Cancelled Flight compensation

[Stevo.1702]

Hi all.

I've had a pretty lucky run and never come across this situation before.

Today I was booked flex Y from Townsville to Emerald connecting via Brisbane and the Townsville Brisbane service has been cancelled. I only realised this at the airport and have been accommodated on JQ seat 20E being the only available seat. Bit of a sucky downgrade from my favourite 4A on QF.

Is this something that I just have to cop on the chin or is there a history where a call or email can generate some form of compensation? I certainly feel that the service I booked certainly isn't the service I received.

Any advice or experience would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[mannej]

Did you receive a meal/snack on the JQ flight as if you were on a QF flight?

 

[Stevo.1702]

No snack or credit for inflight purchases.

They did however allow for my 7.3kg carry on bag to be put through as checked luggage because I was over their limit.

 

[The Flying Brick]

Demand compensation from QF for the service that you paid for - the conditions form part of your ticket of carriage.
Most likely they will offer QFF points in lieu of a credit but they will do nothing at all without your agitation.

 

[JohnPhelan]

You could claim for the cost of the meal and drinks, etc. If you're nice about it, they may also give you something for being stuffed around. But bottom-line is that they flew you to where you wanted to go on the same day, in the same class of travel, so not much to claim for.

 

[dajop]

You could claim for the cost of the meal and drinks, etc. If you're nice about it, they may also give you something for being stuffed around. But bottom-line is that they flew you to where you wanted to go on the same day, in the same class of travel, so not much to claim for.

Yep, contrary to popular belief, airline tickets are merely a vague promise to get you from A to B, at a vague time +/- a day or two. Airline tickets do not commit to particular service levels, it is not uncommon to downgrade from J to Y only with scant compensation.

 

[Pushka]

Not exactly the same but a data point. We had booked an award seat from ADL-MEL-DXB-DOH-ARN in J via Qantas/Qatar flying in 3 weeks time. Because of the current issue with Qatar obviously the DXB-DOH leg has been cancelled. When I called last Monday they hadn't even been aware of the problem but a HUACA a couple of hours later yielded results.

We were then booked a direct DXB - ARN flight a day later but in Y. Subsequently for 2 people we were refunded 50,000 QFF points (there almost immediately) plus around $500 in taxes (taxes before were $1600).

I didn't even ask for a points refund but the operator simply told me. It seemed like 'the computer says'.

 

[RichardMEL]

I agree probably a token number of points like 5k or something are all you could ecxpect.

Did you make the BNE-Emereld flight?

If so you paid for Y and got to where you wanted to be on the flight you wanted to be on (one presumes at the time scheduled or near enough to). Yes JQ is a downgrade to QF mainline but it's still Y and QF could well argue that orange-is-the-new-red-middle-seat-itis is inconvenient but not like you wenr from paid F to Y-.

good luck

 

[Stevo.1702]

I did make the connection but only just.

That was because my Jetstar 'Checked Baggage' was actually carry on for Qantas. Waiting at the baggage carousel as boarding for my connection commenced was nervous. Thankfully it being late morning Wednesday meant security was empty and I made it as the last person on the boarding bus from the Qlink gates.

If I actually had checked baggage I would never have made it.

Overall is was a successful day and I got where I wanted to go by the time I wanted to get there. Plus all the staff (QF and JQ) were polite and professional. I've sent them an email just outlining the facts and even praised the staff that dealt with some particularly emotional passengers in Townsville.

I'm not seeking anything in particular and certainly not expecting much. But I'll post back here with their response for those who are curious.