Tricked by Qantas booking engine

[drmikki]

Same happens trying to book partner classic awards - I searched DEL-CAI, comes up with BA flights -50% more points for PE over Y, and then when you click on the PE option it says "Note your flights are in economy". Why even give PE as a points option if its not there in reality?

Pays to be anally retentive in this scenario...

 

[fjc]

Can't the bookings be cancelled, points recredited (less charges)?

Qantas says:

14.8 Qantas & Partner Classic Awards - tickets cancellation & refunds
14.8.1 Classic Award tickets issued for travel on Qantas, oneworld Alliance Airlines or Airline Partners (other than Jetstar Asia (3K) or Valuair (VF) or Itinerary confirmations on flights operated by Jetstar Asia (3K) or Valuair (VF) may be submitted for refund and re-credit prior to commencement of travel. Where applicable, only Points that would not have expired will be re-credited. A Cancellation Refund Fee (see the Fee Schedule) will apply.
14.8.2 Once travel has commenced on a Classic Award, the Award is considered used, even if the remaining travel is not completed. Points will not be re-credited to the Member's account for unused ticket coupons.
14.8.3 If a Classic Award is cancelled by the airline and reasonable alternative travel cannot be arranged, Qantas will waive the Cancellation Refund Fee on any Classic Award submitted for refund and will re-credit the applicable number of Points.

 

[JohnK]

As JohnK and Oz_Mark have pointed out numerous times, check, double check and triple check before you click the confirmation button. I have made mistakes before (recently) l'll admit.

It is good to double check and triple check that you (we) have not made a mistake. Still don't understand though in these situations why QF charges someone QFF points for the highest class booked when only the domestic legs are in business class.

Can't the bookings be cancelled, points recredited (less charges)?

Award bookings can be cancelled.

 

[serfty]

... Award bookings can be cancelled.

There's a 5K point penalty ordinarily, but I'd expect some sympathy from an agent if cancelling after booking one of these.

 

[cove]

I think the way to avoid a bad outcome is to book one sector at a time and the get QF to link the connecting flights by phoning them.
Coming from Perth we really don't care if the J or First flight leaves out of Sydney or Melbourne and we book the internal Australia flight separately if we are heading for America on points.
It stops getting tricked.

 

[straitman]

I think the way to avoid a bad outcome is to book one sector at a time and the get QF to link the connecting flights by phoning them.
Coming from Perth we really don't care if the J or First flight leaves out of Sydney or Melbourne and we book the internal Australia flight separately if we are heading for America on points.
It stops getting tricked.

Making separate bookings can have a significant impact on the cost of the booking. ($ or points)

 

[oz_mark]

I think the way to avoid a bad outcome is to book one sector at a time and the get QF to link the connecting flights by phoning them.
Coming from Perth we really don't care if the J or First flight leaves out of Sydney or Melbourne and we book the internal Australia flight separately if we are heading for America on points.
It stops getting tricked.

The main issue in this case was that no matter which east coast city you chose (BNE,SYD,MEL), it would send you business to another east coast city in business and then catch an economy flight across the Pacific. So even splitting the Perth bit off you end up in trouble.

Always pay attention to what is being returned on screen, and be extra vigilent when a multi-sector is returned!

 

[nlagalle]

I disagree , if Q take 190k points for the booking which is predominately a y booking then I would call that fraudulent, whilst I hear what you say about reading fine print , my expectations are if someone charges you for what you expect J should cost then you would expect to get that.
Why does the engine not recalculate the points?
To me Q are going down to budget service.
:evil:

I wouldn't call it fraudulant - more so a booking engine issue that needs urgent addressing.

 

[oz_mark]

I wouldn't call it fraudulant - more so a booking engine issue that needs urgent addressing.

Nor would I call it fraudulent - more in the realms of being unfair.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I can understand it's frustrating to see a biz award being available, which then turns out not to be the case, but there is a clear little exclamation mark and warning sign telling you that you are not travelling in the class selected. It's not hard to miss.

Agree with others though that if this was the first time you'd made the mistake that there should be some compassion from QF to not charge the refund points.

 

[JohnK]

I think the way to avoid a bad outcome is to book one sector at a time and the get QF to link the connecting flights by phoning them.

I tend to agree if the QFF points needed does not alter drastically. e.g SYD-MEL, MEL-LAX is more expensive than SYD-MEL-LAX in the same class.

 

[medhead]

I wouldn't call it fraudulant - more so a booking engine issue that needs urgent addressing.

Nor would I call it fraudulent - more in the realms of being unfair.

I think it goes close to fraud. I can only quote wiki, which in turn quotes the collins dictionary:

According to the Collins English Dictionary 10th Edition fraud can be defined as: "deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage".[1] In the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual

Simply put it is deceptive and it does provide an unfair advantage to Qantas, who also gain from the extra points redeemed. Of course, in no way do I think this is intentional, hence why I only said it goes close to being fraudulent. Note also that Wiki goes on to mention that the legal definition is different and does vary between jurisdictions.

 

[burrco]

I agree that we all have to be vigilant and a certain amount of personal responibility must always be taken. I also don't view it as fraudulent, however given:

What is misleading & deceptive conduct?

There is a very broad provision in the Trade Practices Act that prohibits conduct by a corporation that is misleading or deceptive, or would be likely to mislead or deceive you.

It makes no difference whether the business intended to mislead or deceive you—it is how the conduct of the business affected your thoughts and beliefs that matters.

If the overall impression left by an advertisement, promotion, quotation, statement or other representation made by a business creates a misleading impression in your mind—such as to the price, value or the quality of any goods and services—then the conduct is likely to breach the law.

Qantas would be pretty foolish not to waive any cancellation fees.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

sorry - which part am I missing to this argument? there is an exclamation mark in a little triangle that clearly says the cabin you are travelling in is 'economy' (or whatever). It's virtually impossible to miss.

I agree the proposed points charge may be unfair, but it's the choice you make AFTER you have noted the little exclamation mark that says you will be travelling economy.

If you did genuinely miss the exclamation mark, or were genuinely confused, then I think you should get the points refunded. But that's purely as a goodwill gesture. I can't see any legal basis for it either under the TPA or criminal.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

To an extent...

Yes, there is an 'exclamation mark', but how many stories do you hear of from people who end up on Jetstar planes when they thought that they were booking Qantas?

 

[oz_mark]

To an extent...

Yes, there is an 'exclamation mark', but how many stories do you hear of from people who end up on Jetstar planes when they thought that they were booking Qantas?

Yet another reason to pay attention!

 

[medhead]

I can't see any legal basis for it either under the TPA or criminal.

You don't think it is misleading or deceptive to offer an economy fare when someone specifically asks for a business fare, but still charge the full business cost, which is advertised separately and so could be seen as a separate verification about what is being purchased. Put it this way the customer asks for a business fare, they are offered flights and charged for a business fare. There is a little ! (or *) next to the fare that says actually we are not going to provide what you asked to have and for what we are charging you.

Then there is also the situation of gaining by charging for a more expensive fare but providing a cheaper fare.

 

[JohnK]

To an extent...

Yes, there is an 'exclamation mark', but how many stories do you hear of from people who end up on Jetstar planes when they thought that they were booking Qantas?

And that is when double checking and triple checking come in handy. Read all the fine print and if you are still not sure then leave the booking for another day.

This is one area where being obsessive compulsive helps.

 

[medhead]

And that is when double checking and triple checking come in handy. Read all the fine print and if you are still not sure then leave the booking for another day.

This is one area where being obsessive compulsive helps.

I think that is another thing altogether. Caveat emptor always applies and the fine print is reason I don't think it is fraudulent. But it is unfair, possibly deceptive and qantas does gain from the situation.

 

[oz_mark]

You don't think it is misleading or deceptive to offer an economy fare when someone specifically asks for a business fare, but still charge the full business cost, which is advertised separately and so could be seen as a separate verification about what is being purchased. Put it this way the customer asks for a business fare, they are offered flights and charged for a business fare. There is a little ! (or *) next to the fare that says actually we are not going to provide what you asked to have and for what we are charging you.

Then there is also the situation of gaining by charging for a more expensive fare but providing a cheaper fare.

Actually it's a little more than a ! or *. Go back and have a look at the examples posted of the screens. As far as fine print goes, it's not really that 'fine'. They are fairly clear that you will be in economy class. And this is before you accept what has been offered.

Sometimes economy class is the only class offered on a sector, and I would assume this is the reason for the rule existing on the QFF Terms as to what happens on a mixed class booking (you pay the highest amount - same as a paid DONE4 for example). I think if the economy portion was short then people would accept this, but how would one define the division between ok and not ok?