Changed Qantas Booking, didn't get what I'd been advised I'd paid for

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Phil_vic

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I recently had to re-book a Qantas flight. The original flight was "Discount Economy" CNS-BNE + BNE-MEL, I needed to re-book as just BNE-MEL - via the Qantas chat
I was told that the new flight would cost $73 more, when I asked why it was more expensive to travel less distance, they said they were booking me on the Flexible Fare as the new booking had to be of equal or greater price than the original. I reluctantly agreed with the consolation that I'd at least get some extra points/status for the flex class .

Several weeks later I checked my QFF account - I'd only received the points for discount economy, not Flex.

Several email to QFF, their reply is: "We've reviewed your booking reference XYZ123 as requested and unfortunately the class you flew in was Discount Economy and before the Voucher was created the Class was Discount Economy"
So I've paid for Flex (and I have a copy of the re-booking chat transcript which verifies this), yet I've only received a Discount Economy fare.
QFF can't seem to budge on this and award the correct points, so where do I go from here?

Is this essentially fraud? I've not been supplied what I had paid for.

Do I have any recourse? Should I request a chargeback via my MasterCard? or should I go via Consumer Affairs.
 
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Does the updated E-ticket give you the fare class of the updated BNE-MEL flight?
The E-ticket just says "Economy". I've also checked some others where I had booked Flex from the beginning and it still only shows "Economy" on the E-ticket.

I know they use a "booking class" code letter internally; I don't think they print this on the E-ticket, but perhaps they should!
 
They probably misunderstood the fare class?
Just call up reservations/SMS/webchat and ask them what fare classes were used for the flights.
 
I think QF is, in a way, indirectly displaying the fare class on their website. I tried to make a dummy SYD-MEL booking now.

1566455358077.png

When I click on "Full Fare Conditions", a window pops up and I'm able to see under Qantas Frequent Flyer sub-menu, the fare, as it's a "Red e-Deal", is classified as "Discount Economy"

1566455429111.png

And when I look into the Qantas Class Types webpage


I can find which fare class alphabet Discount Economy sits in and could be anyone of the 7 fare class alphabets :)

1566455495661.png

If QF displayed the appropriate fare class alphabet under the booking/fare, it would be much simpler. It's just that if I needed to know which class I'm on, I need to go through the pain of opening up a few web pages and cross referencing few information :)

This is not ideal, but hey, it gives the information need - just takes time :)
 
Flight changes similar to that required by the OP are so much easier and can be significantly cheaper when using a 'travel bank' system. The 'travel bank' system does not require the new fare to be equal or greater to the original fare....
 
I suspect what happened is they "enhanced" your booking to a more expensive fare bucket within discount economy.

There are some ways to see the fare bucket.
If you go into <<manage booking>> you can see the fare bucket if you expand the flight information.
In this case the fare bucket "I" is Business Sale fare.


booking fare bucket.jpg




I realise this is of no use either before you book or after you travel.

However there is a trick!
If you are planning to book, make sure you are logged in to your QFF account.
Then proceed as if you are making a booking. Go all the way through until the payments page.
Then close the browser tab.
When you open a new tab and go back into your QFF account there should be a booking created in case you want to continue to payment.
You can access <<manage booking>> for this "booking" even though it is only a placeholder.
So you can see the fare bucket in the same way. In this case "M" is fully flexible economy.

booking fare bucket 2.jpg

I am not sure if there is a way to check after you have flown.
Perhaps someone else has an idea.
 
Flight changes similar to that required by the OP are so much easier and can be significantly cheaper when using a 'travel bank' system. The 'travel bank' system does not require the new fare to be equal or greater to the original fare....
I didn't know this existed (I've just googled 'Travel Bank' - looks like it's feature offered by VA)
It sounds like a great idea - I wonder if Qantas would ever offer this service?
 
I didn't know this existed (I've just googled 'Travel Bank' - looks like it's feature offered by VA)
It sounds like a great idea - I wonder if Qantas would ever offer this service?

Yes, this is another advantage of flying VA.

As you have encountered, it is far more profitable for QF to maintain the status quo, so I would not expect them to adopt something similar in the near future.
 
I suspect what happened is they "enhanced" your booking to a more expensive fare bucket within discount economy.
...

I am not sure if there is a way to check after you have flown.
Perhaps someone else has an idea.

Thanks for the detailed info esseeeayeenn.
I tried going into "manage my bookings" and entered an older booing reference - it worked! I can expand the flight details and can see the actual class code. However when I tried for the flight in question - it doesn't recognize the flight booking reference number.
 
A workaround to see the fare bucket is to use "Manage Booking" from a oneworld partner website like Finnair (finnair.com/au-en) or Malaysia (malaysiaairlines.com)

Malaysia Airlines (malaysiaairlines.com) click on My Trip, select “Manage Booking” option, enter Booking Reference and Last Name then click Manage Booking button

Finnair (Finnair.com/au-en) select “Manage Booking” to see the same information with an added bonus. When you “Order e-ticket receipt” the email sent to you includes a breakdown of taxes and charges at the end.

Deciphering the codes can be endlessly entertaining (currently 216 in the list):
blog.thetravelinsider.info/air-travel-taxes
 
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