Qantas cancels SYD/LAX service

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acampbel

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Oct 31, 2005
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Today I found out that the Sunday QF149 flight has been canned for the next month or so .... probably due to low loads. This in itself is not a bad thing as QF107 departs daily at 10:20, and I still would make my connecting flight to Houston this coming Sunday.

No .... the bad thing is that QF107 is now overbooked and they have re-routed me via QF175 out of BNE. It's nice to know that Qantas value my custom so little that they feel free to get me out of bed 2 hours earlier and shunt me around Oz to suit their shareholders.

I remember a similar sort of thing happening to my family with Pan Am out of LAX (yeah - it was quite some time ago), and it was the last time we flew with those cretins. I can't wait for the open skies policy to knock some arrogance out of Qantas.


Cheers,


Andrew

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acampbel said:
Today I found out that the Sunday QF149 flight has been canned for the next month or so .... probably due to low loads.
Or if its only a month could be aircraft - engine maintainence.
 
OK .... I've calmed down a bit now.

I presume maintenance would be scheduled more than 5 days out unless it was an unforseen problem, and the TA referred to it as a "seasonal change" which implies it was voluntary and financially related.

Maybe I'm being a bit precious but I feel like I've paid good money for a LCC service.


Cheers,


Andrew

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acampbel said:
No .... the bad thing is that QF107 is now overbooked and they have re-routed me via QF175 out of BNE. It's nice to know that Qantas value my custom so little that they feel free to get me out

A little exaggeration? According one world timetable QF149 leaves at 9:45am, whilst the domestic connection to QF175 departs at 8:05am. Don't know about you I always leave a little more time checking in for international flights than domestic, so probably it only makes somewhere between 1 hr and 1:30 time difference compared to original flight. I am sure there are a lot more people that have been inconvenienced more signficantly at different times due to flight cancellations/schedule changes on a whole range of airlines, not just QF.

Although, I understand why you may be a little upset when it happens to you ... as I would be.
 
Think of the extra SC's you'll earn on the SYD-BNE leg (minimum 10), and the minimum 600 extra FF points you should earn. If Qantas rebooked you incorrectly, then you may even end up with full Economy SC's (assuming Economy booking).
 
Mal said:
Think of the extra SC's you'll earn on the SYD-BNE leg (minimum 10), and the minimum 600 extra FF points you should earn. If Qantas rebooked you incorrectly, then you may even end up with full Economy SC's (assuming Economy booking).

Domestic flight to BNE, mine 1000 points ?
Annoying to change but one thing i have learnt with travel be flexible and try not to stress to much... and always have lots of hours when transit LHR ;)
E
 
Maybe QF has taken the 747-400 which flies QF149 out of service to install the new premium economy cabin??

By the way, what type of aircraft is use on QF12. Is it the 747-400 ER with the larger bins for carryon luggage?

Is this flight on time? I need to book a domestic flight to get home from SYD. Maybe I should allow 5 hours at SYD airport?

What's the name of that website which lists all of the QF aircraft and has their callsigns plus it tells you if the aircraft interior has been refreshed.
 
Evan said:
Domestic flight to BNE, mine 1000 points ?

SYD-BNE-LAX Disc Econ (8,166 points Bronze, 9,958 Silver, 11,749 Gold, 15,332 Plat, 55 SC's)
SYD-LAX Disc Econ (7,491 points Bronze, 9,364 Silver, 11,237 Gold, 14,982 Plat, 45 SC's)

The distance from BNE-LAX is slightly shorter than SYD-LAX which affects the benefit of the 1000 min points from SYD-BNE.
 
I think that QF's actions are an irritation for those affected but reasonable for whatever reason, be it low bookings, maintenance, refit. It's not like they are asking passengers to do something totally crazy.

I think back to around 2000-2 when i was having to fly to New Zealand on a regular basis and we were using NZ due to some agreements at the time. Schedules changed every day, flights were cancelled without warning, aircraft types changed, essentially you turned up at the airport simply hoping that your flight would go that day. One time I was booked from Wellington to Melbourne (flight cancelled) and ended up going WLG-AKL-missed MEL flight-changed to afternoon flight to SYD-which left 2 hours late-just made the last flight to MEL. 15 hours traveling:!: And guess what, a similar thing happened a month later. And numerous cancelled, delayed, diverted, dissappeared flights from AKL, WLG and ZQN over a 3 year period. QF aren't too bad by comparison.
 
It is unfortunate but cancellations happen even on legacy carriers. And even delays at the last moment.

The difference is how the situation is handled. Back in August last year I was due to go SYD-MEL on QF136 and then MEL-AKL-LAX on QF25 on an award booking. The plane was late to take-off in SYD and after an aborted take-off was waiting for maintenance to look at the issue and finally got back to the gate between 2-3 hours later. Well QF got me and 2 others off the flight immediately as I was more than likely going to miss the connection in MEL and I was given a seat on the direct flight SYD-LAX on QF11.

During the wait on QF136 I chatted to the crew about my upcoming RTW and I was given unlimited access to champagne due to the delay. And I also managed to get exit row aisle allocated on what was a full QF11.
 
Chucksta said:
Maybe QF has taken the 747-400 which flies QF149 out of service to install the new premium economy cabin??

By the way, what type of aircraft is use on QF12. Is it the 747-400 ER with the larger bins for carryon luggage?
Unlikely... I highly doubt Qantas would cancel select US services just to install the Premium Economy product.

I think you'll find that QF149 has been cancelled over that period as a consequence of Qantas conducting a review of their NS08 schedules and in alignment with their operational requirements. QF149 is not the only service to have been cancelled.

Generally QF12 is operated by a Pacific configured 747-400 (14F/64J/265Y or 14F/66J/265Y) Chucksta, although in some cases a Kangaroo configured 747-400 such as VH-OJN will operate this service.

Regards
 
acampbel said:
OK ....

Maybe I'm being a bit precious but I feel like I've paid good money for a LCC service.


.

Haha, if you were getting LCC service you would have found out the day before, given a refund (that would have taken 6 weeks to process) and you'd be sorting your trip out yourself :p
 
pauly7 said:
Haha, if you were getting LCC service you would have found out the day before, given a refund (that would have taken 6 weeks to process) and you'd be sorting your trip out yourself :p

With the exception of maybe Jetstar (and DJ is not LCC, its NW eh) you would be correct in most cases about what would happen on a true LCC. One thing i learn in travel is to roll with the punchs so to speak, Try not to plan your airport arrival 1hr before that critical meeting if you can avoid it. Being relaxed and flexible usually gets you the best result.

E
 
Well here I am relaxed and comfortable in the T3 QC (eventually found the way in), and only half an hour to go before I fly out to LA .... sorry .... Brisbane.

The check-in process was very LCC :- I rocked up to the QC CIC who was all on her own and tried to smile as I said "Houston" in response to the usual question. "OK sir", says she, "You will have to check in at International Connections at the very far end."

Trudge down to to the indicated spot to find a single queue winding around the corner. No indication of First/Business/QC/OW lane so join the "Jetsaver" queue with all their cases bound for the LOTFAP. When I finally arrive at a counter the machine spits out 31B for the BNE/LAX flight. I thought I just screamed in my head but maybe it was out loud, because it was thankfully ripped up and replaced with 28H. "Sorry sir - Brisbane took that off you for some reason but I got it back."

What's really sad is that I was pathetically grateful.


It's going to be a long day ......



Andrew

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I just checked the QF schedule, as I'm flying in early May SYD - LAX. As of Sunday 13 April 09:42, the QF website were still offering QF 149 for sale on Friday 2 May, and Friday 9 May, but not other days in early May.
 
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acampbel said:
When I finally arrive at a counter the machine spits out 31B for the BNE/LAX flight. I thought I just screamed in my head but maybe it was out loud, because it was thankfully ripped up and replaced with 28H. "Sorry sir - Brisbane took that off you for some reason but I got it back."

What's really sad is that I was pathetically grateful.
Andrew - your posts are always very entertaining. Maintain the rage! :D
 
This should entertain some more .... particularly those that I have targeted in the past.

My colleague and I arrived at BNE and did the right thing by the taxis by taking the train to International. By the time we navigated the long queue to be stamped out of the country there was only going to be time for one drink before boarding the LAX flight .... or so I thought.

As my BP was swiped at the lounge the staff member told me that there was an "indefinite delay" on QF175. The full story (I was to find out later) was that a well known and loved catering staff member had died shortly after the plane arrived in BNE, so the appropriate measures had to be taken to investigate the incident and deal with the deceased. A very sad situation and really no excuse for me to grumble, but the impact was a 4 hour delay in departure. This meant we missed our connection at LAX and spent 45 minutes in a queue at Continental waiting to be rebooked. They seemed to have lots of staff around but they were only good for helping people with the kiosks, so a long line of grumpy passengers were being dealt with by a single operator. Eventually we were booked on the 2:30pm to IAH and went to the bar for some good beer and bad food.

Boarding the Houston flight was a bit of a joke. They had 2 flights leaving simultaneously (CO594 and CO694) from adjacent gates, but they do not use boarding pass readers so rely upon passengers checking their BP. Once I got to my seat down the back I could see a few pax fighting over the same seat until one of them realised they were on the wrong flight, and even after those issues had been sorted out the cabin staff went around and identified 3 vacant seats that they then filled with more standby pax. Seems like a particularly stupid system and its no wonder that they start boarding 45 minutes before departure.

The flight itself was OK and I got to my hotel at 8:30pm so door-to-door it was a 30-hour trip. Not the journey I was hoping for, but at least I was alive.


Cheers,


Andrew
 
acampbel said:
Once I got to my seat down the back I could see a few pax fighting over the same seat until one of them realised they were on the wrong flight
Sounds like security in the USA has lapsed somewhat if people can board the wrong flight. :eek:

acampbel said:
The flight itself was OK and I got to my hotel at 8:30pm so door-to-door it was a 30-hour trip. Not the journey I was hoping for, but at least I was alive.
Indeed! I guess that's what it comes down to in the end - you made it there in one piece.
 
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