Has anyone had success with the call-up "Marginal" xASA's?

[lindyb]

I have just booked a Classic Award as an Any Seat Award, it took 3 phone calls (I am overseas at the moment so not looking forward to the phone bill) but finally got someone who knew what I was asking for.
The first person I spoke to said they knew what I was asking for & then the line dropped out. 2nd person said this wasn't available anymore & even spoke to their supervisor who said no.. She told me to go through & book as a points + pay if I wanted SC's.
3rd time lucky & went through to the section for making bookings as a FF not just normal international bookings which I had done the first 2 times.
so I have managed to book a first class ASA (there weren't any business available for the date I wanted) for April next year 192 000 points, same amount as if I was booking a classic award, & a payment of $783 & $30 credit card fee.

 

[bignbeefy]

Okay, I kind of posted my queries in the other thread:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ings-booked-classic-53677-41.html#post1033230

So I will repost what I can here and see if anyone can help me:

I rang to try and get the xASA booked at the classic award rate - for MEL - BNE - MEL. I ended up with an Economy flight as the JASA was 151,000 points.
The economy amount was about 44,500. I was also charged the 3,500 points booking fee. I asked a lot of questions and the first agent (and myself) got a bit confused by the whole process. She told me this should be a full economy ticket that should net 60SCs.
I also believed I shouldn't have been charged the 3,500 points for the phone booking. I mentioned the RoQ 7740. I confirmed on the other thread that I shouldn't have been charged. So I rang them back to get this credited. I spoke to Adele in Hobart.
First she confirmed that my booking was in Discount Economy resulting in only 15 SCs E/W. She then flatly refused to credit the phone booking fee as she believed that these could be (and she told me that they SHOULD BE) booked online. I mentioned the RoQ 7740 to her - her response was "How do you know about these?".
She read through the terms there, and she maintained that these could be booked online so this booking was ineligible for the credit.

Can someone clarify for me what I need to do? And also why the first agent told me I would get 30 SCs E/W and now its only 15 SCs E/W because of the booking.

Thanks in advance

Beefy

 

[kevrosmith]

Okay, I kind of posted my queries in the other thread:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ings-booked-classic-53677-41.html#post1033230

So I will repost what I can here and see if anyone can help me:

I rang to try and get the xASA booked at the classic award rate - for MEL - BNE - MEL. I ended up with an Economy flight as the JASA was 151,000 points.
The economy amount was about 44,500. I was also charged the 3,500 points booking fee. I asked a lot of questions and the first agent (and myself) got a bit confused by the whole process. She told me this should be a full economy ticket that should net 60SCs.
I also believed I shouldn't have been charged the 3,500 points for the phone booking. I mentioned the RoQ 7740. I confirmed on the other thread that I shouldn't have been charged. So I rang them back to get this credited. I spoke to Adele in Hobart.
First she confirmed that my booking was in Discount Economy resulting in only 15 SCs E/W. She then flatly refused to credit the phone booking fee as she believed that these could be (and she told me that they SHOULD BE) booked online. I mentioned the RoQ 7740 to her - her response was "How do you know about these?".
She read through the terms there, and she maintained that these could be booked online so this booking was ineligible for the credit.

Can someone clarify for me what I need to do? And also why the first agent told me I would get 30 SCs E/W and now its only 15 SCs E/W because of the booking.

Thanks in advance

Beefy

The easiest suggestion I could give is to PM Red Roo and see if they are able to get it looked at for you. Otherwise, you're just going to have to try HUACA.

 

[JessicaTam]

...
Can someone clarify for me what I need to do? And also why the first agent told me I would get 30 SCs E/W and now its only 15 SCs E/W because of the booking.

Thanks in advance

Beefy

Have a look at your QF activity statement. Hopefully it say something like:

16 APR 14

QANTAS & JETSTAR ANY SEAT AWARD 1 ADT REF xx_xx_

-

-

-

-72,000

-

This is from mine. The figures will be different, but the important thing is the "ANY SEAT AWARD" part that will confirm that you have the right booking. If it doesn't say that, then you will need to ring them back and get them to redo it. When you are booking one of these, ask the CSA to quote the minimum points. A J MEL-BNE-MEL ASA should be 48,000 points and $290, so not much more than you have paid for a Y flight - which I suspect is the max points.

If you run into trouble then as kevrosmith advised a PM to Red Roo is in order.

 

[bignbeefy]

Have a look at your QF activity statement. Hopefully it say something like:

16 APR 14

QANTAS & JETSTAR ANY SEAT AWARD 1 ADT REF xx_xx_

-

-

-

-72,000

-

This is from mine. The figures will be different, but the important thing is the "ANY SEAT AWARD" part that will confirm that you have the right booking. If it doesn't say that, then you will need to ring them back and get them to redo it. When you are booking one of these, ask the CSA to quote the minimum points. A J MEL-BNE-MEL ASA should be 48,000 points and $290, so not much more than you have paid for a Y flight - which I suspect is the max points.

If you run into trouble then as kevrosmith advised a PM to Red Roo is in order.

Thanks Jessica -
Yes it says exactly that.
QANTAS & JETSTAR ANY SEAT AWARD 1 ADT REF 4Sxx_x -44,811
Then the next line:
AWARD ASSISTANCE FEE - 4Sxx_X -3500

Also this ended up as an Economy booking (X) as the JASA was quoted at 151,000.

 

[FuzzyAUS]

I just booked a return P SYD-HKG for March next year, was done in 12-14 mins, 8 of which I was on hold at the start to "find out if we can still do these" didn't give me a chance to comment, but it was all done, just waiting for it to ticket now

 

[aaronjames000]

Thanks Jessica -
Yes it says exactly that.
QANTAS & JETSTAR ANY SEAT AWARD 1 ADT REF 4Sxx_x -44,811
Then the next line:
AWARD ASSISTANCE FEE - 4Sxx_X -3500

Also this ended up as an Economy booking (X) as the JASA was quoted at 151,000.

It appears that you haven't booked a marginal (read; minimum amount of points) xASA... you have booked an xASA but with maximum points (which means you've payed the taxes with your points too!)

You should call up and cancel the booking (and as its a fully flexible ticket, you shouldn't incur any penalty) and then book a new fare... asking for an Any Seat Award booked into U class... when they give you the quote of 151k points ask for a quote with the minimum points payable (which should be 48k) and then you can pay the taxes (somewhere around the $300 mark)...

As for the award assistance fee... as other have said... PM Red Roo...

 

[Mr_Orange]

It appears that you haven't booked a marginal (read; minimum amount of points) xASA... you have booked an xASA but with maximum points (which means you've payed the taxes with your points too!)

You should call up and cancel the booking (and as its a fully flexible ticket, you shouldn't incur any penalty) and then book a new fare... asking for an Any Seat Award booked into U class... when they give you the quote of 151k points ask for a quote with the minimum points payable (which should be 48k) and then you can pay the taxes (somewhere around the $300 mark)...

As for the award assistance fee... as other have said... PM Red Roo...

Note that the Op has booked an Economy MASA, so the minimum points would be less than 48k, which are the min points for a JASA on this route.

OP would be better off cancelling, assuming an economy MASA is fully refundable and booking the JASA at 48k plus copay assuming the copay is with budget.

 

[bignbeefy]

Note that the Op has booked an Economy MASA, so the minimum points would be less than 48k, which are the min points for a JASA on this route.

OP would be better off cancelling, assuming an economy MASA is fully refundable and booking the JASA at 48k plus copay assuming the copay is with budget.

Ticket is non-refundable apparently - so now I am totally confused. Still no joy with the refund. Will PM Red Roo when I get more time a bit later on.

 

[JessicaTam]

Ticket is non-refundable apparently - so now I am totally confused. Still no joy with the refund. Will PM Red Roo when I get more time a bit later on.

Please let us know how you get on.

 

[serfty]

X class is certainly non refundable - this will almost certainly require intervention from Red Roo,

B&B - did you first confirm there were Business award seats available on the flights you wanted to book?

 

[bignbeefy]

X class is certainly non refundable - this will almost certainly require intervention from Red Roo,

B&B - did you first confirm there were Business award seats available on the flights you wanted to book?

Yes Serfty I did. It was quoted at 151,000 points. They were definitely available.

 

[QF WP]

Red Roo time then, if you are looking to cancel the XASA and get the JASA. Hopefully they can look at the booking information, who you spoke to and what was said. Still some training to be done at QF for something that has been around for years - but now has a limited shelf life

 

[amaroo]

I'm starting to get a taste for these things!

Gina of Hobart worked a treat this evening. Knew exactly what I wanted and had a wonderful demeanour for getting the job done....some trouble due to the booking being right on the fringe of the allowed timeframe. The booking appears fine on QFF however, no points deducted yet.

I actually want the flight to be a week later but I've taken some insurance....cancel and re-booking will be in-order if the planets align.

2 x F SYD-LHR for April next year 384,000 + $1,576.00

Finally ticketed. For some reason the $ value is now $1,696.54 Was expecting an extra $30x2 for CC fee....not sure what the other $60.54 is ?

 

[ketsuzei]

2 recent bookings:


Apr 14 | Sept 14 | J | CBR-BNE-CNS-SYD-CBR | 72,000 | $563 + $7 CC fee | ? | ? | 200


Apr 14 | Dec 14 | J | CBR-MEL-HBA-MEL-CBR | 48,000 | $167 + $7 CC fee | ? | ? | 160


Both phone calls were an effort (50+ mins each), but working through each step slowly the bookings were made. I checked the activity statement after each booking to see Any Seat Award against the points cost, which had me thinking that things worked out. Was also surprised with a $35 phone booking fee on the first call (receipt arrived via email), therefore had to promptly return a call to say "I don't think so..." They kindly reversed that charge.

That second one isn't the standard minimum points (32,000 for CBR-HBA return)... the fact that the call took so long probably isn't a good sign.

 

[cove]

Last night it was 86,000 QF points versus 36,000 QF points for a MASA instead of a Classic JASA so no deal for my eldest son.
He used my Virgin points to go PER-SYD and was coming home.
No need to waste 50,000 points.

 

[Z3r0]

That second one isn't the standard minimum points (32,000 for CBR-HBA return)... the fact that the call took so long probably isn't a good sign.

Really? Damn! Looks like I spent more points than I should have.

 

[FuzzyAUS]

Re: Sucessful ASA Bookings booked at classic rates Reference Guide

April 14 | May 14 | J | MEL-SYD-CNS-SYD-MEL | ? | ? | N/A | 128,111 | 240

April 14 | May 14 | J | MEL-SYD-ASP-SYD-MEL | ? | ? | N/A | 90,141 | 240

April 14 | May 14 | J | MEL-BNE-TSV-BNE-MEL | ? | ? | N/A | 126,342 | 240

April 14 | June 14 | J | MEL-SYD-ASP-SYD-MEL | ? | ? | N/A | 90,141 | 240

Maintaining WP for another year

 

[JessicaTam]

Really? Damn! Looks like I spent more points than I should have.

At least you saved a few $.

 

[amaroo]

I'm starting to get a taste for these things!

Gina of Hobart worked a treat this evening. Knew exactly what I wanted and had a wonderful demeanour for getting the job done....some trouble due to the booking being right on the fringe of the allowed timeframe. The booking appears fine on QFF however, no points deducted yet.

I actually want the flight to be a week later but I've taken some insurance....cancel and re-booking will be in-order if the planets align.

2 x F SYD-LHR for April next year 384,000 + $1,576.00

Finally ticketed. For some reason the $ value is now $1,696.54 Was expecting an extra $30x2 for CC fee....not sure what the other $60.54 is ?

The planets aligned. Got the seats a week later If anyone is interested there are now 2 x F seats back on the market.