BA canceled and connecting to QF2 award... Is it fixable?

[ChrisMars]

Hey all,
I got my BA flight canceled which connect to QF2 LHR-SYD.
The flight diseappeared from my booking, no alternative proposed. Same ticket, Qantas award, those are the only flights on the ticket. I ll call tomorrow to try and get a positive outcome, I am a bit uncertain about what to expect, what's possible.

Option 1. Can I try to push for the next flight, with 90 min connection T5-T3? There are no other flights earlier than that. No award seats available.

Option 2. Can I get a flight the day before? No award seats available.

Option 3. Is it possible to leave from a nearby airport with better connection time? I can find such an option, no award seats available.

Do you guys think Qantas can fix that? I hope I ll get to Hobart call center easily tomorrow.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You should be able to get in any other available flight… although if the flight cancellation is due to the European airports melt-down it may leave few alternatives. How long is the connecting BA flight?

I would certainly be calling qantas, at the very least make sure you keep the QF2 alive… see if they can preserve that and remove the now cancelled BA flight so it doesn’t ‘no show’.

 

[ChrisMars]

Yea I hope to get an alternative inbound BA. Probably the one the night before, or from a nearby airport on the same day if thats doable for Qantas. Thats for mid August, so still some seats, but no awards.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yea I hope to get an alternative inbound BA. Probably the one the night before, or from a nearby airport on the same day if thats doable for Qantas. Thats for mid August, so still some seats, but no awards.

They should be able to use the oneworld disruption desk to select a new flight for you.

 

[Matt_01]

Yea I hope to get an alternative inbound BA. Probably the one the night before, or from a nearby airport on the same day if thats doable for Qantas. Thats for mid August, so still some seats, but no awards.

I assume your QF2 flight is rewards. If the inbound BA flight is an involuntary change (connecting to QF2) I would no confidence in any connection made by QF call center other than hobart.

 

[aus_flyer]

What date is your QF2? And what booking class? All the QF2s are chockers at the moment.

 

[ChrisMars]

What date is your QF2? And what booking class? All the QF2s are chockers at the moment.

15 August all in J all reward. Happy to get BA in X if needed, just want a descent connection on single ticket.
Almost 7am, will start calling soon, finger cross I can get Hobart. Thanks all.

 

[Mwenenzi]

I got my BA flight canceled which connect to QF2 LHR-SYD.
The flight diseappeared from my booking, no alternative proposed. Same ticket, Qantas award, those are the only flights on the ticket. I ll call tomorrow to try and get a positive outcome, I am a bit uncertain about what to expect, what's possible.

Is their an alternative BA flight that would work?
QF cannot force BA to open up an award on another BA flight

 

[ChrisMars]

Six calls until I reached Hobart, all call answered within 10 seconds.

Initially the agent wanted to get in touch with BA in the coming days to see what was their plan for my ticket, I pushed to look for a solution over the phone because I saw that my option 3 sold out overnight, option 2 paid fare doubled overnight, and I was concerned I would be left with very limited options if no seats are secured soon.

So we looked, agreed that option 1 (90 min connection) has a MCT too short, and booked the flight the night before, with a downgrade to Y which is fine. Those were the last 2 seats, and indeed the flight is now fully booked! It now appears in MMB, and it should get ticketed sometime next week. I am wondering if I can expect some points back for the J->Y downgrade on the BA flight, will see. On MBB, the BA flight shows as a Y btw, not X.

Overall, I am reassured that Qantas has a good access to BA booking system to make the required fix, I think that's the best outcome considering the circumstances I don't know if I got a WP treatment, or if that's expected for anyone.

Anyone knows if I will have the chance to get my bags checked through Australia considering my inbound BA flights lands the night before (less than 24h)?

 

[justinbrett]

Where are you coming from? UK domestic or Europe?

 

[ChrisMars]

Where are you coming from? UK domestic or Europe?

France.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I don't know if I would want bags stored at Heathrow overnight with all the recent baggage problems, could increase the chances of a missing bag?

As you have crossed between airline award tables you would have been charged sector fares so in theory you should get back the difference between business and economy for the BA sector. Around 10000 points?

 

[justinbrett]

France.

Paris? Did you look into getting the train?

BA have overnight bag drop in LHR but as it’s going to QF I’m not sure how that works. I’m guessing you’ll have to collect your bags.

 

[Ken1]

Six calls until I reached Hobart, all call answered within 10 seconds

How did you do this? Just ask each time when they answered where they are based and tell them you were wanting to speak to someone in the Hobart call centre and then keep trying?

I hope it gets ticketed quickly for you.

 

[RooFlyer]

How did you do this? Just ask each time when they answered where they are based and tell them you were wanting to speak to someone in the Hobart call centre and then keep trying?

I hope it gets ticketed quickly for you.

You can usually tell by their accent. They can't /won't ever transfer. Just find a way to politely end the call (I pretend that I can no longer hear them), and try, try, try again. Unless you are Platinum or above, the chances of getting Hobart are slim.

 

[tgh]

Perhaps the wrong place to ask.. but from roof_lyers comment..do TA's ( especially those contracted to push qantas) get better access than the punter on the street ?

 

[RooFlyer]

Perhaps the wrong place to ask.. but from roof_lyers comment..do TA's ( especially those contracted to push qantas) get better access than the punter on the street ?

Yes! They have their own numbers to call, although these days its not necessarily straight through, either. But not the 'call centres'.

An additional thing from this facility - because they can talk direct to the airline, they can ask for 'waivers' of particular fare rules. For instance, I was on a OneWorld RTW ticket (issued by Qantas) and wanted to do some back-tracking or similar. No harm in asking ... and it was allowed and ticketed! TAs can also ask for extensions in payment etc. Not always granted, but possible and has been done for me in the past. Not the same as cancelling booking and rebooking it therefore pushing the payment date back, although they used to be able to do that too, but airlines now crack down on it.

I'd be surprised if any TA these days 'push' Qantas. Quite the opposite in fact, after Qantas recently slashed TA commissions (but not the only one ... )

 

[justinbrett]

You can usually tell by their accent. They can't /won't ever transfer. Just find a way to politely end the call (I pretend that I can no longer hear them), and try, try, try again. Unless you are Platinum or above, the chances of getting Hobart are slim.

Meanwhile you’ve given the poor South African at the HBA call centre a complex for being hung up on so frequently.

 

[RooFlyer]

Meanwhile you’ve given the poor South African at the HBA call centre a complex for being hung up on so frequently.

The first time I (as a Plat) got a 'strange' accent (sounded English), in the initial chat I asked how they are liking the weather. I found that their weather didn't match mine (I'm close to Hobart), so I knew they weren't in Hobart. Turned out to be a handy Fijian agent who handled the call and task almost perfectly.

 

[ChrisMars]

Is their an alternative BA flight that would work?
QF cannot force BA to open up an award on another BA flight

I look at various options, including with IB via Madrid, or nearby airport, no awards.
It looks like the Hobart agent could put me on the last two revenue seats of the previous day BA flight. I guess they have the capacity to do so on BA for short-haul scheduling changes, even award. Will need to wait and see for the ticket to come, will report back.

I don't know if I would want bags stored at Heathrow overnight with all the recent baggage problems, could increase the chances of a missing bag?

As you have crossed between airline award tables you would have been charged sector fares so in theory you should get back the difference between business and economy for the BA sector. Around 10000 points?

Right, avoiding bag overnight in LHR, adding this one to the list of things to avoid. Travelling is getting harder and harder.
Yea I checked, for the 2 pax, I should get ~30k points in total. I'll leave that for after the trip if it doesn't get resolved automatically by then.

Paris? Did you look into getting the train?

South of France. The train would be a last resort solution, it would be 8h with a connection, it's also the risk of getting caught in the annual summer sncf strike.