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

[PlaneCrazy]

Welcome to AFF. Sorry to hear of your frustrations, they unfortunately are not unique.

We have seen a lot of cases recently where award seats seem to be available for purely domestic itineraries, but not when connected to an international leg. I guess this is a minor form of revenue protection as they would get more points redeemed as a separate itinerary , whereas adding it to an international could result in zero further points being redeemed. At least within Qantas, it seems that not all classic reward availability is created equal, but I don't know if there is any way to determine this from ExpertFlyer or similar.

The other point seems to be that only the Hobart call centre (and maybe Auckland and Manila?) has direct access to all availability, for some reason the more commonly reached Mindpearl agents (Fiji/South Africa) use a different system which inhibits availability of many classic rewards. That's why you get all these agents insisting there is nothing available - they aren't allowed to look at the external web site and must only use their internal, limited tool. Why this problem exists and why it isn't being fixed is a matter for Qantas , I guess, but I suppose with the very low revenues they get from classic reward redemption, they don't seem to be in any hurry to solve this sort of thing.

Unfortunately, unless you are Platinum it can be very different to reach Hobart. Apparently it's best to try early in the morning. Good luck!

I'm trying to book SYD-PVG-LGW and return flying QF/MU. Reward seats show availability in business/first. After entering in passenger details in the booking process online I get the error code 15079-23951-421. When calling Qantas on several occasions they say 1. MU is not a Qantas frequent flyer partner, 2. MU doesn't fly to LGW and 3.There are no reward seats available.

The call centre reached is Manila. Is it worth persisting to try and get another call centre (if so any time to max chances for non-status) or is there some merit to what the agents have said so far?

Thanks!

 

[TheInsider]

I'm trying to book SYD-PVG-LGW and return flying QF/MU. Reward seats show availability in business/first. After entering in passenger details in the booking process online I get the error code 15079-23951-421. When calling Qantas on several occasions they say 1. MU is not a Qantas frequent flyer partner, 2. MU doesn't fly to LGW and 3.There are no reward seats available.

The call centre reached is Manila. Is it worth persisting to try and get another call centre (if so any time to max chances for non-status) or is there some merit to what the agents have said so far?

Thanks!

Keep trying.

 

[MelbFlyer]

I'm trying to book SYD-PVG-LGW and return flying QF/MU. Reward seats show availability in business/first.

Assuming you have not yet booked / got a PNR (booking reference number?

Maybe try doing SYD > PVG on one search first and see if you can go all the way through to the final step of paying.

If you can, you can then try PVG > LGW in another search and try the same thing.

This thread is more so regarding existing rewards bookings and members attempting to change flights with reward seats that are showing online, but it's equally frustrating that you've experienced consultants who can't see what you can see online for a new booking.

I recently did MEL > HKG > TPE and I tried booking it altogether, but ended up having to split it:
PNR 1 - MEL > HKG
and then
PNR 2 - HKG > TPE on a separate booking, as booking it altogether (even as 2 intentional separate legs) on the one PNR didn't work.

As per the above poster, keep trying. Even if you have to pay the 2nd leg in CNY and get hit with a 3% international transaction fee (if you don't have a zero fee card) - you'll at least have the flight.

 

[smckay]

I had this issue with Malaysian Airlines (MH) showing a reward seat but the call centre could not see it. They could see the other 2 legs I wanted to complete the trip but not the first one.
Luckily, after the first 'Nup' from SA I HUACA and got NZ. One hour and 50 minutes later I had a reward booking with all legs confirmed. My Unzud girl checked the QF site with a dummy booking, said she could see it and then went off trying to find this elusive flight. I don't know what she did but she found it and it was ticketed 24 hours later.

So, yes, keep calling until you get Hobart, which even as WP is hard to achieve.

 

[PlaneCrazy]

Assuming you have not yet booked / got a PNR (booking reference number?

Maybe try doing SYD > PVG on one search first and see if you can go all the way through to the final step of paying.

If you can, you can then try PVG > LGW in another search and try the same thing.

This thread is more so regarding existing rewards bookings and members attempting to change flights with reward seats that are showing online, but it's equally frustrating that you've experienced consultants who can't see what you can see online for a new booking.

I recently did MEL > HKG > TPE and I tried booking it altogether, but ended up having to split it:
PNR 1 - MEL > HKG
and then
PNR 2 - HKG > TPE on a separate booking, as booking it altogether (even as 2 intentional separate legs) on the one PNR didn't work.

As per the above poster, keep trying. Even if you have to pay the 2nd leg in CNY and get hit with a 3% international transaction fee (if you don't have a zero fee card) - you'll at least have the flight.

Thanks for this. No, no PNR as yet as it's a new "booking". My worry with this approach is if I successfully book one sector and then can't book the second sector.

 

[BriarFlyer]

I've experienced the same problem with QF/MU via PVG for several different dates showing availability via the website. Call centre says they're phantom.

 

[N860CR]

I've experienced the same problem with QF/MU via PVG for several different dates showing availability via the website. Call centre says they're phantom.

I love how that’s just considered acceptable at qantas . I wish I could advertise something and, when someone attempts to purchase it, just say “oh no, that’s phantom - but I can sell you something for a lot more”

 

[MelbFlyer]

Reviving an old thread - I'm currently on a trip and it was / is a business Classic reward itinerary (regular rewards and not a OWA etc).

Due to an unexpected circumstance, I needed to change dates to my unflown / return sector and therefore looked online if there were any reward seats available. I found one and also in business, great.

I then call Qantas (very lucky I have calling minutes included in my Boost roaming pack and that I didn't get an eSIM from the likes of Simcorner etc) and knowing my previous experience with a OWA, I fully expected them to not be able to see what I could see online / be told that I can't change as my trip has already started.

However / but, low and behold and to my utter surprise, they were able to see the seat that I was looking at and changed it promptly within 15mins.

Have things changed in the past year or so in that the systems have been upgraded so all consultants can see rewards availability and not just Hobart (I'm a lowly Bronze)?

Or, maybe considering that this isn't a OWA, there's no "system limitation" or similar, preventing some seats to not be able to be seen by consultants even despite them being available online?

Or, perhaps the recent introduction of Classic Plus rewards also meant an internal system upgrade as well?

It's a vast improvement to my experience last year before my OWA. I just can't believe how easy it was to call and change this time round - obviously my standards are very low