Qantas ticketing delays - likely risk of losing booking.

[Zanzara]

There are a few posts regarding problems with QF not ticketing partner award bookings for a considerable time and as a consequence, reservations booked on-line are subsequently cancelled by the respective partner airlines.

This is despite, in some instances, a Oneworld booking being made on the QF website and taxes charged. Are any airlines that are stricter than others? Some people mention in posts that QR have a 48 hour limit. I have an award booked with QF points on AA that hasn’t been ticketed yet myself.

I guess if it's a QF booking on QF there's less of a risk of the booking being canned.

I think this is another issue with QF FF unfortunately being good to accumulate points but hard work to redeem due to poor systems and lack of care factor by them? Anyone have advise or experienced canned bookings due to a lack of timely ticketing.

 

[MrJetset]

They will often respond with:

Tickets are issues according to immediacy of travel or Tickets can get stuck in the queue.

The latter can happen if the phone agent hasn't input all the necessary info.

I believe QR and CX are fairly strict on ticketing timelines.

Your best bet is to call and ask for it to be ticketed while you wait.

 

[adenda]

Had an MH flight dissapear from our OWA itinerary on 2 occasions due to slow ticketing - MH appear to only allow 24 hours before releasing a booking. Frantic call to QFF managed to reinstate them on 1 occasion but on the other the seats had gone! Since then I've always requested ticketing be done as soon as possible citing my prior experience - seems to be worthwhile making the request.

(Both itineraries were eventually cancelled due to COVID)

 

[madrooster]

QR and MH are the main ones that are problematic. CX is only a problem if it's in Y. The rest aren't a major problem with delayed ticketing as long as it's < 2 weeks.

 

[Zanzara]

QR and MH are the main ones that are problematic. CX is only a problem if it's in Y. The rest aren't a major problem with delayed ticketing as long as it's < 2 weeks.

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated. I called the 'special' number. Was connected within a few minutes. 2 hr+ wait announced as the wait time on the 1313BS number I tried immediately prior. Spoke to a chirpy, friendly and efficient staff member (think she sounded like an Australian to me) who recommended adding the APIS info to resolve the problem. She also said she would 'keep an eye' on the booking. Within 5 mins ticket was issued. I almost forgot it was QF I was dealing with, they were that good.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated. I called the 'special' number. Was connected within a few minutes. 2 hr+ wait announced as the wait time on the 1313BS number I tried immediately prior. Spoke to a chirpy, friendly and efficient staff member (think she sounded like an Australian to me) who recommended adding the APIS info to resolve the problem. She also said she would 'keep an eye' on the booking. Within 5 mins ticket was issued. I almost forgot it was QF I was dealing with, they were that good.

Ohh which special number, because I'm now 60 hours and no ticket and I'm stressing a little that it too will get rejected (but no way am I'm not waiting 2+ hours on the phone!)

 

[Lynda2475]

Well last week my entire OWA was cancelled because QF didnt processes payment for extra taxes for the two domestic BA legs I added within 48 hours. Luckily I noticed at the 60 hour mark and was able to have all legs resinstated before the J seats on key flights disappeared.

I would have thought given all the other flights were unchanged and fully paid and ticketed, that any payment failure would have only affected the additional legs but not so. So I would add BA onto the list of airlines to watch out for.

 

[Zanzara]

Ohh which special number, because I'm now 50 hours and no ticket and I'm stressing a little that it too will get rejected (but no way am I'm not waiting 2+ hours on the phone!)

Have a look at the ‘Qantas call centre long wait time’ thread. I got the number from in there somewhere. Can’t recall the exact post # sorry.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Have a look at the ‘Qantas call centre long wait time’ thread. I got the number from in there somewhere. Can’t recall the exact post # sorry.

Thanks! I ran 1300 659 115 and got through immediately ! (Fiji by the sound of it, but couldn't be certain. He said as the points only came out today and not on Tuesday morning when the booking was made over the phone that their 24-48hrs only start now. He's put a note on that it be processed manually. Let's see how long it takes!)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks! I ran 1300 659 115 and got through immediately ! (Fiji by the sound of it, but couldn't be certain. He said as the points only came out today and not on Tuesday morning when the booking was made over the phone that their 24-48hrs only start now. He's put a note on that it be processed manually. Let's see how long it takes!)

Hmmm... not so sure about that one! I think the partner airline's countdown will start as soon as the reservation is made. Not when any points come out of your account.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Hmmm... not so sure about that one! I think the partner airline's countdown will start as soon as the reservation is made. Not when any points come out of your account.

Oh yes I’m sure. Sorry I should have added in my post that I was very dubious about the validity of what he was saying (I have zero confidence in anything I’m ever told by these international call centre staff.) there’s still availability for those flights so I’m not overly concerned….but I don’t want to go through this whole process again to get them added on and ticketed if they do drop. (They are EK flights just for interest sake.)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Oh yes I’m sure. Sorry I should have added in my post that I was very dubious about the validity of what he was saying (I have zero confidence in anything I’m ever told by these international call centre staff.) there’s still availability for those flights so I’m not overly concerned….but I don’t want to go through this whole process again to get them added on and ticketed if they do drop. (They are EK flights just for interest sake.)

(indeed... if in doubt, just make it up )

 

[DC3]

… He said as the points only came out today and not on Tuesday morning when the booking was made over the phone that their 24-48hrs only start now …

Well, yes, he’s wrong. The e-ticket has sometimes been issued within minutes after booking (although sometimes can take forever unless chased up ).

However, the points deduction may take some days, or longer. In fact, I recall one booking where the points were never ever deducted, some years ago, but the e-ticket was immediate.

Edit: E-ticket issue involving QF-partner airlines needs close monitoring in case the partner flights are lost. Some moreso than others.

 

[DC3]

.. The latter can happen if the phone agent hasn't input all the necessary info …

Yes. It’s happened to me on a number of accessions. Call Centre error/incompetence/laziness. This can result in flights being lost, a big issue with some QF-partner airlines.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Well, yes, he’s wrong. The e-ticket has sometimes been issued within minutes after booking (although sometimes can take forever unless chased up ).

However, the points deduction may take some days, or longer. In fact, I recall one booking where the points were never ever deducted, some years ago, but the e-ticket was immediate.

Edit: E-ticket issue involving QF-partner airlines needs close monitoring in case the partner flights are lost. Some moreso than others.

Still no ticket. Sigh. I've rung three times chasing it up on three different days and all three (international) operators told me it's in the queue not to worry. (He was the third.) Not sure what else to do to get it actually ticketed....??

 

[jboy90]

Still no ticket. Sigh. I've rung three times chasing it up on three different days and all three (international) operators told me it's in the queue not to worry. (He was the third.) Not sure what else to do to get it actually ticketed....??

I had a similar issue in the past few weeks. I called again and managed to get a good agent who then ticketed it while I was on the phone (Cape Town). My experience in the past few months is that ticketing has been a bit of a s**tshow!

 

[kingzac]

My last call 22ish hours are reserving I said that QR has advised that they will cancel the booking if not ticketed immediately and have told me to not hang up under any circumstance until it is ticketed. That got the cogs moving and got it ticketed pretty quick.

 

[FlyingFiona]

My last call 22ish hours are reserving I said that QR has advised that they will cancel the booking if not ticketed immediately and have told me to not hang up under any circumstance until it is ticketed. That got the cogs moving and got it ticketed pretty quick.

Interesting tactic! That's definitely going to be my next move when I ring back. Thanks!

 

[DC3]

… Not sure what else to do to get it actually ticketed....??

Continually HUACA, and hope that Oz picks up the call.

The trouble with the queue is that it may sit there for weeks, or potentially months. It’s not a problem if QF flights, only, but some oneworld partners are known to cancel pretty quickly, as some at the Call Centres are seemingly clueless about.

 

[Franky]

Interesting tactic! That's definitely going to be my next move when I ring back. Thanks!

Lets hope they dont wake up to it too soon...