Hello Australian Frequent Flyers - I will appreciate your feedback on this:
Back Story
In August 2022 Mr ES could see J Reward seats from BNE to LDH (SYD to LDH in Y of course), but no return flights. Mr ES loves fishing the waters around LDH.
I had an Amex $450 Qantas Travel Voucher to use, so we decided to split the cost of the trip between us.
Mr ES booked the Reward Seats and I paid for the return seats ($1,045.76 less $450 voucher).
It would be just a quick trip - Tuesday 16 May BNE-LDH, Friday 19 May to LDH-SYD (Tina the musical booked for Friday night), returning SYD-BNE on 20 May.
The Travel Diary
Tuesday 16 May 2023 (original booking BNE-SYD-LDH)
Our first text message from Qantas was on Tuesday at 8.38am - 'we have had to change your flight time for QF513'.
Our flight was delayed due to late arrival of the aircraft. We landed in SYD at 11.45am, the flight to LDH was scheduled for 11.45am. The cabin manager told us we were still scheduled to connect, and the QF app told us that our flight SYD-LDH had been delayed, so we hurried off the aircraft to gate 11a - but it was already boarding another flight. When we were at the service desk Mr ES heard one of the service desk assistants who was speaking on the telephone say "the passengers from the connecting flight are not here" - was that us?
We were given accommodation at the Ibis and $50 hotel credit each and rebooked on Wednesday's flight.
The gentleman at the Ibis reception was excellent, he must hear a lot of this and he manages it very well.
We rang our LDH accommodation and told them we would be a day late.
Wednesday 17 May 2023
Our first text message from Qantas was at 6.23am - 'we're sorry we had to cancel your flight'...and soon after that - we have rebooked you on to flight QF2262 on Thursday 18 May'.
We're small business owners so a short visit if there is the chance of a day fishing is okay, but arriving at 2.35pm on Thursday and leaving at 10.05am on Friday? Surely we would have the option to cancel without a fee - we thought that sounded reasonable.
We checked accommodation in Sydney for the days until our return flight to BNE and one of our favorites was available at a good rate, and hoping that the service desk at the airport could help us (after all it was a delayed flight that caused this) we headed to the airport.
The staff at the service desk said that the re-scheduled flight was "ridiculous" and gave us the phone number for the priority line.
We then called the priority line straight away from the airport, explained the situation, waited on hold, and then were told that Qantas had accepted the cancellation request and "everything was done at the Qantas end".
We moved hotels and had a nice afternoon walk, called in a one of Mr ES's favorite fishing stores and bought a new fishing rod. The guys in the shop are great to chat with, and they gave us the business card from a local Sydney Harbour fishing charter. We think we can still have a couple of nice days.
Thursday 18 May 2023
First text message from Qantas is at 6.52am -'we're sorry we had to cancel your flight', and soon after a second message 'we have rebooked you on QF2260 on Friday 19 May at 7.05am arriving (LDH) at 9.35am'.
What? Yesterday the cancellation was "all done at Qantas end".
Mr ES called - he was told - you must go online and cancel the outbound flight and you will have to talk to Amex about the return flight refund.
So, we took screen shots of the outbound booking with all the reschedule times and cancelled it.
Then I called Amex Travel and explained and they said that they would "ask Qantas".
Later that morning they rang back - Qantas had accepted the cancellation of the return flight was because of the delayed/rescheduled outbound flight and we would receive a credit that had to be used by 10/08/2023 (I questioned that I had heard the date correctly), there could be no name changes, the value of the the new booking had to be of equal or greater value and there would be a rebooking fee of $99 per person.
What? We didn't choose to cancel (unless you think 20 hours at the destination is okay) and we're out of pocket with a short expiry date.
I asked Amex if they could ask Qantas for a Qantas travel credit.
Later in the day - another call from Amex - the request has been declined because the flight hasn't been cancelled. We needed some time to think about this, so we put it aside for the next morning.
Friday 19 May 2023
First text message from Qantas at 6.27am - 'sorry we had to cancel your flight QF2261 from Lord Howe Island. We are looking for alternative flight options'. Nothing more. We think that maybe the system knows that it has been cancelled.
We move hotels (more to the back story, this is the hotel that we booked in August 2022 when we had an evening in Sydney between flights). The lady at hotel reception was excellent, our early check-in was accommodated (we paid a room upgrade fee but it was well worth it). The early check-in meant that we could both spend the day on Sydney Harbour and get back, change and make our pre-theatre dinner reservation. Mr ES was fishing and I added to the conversation as required. It works for me, I get to see the enormous smile on Mr ES's face when he lands a good fish. But fishing just isn't my thing.
Much later in the day when checking emails (I didn't give this a priority because all airline contact had been by text message) there's an email from Amex travel: 'we wanted to let you know about an airline-initiated schedule change...new timing Sunday 21 May...QF2263 departs 2.15pm' from LDH.
What? Qantas didn't send a text message about this!
But it's Friday, when we had originally booked to be in Sydney, we have friends to meet and a show to go to, and we're not going to destroy our break any further than it has been already. We'll try the Amex 'chat line' tomorrow and ask at the airport.
Saturday 20 May 2023
First text message from Qantas at 6.57am 'we had to change your flight time for QF 520 from Sydney'. Even our flight home SYD-BNE was cancelled. We went to the airport as soon as we could and accepted downgraded economy seats to fly back as close to our originally booked time as possible.
I still had the matter of the 'airline-initiated' flight change, Amex chat line wouldn't work and phone line doesn't operate on the weekend. When we arrived at the
QF lounge I asked the very kind lounge check-in ladies and they replied that they "can't help unless you're traveling today", but they could see that this was now causing me some distress and they called the priority number on their phone - so I speak to Kay and she says 'Qantas can't help because the flight was not cancelled - it was changed to 21 May' and I need to speak to Amex.
I'm embarrassed to say that at that time I had a complete meltdown, with tears and an exclamation that I am a human being that booked a flight on 19 May that has been changed to 21 May when I can't possibly fly! And then told the lounge ladies that I can't talk anymore!
The lounge check-in lady came over to my seat in the lounge and I explained more to her. She gave me a card with the Qantas feedback website details, but stood up and said loud for others around to hear "you booked through a travel agent, it's their responsibility to look after you".
She walks away with me thinking, the travel agent says that they can't 'look after' me because Qantas hasn't cancelled the flights. Who is telling me the truth?
If you have read this rant from the beginning, and you choose not to respond, please know that I'm pleased that you read this.
But if you would like to share any feedback, comments, suggestions, advice, criticism, it will help me to give the best and hopefully the most balanced/unbiased feedback possible to both Qantas and Amex, and I will appreciate some help with that.
Back Story
In August 2022 Mr ES could see J Reward seats from BNE to LDH (SYD to LDH in Y of course), but no return flights. Mr ES loves fishing the waters around LDH.
I had an Amex $450 Qantas Travel Voucher to use, so we decided to split the cost of the trip between us.
Mr ES booked the Reward Seats and I paid for the return seats ($1,045.76 less $450 voucher).
It would be just a quick trip - Tuesday 16 May BNE-LDH, Friday 19 May to LDH-SYD (Tina the musical booked for Friday night), returning SYD-BNE on 20 May.
The Travel Diary
Tuesday 16 May 2023 (original booking BNE-SYD-LDH)
Our first text message from Qantas was on Tuesday at 8.38am - 'we have had to change your flight time for QF513'.
Our flight was delayed due to late arrival of the aircraft. We landed in SYD at 11.45am, the flight to LDH was scheduled for 11.45am. The cabin manager told us we were still scheduled to connect, and the QF app told us that our flight SYD-LDH had been delayed, so we hurried off the aircraft to gate 11a - but it was already boarding another flight. When we were at the service desk Mr ES heard one of the service desk assistants who was speaking on the telephone say "the passengers from the connecting flight are not here" - was that us?
We were given accommodation at the Ibis and $50 hotel credit each and rebooked on Wednesday's flight.
The gentleman at the Ibis reception was excellent, he must hear a lot of this and he manages it very well.
We rang our LDH accommodation and told them we would be a day late.
Wednesday 17 May 2023
Our first text message from Qantas was at 6.23am - 'we're sorry we had to cancel your flight'...and soon after that - we have rebooked you on to flight QF2262 on Thursday 18 May'.
We're small business owners so a short visit if there is the chance of a day fishing is okay, but arriving at 2.35pm on Thursday and leaving at 10.05am on Friday? Surely we would have the option to cancel without a fee - we thought that sounded reasonable.
We checked accommodation in Sydney for the days until our return flight to BNE and one of our favorites was available at a good rate, and hoping that the service desk at the airport could help us (after all it was a delayed flight that caused this) we headed to the airport.
The staff at the service desk said that the re-scheduled flight was "ridiculous" and gave us the phone number for the priority line.
We then called the priority line straight away from the airport, explained the situation, waited on hold, and then were told that Qantas had accepted the cancellation request and "everything was done at the Qantas end".
We moved hotels and had a nice afternoon walk, called in a one of Mr ES's favorite fishing stores and bought a new fishing rod. The guys in the shop are great to chat with, and they gave us the business card from a local Sydney Harbour fishing charter. We think we can still have a couple of nice days.
Thursday 18 May 2023
First text message from Qantas is at 6.52am -'we're sorry we had to cancel your flight', and soon after a second message 'we have rebooked you on QF2260 on Friday 19 May at 7.05am arriving (LDH) at 9.35am'.
What? Yesterday the cancellation was "all done at Qantas end".
Mr ES called - he was told - you must go online and cancel the outbound flight and you will have to talk to Amex about the return flight refund.
So, we took screen shots of the outbound booking with all the reschedule times and cancelled it.
Then I called Amex Travel and explained and they said that they would "ask Qantas".
Later that morning they rang back - Qantas had accepted the cancellation of the return flight was because of the delayed/rescheduled outbound flight and we would receive a credit that had to be used by 10/08/2023 (I questioned that I had heard the date correctly), there could be no name changes, the value of the the new booking had to be of equal or greater value and there would be a rebooking fee of $99 per person.
What? We didn't choose to cancel (unless you think 20 hours at the destination is okay) and we're out of pocket with a short expiry date.
I asked Amex if they could ask Qantas for a Qantas travel credit.
Later in the day - another call from Amex - the request has been declined because the flight hasn't been cancelled. We needed some time to think about this, so we put it aside for the next morning.
Friday 19 May 2023
First text message from Qantas at 6.27am - 'sorry we had to cancel your flight QF2261 from Lord Howe Island. We are looking for alternative flight options'. Nothing more. We think that maybe the system knows that it has been cancelled.
We move hotels (more to the back story, this is the hotel that we booked in August 2022 when we had an evening in Sydney between flights). The lady at hotel reception was excellent, our early check-in was accommodated (we paid a room upgrade fee but it was well worth it). The early check-in meant that we could both spend the day on Sydney Harbour and get back, change and make our pre-theatre dinner reservation. Mr ES was fishing and I added to the conversation as required. It works for me, I get to see the enormous smile on Mr ES's face when he lands a good fish. But fishing just isn't my thing.
Much later in the day when checking emails (I didn't give this a priority because all airline contact had been by text message) there's an email from Amex travel: 'we wanted to let you know about an airline-initiated schedule change...new timing Sunday 21 May...QF2263 departs 2.15pm' from LDH.
What? Qantas didn't send a text message about this!
But it's Friday, when we had originally booked to be in Sydney, we have friends to meet and a show to go to, and we're not going to destroy our break any further than it has been already. We'll try the Amex 'chat line' tomorrow and ask at the airport.
Saturday 20 May 2023
First text message from Qantas at 6.57am 'we had to change your flight time for QF 520 from Sydney'. Even our flight home SYD-BNE was cancelled. We went to the airport as soon as we could and accepted downgraded economy seats to fly back as close to our originally booked time as possible.
I still had the matter of the 'airline-initiated' flight change, Amex chat line wouldn't work and phone line doesn't operate on the weekend. When we arrived at the
QF lounge I asked the very kind lounge check-in ladies and they replied that they "can't help unless you're traveling today", but they could see that this was now causing me some distress and they called the priority number on their phone - so I speak to Kay and she says 'Qantas can't help because the flight was not cancelled - it was changed to 21 May' and I need to speak to Amex.
I'm embarrassed to say that at that time I had a complete meltdown, with tears and an exclamation that I am a human being that booked a flight on 19 May that has been changed to 21 May when I can't possibly fly! And then told the lounge ladies that I can't talk anymore!
The lounge check-in lady came over to my seat in the lounge and I explained more to her. She gave me a card with the Qantas feedback website details, but stood up and said loud for others around to hear "you booked through a travel agent, it's their responsibility to look after you".
She walks away with me thinking, the travel agent says that they can't 'look after' me because Qantas hasn't cancelled the flights. Who is telling me the truth?
If you have read this rant from the beginning, and you choose not to respond, please know that I'm pleased that you read this.
But if you would like to share any feedback, comments, suggestions, advice, criticism, it will help me to give the best and hopefully the most balanced/unbiased feedback possible to both Qantas and Amex, and I will appreciate some help with that.