Qantas swaps Upcoming Flight A330 for A321XLR

[esseeeayeenn]

Personally couldn't give a toss whether domestic or international are crewing - though I do miss the JetConnect crews. On the other hand I do care about the overnight (almost) bolt upright ... and to that I'm pretty sure it's only the DPS-MEL from your list that meets that unhealthy criteria.

Regards,

BD

Maybe but did you note the word "supplied"?
There are implications for the soft product as well.

 

[BD1959]

Maybe but did you note the word "supplied"?

Maybe not, subtlety ain't my forte!

Regards,

BD

 

[XavierP]

You mean lie non-flat like on MEL-DPS 737? - has been this way for a number of years ... hardly something QF is "introducing".

Regards,

BD

Nope, was JUST referring to new MNL flights and future long distance international routes.

 

[MelbFlyer]

While I am not a great fan of the A321, I think they are partially responsible for the $299 J sale fares. With 20 J seats, it's much easier to justify for QF revenue management to give some of them away at a lower price point to fill the cabin.

I'm not a fan of narrowbodies for anything above 3-4hrs, but I guess if a "business" (in inverted commas intentionally) class fare is $299 for something like MEL-PER or MEL-DPS (unlikely though), I'd be able to compromise with a non-lay flat seat.

 

[AuSammy]

Pondering. What are the chances of a xCAT appeal against Qantas selling one product and delivering another (yes I know it’s in the T&Cs but they are not the decider of fairness in a court).

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

sNope, was JUST referring to new MNL flights and future long distance international routes.

As we know, QF is slowly getting rid of the 330,s and the 350s and the 787s they aim for further afield.
So, we have no choice, really, as in future, it will all be the narrow 321xlr.
Very rare to see 787 on the dom flights, and even close by int flights, and they are also prone to do swaps of the 787s on dom flights to the 737/321/320.
Give it a look now, all the trans Aus from and to PER, 99.9% are all now narrow body sub par, esp on the 4.5 or more hrs, J not so bad, but ouchy in Y, esp red eyes coming back from PER to MEL/SYD, dep PER just prior to midnight.
===

Pondering. What are the chances of a xCAT appeal against Qantas selling one product and delivering another (yes I know it’s in the T&Cs but they are not the decider of fairness in a court).

All the (state) CATs tribunals, will side with QF as they will say, its a commercial decision of the airline.
Most likely, you wont win a case.

 

[moa999]

QF has unfortunately been swapping flat beds to recliners, or suites to older sky beds in the past, for a long time.

 

[elanshin]

As we know, QF is slowly getting rid of the 330,s and the 350s and the 787s they aim for further afield.
So, we have no choice, really, as in future, it will all be the narrow 321xlr.

Hardly the 787-10 are going to be doing asia trunk route work, its the 787-9s that are doing long missions. Id guess that if QF had more 787-9s they'd be flying them all over asia as well.

You forget that the 330s have no Premium Economy which on some of the asian routes has traditionally been there and always a strong market for it (think Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo).

Manilla honestly is a weird case. I suspect BNE-MNL would be better off as a JQ route than QF and it was launched as part of redeploying the 330 that was flying to PVG. (But JQ doesn't exactly have more planes either).

The main concern here is more that QF is setting a precedent rather than this route itself which honestly I don't think made huge amount of sense. (And if CR and business booking codes over the past year I've spotted are anything to go by, it's likely not justified either in a 330).

Very rare to see 787 on the dom flights, and even close by int flights, and they are also prone to do swaps of the 787s on dom flights to the 737/321/320.

787s are doing regular transcon. Just not out of the domestic terminals. They're much more reliable than the 330s which could subbed out at any moments notice. Its a much bigger problem when the 787s aren't going transcon as it means a flight like PER-FCO isn't running.

We're just temporarily having one of the routes running via SIN instead of PER at the moment.

 

[fletty]

I took a 787 from Brisbane to Sydney last year, it was repositioning after the Antarctica scenic flights.
That was a pretty interesting experience.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Pondering. What are the chances of a xCAT appeal against Qantas selling one product and delivering another (yes I know it’s in the T&Cs but they are not the decider of fairness in a court).

Have we had any cases yet where qantas has refused to re-route or refund?

Traditionally I think the argument has been ‘business class = business class’… but I dunno if that would hold as much these days. The case in NZ against Emirates was successful where one product was advertised, but not delivered.

Here Qantas clearly shows a flat bed as available at the time of booking. Which I think is material for a longer flight rather than say NZ?

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

I took a 787 from Brisbane to Sydney last year, it was repositioning after the Antarctica scenic flights.
That was a pretty interesting experience.

Did QF4 from AKL -> SYD, last year or was it earlier this year.
Great one, compared to the NZ -> Au on their 737.

 

[Christin@]

Update on my QF98 A321XLR saga…

A little update on my QF98 situation, as a few people here asked me to let you know how I went with Qantas.

Well… it’s been interesting.

We originally bought 3 Business tickets from MNL to SYD back in June for travel on 7 Feb 2027.

Then in July I happened to fly QF98 from Manila to Brisbane myself. I was in Economy, but it was an A330 and obviously I saw the Business cabin.

Later we decided Brisbane made more sense for our family plans, so on 24 August we changed the 3 existing Business tickets from MNL–SYD to QF98 MNL–BNE. We actually paid extra to make the change.

At the time I honestly had no idea that our Feb flight was going to end up with the A321XLR and the recliner Business seats.

I only found out later.

That was when I thought… hang on. Nearly 8 hours overnight in Business and no lie-flat seat??

I know an aircraft type is never guaranteed and I have nothing against the A321XLR itself. My issue has always been the Business product. If I’m paying Business fares for an overnight flight of this length, being able to actually sleep is a pretty big part of it.

So I contacted Qantas Customer Care.

They actually replied and acknowledged in writing the planned change from the A330 to the A321XLR, and also acknowledged that we had been expecting lie-flat Business on the overnight flight.

They told me to contact Reservations to see what alternatives they could offer.

Instead of spending hours on the phone, I decided to just go down to the Qantas Manila office and speak to someone face to face.

The lady there was actually very helpful. She explained that the Manila office didn’t have the authority to approve what I was asking for, so she sent it up to HQ.

A couple of days later she came back to me.

Qantas has agreed, as a one-off, to waive the change fee if we change to:

MNL–SYD–BNE

instead of:

MNL–BNE

So that’s a step in the right direction and I do appreciate it.

But… there’s a catch.

We still have to pay the fare difference, tax adjustment and local service fee.

It works out at PHP 16,894 per person, or PHP 50,682 for the 3 of us, approximately over AUD 1140 ++

That’s the bit I’m struggling with.

We’re not changing our travel date.
We’re not changing our destination.
We still need to get to Brisbane.

The only reason we’re asking to go via Sydney is because we didn’t know when we changed the tickets in August that QF98 would end up with recliner Business seats.

And we already paid extra once to change our original MNL–SYD tickets to QF98!

So now we would basically be paying again to go back through Sydney because of the Business product on QF98.

And then there was this…

When I went into the Qantas Manila office, I saw this sitting on the counter:

“Connecting you from Manila to Brisbane”

and underneath it says the flights operate with the Airbus A330.

[SEE THE ATTACHED PHOTO, DATED TODAY 9/30/2026]

I had to laugh when I saw it.

Obviously I understand aircraft can change and I’m not saying Qantas guaranteed me an A330.

But you can probably understand why the A321XLR recliner Business product wasn’t something I was expecting when we moved our tickets onto QF98.

QF98 was advertised here with the A330, I personally flew it on an A330 in July, and then in August we paid extra to move our existing Business tickets onto QF98.

Anyway, I’ve gone back to them and asked if HQ will reconsider the fare difference as well, rather than just waiving the change fee.

I’m really not looking for compensation or anything like that. I just don’t think we should have to pay another AUD 1000++ between the three of us just to get to the same destination on the same day with a lie-flat seat on the overnight sector.

Let’s see what they say…

Will update again when I hear back. And thanks again to everyone here who gave me advice earlier — it’s actually been really helpful.

 

[SydneySwan]

Update on my QF98 A321XLR saga…

A little update on my QF98 situation, as a few people here asked me to let you know how I went with Qantas.

Well… it’s been interesting.

We originally bought 3 Business tickets from MNL to SYD back in June for travel on 7 Feb 2027.

Then in July I happened to fly QF98 from Manila to Brisbane myself. I was in Economy, but it was an A330 and obviously I saw the Business cabin.

Later we decided Brisbane made more sense for our family plans, so on 24 August we changed the 3 existing Business tickets from MNL–SYD to QF98 MNL–BNE. We actually paid extra to make the change.

At the time I honestly had no idea that our Feb flight was going to end up with the A321XLR and the recliner Business seats.

I only found out later.

That was when I thought… hang on. Nearly 8 hours overnight in Business and no lie-flat seat??

I know an aircraft type is never guaranteed and I have nothing against the A321XLR itself. My issue has always been the Business product. If I’m paying Business fares for an overnight flight of this length, being able to actually sleep is a pretty big part of it.

So I contacted Qantas Customer Care.

They actually replied and acknowledged in writing the planned change from the A330 to the A321XLR, and also acknowledged that we had been expecting lie-flat Business on the overnight flight.

They told me to contact Reservations to see what alternatives they could offer.

Instead of spending hours on the phone, I decided to just go down to the Qantas Manila office and speak to someone face to face.

The lady there was actually very helpful. She explained that the Manila office didn’t have the authority to approve what I was asking for, so she sent it up to HQ.

A couple of days later she came back to me.

Qantas has agreed, as a one-off, to waive the change fee if we change to:

MNL–SYD–BNE

instead of:

MNL–BNE

So that’s a step in the right direction and I do appreciate it.

But… there’s a catch.

We still have to pay the fare difference, tax adjustment and local service fee.

It works out at PHP 16,894 per person, or PHP 50,682 for the 3 of us, approximately over AUD 1140 ++

That’s the bit I’m struggling with.

We’re not changing our travel date.
We’re not changing our destination.
We still need to get to Brisbane.

The only reason we’re asking to go via Sydney is because we didn’t know when we changed the tickets in August that QF98 would end up with recliner Business seats.

And we already paid extra once to change our original MNL–SYD tickets to QF98!

So now we would basically be paying again to go back through Sydney because of the Business product on QF98.

And then there was this…

When I went into the Qantas Manila office, I saw this sitting on the counter:

“Connecting you from Manila to Brisbane”

and underneath it says the flights operate with the Airbus A330.

[SEE THE ATTACHED PHOTO, DATED TODAY 9/30/2026]

I had to laugh when I saw it.

Obviously I understand aircraft can change and I’m not saying Qantas guaranteed me an A330.

But you can probably understand why the A321XLR recliner Business product wasn’t something I was expecting when we moved our tickets onto QF98.

QF98 was advertised here with the A330, I personally flew it on an A330 in July, and then in August we paid extra to move our existing Business tickets onto QF98.

Anyway, I’ve gone back to them and asked if HQ will reconsider the fare difference as well, rather than just waiving the change fee.

I’m really not looking for compensation or anything like that. I just don’t think we should have to pay another AUD 1000++ between the three of us just to get to the same destination on the same day with a lie-flat seat on the overnight sector.

Let’s see what they say…

Will update again when I hear back. And thanks again to everyone here who gave me advice earlier — it’s actually been really helpful.


View attachment 523401

And to think AJ has gone! But AJ thinking remains. I would be escalating much higher than the Manila office.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for the update.

I think the recommendation was to ring Qantas in Australia, directly, rather than deal with the Manila office.

You need to explain that the product you bought is not the product you’re ending up on.

As I mentioned, Qantas is usually pretty good with these things, and I’d expect either a refund, or a free re-routing via SYD.

Actually speaking to someone in real time, rather than by email, will allow you to discuss the options as they evolve. If you have questions like ‘why should I pay more?’, they can be answered in real time rather than email ping pong.

Qantas advertises a lie-flat seat at the time you booked. These are the sorts of points you can make when speaking direct, and will lend support to your argument that you should not have to pay the fare difference.

(Edited to add ‘not’ per sydneyswan’s pick up, below)

 

[SydneySwan]

Thanks for the update.

I think the recommendation was to ring Qantas in Australia, directly, rather than deal with the Manila office.

You need to explain that the product you bought is not the product you’re ending up on.

As I mentioned, Qantas is usually pretty good with these things, and I’d expect either a refund, or a free re-routing via SYD.

Actually speaking to someone in real time, rather than by email, will allow you to discuss the options as they evolve. If you have questions like ‘why should I pay more?’, they can be answered in real time rather than email ping pong.

Qantas advertises a lie-flat seat at the time you booked. These are the sorts of points you can make when speaking direct, and will lend support to your argument that you should NOT have to pay the fare difference.

Fixed it for you!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Fixed it for you!

Thanks!