I have got a call scheduled with HBA today at 2030 hours. Will keep this thread posted once I have an update.
Update : I received a call a very helpful, lovely, bubbly Jessica (same person I spoke to the night before) from HBA call centre around 2045. The call began with the usual "this call is recorder for quality & training purposes, etc" and then we got right into it.
When I book a trip on QF website I consistently get 5 SC more than what Jessica could see on her booking systems. After talking to her supervisor and few other seniors in the team, they still couldn't figure out where that extra 5 credits is coming from. Anyways, I decided that I'd proceed this booking with the reduced status credits because I need to lock in the trip & the dates.
I had come up with a variety of routes to book for the upcoming CBR-MAA DSC booking and Jessica was patient to try and price all the routes I had in mind. We finally settled on CBR-SYD-SIN-CMB-MAA-BLR-SYD-MEL-CBR for $2957, 34,400 points & 265 status credits (before the DSC), working out to approx $6.5/SC, which is not great, but this is a trip I need to do anyways, so happy with it. All in all after the DSC I'd make 450 SC ...
The call was completed around 2210 (yes, it was a very long call trying to price all the crazy routes I had come up with) and the e-ticket was issued around 0050, but it had a few issues ;
1. The CMB-MAA leg was not ticketed and not showing in the e-ticket, so that's a bummer
2. A change fee of $99 was charged, which it shouldn't have because the original DSC booking was a Flex.
And, so I kept an alarm on my phone to call QF as early as 8 am so that I can get HBA/AKL. I called at 0830 and was answered immediately by Toni/Tawny from HBA. I explained what had happened and she was able to look at the history of changes made under the PNR and told me that Jessica had put in the CMB-MAA leg, but UL had cancelled that particular flight (UL125) just before the ticketing was completed and so QF booking engine dropped that leg. It should have been caught before the e-ticket was issued, but somehow it slipped. Toni apologised and said that she will fix this and she did so right away.
I then brought up the issue with the $99 change fee applied incorrectly and she acknowledged that it was a mistake and promised to fix it as well. She said that a new e-ticket with the CMB-MAA leg and the refund of the change fee will be issued shortly. I received a new e-ticket within the hour, which, to my surprise still had the $99 change fee
So I called 13 12 11 and there was a wait time of 15 mins, so I was offered a call back, which I promptly accepted. Within 5 mins I got a call from QF, I explained the change fee issue, the agent on the list put me on hold to talk to the finance department, came back and confirmed that a refund is now initiated and will 7-21 days for the money to come back to my credit card.
www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au
