A letter to Alan Joyce

[mannej]

Just over 2 weeks ago, my adult son unexpectedly died in Perth while I was on a trip to Melbourne. I called Qantas and they arranged for me to fly out on the first flight the next day (there was another flight that evening but I wouldn’t have made it to Tullamarine in time). I paid the difference in the fare with no penalty. At the lounge, I requested a points upgrade but was unsuccessful. As I was still in shock, I was one of the last to get on the plane. I was dismayed to see some empty J seats but I was given a Y window seat and vacant seat next to me. I dont feel that I was treated badly by Qantas.

My condolences to you

 

[mviy]

Sad to hear of your loss. Definitely in those circumstances getting home to be with family ASAP is the important thing, though it would have been nice to have been in J.

QF won't upgrade to fill a cabin if they don't need to necessarily. After all they would prefer it if everyone/most flying J paid for those seats.

They may also want to give shadows to e.g. some CL members flying J.

 

[timster]

What is it about airlines that so many people expect "leniency" and "bending the rules"??????

In this case ... perhaps compassion ? At least one QF staffer thought so.

 

[Pushka]

Just over 2 weeks ago, my adult son unexpectedly died in Perth while I was on a trip to Melbourne. I called Qantas and they arranged for me to fly out on the first flight the next day (there was another flight that evening but I wouldn’t have made it to Tullamarine in time). I paid the difference in the fare with no penalty. At the lounge, I requested a points upgrade but was unsuccessful. As I was still in shock, I was one of the last to get on the plane. I was dismayed to see some empty J seats but I was given a Y window seat and vacant seat next to me. I dont feel that I was treated badly by Qantas.

I am so sorry to hear your sad news

 

[love_the_life]

Just over 2 weeks ago, my adult son unexpectedly died in Perth while I was on a trip to Melbourne. I called Qantas and they arranged for me to fly out on the first flight the next day (there was another flight that evening but I wouldn’t have made it to Tullamarine in time). I paid the difference in the fare with no penalty. At the lounge, I requested a points upgrade but was unsuccessful. As I was still in shock, I was one of the last to get on the plane. I was dismayed to see some empty J seats but I was given a Y window seat and vacant seat next to me. I dont feel that I was treated badly by Qantas.

Very sorry to hear of your son's death.

 

[Denali]

Just over 2 weeks ago, my adult son unexpectedly died in Perth while I was on a trip to Melbourne. I called Qantas and they arranged for me to fly out on the first flight the next day (there was another flight that evening but I wouldn’t have made it to Tullamarine in time). I paid the difference in the fare with no penalty. At the lounge, I requested a points upgrade but was unsuccessful. As I was still in shock, I was one of the last to get on the plane. I was dismayed to see some empty J seats but I was given a Y window seat and vacant seat next to me. I dont feel that I was treated badly by Qantas.

Please let me add my condolences to you and your family.

 

[Deleted member]

I concur with much of the above. Keep it concise. Remove personal emotions from the letter (leave in the bits about your friend) and sit on it for 24 hours. QF is not unlike many other large organizations for whom service is a critical aspect of their offering , and like other organizations they get it wrong from time to time. My thoughts are that the initial denial of fly ahead wasn’t a problem, it was the withdrawal of the fly ahead later that is the big service fail for my money.
Probably not a lot of help, but I think if QF want to do it right, they need to fix this.

 

[serfty]

Note that the death of a family member is specifically covered in most Qantas fare rules, including red e-deals:

CANCELLATION FEES AS DESCRIBED ARE WAIVED FOR
DEATH OF THE PASSENGER OR FAMILY MEMBER OR THE
WARD OF A LEGAL GUARDIAN.

 

[SpudOz]

Sad to hear of your loss. Definitely in those circumstances getting home to be with family ASAP is the important thing, though it would have been nice to have been in J.

QF won't upgrade to fill a cabin if they don't need to necessarily. After all they would prefer it if everyone/most flying J paid for those seats.

They may also want to give shadows to e.g. some CL members flying J.

I understand the concept of a shadow seat but the aircraft was an A330 in the 1-2-1 configuration: and I was happy to burn points for the upgrade. Disappointing but I harbour no ill feeling towards Qantas. The agent that took my call was very kind and understanding which is very much appreciated.

 

[Pushka]

We had the situation of my MIL about to die in Adelaide while her daughter was stuck in Perth at the time of the great Pilot Strike that grounded planes for weeks. International flights were flying. I rang Qantas at around 5am desperate for - Well, I don’t know what. But they found her a seat on an International cross country flight from Perth that touched into Adelaide (they were doing routes like that in the crisis) that would get her to Adelaide around 5pm that day. The Agent was fabulous. But we did have to provide a Doctor certificate that death was truly imminent. SIL got to her mums house at around 6.30pm and her mother died at 7.30pm. She was unconscious but a tear ran down her face when she heard her daughters voice.

They will go above and beyond in times like this but the fare was high.

 

[RoMambai]

What strikes me in this case is the OP's sense of entitlement. If rules were meant to be broken than why would we have them. I acknowledge a good turn was done but leave it to karma to pay it forward, not Qantas. If the company had to reach into it's own pocket every time someone did a mate a favour, they'd be out of business.

The letter was, if I can be frank, appalling. It was drafted rashly, with little thought and even less dispassion. It read like a turgid rant. If the author thought it appropriate to spend 20 minutes on it and press send than unfortunately it deserves even less reciprocation from Qantas. If AJ's PA responds, I'd take heart. If it's his tennis coach I'd be more understanding.

 

[Mattg]

I was recently denied a QF flight change that I wanted only because of another QF flight being delayed. I was in AKL and was planning to meet my father there after not seeing him for several months. He would arrive at 3pm and we'd spend the evening together before I flew back with QF to Australia at 6am the next morning.

Well, his QF flight was cancelled and he was rebooked on a flight that arrived in AKL at 1am. I called QF and asked to be moved to an afternoon flight back to Australia so we could at least spend the morning together. After waiting 2 hours on hold I was told that there would be a $300 change fee and they refused to waive or reduce it. I was unimpressed.

It's a shame Qantas can't do simple things that cost them nothing and generate a lot of goodwill.

 

[Falcs]

You'd be amazed how frequently people in life "try it on" to get around rules, including outright lying. Not saying you were lying, but I wouldn't begrudge Qantas for sticking to the rules. Think of it as par if nothing happens and a bonus if they do go over and above... however issuing a BP and taking it back was somewhat petty.

As for the letter, in all honesty there's too much hyperbole and too long winded. You really need to be short and sharp and get your point across as concisely as possible.

 

[JohnK]

Sorry to hear about your friend. You did a very nice thing. Very disappointing they retracted the boarding pass that was issued but I can see how that can happen with some of the staff I have come across recently. Very poor customer service.

Whilst it's disappointing, the rules are the rules.

The reason QF stopped allowing fly forward for any reason was some passengers would book cheaper flights all the time knowing that they could get moved forward most of the time and this cost QF a lot of money.

Rules are there to be broken. If the first person says "No" does not mean the next person will say "No".

Flow forwarding still exists. It was never stopped. It is still used by Qantas in times of expected delays. It was also an unwritten benefit for Platinums that has been taken away. It is still there for most Platinum Ones.

My recent personal experiences also tell me that some staff have the ability to move people around. I have been able to have my wife and daughter (booked on a much later flight as lower cost or award availability) moved to my earlier flight 3-4 times in BNE. I once asked at check-in and was refused then asked at business lounge reception and also refused. I then saw the supervisor and told her the story and she said she saw me asking the staff at reception and asked for the boarding pass and issued my wife and daughter with a new boarding pass for my flight in an aisle seat with a shadow. She also told me to come and see her anytime I needed anything. She saw my daughter last week and was really happy to see her.

In SYD in September I was able to get the 2nd last seat on my flight for wife and daughter as they were booked on last flight of the night and I was on the 2nd last flight. Heavy delays that evening and we were heading to SIN that night on the EK flight. We arrived in BNE around 11:00pm and the last flight was even later so we would have made the connection but had very little time to relax before EK flight.

I don't expect that staff will make changes for me but I don't give up either. If you never ask you will never know.

 

[turtlemichael]

I sympathise with the OP.

For me the issue here is that it is part of the Qantas business model to create a warm fuzzy feeling tied into the concept of loyalty. "We love you and you are why we exist." They are of course not alone in this concept. Some people, including the OP, actually believe this. I did once and would have expected to be treated as the OP wanted in his circumstances.

The reality is that they are a business aiming to build a good dividend for the shareholders (and create achievement bonuses for the managers along the way ). That is the role and I don't criticise it. The concept of loyalty is merely a means to get to a big dividend/bonus. I agree it is very poor to offer something then withdraw it. But it is not surprising. I also don't criticize the OP for having several shots at getting his flight change. The mantra of this forum has always been HUATA.

 

[Pushka]

Sorry to hear about your friend. You did a very nice thing. Very disappointing they retracted the boarding pass that was issued but I can see how that can happen with some of the staff I have come across recently. Very poor customer service.


Rules are there to be broken. If the first person says "No" does not mean the next person will say "No".

Flow forwarding still exists. It was never stopped. It is still used by Qantas in times of expected delays. It was also an unwritten benefit for Platinums that has been taken away. It is still there for most Platinum Ones.

My recent personal experiences also tell me that some staff have the ability to move people around. I have been able to have my wife and daughter (booked on a much later flight as lower cost or award availability) moved to my earlier flight 3-4 times in BNE. I once asked at check-in and was refused then asked at business lounge reception and also refused. I then saw the supervisor and told her the story and she said she saw me asking the staff at reception and asked for the boarding pass and issued my wife and daughter with a new boarding pass for my flight in an aisle seat with a shadow. She also told me to come and see her anytime I needed anything. She saw my daughter last week and was really happy to see her.

In SYD in September I was able to get the 2nd last seat on my flight for wife and daughter as they were booked on last flight of the night and I was on the 2nd last flight. Heavy delays that evening and we were heading to SIN that night on the EK flight. We arrived in BNE around 11:00pm and the last flight was even later so we would have made the connection but had very little time to relax before EK flight.

I don't expect that staff will make changes for me but I don't give up either. If you never ask you will never know.

I imagine you would be known to Q staff there and probably get the benefit. Or maybe they just want to get you out of there quicker!

Rarely MrP might get to have an earlier flight (we book cheapest tickets as we like to reduce costs for clients who pay) but he generally doesn’t ask now as usually the answer is no. But I think one time it was actually offered to him when he had HLO.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

But how many times *has* QF bent the rules for OP and some of us? Just because it didn't on one occasion doesn't make it petty, penny pinching or, aside from the retracted boarding pass, less compassionate.

 

[cmon0005]

In early jan myself, wife & 2.5 year old daughter(2x WP, 1xPS) arrived in syd from bkk on qf after being in Malaysia for a week we had a connecting qf domestic flight on the one ticket with a 2.5 hour wait in syd.

I was checked through from bkk, however during the flight my daughter was sick she had a temp, restless and ended up vomiting all over the J seat(points upgrade) and my wife was covered in vomit.
We had a change of clothes for daughter but not for wife!

Upon landing in syd we got to dom transfer as quick as possible to try to get an earlier flight.
Explained the situation to the agent and she could clearly see my wife covered in vomit. But said very abruptly you can't change your fare type doesn't allow, (saver) maybe you can cleanup in the lounge...

We just wanted to get home earlier so we could put our sick daughter to bed and wife could change and shower!

Very annoyed they showed no flexibility at all despite obvious visible sickness and mess. Expertflyer showed good availability in the earlier flights.

We couldn't ask at the syd dom j lounge as we had checked in bags.

I am all for fare rules and i don't expect favours however a bit of flexibility/ compassion in obvious cases should be allowed on a some basis.

 

[VeniVidiVici]

Coming back from the states (4 pax) we had a long wait in SYD before our flight back to ADL and the Qantas employee without us even asking suggested a flight that was leaving in only 30 or so minutes which he then transferred us to. No status and on base fare.

We really appreciated it but understood that it was likely a one off and that we had just gotten lucky due to a helpful employee and light loadings.

 

[Pushka]

In early jan myself, wife & 2.5 year old daughter(2x WP, 1xPS) arrived in syd from bkk on qf after being in Malaysia for a week we had a connecting qf domestic flight on the one ticket with a 2.5 hour wait in syd.

I was checked through from bkk, however during the flight my daughter was sick she had a temp, restless and ended up vomiting all over the J seat(points upgrade) and my wife was covered in vomit.
We had a change of clothes for daughter but not for wife!

Upon landing in syd we got to dom transfer as quick as possible to try to get an earlier flight.
Explained the situation to the agent and she could clearly see my wife covered in vomit. But said very abruptly you can't change your fare type doesn't allow, (saver) maybe you can cleanup in the lounge...

We just wanted to get home earlier so we could put our sick daughter to bed and wife could change and shower!

Very annoyed they showed no flexibility at all despite obvious visible sickness and mess. Expertflyer showed good availability in the earlier flights.

We couldn't ask at the syd dom j lounge as we had checked in bags.

I am all for fare rules and i don't expect favours however a bit of flexibility/ compassion in obvious cases should be allowed on a some basis.

Well, to be honest it was possibly lucky they let you fly at all due to illness coming from overseas. It is a wonder you weren’t seen by Customs on arrival. That happened on one of my flights. One of the crew became unwell and he had to be checked out by a Doctor before we were allowed to disembark. And another couple I know asked to be near the toilet as she was unwell. They were given back row but were later escorted from the plane for health reasons.