A Qantas flyer is still waiting for compensation after they were downgraded from First class. This member had booked a First class award from Dallas to Sydney for his wife using Qantas points. But the flight was cancelled at short notice. An alternative routing was offered via Los Angeles and Auckland on other airlines, but the new flights were in a mixture of Economy and Business class.
Shortly after arriving home, our member was contacted by Qantas Customer Care. Just 10,000 frequent flyer points were offered as Qantas downgrade compensation. Our member did not accept this, instead requesting 56,000 frequent flyer points. This is exactly the difference in price between First class and a Business class award on the Dallas-Sydney route. But the request has fallen on deaf ears.
This member was also travelling on the flight, and had used points to upgrade to First class from their paid Business class ticket. The points paid for that upgrade have since been refunded.
Our members don’t understand why the request for a partial refund of the award ticket has been refused. Faced with a similar downgrade situation a couple of years ago, one member was promptly refunded the difference in points by Qantas. Another member opines that more than 56,000 points are owed, as this doesn’t account for the extra travel time and stopovers, nor the fact that one of the flights was in Economy.
Problems occur with every airline from time to time. But it’s how the airline responds that makes all the difference. Fobbing off customers – let alone a First class passenger that has been a Platinum member for more than 8 years – is not good practice.
After hitting a brick wall with Qantas’ customer service, this member has vowed to cease loyalty to Qantas.
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