What compensation have you received for a delayed or cancelled QF flight?

[wafliron]

Firstly, a little background:

Back on 15 March I was scheduled to fly QF127 SYD-HKG in F (FASA ). After a pleasant F lounge breakfast, our departure was delayed... then delayed again... then delayed again... etc... until the flight was eventually cancelled completely at around 5pm. As you'd expect (given I don't live in SYD) QF put me up in a hotel for the night (Sofitel - quite nice), and I ended up flying out on QF127 the next day.

As I'd incurred one actual out-of-pocket expense due to the cancellation - a taxi fare from the hotel back the airport (QF staffer who was meant to be landside to hand out taxi vouchers to F pax / WPs wasn't there, which pretty much sums up the response from QF after the cancellation on that day - but that's another story) - I finally got around to calling QF about being reimbursed for this on Friday.

This was no problem, but I also took the opportunity to ask if QF had any responsibility to compensate me for the pre-paid and non-refundable night of accommodation I lost on the other end, and whether they had any general responsibility to compensate me for the general inconvenience / lost day of holiday / etc. I should perhaps point out here that I wasn't "trying it on" by asking these two questions - I genuinely didn't know the answers, having never been involved in a large delay / cancellation on QF before.

Anyway: in response to the former I was told that QF didn't have any responsibility to compensate me for the lost accom, but my TI might cover it (will find out Monday). And in response to the latter, the CSR also said that they technically didn't have any responsibility to pay "general" compensation, but "given that you were travelling in First Class, I'd [they'd] be happy to offer you [me] 45,000 QFF points for the inconvenience of the cancellation".

For the record, I'm very happy with this outcome* - the delay wasn't that intolerable with the F lounge to keep me entertained and a decent hotel for the night Not to mention, the 45k points compensation + >13k points earned from the FASA meant I got to fly SYD-HKG in A380 F for < 32k points But, it did make me wonder whether this is a typical, good or bad outcome in such circumstances.

So: what sort of compensation have other AFFers received from QF when you've had a flight seriously delayed / cancelled?

* My only slight regret is that I wasn't on a JASA - the F cabin was completely full the next day, with most of the pax being J pax from the previous day, so I assume QF decided to upgrade as many people as possible as a form of compensation. Although, that said, I guess this could've worked out worse overall for me if it greatly reduced or eliminated the 45k points I received in compensation.

 

[Newk]

Recent 14 hour delay LAX to Syd. Interestingly I found out about it from my TA first with over 12 hours notice and even then when I arrived in LAX with 6 hours to scheduled departure the boards still showed "on time". But that's another story.
I got:
Hilton LAX- a night with dinner and breakfast vouchers. It was really nice
A night in Sydney when I missed my (rebooked) connection to Adelaide. This was at a hotel in Potts Point with free bus transfer
A no questions asked change to my itinerary to spend that night in Melbourne, so as to be able to get to Adelaide earlier the next day
Hence:
a flight (Y------>J, my first experience of the "bing" at boarding) Sydney to Melbourne
a night in Melbourne at the ex-Hilton whatever it's called...it's too late for me to look it up
A Y flight to Adelaide

I was so pleased that my luggage made it from Atlanta----->DFW------>LAX and then back to ADL with me, and to be home that I have not considered any further communication with Qantas to be necessary. My whole experience was so good that I remained a happy camper throughout.

Pleased to hear about your 45,000 points though

 

[rotor]

I had to stay in hotels on two consecutive nights because of a cancelled flight in Santiago, and then in Auckland the next night due arriving too late to catch flights to SYD. Didn't cost me any money, but it's a day of my life I won't get back.

I have called and emailed but haven't had any response.

I think the class of the booking should surely be irrelevant, but I realise why that might not be true.

There must be some responsibility - it's not good enough to just say "at least you didn't fly on an unsafe plane".

 

[mrpooky]

I'm thankful to not have experienced any really long delays. The worst I've had was a ~5-hour delay waiting for QF2426 from NTL -> BNE one Friday evening, which, given the short length of the flight, seemed pretty over the top.

There's no lounge at NTL, and we weren't given food/drink vouchers, so it seemed like forever!

mrpooky

 

[AIRwin]

On the same trip in June/July 2011:
JQ 7 MEL to SIN on Star class (delay due to volcanic ash cloud) - Nothing but then again I had access to the QF lounge in MEL
3K 401 SIN to AKL on Star class - All pax had boarded but we were waiting for ages and I knew it was going to be cancelled as crew hours would have been exceeded. We were told that there were some technical issues with the wing and would be put up in a hotel for the night. JQ allowed me to rebook on JQ 8 SIN to MEL on Star class the following night instead as I was originally supposed to connect with EK 407 AKL to MEL.

Other trips:
QF 32 SIN to SYD on J class in July 2009 (domino effect due to delay of outbound flight from SYD to LHR) - This was originally a daytime flight, and I was reimbursed meals and other incidentals by the airport staff when I checked in at SIN later that night.
QF 131 MEL to AKL on Y class in February 2011 (delay due to late arrival of aircraft from AKL) - We were given a $30 voucher to be spent at the airport (meals, books, etc).

 

[Flying mermaid]

Haven't had a very delayed flight myself, but Master FM flew J Cbr - IST in 2006 ?, when there was an engineers strike on. He was flying QF to BKK then Turkish Air. On the way back his QF flight with which he was going to connect was delayed in London for 24 hours with maintenance problems. Qantas actually moved him to an Emirates plane, so he made his SYD-CBR flight without any problems, then a few weeks later a $500 gift voucher turned up with an apology for his delayed flight. We did think about returning the voucher, as he really hadn't been impacted at all, but managed to resist the idea......

 

[gypsyinabigtown]

On QF I received in 2010 a ~$200 voucher for a 4-5 hour delayed SYD-SIN flight. I was on Y.
On S***star, in 2012, me and gf had an LST-SYD flight cancelled on us on a Sunday evening. They had a mechanical issue and they couldn't get around to solving it before curfew time. They instead made us fly on Monday morning.
The trouble is, I had a big SYD-GRU trip with QF booked on J that I had to take the Monday afternoon. Their incompetence meant that I had to rush a crazy amount to get myself organised for that trip and be on time in the airport to take the flight.
It was a nightmare.
When I contacted QF about it, they simply responded saying in summary "We couldn't care less, it was a S***star flight. You should contact them, we have nothing in common. In fact, we've never even heard of them.". When I emailed S***star, they said "What compensation? we made you fly on Monday morning for free, didn't we?! So you ended up flying LST-SYD in the end. You should be eternally grateful!"
It was an expensive lesson on emphasis on customer satisfaction between QF and S***star...

 

[Anna]

I've never had a significant delay on QF where I wasn't happy with how QF handled it. That's one of the main reasons why I fly QF.

The most annoying delay was when flying CNS - BNE - SYD - ADL and the first sector was delayed which had a domino effect and I ended up having to spend the night in SYD at QF's expense instead of at home. Ironically that day I had been at a conference where Margaret Jackson had been speaking, when she was still on the QF board. She left on the flight before ours. Her flight wasn't delayed.

Several times I have been rung by QF beforehand and been put on different flights because of an operational problem.

Once last century when flying SYD - LAX in Y as a PS there was an 8 hour delay so QF gave me a hotel room for the day at the Novotel at Brighton Le Sands, with a sea view and a spa. Those were the days. It wouldn't happen now.

 

[Red Roo]

Firstly, a little background:

Back on 15 March I was scheduled to fly QF127 SYD-HKG in F (FASA ). After a pleasant F lounge breakfast, our departure was delayed... then delayed again... then delayed again... etc... until the flight was eventually cancelled completely at around 5pm. As you'd expect (given I don't live in SYD) QF put me up in a hotel for the night (Sofitel - quite nice), and I ended up flying out on QF127 the next day.

As I'd incurred one actual out-of-pocket expense due to the cancellation - a taxi fare from the hotel back the airport (QF staffer who was meant to be landside to hand out taxi vouchers to F pax / WPs wasn't there, which pretty much sums up the response from QF after the cancellation on that day - but that's another story) - I finally got around to calling QF about being reimbursed for this on Friday.

This was no problem, but I also took the opportunity to ask if QF had any responsibility to compensate me for the pre-paid and non-refundable night of accommodation I lost on the other end, and whether they had any general responsibility to compensate me for the general inconvenience / lost day of holiday / etc. I should perhaps point out here that I wasn't "trying it on" by asking these two questions - I genuinely didn't know the answers, having never been involved in a large delay / cancellation on QF before.

Anyway: in response to the former I was told that QF didn't have any responsibility to compensate me for the lost accom, but my TI might cover it (will find out Monday). And in response to the latter, the CSR also said that they technically didn't have any responsibility to pay "general" compensation, but "given that you were travelling in First Class, I'd [they'd] be happy to offer you [me] 45,000 QFF points for the inconvenience of the cancellation".

For the record, I'm very happy with this outcome* - the delay wasn't that intolerable with the F lounge to keep me entertained and a decent hotel for the night Not to mention, the 45k points compensation + >13k points earned from the FASA meant I got to fly SYD-HKG in A380 F for < 32k points But, it did make me wonder whether this is a typical, good or bad outcome in such circumstances.

So: what sort of compensation have other AFFers received from QF when you've had a flight seriously delayed / cancelled?

* My only slight regret is that I wasn't on a JASA - the F cabin was completely full the next day, with most of the pax being J pax from the previous day, so I assume QF decided to upgrade as many people as possible as a form of compensation. Although, that said, I guess this could've worked out worse overall for me if it greatly reduced or eliminated the 45k points I received in compensation.

As you know, this flight experienced a rolling and ultimately overnight delay due to mechanical issues. However the frustration and inconvenience is fully appreciated. I'm glad we were able to look after you during these difficult circumstances, and that you're happy with the subsequent handling.

 

[Red Roo]

I had to stay in hotels on two consecutive nights because of a cancelled flight in Santiago, and then in Auckland the next night due arriving too late to catch flights to SYD. Didn't cost me any money, but it's a day of my life I won't get back.

I have called and emailed but haven't had any response.

I think the class of the booking should surely be irrelevant, but I realise why that might not be true.

There must be some responsibility - it's not good enough to just say "at least you didn't fly on an unsafe plane".

It's unusual for our Customer Care team not to respond in such instances. Please PM the details so I can follow up for you.

 

[burrco]

Back in Feb due to an aircraft sub and the loss of first class (A380 to 747) I had to stay overnight in Sydney and paid for my own hotel. When I returned I contacted the customer care team who basically told me "tough luck" as I had left it to late to make any claim. Qantas did provide a cab charge voucher to get me back to the hotel and then the airport the next day - so better than nothing I guess.

 

[Ansett]

Back in Feb due to an aircraft sub and the loss of first class (A380 to 747) I had to stay overnight in Sydney and paid for my own hotel. When I returned I contacted the customer care team who basically told me "tough luck" as I had left it to late to make any claim. Qantas did provide a cab charge voucher to get me back to the hotel and then the airport the next day - so better than nothing I guess.

WOW

I would find that unnaceptable specially when flying F I hope your TI atleast paid out

 

[Red Roo]

Back in Feb due to an aircraft sub and the loss of first class (A380 to 747) I had to stay overnight in Sydney and paid for my own hotel. When I returned I contacted the customer care team who basically told me "tough luck" as I had left it to late to make any claim. Qantas did provide a cab charge voucher to get me back to the hotel and then the airport the next day - so better than nothing I guess.

While each scenario is different, I'd be happy to follow up with Customer Care if you could PM the details.

 

[burrco]

WOW

I would find that unnaceptable specially when flying F I hope your TI atleast paid out

Well not really paid F, AA Award so not overly fussed.

While each scenario is different, I'd be happy to follow up with Customer Care if you could PM the details.

Thanks will be in touch when I dig up the paperwork.

 

[parsonstrish]

QF8 in Nov. '12 problems, flight didn't go. Ground staff did excellent job of arranging t/port to hotel, meals, t/port back to dfw. Some flew back on the regular qf8 @ 10pm the next night, whilst some of us flew earlier (think 8pm).

I appreciated all that was done for us. Later received letter with paper voucher for $200 to be used within twelve months. I've lost the letter, have paper voucher with departure Sydney, unable to use it, but the thought was nice.

I did lose pre-booked accom. in Brisbane which with TI was a joke so didn't bother.

The crew who were suppose to fly on the previous night was on my flt. and they were extra super.

 

[farstar]

I got a $300 paper voucher 5 or 6 years ago for a LAX-xAKL-SYD flight that was delayed by about 12 hour, funny thing was I was at the airport early and they put me on the LAX-SYD direct flight so I got home earlier than expected and voucher arrived without me asking.
I guess a bit off topic I was on a virgin pacific flight from Brisbane to Apia that was delayed by about 5 hours ( I went back to the domestic lounge as NZ lounge access was not allowed) about 3 years ago and they gave me a credit for the entire one way fare in premium economy so was very happy.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

How does QF compensation compare to other airlines?

I've had a pretty good run with QF. Had a 4 hour delay a couple months ago for tech reasons, didn't get anything. Not sure what I'd do some of your circumstances - 6...12 hour delays..yikes!

 

[lovestotravel]

2 years ago now, was on a reward J seat redemption, and was only Qantas Silver at that stage

Received a $400 Qantas voucher for my MEL-LAX flight being re-routed via SYD and a 4 hour delay arriving into LAX

 

[Awesom Andy]

Last year, was going to be on QF10 SIN-MEL and then a domestic connection to SYD. Flight was delayed by about 6 hours. "Compensation" was a move to QF6 free of charge. Best compensation ever.

 

[richie9x]

A few years ago a flight I was booked on from BNE-AKL was cancelled as the plane went tech. Qantas put me up in a hotel (I wasn't living in Brisbane at the time). They put on buses to the hotel. Curiously we were also given taxi vouchers for the trip there and back as well. The hotel restaurant was closed so they ordered a whole lot of pizzas. Breakfast the next morning was complimentary. There was a bus to the airport the next morning. Afterwards I claimed back some international cellphone calls to change bookings and let family know what was happening.

I once had a domestic flight delayed by 5 hours due to operating aircraft being struck by lightning. They offered a food court voucher, but I didn't use it as I was fine with lounge food.

I once flew PER-xSYD-BNE. The PER-SYD flight was delayed, I made it to SYD but missed the connecting flight which was the last flight to Brisbane of the day. They rebooked me on a flight the next morning. I booked my own hotel and paid for taxi. I later claimed the expenses back from Qantas. Also received a Qantas voucher.

Had a flight cancelled due to the lockout in 2011. Got a refund from Qantas and rebooked on Virgin. Received two bottles of wine and a free flight from Qantas.