Upgrade confirmed in morning, but cancelled on check-in

[SQ421]

I'd say go ahead and post this on Qantas' Facebook Page as well. (Assuming you are active on Social Media). I for one would be very interested in knowing what the response from Qantas is.

 

[samh004]

I spend $80-$90K a year on airfares. Mostly for my employees. I'm tempted to take my business elsewhere.

I'd be pretty annoyed too... but wouldn't take my business elsewhere on account of a failed upgrade especially considering how haphazard they seem to be from reading on here

 

[nlagalle]

In fairness to the check in staff they may have no idea of the upgrade/downgrade occurrence so there is little they could tell you.

But.. Bad form from Qantas.. It's only happened to me once on Virgin and yes I was mighty pissed at them afterwards..

 

[markis10]

Not the bulkhead separating J from Y, that would mean you could see the J seats, smell the J food and almost reach out and touch.... how taunting!

No bulkhead separating Y fm J in a 747

 

[nlagalle]

No bulkhead separating Y fm J in a 747

There is a bulkhead in Y on a 747 but isn't PE in between??

 

[pugwombat]

No bulkhead separating Y fm J in a 747

No, you're right. We had Premium Economy on the other side of the bulkhead.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

No bulkhead separating Y fm J in a 747

There's a whole Y+ cabin in the way...?!?

 

[markis10]

There's a whole Y+ cabin in the way...?!?

Indeed, which was my point

 

[ozkid]

OP, sorry to hear. I would have been disappointed too.

I had a problem with QF stuffing up a booking (even after I rang to confirm same booking 2 hrs prior) last year. I emailed, got a telephone call, explained the reason for disappointment, and got comped to J for my next flight SYD-SIN. Not saying that the same will happen, but adopt the courteous but firm approach and hopefully QF will try to make amends for stuffing you up.

Best of luck

 

[craven morehead]

My wife was ready to lynch someone.

Fully understandable, I would be ropeable if it happened to me!

No pun intended !!

 

[maninblack]

I spend $80-$90K a year on airfares. Mostly for my employees. I'm tempted to take my business elsewhere.

Sorry but how would punish them? That would be playing right into their hands as their current business plan is to trash the brand and drive loyal customers away.

 

[shearsense]

I would be very interested to learn of any subsequent response from QF on this. Some very valid points on this thread about showing up with business luggage allowance, losing originally assigned seats etc.

 

[RooFlyer]

Boy, I'd be upset too. Don't know about the OP, but my carry-on changes a lot from J to Y. If that happened to me, I'd be opening my checked bag at the check-in and re-arranging stuff between that and the carry-on.

For me, follow-up depends on how it was handled at check in. If they just blithely handed you a Y BP with no explanation etc, then I'd be e-mailing a complaint to QF (AND be ready to follow it up when you get the standard 'We are sorry our service did not meet your expectations' standard reply). Ditto if they just brusquely fended off your follow-up queries. But if they recognized the stuff up (assuming it was one) and made the correct apologetic noises, I would make an enquiry, not a complaint to QF and again, follow it up until you get a specific explanation. Clearly 2 things happened - you both got the text AND the points were deducted. So the upgrade certainly was 'real'.

If there are glitches in their systems, or of customer handling, the more we make them aware of it, the better chance that it may be looked at.

 

[MelUser]

Did you check on Amadeus Checkmytrip and see the date of the revalidated Eticket? You will see the date that the ticketed was revalidated and this will be enough at check it.

It is worth printing this and taking to airport.

Also, were points taken from the account.

I remember years ago this site was abuzz with ticket reissues (for AA upgrades) and revalidations for QF upgrades.

People obsessively checked Check My Trip etc.

This has all stopped recently and we are a far less technical bunch.

I remember the days of being on the phone to the AA Around the World Desk pushing through upgrades or getting the AA checkin lady to phone Qantas and get the ticket number showing me in the upgraded class.

Remember also all the DONE4 discussions and where the best place to purchase was - eg Jarkarta, Manilla.

Anyway, sorry I digress!

If it was a properly processed upgrade I'd be annoyed to.

I have heard of CX doing it to their members but never of QF!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

My wife and I had applied for a points upgrade to Business on QF22 (Tokyo - Sydney) last Monday. I'm a Gold FF, she holds spouse membership. I knew there was a chance it wouldn't come through and I would have taken it on the chin if it hadn't.

At 7.30am on Monday we each got a confirmation text from Qantas. We were pretty delighted. It would have been a first in 25 years of Qantas Club membership.

When we got to check-in, however, we were given Economy boarding passes. The check-in staff said there were no J seats available. I was mightily annoyed. My wife was ready to lynch someone.

Is it common to have your upgrade cancelled after having it confirmed? Is there any point in my further complaining to Qantas? I sent them an email earlier in the week, which went unanswered.

I spend $80-$90K a year on airfares. Mostly for my employees. I'm tempted to take my business elsewhere.

If you received notification of the upgrade, and if the points had been deducted, as far as i am concerned you had a contract with Qantas to carry you in the business class cabin.

this is another good reason why we need a strict regime, similar to EU261.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Got a bulkhead seat in the middle, surrounded by crying babies. Not even the window seat I requested. But it wouldn't have mattered where it was when we found out it wasn't up the front of the plane.

Did you actually have pre-allocated seats in whY or do you mean the just had a generic request for a window seat in your frequent flyer profile without actually selecting a seat.

I realise that hindsight is always 20/20 however did you at any time log on to the QF website & try to allocate yourselves seats in J or OLCI after you received the upgrade sms? If you had been downgraded to whY but are holding OLCI boarding passes for J it's pretty hard for anyone to argue that you were never booked in J if you've got the evidence in front of you.

In fairness to the check in staff they may have no idea of the upgrade/downgrade occurrence so there is little they could tell you.

For me, follow-up depends on how it was handled at check in. If they just blithely handed you a Y BP with no explanation etc, then I'd be e-mailing a complaint to QF (AND be ready to follow it up when you get the standard 'We are sorry our service did not meet your expectations' standard reply).

The airport staff would only see the class you're in at that time you checkin at the airport ie in the Altea system unless they were trained in reservations & they could delve into the pnr history but as it's an overseas port I doubt it.

 

[lovestotravel]

Truly disgusting. There should have been an immediate offer of compensation at the airport. You have arrived fully expecting a business class flight and been screwed over at the last possible moment. It's this kind of cough that is ruining Qantas!

Compensation ? Umm it was an upgrade

So perhaps QF actually sold a few more last minute J seats and made some more cash instead of "giving the seat away" so that is far from ruining Qantas and I could give you a much longer list of what Joyce and the board is doing and that doesn't include giving and then taking away upgrades..

Is it common to have your upgrade cancelled after having it confirmed?
Is there any point in my further complaining to Qantas? I sent them an email earlier in the week, which went unanswered.

Not common nope!

I would expect an email reply at some stage!

Sorry to hear that it happened

I could only think that perhaps QF sold a few last minute business seats and had to cancel your upgrade
OR
Most likely, the aircraft changed from the occasional used:
14 First, 52 Business, 32 Prem Economy, 255 Economy plane
to the 56 Business, 40 Prem Economy and 275 Economy configuration!

So they had to "downgrade" customers

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Compensation ? Umm it was an upgrade

A confirmed seat in business paid for by POINTS. Compensation should have been offered e.g. 20,000 frequent flyer points as an apology. It's bad business I don't care what you say.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

A confirmed seat in business paid for by POINTS. Compensation should have been offered e.g. 20,000 frequent flyer points as an apology. It's bad business I don't care what you say.

that's the issue. Without something like EU261, the airline says 'oh, here's your money/points back, that's it'.

 

[lovestotravel]

A confirmed seat in business paid for by POINTS. Compensation should have been offered e.g. 20,000 frequent flyer points as an apology. It's bad business I don't care what you say.

20,000 points LOL & LOL

It was a CONFIRMED UPGRADE

Planes change
Customers change
Stuff happens

You would be lucky to get 5000 points out of Qantas for this, bad business - That's your opinion. If QF sold the seat instead of a points upgrade that is good business