Missed QF3 - moved to Hawaiian

[nuthq]

Hi All

On Saturday I was due to fly QF3 from Sydney to Honolulu. I was connecting to Sydney via Melbourne on Qantas (all booked as one fare)

The Mel-Syd flight was originally delayed by an hour but still should have been fine to connect, then there was another 40 minute delay which meant I missed QF3. Qantas proactively booked me into the 9.40pm Hawaiian Airlines flight. These flights were paid J and I don’t think I got the experience I paid for - is it worth emailing about compensation given QF could have simply moved me to an earlier flight?

 

[sudoer]

These flights were paid J and I don’t think I got the experience I paid for

Which aspects of the experience were not up to par? The Hawaiian A330 J is a far newer hard product than the SkyBed II on QF3 - so I'm guessing it was either food or service?

I'm not sure you have a leg to stand on here.

 

[nuthq]

Yep - the food was soup and a sandwich at takeoff and the inflight entertainment was delivered via an iPad handed out

 

[sudoer]

the food was soup and a sandwich at takeoff

Sounds like a supper menu which is fair considering it was a 9:40pm departure. I assume you got a full breakfast before arrival too? FWIW QF only serve a refreshment before arrival.

the inflight entertainment was delivered via an iPad handed out

I'm aware HA use 10" iPad Pros for IFE with a cradle/mount at each seat. Is this such a terrible thing?

The screens would be much crisper and the software far more responsive than the IFE on a QF 747.

 

[JohnK]

These flights were paid J and I don’t think I got the experience I paid for - is it worth emailing about compensation given QF could have simply moved me to an earlier flight?

No harm in asking for compensation. State up front what compensation you'd expect.

Sounds like you only had <2h30m connection in the first place? If you were at the airport early not sure why they didn't proactively offer earlier flight if delay was already known or why you didn't push for earlier flight?

 

[Melburnian1]

No harm in asking for compensation. State up front what compensation you'd expect.

Sounds like you only had <2h30m connection in the first place? If you were at the airport early not sure why they didn't proactively offer earlier flight if delay was already known or why you didn't push for earlier flight?

Frequencies MEL - SYD are lower on Saturday afternoons than on Sun to Fri arvos.

 

[opusman]

Just make sure you ask for original routing credit (unless it was an award flight).

 

[sudoer]

Frequencies MEL - SYD are lower on Saturday afternoons than on Sun to Fri arvos.

Yep, hourly departures on Saturday arvos rather than every 15 minutes on Thu, Fri and Sun...

 

[JohnK]

Frequencies MEL - SYD are lower on Saturday afternoons than on Sun to Fri arvos.

Understand which is why I'm surprised at such a short connection in the first place.

I'm not comfortable getting from domestic to international in under 2 hours. Yes it's possible but not worth the risk as can be seen here.

 

[nuthq]

Thanks all. Yes did ask at check in and the lounge and it was suggested that everything would be fine with the initial one hour delay but the additional 40 minutes was only announced after check in should have commenced. I could have caught an earlier flight as arrived early enough to catch the 2 previous services to SYD

I did email QFF as I noticed nothing posted in terms of points or SC and they have fixed that up

 

[nuthq]

Ironically this flight was part of a platinum status challenge to move my flying from VA to QF...what would reasonable compensation be - does anyone have any thoughts?

 

[SeatBackForward]

Ironically this flight was part of a platinum status challenge to move my flying from VA to QF...what would reasonable compensation be - does anyone have any thoughts?

You should still earn your original status credits and points as this is what you had paid for and only had to change due to the delay by the airline.

If they've not given you this, that is definitely grounds to complain.

 

[Mattg]

Ironically this flight was part of a platinum status challenge to move my flying from VA to QF...what would reasonable compensation be - does anyone have any thoughts?

Other than getting an Original Routing Credit (which you have received), I'm not sure that I would be expecting any compensation IMHO. You paid for business class and still received it despite some minor differences in the HA and QF service. QF also doesn't generally provide compensation for delays of only a few hours. You can always try, but I suspect you'll just end up waiting 4-6 weeks for a half-hearted apology.

 

[docjames]

To be honest i'd just chalk it up to the joys of travel.

QF arranged onward travel, on another carrier, in the same class of travel (with minor amenity differences), on the same day (only a couple of hours later!). You already had lounge access during the delay.

Other than ensuring you get the correct status credits and points due, i'm not sure what compensation is payable. If the QF3 had been delayed 2hrs, you wouldn't have got anything. As i say, i'd be letting it go.


Perhaps advise us what you think they should be giving you?

 

[SeatBackForward]

In a way you were quite fortunate to be able to get onto the HA flight in J only a few hours later, otherwise the alternative might've been to try to get onto the next days QF flight if there was J availability and they'd have put you up etc, which rules out any compensation. Or you'd have been put into Y the next day and likely been given a paltry compensation of a few tousand QFF points.

 

[nuthq]

Yep fair enough. I probably wouldn’t have expected anything other than a few QF points. I guess my frustration comes from not proactively putting me on an earlier flight given I was at the airport 3 hours before and the flight had already been delayed and I specifically asked if it would impact and was told it wouldn’t. As you said, I’ll chalk it up to the joy of travel

 

[SeatBackForward]

Yep fair enough. I probably wouldn’t have expected anything other than a few QF points. I guess my frustration comes from not proactively putting me on an earlier flight given I was at the airport 3 hours before and the flight had already been delayed and I specifically asked if it would impact and was told it wouldn’t. As you said, I’ll chalk it up to the joy of travel

Chalk it up as a lesson, and this point in particular when dealing with the agents at the checkin / lounge desk..keep persisting if you believe you have a valid case. Knowing of a delay and needing to make a connection is a fairly valid point.

I've found the responses you get, bit like calling the QF call centre, are very dependent upon the actual person you're speaking to, one person will say "no it can't be done" and then if you ask another they'll say "yeah, easy no problem".

Your gut instinct about getting onto an earlier flight was correct, gut instincts are usually good.

 

[RichardMEL]

Yep fair enough. I probably wouldn’t have expected anything other than a few QF points. I guess my frustration comes from not proactively putting me on an earlier flight given I was at the airport 3 hours before and the flight had already been delayed and I specifically asked if it would impact and was told it wouldn’t. As you said, I’ll chalk it up to the joy of travel

hindsight is 20/20. At the time it's clear they figured the delay would not creep and you were still good for your connection. It is also possible the earlier flight(s) were already full in J (as in upgrades etc) given the less frequent schedule on a Saturday.

I think QF did well to get you space on the HA flight and get you to HNL within hurs of your original schedule.

By all means seek the ORC but as for compensation? I'd not push hard for more than the ORC imho.

 

[docjames]

Yep fair enough. I probably wouldn’t have expected anything other than a few QF points. I guess my frustration comes from not proactively putting me on an earlier flight given I was at the airport 3 hours before and the flight had already been delayed and I specifically asked if it would impact and was told it wouldn’t. As you said, I’ll chalk it up to the joy of travel

Have had similar - departing flight clearly delayed ("it's showing as on time" "yes, but the operating aircraft isn't here at gate and departure is in 20m"), going to miss curfew in SYD, asked to be put on direct PER-MEL, refused. Result: Missed connection in SYD, overnighted in SYD (at QF's expense). Could have been solved by putting me on the direct but after a series of no's I gave up. Forutnately I had nothing on the following day (and yes, i'd like a 9am flight ex-SYD, not 6am which they originally gave me a BP for! Fortunately that was done easily enough!).

 

[woodborer]

Yep fair enough. I probably wouldn’t have expected anything other than a few QF points. I guess my frustration comes from not proactively putting me on an earlier flight given I was at the airport 3 hours before and the flight had already been delayed and I specifically asked if it would impact and was told it wouldn’t. As you said, I’ll chalk it up to the joy of travel

Airlines (and not just Qantas) make decisions based on what they know at the time of the decision. That it turns out to be wrong sometimes is just one of those things.