QANTAS security breach-2 separate flights were cancelled without Authorisation by my ex-husband through his QFF Account on-line.

[Rich]

This action perpetrated by my ex husband is a security breach and QANTAS need to be held accountable for it.

I am very sorry for your situation, it must be an awful thing to be going through.
However it is not a security breach. A breach implies someone has hacked your account or their systems, which is not the case. Him having your surname and booking reference is the same as you sharing your username and password for something. No doubt you've had a lot on your mind and these joint bookings were not forefront, but the outcome was there waiting to happen.
As others have said it is pretty standard protocol and it is convenient e.g. my wife often books flights and leaves me to deal with details of seat selections etc.
It would have been decent if QANTAS were understanding of your situation and helped you out, but it is hard to find someone in a call centre anywhere that can work outside of the standard script. Maybe you can find something in the domestic violence snippet someone posted earlier, but otherwise I would cut my losses.

 

[justinbrett]

I have some sympathy with the OP.

Banks and credit cards separate out the primary and secondary card holders, with the primary having more a control over the account. You could have the primary (paying) and secondary passengers in a booking.

If hotels followed the same logic as airlines, imagine if a single employee was able to cancel the reservations of the whole company going away for a conference.

Airlines do have it both ways. If you book through a travel agent, the airline won’t touch the booking. Yet here the OP has paid, but they’re are willing to deal with the person who has not, and give that person full control.

Airline practices are often outdated, and it doesn’t make them ‘right’.

There’s a difference in saying procedures should change, vs blaming the airline for following extant procedures that have been in place for decades.

You have to operate with the procedures currently in place. That means taking steps to modify the booking and removing the other passenger. To use your analogy, it’s similar to them having a credit card linked to your account. Wouldn’t you be cancelling that card as a matter of priority? Not only do they have access to modify/cancel your booking, but you’re going to be seated together on the same flights. Crazy (IMO).

I don’t think it’s helpful to involve group bookings into the discussion, as they work fundamentally differently both in the hotel and airline context.

 

[elanshin]

I do agree that airline method of identifying the customer and their intentions are outdated, but that would be a whole totally different thread.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

There’s a difference in saying procedures should change, vs blaming the airline for following extant procedures that have been in place for decades.

You have to operate with the procedures currently in place. That means taking steps to modify the booking and removing the other passenger. To use your analogy, it’s similar to them having a credit card linked to your account. Wouldn’t you be cancelling that card as a matter of priority? Not only do they have access to modify/cancel your booking, but you’re going to be seated together on the same flights. Crazy (IMO).

I don’t think it’s helpful to involve group bookings into the discussion, as they work fundamentally differently both in the hotel and airline context.

With group bookings, it’s suits hotels and airlines from a commercial perspective that the person who organises and pays controls the booking. They don’t want to lose the business of a group booking.

Just as it suits airlines to not touch bookings made by travel agents, even if that disadvantages the passenger travelling.

Sure, the airline and passengers work within the rules as they are now. I don’t agree with the OP that this is a security breach, but that doesn’t preclude sympathy for a system that is outdated.

It also doesn’t stop airlines working with the passenger to fix the problem. Nothing in the rules prevents that.

 

[justinbrett]

With group bookings, it’s suits hotels and airlines from a commercial perspective that the person who organises and pays controls the booking. They don’t want to lose the business of a group booking.

Just as it suits airlines to not touch bookings made by travel agents, even if that disadvantages the passenger travelling.

Sure, the airline and passengers work within the rules as they are now. I don’t agree with the OP that this is a security breach, but that doesn’t preclude sympathy for a system that is outdated.

It also doesn’t stop airlines working with the passenger to fix the problem. Nothing in the rules prevents that.

The extant procedures actually work in OP’s favour, assuming they don’t want to travel with the other passenger.

Allowing the pax who paid to unilaterally cancel bookings doesn’t solve the issue. We could be reading a very similar post. Imagine the partner paid for the person to travel to spend Christmas with their parents, then days before cancels the ticket leaving them stranded with either sold out or very expensive flights. The fact it was on their card, which could be joint or even the other persons funds, is irrelevant.

And if each passenger has to permit changes, not only does that make it onerous on the airline, but could actually prevent the person removing a dangerous ex partner from travelling with them.

Any way you slice it, it’s going to be messy. It’s not the airlines job to get involved - we aren’t talking about bookings being hacked, these are travelling companions having access to joint bookings. There was a very easy way to solve this issue, unfortunately for whatever reason, OP did not think to do it. Certainly doesn’t warrant a pile on because it sounds like they’ve got a lot to think about, but it’s the kind of mistake you’d only make once.