Classic rewards booking help plz- schedule change and rebooking

[ChrisMars]

So my experience with is:
Try to get Australian call centre - but this is virtually impossible.
I have a rewards flight with a 60 minute connection in LHR. Original call centre person told me it was 'legal' and no probs (Obviously never heard of LHR let alone been there).
Another call and the next operator agreed and put me on a flight 5 hours later.
This was about 2 months ago for flights 4 months out.
Result = QF can move/change rewards flights
In relation to not seeing award flights - Had the same issue, Aussie call centre lady very helpful, genuinely could not see the flights I could. Her solution was to have me book the flights on the website, not pay/complete the booking (so no points lost) give her the reference number and she merged them into the original booking.
Result = QF CAN merge individual bookings. I have been told yes and no by different people, but twice have been able to merge so I think persistence is the key.

I was Silver status at the time so I don't think your loyalty is a consideration. You will just need to keep hassling them until you strike an Aussie call centre. I have been told before 7am is the best time to do this but have not proved it.

Interesting! I thought merging was not possible, and it happened twice for you. Do you think merging a paid (points or cash) is maybe not possible, but merging a pending payment booking is somewhat more achievable?
Can you confirm that the booking was genuily fine, i.e. did you already travel on it?

 

[Steveinparadise]

also is there any forum threads from others who have tried to cancel part of a married segment?

I managed to cancel the first part of a married segment through the call centre a couple of weeks ago. It was a QFF rewards ticket (departing in Aug) in J for my wife and I, BNE/SIN/CDG with BNE/SIN in QF metal and SIN/CDG Air France, booked Oct 2021.
QF had cancelled the BNE/SIN flight months ago and rebooked us on a QF flight the next day, meaning we would miss our connection. Received emails every few months saying they were aware of the problem, and would get back to me (haha).
So eventually I rang the call centre in the middle of the night, and tried to get rebooked on a QF flight the day before our onward flight, which had Y reward seats but no J. The operator could not see these as available, and told me my only option was for her to cancel the BNE/SIN segment and for me to book the Y seats myself on the website. My heart was in my mouth but I agreed to this, but begged her to be sure not to cancel the SIN/CDG segment.
She was able to do this and said our tickets would be reissued within 24 hours.
MMB was showing the booking correctly as being just the SIN/CDG segment, but after 4 days the tickets had still not been reissued. Had to ring again, and the tickets were reissued within 5 minutes.
So palpal it is possible to do it, but it is a risk. Of course if you take the earlier flight and not the original SYD/BNE flight as booked, and you haven't cancelled it, then it is my understanding that they will cancel the second segment as a no-show.
So as I see it (and I'm only a bronze novice), you will either have to ring up and cancel the original SYD/BNE segment (and hope the call centre doesn't screw up) which allows you to take the earlier flight with better connection time, or stick with the original booking (with the missed connection risk).
Good luck!

 

[smckay]

Interesting! I thought merging was not possible, and it happened twice for you. Do you think merging a paid (points or cash) is maybe not possible, but merging a pending payment booking is somewhat more achievable?
Can you confirm that the booking was genuily fine, i.e. did you already travel on it?

My booking was a reward/points booking, and I booked a reward that was merged to that existing booking. The flights are next month so maybe I get to the gate and I have no seat
I don't know about paid to paid sorry

 

[palpal]

Thanks all, really appreciate the advice.
I did end up calling and a very nice man in the FIJI call center spent 2 hrs on the phone, escalated to supervisor 3 times and got it sorted.
Initially they said they can cancel my original SYD-BNE but no points refunded and i have to pay $30something in extra taxes.....that totally didnt make sense so i pushed back
back and forth few times but eventually as they can see I already booked an earlier SYD-BNE rewards flight which they could not do themselves, they agreed to change my original SYD-BNE to that same flight and allow me to cancel the new SYD-BNE without penalty.

My tips for those in same boat... (bronze and need to change reward flight but they dont see availability)

1. As others have posted, know the exact flight number you want them to change to and quote it when talking to them.
2. If you have the points, book the new flight you want proving to them it 'can' be done even if they do not see availability. Currently i believe any reward booking can be cancelled without penalty so you dont lose anything.
3. If you sense incompetence, no point pushing them as they likely stuff up your booking. HUACA
4. Ensure they issue e-ticket while you on the phone. Simultaneously check your online account to ensure the new bookings are reflected as it should be instant.
5. Get the name of the person you speaking to and address them by their name. Whether once they know that you know their name they might try harder or they find you more personable, hopefully it means they try harder to help you.

Now i just hope Qantas doesnt just cancel my flights making the whole exercise pointless