QF Mystery: We can see but the agent can't

[Oubline]

Sometimes it depends what flights you already have in your itinerary, I believe e.g. ‘married segments’. I assume you must have an existing booking with flights you’re looking to add to. Like I know you definitely can’t add certain connnecting domestic flights to international awards even though they can easily be booked separately. Other wiser people have commented on this phenomenon in the forums.

Also there is the obvious incompetence factor with some QF agents, unfortunately, not letting them off the hook!

 

[PaulyB]

Sometimes it depends what flights you already have in your itinerary

Yes - I am aware of the married segment thing. But this is actually a completely new inward bound journey from Frankfurt Such an alchemy...

 

[serfty]

Maybe thise flights are only available for bookings originating in Hong Kong?

 

[Oubline]

Ah OK! Yes not sure then. If the multi-city booking tool on Qantas would let you book the Frankfurt-Sydney itinerary online with the same flights you’re trying to book on the phone then I’d say it’s a competence issue at the call centre!

I definitely wish you good luck.

 

[PaulyB]

I definitely wish you good luck.

Indeed. I don't entirely blame the agent. They have no idea. It's just not there for them. What else can they say? They aren't exactly trained to troubleshoot! ! But gee - I'd love to meet one who says. oh wow. You must have spent hours working this all out. Let me see if I can ask my supervisor .....or something!

 

[drron]

It is a while since I was a dyed in the wool AA fanboi but there agents often went way above what you expected.
The one I remember well was when Mrsdrron asked as a WP for the release of a classic J award on QF BKK-SYD. Was denied. I went on to AA and got 1 for each of us.
And I have already mentioned the AA Manilla agent that had only been working a week. I had been trying to book a DONE 4 through QF as online was having problem. QF couldn't help so in desperation rang AA. The agent was fabulous and we worked out an acceptable itinerary. She had to get it passed by a supervisor who came on line and suggested she could work in 2 finnair legs with 2 Malev legs instead of 4 Malev flights. It turned out to be great luck as Malev went bankrupt after our first flight. They did arrange a seat on LH in J for the short flight to FRA.

Obviously as far as the offshore call centres go QF training is abysmal.

 

[Forg]

I reckon there are many reasons for this sort of stuff … for example ticketing systems not being set up correctly, so that conditions/filters aren’t applied & hence until you try to actually buy a ticket they appear available (like the scenario suggested by @serfty). But I also have suspicions that it’s a bait-and-switch tactic, of course I have no proof of this but I wonder if online certain ticketing systems display NLA cheap tickets for “just-a-little-while-longer“ so that when a buyer tries to buy one that’s NLA they then contact that buyer & sell one of the fares that is available (I’ve had this happen to me).

 

[Lynda2475]

HUACA I have had an agent use this BS excuse, then call back 5 mins later speak to a new gent who had no trouble adding the same flight. It is a training or laziness issue.

 

[PaulyB]

HUACA I have had an agent use this BS excuse, then call back 5 mins later speak to a new gent who had no trouble adding the same flight. It is a training or laziness issue.

Thanks all. Yes - I have had this experience too, multiple times. . Sadly I have gone in today and the one flight I had wanted now shows no J flights available.
It feels so familiar, call dropouts, abysmal training, mismatch site info. What were the recent improvements? I don't quite recall...