Baggage allowance with JQ when QF flight is cancelled and changed to JQ

[Ken1]

I booked flights for my Son with my QFF points to fly DRW-HBA last Saturday and HBA-DRW next Saturday, all on QF and Qantaslink flights. There have been several changes to his HBA-MEL-DRW flights, starting with cancelling QF1556 HBA-MEL which was to depart HBA late afternoon and putting him on QF1552 departing at 1020 so he would have an 8 hour transit in MEL instead of less than 2 hours.

Then two days ago they cancelled QF838 MEL-DRW which was to depart MEL at 1935 and put him on QF836 departing MEL at 0930. This meant that he would be departing MEL at 0930 but his HBA-MEL flight wouldn't depart HBA until 1020. We were notified of a flight change and that further information would come through soon but after not hearing anything since then I called QF this afternoon. I was told that there are now no QF flights operating over the next few days that he could be booked on but they were able to be put him on JQ758 HBA-BNE 1040-1315 and BNE-DRW JQ674 2045-0020 with a 7.5 hour transit time.

I asked about baggage and was told that the 23kg baggage allowance he would have had on QF would be transferred across to the JQ booking. I also asked about the hand baggage allowance since QF offer 2 bags total 14kg with 1 bag of no more than 10kg and JQ only offer 7kg. My Son went to HBA for some Whisky tours and tastings and was relying on the 14kg hand luggage allowance to carry some bottles he bought in his hand luggage.

I was given the JQ PNR and when I logged in I saw that no baggage was included. The booking shows on the JQ website as an Economy Starter Fare. I went onto JQ chat to check on this and was told "Sorry it doesn't shows any baggage allowance on your trip you may wanna try to contact qantas to confirm if the baggage has been transfered with qantas".

Looking at the e-ticket sent by QF it shows Checked Baggage - 1 x 20kg. I called QF tonight and was answered by a foreign call centre. After explaining everything to her I was told that it does get sent to JQ and should be there when he checks in. I asked about the 23kg allowance he would have had with QF and also about the hand luggage allowance of 14kg since when the ticket was booked we thought it would be with QF and had expected to be having that allowance. (The JQ website shows a $72 cost to upgrade from 7 to 14kg hand luggage.)

After putting me on hold for a few minutes she came back and said that we should purchase the additional baggage with JQ and then put in a claim to QF and that they will re-imburse us for the cost to upgrade from 20 kg to 23kg (I see they offer 20kg then 25kg). I also asked again about the cost to upgrade the hand baggage to 14kg and was told to include that too when I put in the claim. She said to fill out a Customer Care form with all the details and send it to QF. When searching for that on the QF website I see that I can select "Baggage" with the only options being "Damaged Bag" or "Delayed or Lost Bag", or I can select "Feedback" and then select "Complaint", "Compliment" or "Query".

Has anyone had experiences of flights being switched from QF to JQ and retaining the QF baggage allowances without any problems? Does what I've been told regarding paying JQ the fees and claiming them from QF sound correct? If so I guess I should select the "Query" part of "Feedback" on the Customer Care form.

 

[henrus]

I'd start by asking Qantas on social media (I find facebook messenger to be best but twitter works as well) to see if they can help. Do be patient as the social media team is based in Auckland and as I'm sure you're aware the whole of NZ is in lockdown right now.

Unless Qantas decides to add on all the extras, you've got two options either pay JQ before or pay at check in/gate and then both times follow up with Qantas later.

It sounds like you're hitting a brick wall with Qantas so I'm tempted to say just don't bother and sort this problem out at the airport with Jetstar. Unless you know your bag is going to be 21-23kg then I wouldn't be overly concerned and the JQ staff may even be kind enough to waive the small amount if you explain the situation perhaps showing original tickets as well, if not just keep the receipts and forward to Qantas.

Regarding the carry on if I were in your position then I'd just chance it, JQ may not even care/weigh bags anyway and worst case is if they do they'll make you pay more at the gate/check in, in which case just retain the receipt and forward to Qantas.

 

[Mattg]

While I don't have an answer for you, I just want to say how frustrating it is that simple things like baggage allowances are not automatically transferred over to JQ when you pay for Qantas flights and they downgrade you to Jetstar.

FWIW, I've been in a similar situation before, albeit with different airlines. Had a baggage allowance on airline A, flight was cancelled and transferred to airline B which charged me for checked baggage. Airline B refused to waive the charge and airline A refused to reimburse me. (Airline B then lost my bag, but that's another story.)

 

[Ken1]

Thanks henrus and Mattg. I've just sent a message to QF via Messenger. I was thinking of calling back again during the day to hopefully get answered by an Australian call centre to see if they can confirm what I was told last night about paying JQ and claiming later but I'll see if I hear anything through Messenger first. My Son told me that if he can have the 14kg hand luggage allowance he should be right with 20kg for checked baggage. If I don't hear back from QF before Sunday I'll let my Son decide what to do regarding whether to pay the $72 and hope that QF refund it or just show his original ticket at the gate if he's queried. He does have two flights, both at HBA and BNE.

This has been a trip that has caused him problems from the start. He originally booked VA flights both ways using points with airport transfers on the same day and then both were changed to overnight transits which can cause problems with leaving the airports for border control reasons when entering Tasmania and the NT. I found QF flights I could book for him and all seemed good. Then we got the flight change notifications on Monday, and also the Darwin area went into a 3 day lockdown on Monday afternoon and Tasmania made the NT Stay at home order apply to him too so he's been at his hotel since Monday afternoon. We're hoping that the NT lockdown is lifted today as originally scheduled so he can have the last few days in Hobart out and about. Luckily he had done several whisky tours and tastings on the first 3 days before the lockdown was imposed on him.

I have an ANZ Black QFF Visa card that offers 2 Qantas Club lounge passes a year so I called up after we changed the flights to travelling via BNE to try to get a pass for him to use with the 7.5 hours time between flights, but they said it will take 3 business days for the passes to hit my QFF account, so she said it would be Monday, and also it would then take 24 hours for me to transfer a pass to his booking, so that is not going to help him either.

 

[Carrots]

Ken, I have a couple of lounge invites expiry 8/9/21. I'd be happy to transfer them over to your son if you'd like?

Looking at the QF site, assume it's just a case of needing his FF # and surname, then he can link them to his JQ flight? (Bit of QF ignoramus I've barely set foot on their metal since VA became more appealing!)

 

[Ken1]

Thank you so much jamescara. He will very much appreciate it, especially since he has such a long wait time between flights. I'll send you a PM with his details.

I've never used the invitations before but the info on the ANZ website regarding invitations says the following so it should work: Each Invitation is valid for a single visit for one person only before the expiry date when travelling on a Qantas or Jetstar flight with a QF or JQ flight number. You can link invitations to an eligible flight or transfer to a family member, colleague or friend through the Complimentary Invitations Portal section on qantas.com/qantasclub.

 

[Ken1]

I've just logged into my Son's JQ booking again and it now shows under Checked Baggage: "23kg incl 1 oversize item" and it also now shows a meal on each flight so they have now transferred from QF properly. We didn't make any request for oversize baggage but at least he will have the full 23kg allowance.

The JQ booking still only shows 7kg for hand luggage. I was told on the first call to QF when we changed the flights that they couldn't transfer the hand luggage allowance so their systems are obviously not set up for that. She said to ask JQ and see what they can do. I'll see if I hear back from QF through Messenger about that.

I was told that he will have to pick up his bags in BNE and check them in for the flight to DRW. He has 7.5 hours between flights. Will JQ allow him to check them in straight away or would he have to wait until a few hours before the flight? Thanks to jamescara my Son will now have lounge access which, particularly for BNE, will make the waiting time a lot more comfortable.

 

[henrus]

I was told that he will have to pick up his bags in BNE and check them in for the flight to DRW. He has 7.5 hours between flights. Will JQ allow him to check them in straight away or would he have to wait until a few hours before the flight?

Nope you can only drop them when it opens, for domestic flights from Brisbane this is 2 hours prior to departure.

Obviously with large checked baggage that you can't take through security you may not be able to access the lounge. In Brisbane there are luggage lockers that are ~$14-16 per 24 hours depending on size that are near the terminal building. If they're wanting to wait in the lounge for that time they may need to collect luggage, store it somewhere and then recheck at the 2hr mark.

 

[Ken1]

Thanks again everyone for your advice and assistance. My Son decided to take a chance with the hand luggage and it wasn't weighed on either flight. He used a luggage locker as suggested by henrus and he very much appreciated the Qantas Club access in BNE where he had the 7.5 hour between flights. The Qantas Club lounge in HBA wasn't open, which I would think would be because QF had cancelled flights so only JQ flights were flying at that time.

 

[Seat0B]

gotta love the hive mind here on AFF - so much shared information, what a delight