Qantas rerouting flights

[Sir Tarmac]

We booked last Oct to fly Qantas Sydney to Frankfurt and lufthansa Franfurt to Milan. Three weeks later we are booked again on Lufthansa from Rome to Frankfurt for an overnight stay then
qantas to Singapore for two nights then on to,Sydney. With Qantas now code sharing with Emirates we have been told we have to leave 2days early on an emirates flight leaving at 0600, spending a night in Dubai and 2 nights in Frankfurt just so we can meet our prebooked Lufthansa flight. On the way back we now have a 10 hr stopover in Frankfurt and then 2 nights in Dubai before heading to Sydney.
Is this fair that we have to pay for 2 extra nights accomodation as well as be inconvenienced by having to get a very early flight and have an extremely long stopover? Our travel agent is telling us this is the best she can do as the other Emirate flights leaving around this time are already full. If this is the case shouldn't Qantas at the very least be responsible for paying for the unforeseen accomodation? This is really putting a huge damper on our long anticipated holiday.

 

[nlagalle]

We booked last Oct to fly Qantas Sydney to Frankfurt and lufthansa Franfurt to Milan. Three weeks later we are booked again on Lufthansa from Rome to Frankfurt for an overnight stay then
qantas to Singapore for two nights then on to,Sydney. With Qantas now code sharing with Emirates we have been told we have to leave 2days early on an emirates flight leaving at 0600, spending a night in Dubai and 2 nights in Frankfurt just so we can meet our prebooked Lufthansa flight. On the way back we now have a 10 hr stopover in Frankfurt and then 2 nights in Dubai before heading to Sydney.
Is this fair that we have to pay for 2 extra nights accomodation as well as be inconvenienced by having to get a very early flight and have an extremely long stopover? Our travel agent is telling us this is the best she can do as the other Emirate flights leaving around this time are already full. If this is the case shouldn't Qantas at the very least be responsible for paying for the unforeseen accomodation? This is really putting a huge damper on our long anticipated holiday.

Welcome to AFF Sir Tarmac.. I'd get your agent to push Qantas harder or give you alternate options that suit you better not suit Qantas.. it may take a while but keep pushing.

 

[samh004]

I'd agree with nlagalle, having previously had a schedule change forced on me... just don't budge, perhaps do some research yourself and see what's available and even suggest itineraries you think would work better.

As for the stops in Dubai, wouldn't they be covered by Qantas (per their rules on time between connecting flights through the new EK partnership), and maybe a question I'm asking of the greater AFF populace?

 

[MarcB]

Just to clarify, is your FRA-MXP flight booked with Qantas on the same ticket? If so, why can they not just re-route you from DXB directly to MXP? My parents were booked on a BNE-SYD-FRA service and were rescheduled due to the cancellation of the FRA service. They had a separately booked FRA-MAN flight (with LH) and I managed to get Qantas to rebook them DXB-MAN as an involuntary reroute. This was done because there was no way they would meet the flight with the times being proposed. I think your TA needs to push harder. If MXP is your destination, I'd be asking them to put you straight there.

All in all, Qantas were very accomodating for my folks, and they have just done a similar thing with my booking to FRA as well.

 

[Sir Tarmac]

Thanks for your replies. With reference to MarcB no our flights from Frankfurt to Milan are booked separately. Spoke with the travel agent again today and she said because we were on a sale fare then Qantas don't have to provide any compensation because there are seats available on flights closer to pur original flight but would be dearer seats. She went back to Qantas again today and came back with a new option of flying to London then back to Frankfurt -wow. This would save a night in Dubai but means a lot longer flying time so looks like we have to go with the original proposal.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

Just because you booked sale fares does not mean QF should not look after you.

QF changed their routes, got into bed with EK why should you be put out because of it?

Be polite but firm with your TA and tell them what you want...sick to death of companies pushing people around.

 

[defurax]

You also have the choice to ask for a full refund if you are unhappy with the new schedule and you find a cheaper or equal fare somewhere else...CX, MH, etc.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

If you haven't already done so, call qantas direct. Say your travel agent doesn't seem clear on what is and what's not allowed and that you would like options. If they say they can't touch the booking, agree with them and just say you want options to take back to your agent.

I thought the QF policy was to rebook in the fare basis, but if seats in that fare were sold out, then you could take the next level applicable in your class of travel... from the QF website it says (my bolding):

Rebooking on Qantas (QF) including Qantas codeshare flights operated by Emirates: If the same booking class is not available, the lowest booking class within the same cabin may be booked (e.g. within Business or Economy cabin)

 

[serfty]

Something is strange here - Qantas are being very flexible with the cancelled bookings and bing on a "sale fare" should make no difference.


See here: Latest Qantas News - Qantas Commercial Policy for customers affected by Qantas Network Changes

(Qantas tickets are 081-...)

Conditions for all tickets

• All changes must be made prior to the original ticketed departure.
• New travel dates must be within ticket validity.
• Rebooking on Qantas (QF) including Qantas codeshare flights operated by Emirates: If the same booking class is not available, the lowest booking class within the same cabin may be
  booked (e.g. within Business or Economy cabin).
• Rebooking on Cathay Pacific (CX) Singapore-Hong Kong (vv) for Perth-Hong Kong (vv) affected customers only: The CX flight must be booked in the same cabin and same booking class of travel as the original flight on Qantas.
• Rebooking on British Airways (BA) London-Frankfurt (vv) for Australia-Frankfurt (vv) affected customers only: The BA flight must be booked in the same cabin and same booking class of travel as the original flight on Qantas.

Has your travel agent actually ticketed the flights?

 

[MarcB]

Something is strange here - Qantas are being very flexible with the cancelled bookings and bing on a "sale fare" should make no difference.

I agree with serfty, the TA either does not know what they are doing, or is having you on. If your flights are affected in the manner you describe, the published commercial policy makes it clear that you can book into the same cabin of the aircraft in any available class - ie. if you booked economy in "O" and now only "B" is available, you can be booked in "B".

Although you may not get the same result I did (i.e. got my folks rebooked direct from DXB-MAN as an invol reroute because they would have missed their externally booked connection) you should still be able to get flights as close as possible.

Are you at liberty to disclose dates? Then we could look on E/F at availability.

 

[Hvr]

Wonder if a certain TA is involved and doesn't know what to do or can't be bothered doing the right thing?

 

[defurax]

I think your TA's taking you for a ride (pun intended...sorry )
I agree with previous post that you could contact QF directly to see what they can offer you and then tell your TA the new itinerary you want.

 

[ozmille]

I would look for a new TA after this...

 

[Must...Fly!]

The travel agent isn't pushing hard enough and/or has no idea what they're doing.

Unfortunately all too common, especially with a particular large chain...

 

[casanovawa]

And in future maybe cut out TAs all together...

I haven't used one for several years and the advice you get on here will be better and more knowledgeable most of the time anyway...

 

[DC3]

Would you be dealing with Flight Centre by the way, Sir Tarmac?