QF Dom J Reward - Flight cancelled transferred to Virgin economy

[congee]

Hi All, looking for some advice on how to approach this issue with QF.

Essentially we had 4 x J reward tickets BNE-TSV. The flight was delayed 3+ hours since the aircraft was stuck in Mackay.

As it was he last flight of the day to TSV we were first moved to Jetstar and then to Virgin.

Our seats on Virgin were only in economy and of course we had to pay for our own food and drinks.

What’s the protocol these days for getting a refund, etc.

Appreciate any insights.

Thanks

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi All, looking for some advice on how to approach this issue with QF.

Essentially we had 4 x J reward tickets BNE-TSV. The flight was delayed 3+ hours since the aircraft was stuck in Mackay.

As it was he last flight of the day to TSV we were first moved to Jetstar and then to Virgin.

Our seats on Virgin were only in economy and of course we had to pay for our own food and drinks.

What’s the protocol these days for getting a refund, etc.

Appreciate any insights.

Thanks

I think there are two options here.

1) if you are a Points Club member and need the SCs, accept the downgrade to VA, but ask Qantas for an original routing credit so you get your SCs, or
2) write to Qantas FF attaching your VA boarding pass and ask for the difference in points between J and Y be refunded.

Much easier on an award to sort this out than if you had paid cash, where the fare difference can be covert tricky to work out.

 

[RichardMEL]

You could probably reasonably ask for the points difference between QF J and Y on the route since you were moved to Y

but you know to me it sounds like QF actually did the best they could and got you to TSV when you needed to go (I'm assuming the same night and not next morning?)_. Obviously they couldn't pull 4xJ at that point on VA. Given all thehorror stories that show up about people being stranded, seems like QF did pretty well by you given the circumstances.

so I'd ask for the difference in points refunded (or ask for ORC per the points club issue above - if that applies)... OK yes you had to pay for food on the flight, but the points difference should make up for that imo (yes I know QF Y would have given you... something...).

 

[congee]

Thanks Mel and Richard.

Have emailed and asked for the points difference to the refunded. Seems like the most appropriate outcome.

no ORC or SC on this flight as they were classic rewards.

Will add outcome here for future reference.

-congee

 

[Princess Fiona]

Thanks Mel and Richard.

Have emailed and asked for the points difference to the refunded. Seems like the most appropriate outcome.

no ORC or SC on this flight as they were classic rewards.

Will add outcome here for future reference.

-congee

The reference to SC was if you are a Points Club or Points Club Plus member with QF.

Classic Award flights do earn SC if so. All be it at a reduced rate from full J.
Best wishes with your claim.

 

[congee]

Just by way of update. I'm still on the email merry-go-round trying to get the points credited for involuntary downgrade, it's now almost 6 weeks and I've had only 1 actual reply from the "customer service team".... anyone got contacts or should I go public on twitter and ask for local support?

If it was just one ticket, I could live with it. things go wrong, i get that, but 4 tickets * 15,600 points difference is too many to just "let it go".



How long are members waiting for repsonse / resolution by email?

 

[xabialonso]

Had a similar experience during christmas. Got 3 x J Classic Reward, flight cancelled and got put on a QF flight (in Y) leaving 3 hours after.

Soon as I got back from my trip I emailed Qantas with screenshot of the 3 x boarding passes requesting the points difference be returned to my account. about 4 weeks later got an email from an agent apologising for the cancellation and points returned.

 

[congee]

Hi. Final update... yay ... after clearing up some confusion about our flights and explaining the involuntary downgrade, we have now been refunded the points difference between business and economy for all 4 tickets. Also got a 5k pionts boost as compensation for having to purchase food. Has taken 8 weeks to get the refund.

Summary: Email customer care ([email protected]) and explain the involuntary downgrade, this then triggered the points refund. Be persistent if you find members of the care team are not aware of the downgrade policy. QF moved quickly to refund once the request got to the authorised team member.