Issues with QF/MA OneWorld Award booking

[N860CR]

I've just finished up a fairly unhelpful call to Qantas regarding some rebooking for flights on Malev.

As part of a OneWorld award, I was due to fly CDG-BUD-SKP and then SKP-BUD. With the closure of Malev, these flights are obviously not going to be happening.

Unfortunatley, SKP is one of the ports that OneWorld now doesn't service.

I spoke with someone from Premium (after being disconnected and not called back an hour or so earlier :-|) and was told all they can do is:

1) Remove the MA sectors from the ticket and I can "get my own way there"
2) Change destinations, however only using award availability (which is virtually none given we're within a few months of departure).

I was under the impression that the ticketing airline was responsible for getting you to your destination? I know it's not QF's fault that MA have folded... although it's not mine either.

I'm not overly impressed that my options have been limited to cancelling the sectors or just rebooking using other award classes only (the least they could do is allow booking into other classes).

Am I being too sensitive, or does it seem a bit inadequate?

 

[straitman]

Am I being too sensitive, or does it seem a bit inadequate?

The response seems inadequate to me though I don't have any answers either.

 

[Alanslegal]

Fly all of the segments that are still booked .... and do a chargeback on return? You might get some of the taxes back? Your reason could be that the services booked and paid for were not rendered in full.

Anyway, I know its a different kettle of fish, but I have just sent Citibank a dispute form for my now non-existant MA AMS-BUD-AMS flights on 24/2.

 

[N860CR]

It leaves me in a very hard place. The flights are smack in the middle of the RTW ticket.

Qantas seem to care about as much as usual though. The social media team had the nerve to send me a template email going on about how beneficial it is to use partner airlines as it allows me to have the "benefits" of booking on a Qantas ticket. Look at what a great benefit that has been!

Good work Red Roo! Might be an idea to actually read the template emails before you send them out.

 

[Fantic125]

I'm meant to be heading to BUD on March 5 for a 2 day meeting and had planned using MA through FRA-BUD-STR.

Looks like I'll now route ADL-SIN-LHR-BUD and use BA, then LH for BUD-STR.

 

[eastwest101]

Thats really annoying to hear of danielribo - I would expect QF or someone from Oneworld to properly reimburse you and/or put you on an alternative carrier. If you and QF agree to remove the CDG-BUD-SKP and then SKP-BUD legs then I would expect that your $$ and/or points to be refunded immediately so that you can make alternative arrangements through BUD and SKP as I imagine you would already have other accomodation already booked.

As alanslegal says - if you can prove that you attempted to check-in and fly all the segments that are booked then I would imagine that it would be very difficult to argue against a chargeback dispute.

I hope both you and alanslegal can keep us informed and that you both get these problems fixed.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Hmmm, if oneworld now no longer flies to SKP, and you're travelling on a oneworld award ticket, I don't see how you can get there using your current ticket. I'm sure oneworld will allow you to reroute to the closest port. This is really an issue for your travel insurance provider, which will hopefully cover the cost of getting you to and from SKP, given the insolvency of the carrier on which you were ticketed.

 

[N860CR]

While I didn't expect Qantas to arrange tickets on another carrier into SKP, I did expect some flexibility in changing the ticket.

For instance, I could have routed to IST instead and then gotten to SKP quite easily, however they flat out said my only option is to find another destination that has award availability. It would have been nice for them to simply say "sorry, can't do SKP, however we'll reticket you to somewhere nearby on the same day". Now that MA is gone, award seats throughout Europe seem tight and there was no BA availability either side, so I've been left on my own.

What really annoyed me was that Qantas went on to send me a template email following a Twitter request that was barely relevant and stated that using parter airlines is great because I get the benefits of "booking through Qantas". What a great benefit that was! Had Qantas simply said sorry, sorted out alternative flights or at the very least said "here's a gift voucher to make up for lost pre-booked costs" I'd be happy, but I feel that to say "our partners are out of our control, sort it out yourself" wasn't good enough. Sounds oddly similar to the BA/QP line.

 

[Alanslegal]

Anyway, I know its a different kettle of fish, but I have just sent Citibank a dispute form for my now non-existant MA AMS-BUD-AMS flights on 24/2.

I hope both you and alanslegal can keep us informed and that you both get these problems fixed.

Just to follow up on my situation. Citibank were very prompt and have credited my account with the cost paid.

I submitted the form on 7/2, CB contacted me for more information on 8/2 (they wanted a print out of the booking) which I faxed on 9/2 and the following day I had the funds returned. Well done for a quick turn around in this instance.

 

[BD1959]

Doesn't the passenger have the choice of having the flight booked on an alternate airline under EU261?

BD