Equipment change on PER-MEL

[PERLHR]

Think personally better of on Virgin 737 on ex PER routes now to MEL and SYD. Less peeps in biz, I think better food generally, certainly nice staff usually, bit of fizz before departure, not bad seats considering you are on 737, and better from T1 at PER than the mess at T3/4 and lastly without the big price to see your QF 330 turn out to be a clapped out 737.

 

[PERLHR]

Can attest that the 330 from PER to MEL leg of the CHC trip MrsDrJ and I booked in Feb for next month has duly been swapped for a sardine can. Very annoying (though sadly half expected) as this was is a red eye and had being hoping for some semblance of sleep in a lie flat, unlike me MrsDrJ struggles to sleep in anything else.

While did get a good deal on the overall J fare from PER to CHC (and it's a business expense), would have been very miffed if I had booked the sector in isolation, paying a premium expecting a certain hard product. Obviously QF had plans long ago to continue enhancing their equipment on the transcon routes, so it may have been nice to make a clear caution at the time of booking, that such changes may happen. Though of course, this possibility is buried in the fine print, so punters so affected have no right to compensation

Don't worry. .ANZ will soon be widebody direct to CHC ex PER! Get good VA status and points for that.

 

[gtrod]

However, wanting to see if any one has actually had success in getting a swapped out 737 flight moved back to a 330. Is there a recommended approach to take, or am I just wasting my time trying?

Wasting your time IMHO, it's unlikely there'll be any A330s flying the route as you get closer to your date.

I've flown this route a lot. Historically a swap to 737 used to trigger a schedule change as there was a slight difference in the flight times. This allowed you to change to any other flight within a day free of charge so it was easy to swap to another A330.

This stopped a year or two ago when the flight times aligned perfectly and a swap to 737 wouldn't trigger a schedule change. Now the only option is to pay change fee + fare difference.

I did try flex tickets for a while but qantas ramp up the fare 28 days out so it becomes a defacto change fee for any flights that get substituted within 28 days.

Think personally better of on Virgin 737 on ex PER routes now to MEL and SYD. Less peeps in biz, I think better food generally, certainly nice staff usually, bit of fizz before departure, not bad seats considering you are on 737, and better from T1 at PER than the mess at T3/4 and lastly without the big price to see your QF 330 turn out to be a clapped out 737.

Yeah I've given Virgin a go the last couple of months. Another benefit on Virgin is the internet doesn't drop out over the bight. Although one of my flights I did get caught out on a 737-700 which doesn't have any internet.

There are pluses and minuses to both carriers now and I think I'll be booking a mix going forward.

Qantas is now dead for me though when connecting to international on the east coast. I'll fly via asia instead where you get a consistent lie flat product leaving Perth.