What on earth is QF doing?

[cove]

I think that summarises the QF problem @jb747 .All the mystique is gone now that was accumulated over 100 years.

 

[Mwenenzi]

As I have learnt, SYD curfew is not actually a hard curfew. I have had pushback and rolling at 23:20 on the 22:00 SYD > MEL as they waited for a late Int'l arrival. I guess whatever penalty and requirements was cheaper than putting 30+pax up for a night at SYD.

Isn't the curfew based on getting pushback clearance before 11pm? The actual pushback doesn't have to happen by then?

I was that 22:00 SYD MEL flight once. The aircraft was very late incoming from MEL
QF staff worked hard to get every one on board (close to full A330). But door was closed 23:00 plus 30 seconds (from flight attendant) - too late. Pilot asked for dispensation. - refused. So we got off and QF gave hotels for the night and taxi vouchers,

 

[nancypants]

Without wishing to take the thread off topic, are we certain of ORC for schedule changes quite far in advance?
I was never successful when I lived in Canberra- although I did have a fair bit of success on the day pushing for J (as originally ticketed/paid for) on the jet service

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Without wishing to take the thread off topic, are we certain of ORC for schedule changes quite far in advance?
I was never successful when I lived in Canberra- although I did have a fair bit of success on the day pushing for J (as originally ticketed/paid for) on the jet service

How did you request ORC? Over the phone? Via the frequent flyer email? Generally speaking you are entitled to earn at a minimum the flights you originally booked at the relevant accrual rate.

I was that 22:00 SYD MEL flight once. The aircraft was very late incoming from MEL
QF staff worked hard to get every one on board (close to full A330). But door was closed 23:00 plus 30 seconds (from flight attendant) - too late. Pilot asked for dispensation. - refused. So we got off and QF gave hotels for the night and taxi vouchers,

Surprised SYD would maintain such a strict rule on curfew. Then again, QF agreed to have a flight departing at a specific time and was unable to depart at that agreed upon time. What would be interesting to see is what caused that delay. Was it something controllable like maintenance or crew scheduling or something that for the most part is uncontrollable like weather. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason QF gave for the delay played a key role in deciding whether to extend them any courtesy here. No doubt this was a positive development for some travellers on board who could claim 600 Euros in EU261 compensation for the inconvenience.

-RooFlyer88

 

[love_the_life]

SO you're on the QF1506 - a two class service. If it's to be accepted, I'd push for J (for the SC's if nothing else). 3 hours is a really decent transit time in SYD tbh. I understand if you want to do TRS and have a longer time to enjoy dinner n the lounge, but it's not a really tight connection imo.

Of course, you can always show up at CBR much earlier - we know how those 717 services can be affected, so it's potentially possible to get on one of the earlier dash8's I'm certain.

We have had the experience where the 717 SYD-CBR where we had a J booking has been cancelled and then substituted for a 717 all Y only. Not happy!

 

[nancypants]

How did you request ORC? Over the phone? Via the frequent flyer email? Generally speaking you are entitled to earn at a minimum the flights you originally booked at the relevant accrual rate.

Post automatically merged: Nov 26, 2023

Phone and email. No dice. Change described as needing to be within 24 hours

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Post automatically merged: Nov 26, 2023

Phone and email. No dice. Change described as needing to be within 24 hours

That is not how ORC works. I would have escalated it further if necessary.

 

[nancypants]

That is not how ORC works. I would have escalated it further if necessary.

In fairness I don’t know that anyone knows how ORC works. It’s not a published benefit of any airline AFAIK and is sometimes actually contrary to airline T&Cs, and yet it happens
As soon as one starts expecting it, the disappointment starts IMO

 

[_TheTraveller_]

AFAIK you're more likely to get ORC for same day changes due to disruption. Far less likely to get it approved due to a change you had to approve ahead of time.

I have never had ORC denied due to same day changes due to disruption.

 

[kpro]

As I have learnt, SYD curfew is not actually a hard curfew. I have had pushback and rolling at 23:20 on the 22:00 SYD > MEL as they waited for a late Int'l arrival. I guess whatever penalty and requirements was cheaper than putting 30+pax up for a night at SYD.

I was that 22:00 SYD MEL flight once. The aircraft was very late incoming from MEL
QF staff worked hard to get every one on board (close to full A330). But door was closed 23:00 plus 30 seconds (from flight attendant) - too late. Pilot asked for dispensation. - refused. So we got off and QF gave hotels for the night and taxi vouchers,

Been on this flight many a time. There was a period a few years back where I think I must have been cursed, as I kept being bumped onto this flight due to weather issues or the plane going tech.

There was one crazy weather situation, where the whole FIDS board was showing planes cancelled and diverted. I was re-booked onto the 10pm, and at 10:40pm everyone was still at the gate waiting, while I had mentally committed to having to fly the next day.
11pm and we start boarding, 11:30pm and we're still on the ground with the aerobridge connected.
News then comes on the PA that a couple of people have failed to board the plane! But to avoid the time required to offload the baggage, the captain has approved their checked in baggage to fly with us to Melbourne.
Finally we took off close to midnight. I was tired, relieved but also a little confused with the curfew and baggage situation.

 

[Seat0B]

To summarise my original post, we were originally booked on QF 1442 CBR-SYD to connect to QE 25 SYD-HND in late January 2024. QF advised by email that this flight was cancelled and then put us onto QF1506, that was 90 minutes later departing CBR than the flight I booked, and was the last flight that would make our international connection. Based on last year's near miss on our trip to Japan because of flight consolidation and delays, I did not want to go on the suggested replacement flight, so went to the QF web site to see what other options I had. Surpisingly I found that QF 1442 was still being sold - so clearly it was not cancelled (unless QF is still thumbing its nose at the ACCC and selling seats on ghost flights). To be clear, of the 4 flights on my booking, QF made changes to 3, and some flights they made multiple changes. I just left it at that point in mid November due to the possible need to cancel the whole shebang due to ill health.

So now I got the all clear health wise and do not need to use the QF initiated stuffing around as a reason to cancel the trip, today I got back onto sorting out the connecting flight between CBR and SYD. I re-checked QF web site today and surprise, surprise, QF 1442 is still for sale, so I girded my loins and prepared to do phone battle.

Based on accent, I got the South African call centre, and my call was picked up by a consultant who said "Qantas Premium Assistance". She was able to handle the two simple changes that involved QF initiated timing changes to QF 25 to HND and the connecting flight SYD-CBR for our return in February 2024. But she was not able to reinstate us onto QF 1442. She kept telling me that it was cancelled. I kept assuring her that it was not cancelled. How could it be cancelled when QF was willing to sell me a ticket on it right now? She put me on a lengthy hold and came back and said that she could see it was still selling tickets, but for some reason it was not accepting transfer of Mr Seat 0A and me onto the flight. She said she would escalate. More holding, and a mistaken re-opening of my line while she was clearly talking to someone else about the inability to reinstate us to QF1442. So I do feel she did try. In the end, she said she could not help, she would leave the suggested replacement flight as "not accepted" and that I should wait until January and see if the flight opened up for us then. I wasn't really happy with this but there wasn't much I could do, so I left it at that point with the intention to HUACA maybe later in the week.

 

[Quickstatus]

But she was not able to reinstate us onto QF 1442

Maybe it is because your original-original booking was a J Fare? and the 1442 does not have J cabin. Even though you are in Y for that sector??
Weird

 

[Seat0B]

Now, we are also travelling with Seat Friend, who had booked identical flights to ours on her own separate booking. For various reasons, Seat Friend had decided that she wanted to come home earlier in February and had also deferred accepting the changes to her flights so that she might be able to make the changes she wanted to without needing to pay the change fee (we are all on paid DSC Business Sale tickets). She is a newly minted WP without much experience and wanted me to talk her through the best approach.

So after my abortive call this morning, I spoke to Seat Friend and suggested that she make the changes to the return flight HND-SYD that she wanted to make and keep stressing that all of this was to be free of charge because of the QF initiated changes (which unluckily for her covered every other flight on her ticket except the one she wanted to change) - but I was pretty sure that she would be able to make the changes without fees regardless of this inconvenient fact. Then I suggested that once she had that sorted (the most important changes for her), she might ask about QF1442 connecting flight and see what they told her.

ETA: So, she just called me about 1 hr ago, thrilled with her outcome. She got her return flight changed, she got QF 1442 to SYD and no change fees. Excellent outcome.

This motivated me to call again, today, to see if I could get to the bottom of the mystery of QF1442.

 

[Seat0B]

Maybe it is because your original-original booking was a J Fare? and the 1442 does not have J cabin. Even though you are in Y for that sector??

Yes I did wonder about that, but when the original-original booking was changed from CBR-BNE to CBR-SYD, the consultant (HBA) pointed out that QF1442 was a Dash-8 and was Y only, and I was OK with that because I will apply for ORC when I get back, and I was much happier to be leaving via SYD and headed to HND than the surprise misconnect in BNE and alternate destination of NRT.

The change to QF 1442 was ticketed back in May and all was good - until QF started issuing changes. I just counted them and there have been 8 separate flight changes on the second original ticket, plus the ones on the original-original booking that led to the second original.

Honestly, what is that expression about a fist full of $50 notes and the inability to arrange any satisfaction?? That's QF for sure.

 

[Quickstatus]

until QF started issuing changes

Maybe they think they can get more for the 4pm 1442 seat by flicking you to the 5pm one?

 

[Seat0B]

This time, luck of the draw, I got the Philippines call centre, and the consultant again tried to tell me that QF 1442 was cancelled. Again, I assured her it was not, and mentioned Seat Friend's result - we had arranged to have our bookings linked. The consultant confirmed that she could see that Seat Friend had been reinstated onto QF1442, and said that if I would hold, she would investigate for me.

Came back a few minutes later and said that she had managed to put us both onto QF 1442. Miracle of miracles.

I aksed when I would get an updated ticket and was advised it might take up to 24 hrs. Hmmmmm. Let's see what happens.

Post automatically merged: Dec 13, 2023

Maybe they think they can get more for the 4pm 1442 seat by flicking you to the 5pm one?

 

[Quickstatus]

Miracle of miracles

Quantas has a long way to go if miracles are required

Almost there though.....

Is this a feature of DSC promotions that the passenger gets the run around with phantom flight changes etc?
I was going to say worst case try to get a "J" seat on the 5pm given your original-original fare allows it but its a 717 so no (+ your Friend as well)

 

[Seat0B]

Quantas has a long way to go if miracles are required

Almost there though.....

Is this a feature of DSC promotions that the passenger gets the run around with phantom flight changes etc?

That's an interesting (and concerning) possibility. Regardless of DSC, these are expensive business flights - it was nearly $14,000 for the two of us to fly to Japan, and I am pretty well fed up with QF outsourcing the responsibility associated with its own incompetence to the paying (or even award) pax.

On that note, the last several domestic CR flights I have taken have also been beset with flight changes. For example two separate trips from CBR-OOL to see the family, which cannot be done directly. So usually we connect via SYD, but sometimes MEL is a good alternative. Both of these CR trips involved at least 2 flight changes, not just timing changes for the same flight number, actual flight changes that either shortened or extended our connection times. This causes stress for me when travelling. When I book, I book the connection time that I am comfortable with - this allows for departure delays, ATC delays on arrival, maybe needing to go to the loo on the way off the plane, maybe some time in the lounge etc etc. I like to enjoy my travel experiences. I am therefore always annoyed when QF unilaterally shortens my transit time and makes me rush around and sometimes even makes me the pax that the whole plane is waiting for (outside my control). Equally, I only want a bit of time in the lounge (it's not the F Lounge after all ), and it also annoys me when my 40-60 mins in the lounge becomes 3 hours at QF's whim (especially at OOL!!!!!!) - and that's before we cop boarding and departure delays that seem inevitable now.

If it were not for my millions of points, I would be looking for a new airline partner about now. And as I remarked to Mr Seat 0A this morning after my unsatisfactory session with South Africa, maybe I should just think of those as a sunk cost/opportunity because I never really seem to be able to get the flights I want as CR (eg there is never anything to/from Dubai) and I should shift alliances. If Virgin offered a status match in the near future, I would take it and try family pooling and flights to see Seat Son in his new city of Abu Dhabi on Etihad. It's looking very much more attractive than it ever has before.

 

[Quickstatus]

I am therefore always annoyed when QF unilaterally

And invariably these unilateral changes never seem to benefit the passenger
That they cant just leave alone and not fiddle with a valid booking suggests to cynical me they are trying to engineer a better outcome for them

 

[Seat0B]

And invariably these unilateral changes never seem to benefit the passenger

Yes funny that (not).