San Francisco ending early

[Skyring]

Just had an email from a mate. His 13 May flight SFO-SYD was cancelled, as it seems that Qantas is cutting the route a week early, with the last flight out being on 7 May.

My flight out of San Fran is 6 May, so I'll be one of the last few (hundred) to make the trip.

 

[djfuzz]

Phew - freaked out a little when I read the headline as my folks have a booking in late April, also returning before 7 May. Lucky timing!

 

[wingspan]

Just out of interest, Skyring, how have they rerouted your mate?

 

[kpc]

Just out of interest, Skyring, how have they rerouted your mate?

I would assume via LAX using the AA codeshare flight bet SFO and LAX. Last month, I flew SYD-SFO direct but returned via LAX as there was no direct SFO-SYD flight on the day that I wanted to fly. It's no big deal transferring from T4 to TBIT at LAX since I learnt about the transfer bus from serfty, and you can also use the nice T4 AA flagship lounge at LAX as opposed to the horribly busy OW F lounge at TBIT:shock: (provided of course you meet the lounge eligibility criteria)

 

[jenniferau]

I just called Qantas as my flights have been rerouted (9 May) and the rep told me the flights are being cancelled from early April - so look out!!! You may be getting a 'schedule notice' any day!!

I am fuming - we bought these tickets back in October as we're getting married in SF in May! Now we have to tack on an extra leg and be delayed by 4+ hours - not good enough when I need that time for my final prep, on-the-ground wedding planning!! I am NOT happy - am going to write to Mr. Alan himself.

Rep also said that she hopes people complain re the Qantas website so they reinstate the route. It's not fair - they shouldn't have sold the tickets in the 1st place! They would have been planning this for a year - plenty of time to STOP SELLING SFO tickets!!! Also, we've booked round-the-world tickets with Qantas but now are considering cancelling & rebooking w/ another carrier over this cough - as apparently we can't just cancel our initial leg over as it's booked different.

I really thought Qantas was better - looks like I just got my wake-up call.

 

[drewbles]

I just called Qantas as my flights have been rerouted (9 May) and the rep told me the flights are being cancelled from early April - so look out!!! You may be getting a 'schedule notice' any day!!

I am fuming - we bought these tickets back in October as we're getting married in SF in May! Now we have to tack on an extra leg and be delayed by 4+ hours - not good enough when I need that time for my final prep, on-the-ground wedding planning!! I am NOT happy - am going to write to Mr. Alan himself.

Rep also said that she hopes people complain re the Qantas website so they reinstate the route. It's not fair - they shouldn't have sold the tickets in the 1st place! They would have been planning this for a year - plenty of time to STOP SELLING SFO tickets!!! Also, we've booked round-the-world tickets with Qantas but now are considering cancelling & rebooking w/ another carrier over this cough - as apparently we can't just cancel our initial leg over as it's booked different.

I really thought Qantas was better - looks like I just got my wake-up call.

Whilst I understand your angst of having to make a connection, I fail to see any real issue.

QF are still going to get you to where you booked, without charging you any change fees or the like. You'll just have to transfer at LAX, which is not a painful process (clear immigration, pickup bag off belt, drop off a few meters away at bag drop and continue on to your next flight).

If you're getting married in SFO, you should obviously have planned time on the ground. When re-booking, make it clear to QF and they should be flexible with time/dates for new flights too.

Every time I've had QF change a flight on me, they've always made every effort to get me to where I need to be, at a similar or earlier time to what I was originally meant to arrive at. QF are very good with this, unlike other airlines.

And congratulations on the wedding. I'm sure it'll be fine though

 

[Awesom Andy]

As harsh as reality is, I doubt other airlines would treat you any better in terms of scheduling changes. Anyway, depending on your routing, you might not have many QF operated flights anyway. Cancelling the whole RTW might be an over-reaction. And, if I'm not mistaken, the only SYD-SFO non-stop is on UA, so I guess that's really your choice whether that is the product you wish to go on.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I am fuming - we bought these tickets back in October as we're getting married in SF in May! Now we have to tack on an extra leg and be delayed by 4+ hours - not good enough when I need that time for my final prep, on-the-ground wedding planning!! I am NOT happy - am going to write to Mr. Alan himself.

Whilst it's certainly your perogative to do this, I think you'll find that no other airline would do anything else for you.

When routings or flight timings change, they let you cancel everything, or they'll rebook you to get you to where you need to get to. That's all.

 

[serfty]

QF73 & QF74 SYD/SFO is now down to 4 per week, not operating on Tue, Thu and Sun.

Last SFO flights are on Saturday May 7th.

 

[Skyring]

Just out of interest, Skyring, how have they rerouted your mate?

He's got a flight from LAX to SYD, but no mention yet of getting him to LAX from SFO. I wouldn't imagine that this will be a problem - Qantas does the right thing by pax when there's a cancelled flight or whatever, and it probably just hasn't shown up yet. There's about a million SFO-LAX flights a day anyway.

Still, it's an inconvenience and another few hours of travel.

 

[drewbles]

He's got a flight from LAX to SYD, but no mention yet of getting him to LAX from SFO. I wouldn't imagine that this will be a problem - Qantas does the right thing by pax when there's a cancelled flight or whatever, and it probably just hasn't shown up yet. There's about a million SFO-LAX flights a day anyway.

Still, it's an inconvenience and another few hours of travel.

Inconvenience, with more SC's

 

[dfcatch]

Inconvenience, with more SC's

Not really a problem ex SFO-Oz.

But Oz-LAX-SFO can be a pain if you miss your connection and then get stuck in SF traffic

But then again - same problem in every major city when your finely-tuned itinerary gets bent and prodded in ways it wasn't designed to do .

On a related note, is SYD-DFW going to only be 3-class service or is it going 4-class once the SFO route is finished..??

 

[rory breaker]

I was booked -
CBR-BNE BNE-LAX LAX-DFW

Which has now been changed to
CBR-SYD SYD-DFW

F-lounge bonus! lol

 

[djfuzz]

Yeah, also problematic if in PE and the reroute puts at least one leg onto AA Y.

Fingers crossed.

 

[serfty]

...

On a related note, is SYD-DFW going to only be 3-class service or is it going 4-class once the SFO route is finished..??

No they plan on only have 3 class.

Currently they are using the 4 Class 744ER's as they have the legs needed for the trip; these are scheduled to commence reconfiguration to 3 class¹ (J/W/Y) from the middle of this year.

For the time being, some in PE can access Skybed (mk1) and others in WHY can access PE seating.

¹ These will have Skybed Mk2, the same as those on the 388's. Going forwards Qantas plan to only install First class on 12 of their 388.

 

[dfcatch]

No they plan on only have 3 class.

Currently they are using the 4 Class 744ER's as they have the legs needed for the trip; these are scheduled to commence reconfiguration to 3 class¹ (J/W/Y) from the middle of this year.

For the time being, some in PE can access Skybed (mk1) and others in WHY can access PE seating.

¹ These will have Skybed Mk2, the same as those on the 388's. Going forwards Qantas plan to only install First class on 12 of their 388.

Thanks Serfty, thought that was the case, but wasn't sure given 107/8 is keeping F service for the time being.