10 years. 10 airlines. oneworld® “10% off. 10 airlines”. 10 weeks. A SCAM????

[Traveller F]

G`Day,

After getting a e-mail from Qantas regarding the above I was rather overjoyed, 10% off, not bad I thought, just what the doctor ordered………little did I know!!!

Last November I booked return flights for two pax in F through my travel agent for April this year, the ticket has not been issued or paid for as I suspected the fuel surcharge to drop. A price was quoted etc.. I rushed down to my TA with visions of saving a few thousand $.

Pointing out the conditions quote:

To take advantage of the discount, you must purchase your ticket between 1 February 2009 and 12 April 2009 inclusive. Your ticket must be paid and issued between these dates. You can book your flights up to 11 months in advance.
The 10% discount is reflected in the published base fares available for sales on-line and in airlines' and travel agents' reservation systems.
Taxes, charges and fuel surcharges are not discounted and must be added to the base fare. Other fare conditions apply. Please refer to the terms and conditions published on this website for each of the fares.


So according to the highlighted section above my base fare should be 10% cheaper! (so myself and my very good TA thought). After retrieving the booking in the computer the fare was showing exactly to the dollar and cent the same amount. Are said my TA they haven’t updated the fare yet (I still had a smile on my face) I`ll give BA/QF a ring to clarify. Looking at my TA her face turned into one of disbelief. Here´s their reply: The fare quoted is correct, the reason being that fares should have been increased by 10% as of the 1 February which we have not implicated. We have taken the proposed 10% increase into account when offering this promotion. So according to BA/Qantas OneWorld my fare quoted in November stays the same amount because they were going to increase by 10%, fair enough but I cannot find any ware on the e-mail that says that there was a price increase from the 1 February and find the whole promotion very misleading and making the “Jo Public” into believing that they were getting a genuine 10% discount!



This type of advertising cant be ethical…….or what do other members think???



Kind regards (with a long face) Traveller F

 

[GoldCoastGuy]

I believe a complaint to the ACCC is in order.

Here are some quotes from this page: Misleading & deceptive conduct

Representations about price

The price of a good or service is often a good indication of its quality or its availability of supply. Price comparisons can also give you an indication of whether you are getting a good deal or a bargain.
There are also special laws relevant to price advertising and promotions. A business risks breaching the law if it:

• makes inaccurate or misleading price comparisons (for example 'was' and 'now' prices)

Some examples of conduct that may be misleading or deceptive are:

...
a jewellery store promoting that a watch 'was' $200 and is 'now' $100 when the store never sold the watch for $200

Evan :->

 

[Dave Noble]

The base fare for a DONE4 , LHONE4 and LLONE4 have dropped in price and are $9900, $3300 and $3150. The $13950 for the AONE4 , I am not 100% sure on, but I think that it has been discounted.

I am not sure why you are not getting a reduced fare, but I don't think it is to do with fare going up by 10%

The other obvious way to save money on the ticket on top of the discount would be to book through AA rather than QF and get the reduced fuel fines too

Dave

 

[MelUser]

I have a similar issue although it relates to a DONE4 (RTW Business Class Fare).

The official explanation is that the sale only applies to bookings which are made, paid and issued (ticketed) within the 10 week sale period.

The travel agent said to me that she can cancel the entire reservation, start again and then I would be entitled to the 10% sale.

For one reservation I told her to do this which worked out fine but for a second reservation for 2 pax I am holding the last two "A" class seats on a long flight overnight across the US. So if I cancel, the "A" seats will disappear into the system (there may be others already waitlising for them).

I could of course travel in economy but for an overnight flight I am not prepared to do this so will pay the old price.

So, what oneworld is meaning to say is, the 10% discount applies to reservations which are:

(1) commenced;
(2) concluded;
(3) paid for; and
(4) issued and ticketed

- within the 10 week sale period.

hope this helps!

 

[tuapekastar]

Having quickly read the 'press release' regarding this, i think the 10% discount applies to what they refer to as 'alliance' fares, eg. Oneworld Explorer, Circle Asia etc. (Global Explorer being an exception). The OP mentions "return flights for two pax in F" so perhaps the fare they bought was not eligible for the discount .

 

[MelUser]

yes, I noticed that too although it said good travel agent.

By "return", they may mean return to point of origin.

Anyway, perhaps this will be clarified my further posting.

 

[NM]

Having quickly read the 'press release' regarding this, i think the 10% discount applies to what they refer to as 'alliance' fares, eg. Oneworld Explorer, Circle Asia etc. (Global Explorer being an exception). The OP mentions "return flights for two pax in F" so perhaps the fare they bought was not eligible for the discount .

Indeed I believe this is the issue for Traveller F. He has been quoted on a "return fare" which is a BA/QF fare. If he changes to a OneWorld product such as OneWorld Explorer and is willing to route according to the fare rules, then the fare will be 10% less than it was before Feb 1st.

Airline fares like a return SYD-LHR-SYD purchased from QF or BA is not a OneWorld fare and is not covered by this OneWorld promotion. Only OneWorld fares such as OneWorld Explorer, OneWorld Circle Pacific etc are included in this promotion.

So Traveller F need to find out the fare basis for the original booking and then we can assist with whether it is a OneWorld product and hence f its eligible for the 10% discount under this promotion.

 

[MelUser]

So Traveller F need to find out the fare basis for the original booking and then we can assist with whether it is a OneWorld product and hence f its eligible for the 10% discount under this promotion.

But even if the fare would be eligible he is not as does not comply with the following one world requirements:

The 10% discount applies to reservations which are:

(1) commenced;
(2) concluded;
(3) paid for; and
(4) issued and ticketed

- within the 10 week sale period.

His reservation was made in November 2008.

 

[serfty]

The Global Explorer fare is not eligible for this 10% discount.

All other oneworld products BOOKED AND TICKETED between 1st Feb and 12th April are eligible.

* Here's page listing them (exclude Global Explorer):

oneworld - Air Travel Options