An open letter to Qantas re: a decidedly un-First Class experience LHR-BNE

[dlam]

Dear Qantas,


RE: Late chauffeur pickup LHR; 18hr DXB delay; lost luggage; bungled hotel reservation; NO chauffeur pickup BNE


I write this email in great disappointment after my recent debacle of travel experience from LHR to BNE. (In truth, I'm not even quite there yet, 50ish hours later, as I'm writing this from Melbourne.)


I love Qantas and am constantly spruiking its virtues to my colleagues and friends overseas, however, my experience this week has lowered the airline in my estimation. As my work travel and budget has increased I've actively gone out of my way to fly Qantas (even when it takes slightly longer or is more expensive) and this year have chased status. This debacle of a trip will tick me over to Gold and I'll reach Platinum by April. I am now wondering whether this status chasing was worth it at all.


I arrived at Heathrow excited to sample the A380 first class after securing a points upgrade. The experience was soured slightly from the very beginning when the car booked through "Chauffeur Drive" was half an hour late. A quick wave from the driver from his car parked 200 metres up the road meant that I had to schlep my three heavy bags to the car without any offer of assistance from the driver.


The LHR experience was good as was the flight, QF2 to Dubai, despite a late takeoff. It soon transpired that we'd be arriving in Dubai about 2 hours behind schedule that would make my connection on Emirates 434 almost impossible to make. I notified cabin crew who informed me groundstaff would be on hand to help me at Dubai.


Expecting someone to help me get to the gate quickly in Dubai, I talked to the Qantas agent at the door of the plane upon disembarkation only to be told "go to the connections desk." I explained the tightness of my connection only for him to reiterate the point. Here started the comedy of errors that led to me spending 18 hours in Dubai, my flight rebooked twice, my luggage lost (still not located), and a bungled hotel reservation for my unexpected overnight stay in Melbourne.


In Dubai, after no offer of assistance from Qantas groundstaff and having missed my onward connection I decided the best plan of attack was to try to rebook at the Emirates Business Lounge. Again, I was given the run around after trying to get onto the QF2 flight from which I had just disembarked. I was told by the Emirates agent on the phone to a Qantas representative that I could do this because there were no connections from Brisbane to Sydney. No connections from SYD to BNE?!? Come on, Qantas! These flights leave every hour, daily. Finally I was rebooked on the same EK434 to BNE leaving the next day and was directed down to arrivals for the desk to organise hotel and transfers. Upon navigating the maze-like DXB I found my way via train to arrivals only to be told that Qantas would not be providing a hotel. I then, quite irately, spoke on the phone to Ros, the Qantas manager in DXB, who informed me that EK staff had erroneously booked me on the EK434 and that there was a better flight I could get, QF10 to MEL leaving very early the next morning.


At Ros's direction, I preceded back upstairs to departures where she rebooked my flight on QF10 and then to Brisbane. She was very professional, warm and efficient in the face of many delays. She also told me she'd book my hotel for the overnight in Melbourne. I suppose it's at this point that my luggage was really lost after a delay and multiple rebooking and reroutings.


Thus began my 18 hours sojourn in Dubai. I tried multiple times to get in touch with the Qantas agents to confirm my hotel reservation and to make sure my baggage would be OK but received no response other than to check in Melbourne.


QF10 to Melbourne was a good experience, with pleasant and professional staff. However, upon landing my fears were realised when my bags failed to materialise. After filing a report with baggage staff I was directed upstairs to the sales desk for them to organise my hotel (it had not been organised in DXB as was promised.) After waiting 30 mins QF ground staff assured me my stay at the Park Royal, Melbourne had been organised. Imagine my irritation when, upon checkin at the Park Royal, I was told they had no record of this booking and to wait while they contacted Qantas. Another delay ensued until finally I was allowed into a room.


When I arrived in Brisbane, and true to form, there was no chauffeur waiting for me. After another wait I was met by C.S.S Steve Harte and Duty Manager Lyle Taylor at BNE who informed me that they would be an even longer wait for a chauffer and instead offered me cab charge vouchers as a substitute. I then took the opportunity to recount to them both the comedy of errors that characterised my QF First/Business experience. They were understanding and apologetic and encouraged me to file a complaint.


I have to reiterate, I love Qantas and have tried to be loyal. The in-flight service is really exceptional however the ground experience is far from seamless. I certainly did not expect to spend my New Year's Eve languishing in Dubai airport, nor my birthday (today) travelling. A 24 hour journey more than doubled, I lost my luggage and nothing went smoothly. While agents are friendly, very little has gone smoothly on this journey, a journey I was looking forward to that has been soured.


I would appreciate that Qantas addressed this issue quickly as well as making greater efforts to find my luggage which contains many important and some irreplaceable items.


In disappointment,


DLam

 

[mannej]

I am not responding to the service issues as such as I totally understand the disappointment, however this letter will only result in a template response.

The letters of complaint which get the best responses are those that are concise and set out the expected outcome. This letter is full of fluff and doesn't set down what your expected response is. Rhetoric such as I love Qantas or I go out of my way to book Qantas isn't really relevant in a letter of complaint such as this. List your service issues in a clear and concise manner, with the expectation so that QF don't assign this to the form "we are sorry you didn't enjoy your Qantas experience" response.

You haven't listed your expected outcome, so this opens you up to a token gesture. You have EC261 as a starting point, but also point out you'd expect x amount of the upgrade cost back etc.

Let us know how you go, but I'd be expecting the form template in response to this letter to be honest.

 

[dlam]

Thanks for the advice. I see your point. In your opinion, what would be a reasonable amount of compensation?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sometimes less is more. There was a single issue here - your late arrival into Dubai caused you to miss your onward flight.

Trying to add half a dozen minor issues doesn't always strengthen an argument, in some cases it can detract. The reader might think you value the inconvenience of a chauffeur car parked 200 yards away as being equally important as the missed connection.

The story as it stands is hard to follow on a single reading, which detracts from your case. It's hard to know work out the facts as opposed to your reaction to what is happening, for example:

No connections from SYD to BNE?!? Come on, Qantas! These flights leave every hour, daily.

and

Upon navigating the maze-like DXB

If you take out the hyperbole this is what you get:

My Qantas flight QF2 arrived in Dubai from London two hours late causing me to miss my onward connection to EK434 to Brisbane. At the transfer desk I tried to rebook on the same continuing QF2 I had just arrived on, but this was not possible. Instead I was rebooked on the EK434 the next day.

Qantas staff however found an alternative for me on the QF10 leaving Dubai that night. Unfortunately my luggage didn't make it.

Your travel insurance would have covered the hotel in Dubai had you chosen to stay there. Your luggage missing in the event of a missed flight and double rebooking (first the EK434 then the QF10) is not wholly unexpected. And it will be delivered to you shortly. Same for the lack of chauffeur car after a double rebooking.

I'm not sure of the value of swapping from the EK434 (arrival into BNE at 6am) to the QF10 with an overnight in MEL? Wouldn't that have gotten you to BNE even later?

 

[RooFlyer]

Good advice by mannej. Make a claim under EC261 but make sure you link that claim to the whole sequence of events, not just the late departure of your first flight. To cover bases, make an additional claim of 50,000 QFF points for your inconvenience and poor service recovery by Qantas. 50,000 is somewhat arbitrary but it is a meaningful amount of points and makes the point that this was not a trivial issue for you.

was the original EK flight on a Qantas ticket, or separately booked through EK? If the latter it will be trickier. If all through Qantas then DONT let QF pas the buck to EK.

Keep notes on all discussions and names of people you deal with and at all times be concise and sure of what you want. This process may take some time as Qantas ( not alone) will likely just give you a generic reply and hope you might go away.

There are those who may suggest you just suck it up, but it's only by people making proper complaints that the word filters up to management that all is not well in Dubai as far as QF pax with connection problems are concerned.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Unfortunately, I think because the arrival time in Dubai was only two hours behind schedule, and this was a connection on a different flight number and different airline, Eu261 possibly won't apply (this is subject of a current court case). Worth filing a claim though, nothing to lose.

 

[dlam]

Thanks all. Pardon my ignorance but what is EC261?

To clarify it was all booked through QAntas, one PNR so the EK flight was actually ticketed at QF8434.

I'd already sent the original letter but will send a more concise follow up.

 

[serfty]

Unfortunately, I think because the arrival time in Dubai was only two hours behind schedule, and this was a connection on a different flight number and different airline, Eu261 possibly won't apply (this is subject of a current court case). Worth filing a claim though, nothing to lose.

Yes, this is true. There is an appeal going on. The good news is that you have 6 year to make an EU261/2004 claim ex UK should the appeal be favorable. That would gain you €600.

More on the current legal situation and how the appeal on the Gahan v Emirates case fits..

With Gahan a flight from Manchester to Dubai was delayed by nearly 4 hours, meaning the passenger missed their connecting flight and so arrived over 13 later than scheduled. Consequently, a claim for delay compensation against Emirates was made. The Judge held that the claimant’s flights were to be considered as separate units and that since the claimant’s second flight fell outside the scope of the Regulation 261, the claimant was only entitled to €300 EUR compensation in relation to the delay to her flight from Manchester to Dubai, rather than €600 EUR sought for the delay into Bangkok. The claimant then sought, and was granted leave to appeal.

Basically if the Gahan appeal succeeds it will effectively overturn Sanghvi (or at least severely attenuate its use going forward).

The CJEU held in Air France SA v Folkerts that for the purposes of calculating compensation arrival at the claimant’s final destination should be used as the criteria. This was on the basis of the inconvenience of the delay was destination based, rather than at connecting port(s).

A little under two years beforehand in Sanghvi, the High Court, following Schenkel, determined that Regulation 261 was only concerned with individual flight components of any journey, and that the claimant’s second flight was outside the scope of Article 3.

As a result there is a conflict between the binding High Court authority and a later, contradictory view from the CJEU.

In Gahan, the judge in relation to Folkerts distinguished that both flights were of a Community Carrier and fell within the scope of Regulation 261, so was not relevant in that manner to Gahan.

See this thread from FlyerTalk for more on EU261/2004: The 2017 BA compensation thread: Your guide to Regulation 261/2004

 

[Danger]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the measure of any big business is how it handles itself in times of irregularity. You might expect this sort of bumbling in DXB if there'd been widespread delays due to weather, or in MNL where there's one flight a day. But in my opinion the contingency planning for such a very real possibility as a delay of an A380 causing missed connections should be as rehearsed as the emergency procedure. This is not a once a year event.

I also sympathise greatly with the missing luggage situation, having endured it twice in 2016 with oneworld. On both occasions, the luggage turned up.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the measure of any big business is how it handles itself in times of irregularity. You might expect this sort of bumbling in DXB if there'd been widespread delays due to weather, or in MNL where there's one flight a day. But in my opinion the contingency planning for such a very real possibility as a delay of an A380 causing missed connections should be as rehearsed as the emergency procedure. This is not a once a year event.

I also sympathise greatly with the missing luggage situation, having endured it twice in 2016 with oneworld. On both occasions, the luggage turned up.

Agree - but the OP wasn't affected by the QF2 issues, save for the late departure from LHR.

What's not clear from the OP's letter is their decision to take the QF10 with an overnight in MEL vs the EK434 nine hours later. The EK434 would have arrived into BNE much earlier. There was an issue with the hotel in DXB, but this would have been covered by travel insurance, if not the airline retrospectively.

It seems the transit staff correctly rebooked the passenger on the most convenient onward flight, being the EK434.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the measure of any big business is how it handles itself in times of irregularity. You might expect this sort of bumbling in DXB if there'd been widespread delays due to weather, or in MNL where there's one flight a day. But in my opinion the contingency planning for such a very real possibility as a delay of an A380 causing missed connections should be as rehearsed as the emergency procedure. This is not a once a year event.

Qantas, apparently, have onboard systems to communicate to base operations if any replacement parts will be required for the aircraft so that parts can be ready and waiting for the arriving aircraft, to minimize delays. Why not the same for passengers?

But, what I can't figure out is (and most airlines are at fault of this), Qantas has 90+ years experience in dealing with delays and schedule delays. Why the **** isn't there a decent solution in place? No pax should have to worry about anything once they check-in (ie: "Sit back and relax and..."). Heck, I could write a simple shell script in 60 minutes which could solve this problem.

 

[drron]

Agree - but the OP wasn't affected by the QF2 issues, save for the late departure from LHR.

What's not clear from the OP's letter is their decision to take the QF10 with an overnight in MEL vs the EK434 nine hours later. The EK434 would have arrived into BNE much earlier. There was an issue with the hotel in DXB, but this would have been covered by travel insurance, if not the airline retrospectively.

It seems the transit staff correctly rebooked the passenger on the most convenient onward flight, being the EK434.

Of course the OP was affected by the QF2 issues-why do you think the QF agent at the door on getting off QF2 was so curt and unhelpful?Surely the QF staff knew they were going to be hassled by nearly 400 probably grumpy pax as well as having an unhappy CEO to deal with as well.One pax missing his connection to BNE was the least of their worries even though that should have been the easiest to solve.
Then it was the EK lounge staff that originally booked him on the next day's EK434 but QF overrode that decision.As the original ticket was for the connection to EK434 in DBX why did the QF staff insist on that being changed?It would seem that caused a lot of the problems

 

[dlam]

Of course the OP was affected by the QF2 issues-why do you think the QF agent at the door on getting off QF2 was so curt and unhelpful?Surely the QF staff knew they were going to be hassled by nearly 400 probably grumpy pax as well as having an unhappy CEO to deal with as well.One pax missing his connection to BNE was the least of their worries even though that should have been the easiest to solve.
Then it was the EK lounge staff that originally booked him on the next day's EK434 but QF overrode that decision.As the original ticket was for the connection to EK434 in DBX why did the QF staff insist on that being changed?It would seem that caused a lot of the problems

It's true. No one was in any rush to help. even when I proposed they put me straight back on to the QF2 from which I'd just disembarked firstly they asked me how I'd propose to get from Sydney to Brisbane; after I insisted it was QF's responsibility they then said they were no onward connections available SYD-BNE; after I called BS on that they told me QF2 would not depart that day (31st). They then put me on EK434 the next day but then QF overrode because they told me no hotel was available in Dubai.

Had I landed in HKG with 20 mins to make a connection a suspect they'd have held the plane slightly and escorted me to make the connection. I wasn't the only one making the same connection.

Also finally received notification that my luggage is leaving DXB today. So that means they've been in baggage limbo since the 31st. Pretty bungled operation overall, I'd say.

 

[RichardMEL]

This was obviously a poor situation handled badly at the time. It's also easy to look back in hindsight and think they should have, they didn't, they..... etc - it was a stressful situation with many pax affected. DXB has never really had a great reputation for ground handling unfortunately. The original 434 next day call was the correct one, though I also suspect QF wanted to get you to oz ASAP to at least be closer to BNE. It was probably also a prefect storm of them not knowing when the QF2 exactly would go, and however many connections were already coming off that flight. In the "heat of battle" when decisions are made, then situations rapidly change, it can be a nightmare for everyone - not just the passenger - be they in F or Y.

I hope a reasonable response is forthcoming because whichever way you look at it QF bears responsibility at DXB.

Just a note on the London CD pick up - that's outrageous the driver would be waiting down the road and wave (and be 30min late, though with London afternoon/evening traffic this is perhaps less of a surprise, which is why when I have done it I asked for a pick up 4.5 hours ahead just in case and as a result of course got to LHR like 4 hours prior to the flight LOL). My ground experience though was fantastic as I simply waited in my hotel foyer and the driver parked over the road and came in and found me, took my bags etc.. as you'd expect. The car was a swish Merc with all the trimings and it was an amazing ride. (another time, they kind of waited outside the hotel and it wasn't immediately obvious they were MY ride, but it was soon sorted with the hotel staff. It seems the drivers can be variable, but I woul not look for some guy waving down the street and expect it was for me at all. Not directly QF's "fault" but bloody annoying and not really acceptable - if it was me I'd be waiting, but by that stage on the phone to find out where the car was anyway.

 

[dlam]

Yeah, the car itself was nice and the driver pleasant enough in the end. I originally received a call from the chauffeur service, Carey Worldwide, to say the driver would be 10 mins late but after 30 mins I did call the company. That's when he turned up and waved ...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Then it was the EK lounge staff that originally booked him on the next day's EK434 but QF overrode that decision.As the original ticket was for the connection to EK434 in DBX why did the QF staff insist on that being changed?It would seem that caused a lot of the problems

According to the OP's letter, qantas said they would not be providing a hotel, not that there were no hotels available in Dubai. There's a difference.

It sounds like the OP was not happy with this, and so QF suggested they could fly on the QF10.

It's possible the delayed QF 2 pax were taking hotel rooms, but there would have been capacity somewhere in the city the OP could have arranged for themselves under travel insurance.

 

[dlam]

According to the OP's letter, qantas said they would not be providing a hotel, not that there were no hotels available in Dubai. There's a difference.

It sounds like the OP was not happy with this, and so QF suggested they could fly on the QF10.

It's possible the delayed QF 2 pax were taking hotel rooms, but there would have been capacity somewhere in the city the OP could have arranged for themselves under travel insurance.

Qantas said they wouldn't provide a hote because, to their understanding, they were no hotels left in Dubai.

 

[maroonone]

Apart from the CD in London being 30 mins late the OP's problem appears to be with EK not QF. Even on a QF flight number my understanding is the operating carrier is responsible for sorting out issues (and this happend with me in US on AA operated QF flight number). My reading is the QF staff in Dubai went above and beyond and EK were the less than helpful party.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

My reading is the QF staff in Dubai went above and beyond and EK were the less than helpful party.

If you read the OP's letter you'll see they claimed QF offered no assistance on arrival in Dubai, and the QF agent told the EK agent there were no connections from SYD to BNE.

EK staff did the right thing booking the quickest connection to BNE (the EK434). QF staff then said there were no hotels in Dubai, causing the OP to travel on the QF10 and have no hotel on arrival in MEL (and a much later arrival into BNE than the EK434).

 

[maroonone]

If you read the OP's letter you'll see they claimed QF offered no assistance on arrival in Dubai, and the QF agent told the EK agent there were no connections from SYD to BNE.

EK staff did the right thing booking the quickest connection to BNE (the EK434). QF staff then said there were no hotels in Dubai, causing the OP to travel on the QF10 and have no hotel on arrival in MEL (and a much later arrival into BNE than the EK434).

And my point was, it was EK as operating airline problem to solve not QF - so anything QF did was a bonus. As for the SYD-BNE factor, were they only looking at J or Y as well. I would not be surprised if there was no J available at 24 hours out as all the upgrades have been processed in the busiest travel time of the year for families. We don't know if the OP was offerred or alternatively asked for Y as an option.