Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Mr H]

Update to this.

So I checked my Qantas app yesterday for the first time in a couple months, and turns out some of my flight have been 'cancelled'. No update to itinery was sent to me, so I have no idea when this happend.
After talking to a few different agents, it turns out one of the flights was cancelled, and the other flights were sold to people willing to pay money.
I already had my tickets for these flights, and have already booked accomadation and trips in each of the places.

One of the things to verify is whether the flights were ever ticketed. You mention the Qantas app and itineraries, neither of which inspires much confidence. Did it have a ticket number (a thirteen digit number starting 081)?

 

[Danger]

This might be my only hope - how would this work? Do they pretend to be me? Wouldn't the number of ID questions agents ask these days - which is getting a bit excessive - torpedo this?

The steps go a little like this:

1. Qantas incompetence and its 'we don't give a ****' attitude results in a reservation becoming butchered, often without the passenger realising until they look into it themselves, puncturing dreams of a long-planned holiday, perhaps to see friends, celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary or maybe take one final trip as your terminal illness eats away at your last days.
2. The passenger phones Qantas only to be told by an agent in Manila or Cape Town or Suva that Qantas doesn't actually fly passengers, just freight. You somehow get lucky the first time but now because of your error (i.e. the passenger's), all he or she can do can do book your suitcase on a flight to Maputo, Mozambique, on the next available direct flight from Broome. Other than that, you'll simply have to be grateful that Qantas will allow your money to be refunded, a period of time that can rival the gestation period of a cow.
3. Crippled with depression and anxiety that sees you bedridden for three days, you pop your last Xanax and desperately try to find a poor friend, stupid enough to be Qantas Platinum. (I'm one of them. I'm stupid.)
4. That person calls Qantas on your behalf, entering their own Platinum credentials. The theory is, as a Platinum, the friend will be routed to the competent agents in Hobart or Auckland. However, you once had a theory too, that Qantas actually flies passengers as well as freight, so this theory may well prove false as well.
5. Eventually, after what may be many calls, your friend gets through to an onshore call centre. In the ensuing days or weeks it's taken to get through to Hobart or Auckland, during which you've moved in with your friend so as to always be ready should the call be answered where you want it to be, your friend also now has their own issues with Qantas (like, for example, a rescheduled connection that has the person departing from their connecting port before they arrive).
6. After your friend attempts to sort out their own Qantas-induced cough-up that is in fact entirely their own fault, they ask the agent if he or she would be kind enough to speak to your friend who's now been told by offshore call centre staff that not only does Qantas not transport passengers, but its fleet of seaplanes have been grounded due to the global Ebola epidemic that is ravaging the globe and your really best off just taking that refund so he or she can get back to tending the office chooks.
7. The agent, ever competent, sighs (audibly) with equally parts disgust and empathy and is happy to assist you.

Where it goes from there is anyone's guess, but at this point, you're in a much better spot.

 

[Guvner]

Update to this.

So I checked my Qantas app yesterday for the first time in a couple months, and turns out some of my flight have been 'cancelled'. No update to itinery was sent to me, so I have no idea when this happend.
After talking to a few different agents, it turns out one of the flights was cancelled, and the other flights were sold to people willing to pay money.
I already had my tickets for these flights, and have already booked accomadation and trips in each of the places.

The qantas reps only answer for this was basically, pay, or get stuffed.
Im at a loss as to how they can do this to people, this trip has been booked for months, and with no word, refund, or offer to re-book, just cancelled it on me.

Sorry to say but you’ve joined a long line of people who’ve been QF’d. The sheer corporate arrogance and disdain for the average Joe who tries to do the right thing, follows the rules, trusts the process and rightly expects Qantas to deliver what’s written on the tin is, quite simply, unmatched by any other ASX blue chip listed company I can think of.

Spirit of Australia my cough.

 

[FishFood]

I have to cut short my OWA to attend a grandparent's funeral. Since there will be no chance of finding award availability at short notice, I have booked a very expensive cash flight. Is there anything I can do to get any points back, or failing that, what should I do with the remaining flights that I won't be taking?

 

[Wgroom]

Sorry to say but you’ve joined a long line of people who’ve been QF’d. The sheer corporate arrogance and disdain for the average Joe who tries to do the right thing, follows the rules, trusts the process and rightly expects Qantas to deliver what’s written on the tin is, quite simply, unmatched by any other ASX blue chip listed company I can think of.

Spirit of Australia my cough.

Seems I am joining the QF'd club.

J class MH flight KUL-DPS cancelled, called to reinstate and has been sitting on 'Pending' for a week.
Call centre insists nothing more they can do, that we have to wait for MH to reinstate the flight.

Is this another lie that I should keep calling untill I find someone that can help?

Flights in 5 months.

 

[Kangol]

I have to cut short my OWA to attend a grandparent's funeral. Since there will be no chance of finding award availability at short notice, I have booked a very expensive cash flight. Is there anything I can do to get any points back, or failing that, what should I do with the remaining flights that I won't be taking?

If you have flown at least one segment of your OWA and then cancel the booking, you will not get any points back from QF.
Next option is to contact your TI.
With the remaining OWA flights, is there any possibility of going back to the destination and continuing the trip?

 

[Mr H]

If you have flown at least one segment of your OWA and then cancel the booking, you will not get any points back from QF.
Next option is to contact your TI.
With the remaining OWA flights, is there any possibility of going back to the destination and continuing the trip?

+1

If it is just for a funeral, I would use travel insurance for the return flight home and resume the holiday a couple of days later.

 

[BWKopite]

One of the things to verify is whether the flights were ever ticketed. You mention the Qantas app and itineraries, neither of which inspires much confidence. Did it have a ticket number (a thirteen digit number starting 081)?

All flights were confirmed, paid for and ticketed (with the 081 number).

4/9 flights were cancelled with no notification.

I have been booked back on one of the original flights, but now in economy.

I'm gonna try for the Hobart team today.

 

[FishFood]

If you have flown at least one segment of your OWA and then cancel the booking, you will not get any points back from QF.
Next option is to contact your TI.
With the remaining OWA flights, is there any possibility of going back to the destination and continuing the trip?

No luck from travel insurance, they exclude where the family member is over 80

 

[Mr H]

No luck from travel insurance, they exclude where the family member is over 80

Even then, still worth springing for a return ticket and resume your travel - returns are often barely more than the single.

You are admirably devoted, btw. I only went to two of my grandparents' funerals.

 

[gfraser]

Is there a time limit on a OWA from first flight?

 

[Mr H]

Is there a time limit on a OWA from first flight?

One year from the original date of the first flight.

 

[k_sheep]

I'm partway through my 318k OWA and again need to change some dates due to call centre issues. But I can't see any J availability on QR now, even 119 days out. Are they gone entirely?

And if QR is now totally out of the picture, can I use a different airline for my remaining flights? It would have to be indirect (currently have WAW-DOH stop, DOH-DEL stop) because no one else flies these routes direct besides QR. I've found this rule which says you can change flight number and date, but would it matter if there were more flights added (but 'destination' stays the same)? I have miles to spare luckily.



14.7.6 Subject to this clause 14.7, the following changes are permitted to a Classic Flight Reward flight before departure of that flight, provided the booking contains one or more Flight Segments that are not within Australia, and the Flight Segment(s) being changed do not include a partner airline that requires a ticket to be reissued for the change. Any such change will incur a Change Fee (see the Fee Schedule) per passenger:


(a) change to flight number; and
(b) change to date of travel.

 

[Captain Halliday]

I'm partway through my 318k OWA and again need to change some dates due to call centre issues. But I can't see any J availability on QR now, even 119 days out. Are they gone entirely?

And if QR is now totally out of the picture, can I use a different airline for my remaining flights? It would have to be indirect (currently have WAW-DOH stop, DOH-DEL stop) because no one else flies these routes direct besides QR. I've found this rule which says you can change flight number and date, but would it matter if there were more flights added (but 'destination' stays the same)? I have miles to spare luckily.



14.7.6 Subject to this clause 14.7, the following changes are permitted to a Classic Flight Reward flight before departure of that flight, provided the booking contains one or more Flight Segments that are not within Australia, and the Flight Segment(s) being changed do not include a partner airline that requires a ticket to be reissued for the change. Any such change will incur a Change Fee (see the Fee Schedule) per passenger:


(a) change to flight number; and
(b) change to date of travel.

If you’ve started your trip, (a) and (b) is all you can do.

You will not be able to add new/additional flights.

 

[levelnine]

But I can't see any J availability on QR now, even 119 days out. Are they gone entirely?

Yes, I believe all J seats from QR are now unbookable using Qantas, no matter how close the flight is to departure.

 

[Mr H]

Yes, I believe all J seats from QR are now unbookable using Qantas, no matter how close the flight is to departure.

Are they even available in Y? I understand that for all practical purposes QR is no longer available on Qantas points.

If someone is part way through a OWA itinerary and needs to change dates for a QR flight then it’s not going to happen.

 

[levelnine]

Are they even available in Y?

Not sure, haven't looked to be honest! I have definitely seen close-in J availability on BA that is not displayed on Qantas.

 

[shankoz]

Update to this.

So I checked my Qantas app yesterday for the first time in a couple months, and turns out some of my flight have been 'cancelled'. No update to itinery was sent to me, so I have no idea when this happend.
After talking to a few different agents, it turns out one of the flights was cancelled, and the other flights were sold to people willing to pay money.
I already had my tickets for these flights, and have already booked accomadation and trips in each of the places.

The qantas reps only answer for this was basically, pay, or get stuffed.
Im at a loss as to how they can do this to people, this trip has been booked for months, and with no word, refund, or offer to re-book, just cancelled it on me.

I feel your pain. This happened to me last week - logged on to the Qantas app and found that 3 out of my 8 flights on the itinerary (all QR long haul flights in business) had just vanished off my itinerary - despite being ticketed. Absolutely no communication about this from Qantas.

Made 9 or 10 calls (all to call centres in Fiji/SA/Philippines - for reference I'm Qantas Gold) - got told so many different, totally absurd things. One lady even said it was MY JOB to ring Qatar to get it reinstated...out of desperation I even tried this - and was told, expectedly, that it was a Qantas ticketing issue. Tried FB Messenger and Twitter to no avail. Was starting to become super depressed that the holiday I booked a year ago was looking like it would be off due to no fault of my own......

As a last resort, after trawling these forums, I tried the "email the execs" option. Lo and behold, within 48 hours, I got a call back from a real human in Hobart, explaining that a QR flight time change on my very first leg (which I knew about but was so minor I'd ignored it...literally the flight was scheduled to land 5 minutes earlier and had a different flight number) led to that initial flight being reticketed by Qantas on a different ticket number.....but without any of the remaining flights. For some reason Qatar Airways picked up on this, and ??assumed the other 3 long haul segments were not needed and cancelled them.

After a further 48 hours, I got a second call back from the guy and now all my flights are there again, all ticketed (under one new, unifying ticket number). While I perhaps don't fully understand the exact nature of the stuff up, he even said to me my case would be used as a 'reference' if this happens again (who knows if he's making that up hahaha).

All I can say is that this was an incredibly stressful experience and I'm at the point of expecting another stuff up before the itinerary begins in May

 

[Easy Tiger]

I feel your pain. This happened to me last week - logged on to the Qantas app and found that 3 out of my 8 flights on the itinerary (all QR long haul flights in business) had just vanished off my itinerary - despite being ticketed. Absolutely no communication about this from Qantas.

Made 9 or 10 calls (all to call centres in Fiji/SA/Philippines - for reference I'm Qantas Gold) - got told so many different, totally absurd things. One lady even said it was MY JOB to ring Qatar to get it reinstated...out of desperation I even tried this - and was told, expectedly, that it was a Qantas ticketing issue. Tried FB Messenger and Twitter to no avail. Was starting to become super depressed that the holiday I booked a year ago was looking like it would be off due to no fault of my own......

As a last resort, after trawling these forums, I tried the "email the execs" option. Lo and behold, within 48 hours, I got a call back from a real human in Hobart, explaining that a QR flight time change on my very first leg (which I knew about but was so minor I'd ignored it...literally the flight was scheduled to land 5 minutes earlier and had a different flight number) led to that initial flight being reticketed by Qantas on a different ticket number.....but without any of the remaining flights. For some reason Qatar Airways picked up on this, and ??assumed the other 3 long haul segments were not needed and cancelled them.

After a further 48 hours, I got a second call back from the guy and now all my flights are there again, all ticketed (under one new, unifying ticket number). While I perhaps don't fully understand the exact nature of the stuff up, he even said to me my case would be used as a 'reference' if this happens again (who knows if he's making that up hahaha).

All I can say is that this was an incredibly stressful experience and I'm at the point of expecting another stuff up before the itinerary begins in May

Please, please share the email address you used to 'email the execs".

 

[k_sheep]

Are they even available in Y? I understand that for all practical purposes QR is no longer available on Qantas points.

If someone is part way through a OWA itinerary and needs to change dates for a QR flight then it’s not going to happen.

Whelp I'm boned then. I guess ... hopefully I can change them to surface sectors? And not lose the rest.