Current treatment of missed connections on a Qantas Classic Reward Booking - any experience?

[exLXCXFF]

There was a thread about this question in 2019 but it has since been closed to new posts, hence I thought I will open a new one (Potential missed connection with an upcoming international rewards flight?).

I am looking to make a Qantas Classic Reward Booking on one single booking in business class ZRH - HEL (AY) - SIN (AY) - SYD (QF).

I have taken that route before (paid cash fare) in early 2020 just before the pandemic hit - and it worked out well in terms of connections. The issue is that the flight into Helsinki arrives about 1 hour before the departure to Singapore leaves. That obviously works out well if the flight from Zurich is on time. Both, Qantas and Finnair are actively selling this connection incl. offering it as Classic Reward Booking.

Question on my end is: Has anyone a recent experience with a partner airline where a connection is missed and how you are being treated? I am inclined to book this connection but totally understand that I might get stuck in Helsinki and just would like to understand whether I can expect Finnair to help me to get to Sydney eventually (in Business Class ).

 

[Katie]

Not directly your question, but we had a 50 or so min connection time in HEL in 2018, and going from Non-Schengen to Schengen areas. It was fine. No time for a lounge visit, but I remember having enough time to hang around at the gate waiting to board.

 

[Oubline]

There was a thread about this question in 2019 but it has since been closed to new posts, hence I thought I will open a new one (Potential missed connection with an upcoming international rewards flight?).

I am looking to make a Qantas Classic Reward Booking on one single booking in business class ZRH - HEL (AY) - SIN (AY) - SYD (QF).

I have taken that route before (paid cash fare) in early 2020 just before the pandemic hit - and it worked out well in terms of connections. The issue is that the flight into Helsinki arrives about 1 hour before the departure to Singapore leaves. That obviously works out well if the flight from Zurich is on time. Both, Qantas and Finnair are actively selling this connection incl. offering it as Classic Reward Booking.

Question on my end is: Has anyone a recent experience with a partner airline where a connection is missed and how you are being treated? I am inclined to book this connection but totally understand that I might get stuck in Helsinki and just would like to understand whether I can expect Finnair to help me to get to Sydney eventually (in Business Class ).

I don't have any exact experience but you're in a really good position with that itinerary.

EU261 rules would apply since you're leaving from a European airport, and you'd get some good compensation if you end up arriving late at your destination in SYD. My understanding is even if the ZRH - HEL flight is only slightly late, the delay for compensation purposes would get measured as at the arrival at the final destination on the itinerary.

In my opinion you'd get rerouted in business class for sure - probably before you even leave ZRH if it looks like that flight will be running late.

 

[ronlon]

I suggest you check Finnair schedules for the date you are considering booking to confirm if it is reflective of post Ukraine war route to ensure that your Singapore to Sydney connection works. I have had a booked July Budapest-Helsinki-Narita-Melbourne flight no longer viable due to a longer Finnair flight not connecting in Narita. Trying to find a reasonable award seat alternative to come home to Mel so late in the game has taken hours with no real success.

 

[madrooster]

I would not be booking such a routing at the moment.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

There was a thread about this question in 2019 but it has since been closed to new posts, hence I thought I will open a new one (Potential missed connection with an upcoming international rewards flight?).

I am looking to make a Qantas Classic Reward Booking on one single booking in business class ZRH - HEL (AY) - SIN (AY) - SYD (QF).

I have taken that route before (paid cash fare) in early 2020 just before the pandemic hit - and it worked out well in terms of connections. The issue is that the flight into Helsinki arrives about 1 hour before the departure to Singapore leaves. That obviously works out well if the flight from Zurich is on time. Both, Qantas and Finnair are actively selling this connection incl. offering it as Classic Reward Booking.

Question on my end is: Has anyone a recent experience with a partner airline where a connection is missed and how you are being treated? I am inclined to book this connection but totally understand that I might get stuck in Helsinki and just would like to understand whether I can expect Finnair to help me to get to Sydney eventually (in Business Class ).

As long as it's all on one ticket you will be protected through to your final destination. The same protections that apply to paid tickets apply to awards, and on the day of travel airport staff have good flexibility to get you to where you need to go.

If your flights are cancelled well in advance you might come up against issues of finding alternative seats.

I wouldn't bank on EU261, covid has been deemed 'extraordinary', and I guess the Ukraine invasion will be too. Anything caused by either of those two probably means no cash compensation for delayed or cancelled flights.

 

[kelvedon]

As long as it's all on one ticket you will be protected through to your final destination. The same protections that apply to paid tickets apply to awards, and on the day of travel airport staff have good flexibility to get you to where you need to go.

If your flights are cancelled well in advance you might come up against issues of finding alternative seats.

I wouldn't bank on EU261, covid has been deemed 'extraordinary', and I guess the Ukraine invasion will be too. Anything caused by either of those two probably means no cash compensation for delayed or cancelled flights.

“Since, among other things, the airspace over Ukraine and Russia is closed, flights between Europe and Asia in particular may be delayed. If your flight is delayed due to the war in Ukraine, you are not entitled to compensation. An armed conflict is considered an extraordinary circumstance and is therefore beyond the control of the airlines.”

What does the war in Ukraine mean for air travelers? - Flightright

Flight cancellations and closed airspace - what does the war in Ukraine mean for air travelers? All important information at a glance!

www.flightright.com

 

[exLXCXFF]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations / insights.

I actually was not even thinking about EU261 at all but more around "will Finnair actually look after me (read: to get me to SYD by other means) if I arrive late from ZRH in HEL for my connection to SIN?"

On the reference to Ukraine/Russian airspace, I actually looked up the flight for the past few days and it seems that they are still almost on time in SIN. QF2 and QF82 only leave 3 1/2 hours later - so that's fine.

Lastly, for those interested, I booked the "safer" connection leaving ZRH at 10am which gives me half a day in Helsinki (it's pretty easy to get into the CBD from Vantaa). So will do that for a beer and then head back to the airport to finally explore the non-Schengen Business Class Lounge (which I couldn't before due to the tight connection). Now, fingers crossed, that none of my legs get cancelled by AY or QF!

 

[kelvedon]

Finnair appear to acknowledge they are expecting the no fly over Russia is last. I got notification last night that the arrival time of my HEL -SIN flight booked for the end of September will arrive 2 hours later than originally scheduled.

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Hope you find an ‘in flight’ example.

As others allude, I think it’s more likely changes are made beforehand, so effectively a significant change which is difficult to fix before even taking off.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Finnair appear to acknowledge they are expecting the no fly over Russia is last. I got notification last night that the arrival time of my HEL -SIN flight booked for the end of September will arrive 2 hours later than originally scheduled.

Similarly, I have notification of my August SIN-HEL flight departing 2 hours earlier than originally scheduled (Which happily should keep my transit to the next flight viable).

 

[knick007]

Both, Qantas and Finnair are actively selling this connection incl. offering it as Classic Reward Booking.

In my not so recent experience, if you are booking this flight as a SINGLE booking. i.e you book from ZRH-SYD (doesn't matter the route) they need to get you there in the class you paid for. There is also the European rules about airline cancellations which might help you in this situation.

I once was flying BOS-LAX-MEL. QF will sell a ticket with maybe an hour connection time. An hour is not really enough. Especially in winter you are really at risk of being late. JFK/the East Cost in general is well known for this . You gotta de-ice etc etc. Then sometimes get from one end of LAX to the other. In my case we had several ft of snow in Boston (was beautiful but not so much when you realise your flight is getting more and more delayed).

Luckily, Qantas happily re routed me and half of the JFK-LAX flight also heading back on the LAX-BNE-MEL that happened to be leaving just after LAX-MEL but if had we not that option I am guessing it would have been a day in LA.

They did the same thing to me going MEL-SYD-DBX-LHR. They left me with maybe 90 minutes in Sydney which is not exactly a lot of time for a international transfer (pre-pandemic). My bags were checked through but I needed to get to the tax refund line.



Had you not posted the below I would have suggested a earlier flight. Even if you were bang on time, the extra checks now mean you really need more time than before.

I booked the "safer" connection leaving ZRH at 10am which gives me half a day in Helsinki (it's pretty easy to get into the CBD from Vantaa). So will do that for a beer and then head back to the airport

This sounds like a excellent idea.

 

[azza007]

I had a rewards booking using Qantas points in J QF1 Syd-Lhr onto BA Lhr-Cdg. I was on QF1 sun 30th Oct 2022.
Due to weather in Singapore we circled around Sin for an hr before landing. Then all ground services were suspended due to the storm. Ended up landing 3hrs late at around 9am only problem my BA flight was for 8:30am.
On route from Sin to Lhr a Qantas crew member made an announcement that he would speak to individual passengers with upcoming missed connections later in the flight once the info was received from Qantas.
Not long after breakfast the crew member came to see me. Qantas rebooked me onto AF flight at 11:30 (still in J) & I could use the Aspire lounge. It turns out Qantas had also automatically checked me into my AF flight as well.
I managed to get access to the Qantas lounge while I had a 45 min wait to find out what gate to go to. A shower & a barista coffee were both well needed after 28hrs of travel.
Turns out the gate ended up only being a few mins walk from the lounge were there was a bit of a line when I made my way over. I got my boarding pass at the gate & could board straight away (seat 7A) because just before I got my boarding pass an announcement was made that business class & skyteam priority could board.
I also had a nice flight on AF. Lunch was nice & consisted of a piece of chicken & some cold pasta, along with cheese & a Raspberry dessert. Not bad for an hr or so flight. Due to short flight by the time I finished it was being taken away as time to prepare for landing.
Hats off to Qantas who rebooked me due to an upcoming missed connection while I was still in the air to Lhr.

 

[adygry]

I flew EK407 a few weeks ago on a classic reward in business and was delayed by about 2 hours due to two separate medical incidents on the tarmac. Missed the next flight from DXB and EK rebooked me automatically, unfortunately it missed my next connection in DUB so they rebooked me again into LHR which worked out fine.