eventually - maybe 20 minutes later - she came back online to advise ticketing was done! She even waited for me to confirm the booking details on Manage My Booking to make sure nothing in the booking had been changed against my instructions (it happens!). And within the hour I had my eticket/itinerary email.
As often advised on this forum - Hang Up And Call Again (HUACA) until you get the result you need.

 

[drron]

But can QF reticket if the MH segment KUL-SYD is only waitlisted?

 

[kangarooflyer88]

But can QF reticket if the MH segment KUL-SYD is only waitlisted?

What date and what MH flight # are you waitlisted for? I should think that if J > 0 then MH should be able to rebook you on that flight without waitlisting. After all, they were the ones that cancelled the flight in the first place!

-RooFlyer88

 

[Lemon_Party]

What date and what MH flight # are you waitlisted for? I should think that if J > 0 then MH should be able to rebook you on that flight without waitlisting. After all, they were the ones that cancelled the flight in the first place!

-RooFlyer88

MH123 and 18/9
I may call MH tomorrow - just being booked through QF I wasn’t sure I’d get anywhere.
The waitlist part confused me - I thought I’d be rebooked or just cancelled entirely this far out.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Here is what ExpertFlyer is showing for that particular flight:


J9, C9, D9, Z9, I2 means Malaysian has at least 9 business class seats available in a number of fare classes including full business (J,C), discount business (D/Z). I2 might mean that there are 2 seats available as a business saver (classic) flight award, although I'll let those more versed on MH award fare codes to chime in.

Now let's take a step back. Obviously, it's unfortunate that Malaysian cancelled the non-stop the way they did and left the itinerary in limbo. But knowing what you know now with the flights that are available, supposing money and points weren't an option what flights would you like to book? The reason I ask is that Qantas has some latitude in these scenarios to rebook you on their own flights back to Australia. Now I know, Qantas does not operate a non-stop flight between KL and Brisbane. However, the Qantas group does operate flights between KL and Brisbane via Singapore:



So a option to consider, if for some reason you encounter any difficulties in getting this sucker rebooked is to simply suggest they rebook you on the JQ flight down to SIN followed by the QF service onwards to BNE. Now I know JQ is not the same level as MH never mind QF, but the flight itself is short, you'll be transiting and enjoying some of the finest lounges in the world at SIN. Something to consider!

-RooFlyer88

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Seems like aviation blog SimplyFlying has some coverage of the MH cancellation.

"After a thorough business review, we have made a difficult decision to suspend our operations into Brisbane to ensure we operate and utilise our fleet at an optimum level, as well as maximising revenue on every route we fly to, while facing strong headwinds from the continued increase in fuel cost, forex and interest rate."

Hopefully you get this sorted either way. I still think there are some opportunities from this cancellation provided you have some backup routings in mind and a knowledgeable agent on the other end

-RooFlyer88

 

[Lemon_Party]

After a number of calls and promises, I have finally received etickets for my itinerary. The e-ticket confirms the kul-syd flight is waitlisted though - so I have that hurdle to get over…
Nobody at QF yet has mentioned the waitlist - I was hoping pushing through to issue tickets may change something and confirm the booking - but now I’ll have to get them to look at that.