Can I start this thread by saying that I love Qantas and have never been one to bash an airline...but in this instance, I really felt that Qantas let me down.
Recently I was in the awful situation of receiving a phone call from my family letting me know that my dad had taken an unexpected turn for the worse and was not expected to live for much longer. I was in the Admirals Lounge in Miami when I got the call and a wonderful traveling companion, along with an incredibly helpful AA staff member, got me onto the next flight from Miami to LAX and connecting onto QF94.
Unfortunately the flight from Miami to LAX was delayed and it looked like my connection time in LAX was going to be tight. As can be expected, I was a mess but managed to explain my situation to the AA flight attendants who in turn spoke to the Captain. The message that I got back was that Qantas had been contacted, and that they had arranged for someone to meet me at the gate to quickly transport me (I had carry on luggage only) to my connecting flight. They explained that this sort of thing had been done before. All sounded wonderful. The AA FAs also spoke to all the first class passengers and asked them to wait until I had come through from economy before they all stood up so that I wouldn't get caught in a gridlock trying to get off the plane.
Everything worked wonderfully until I got off the plane to find no-one from Qantas waiting for me. I was told to go down to the transfer desk where when I asked what was happening, they knew nothing about me. They started making calls but either people wouldn't pick up, or they picked up said they were too busy to talk and then hung up again. Meanwhile, time is ticking and I knew that my chances of making the connection were getting slimmer.
When they finally did get a hold of someone, the only bit of the conversation that i hear is "Oh, so you've cancelled her off the flight". I was beside myself. Eventually they managed to get me onto QF108 and I was loaded onto the normal transfer bus with every other connecting passenger and told to hurry. We made it to QF108....and then sat on the tarmac for two hours with a mechanical issue.
Now I completely agree that they got me home.....but I truly believe that they could have done it with a bit of compassion. I had no luggage and if they had met me as promised, they could have got me onto QF94. Or at least they could have made the transfer to QF108 smooth rather than traumatic. Instead, it appeared that no-one cared and I was treated as an annoying passenger. I also know that planes breaking down are outside of their control...but two hours sitting going nowhere knowing that my dad was dying was pure torture.
Sadly my dad passed away whilst I was in the air. And the delay due to missing the QF94 meant that I missed being there for my mum whilst she had to make funeral arrangements. Now I understand that this was a really emotional time for me...but I just feel really disappointed in how it was handled by Qantas.
Recently I was in the awful situation of receiving a phone call from my family letting me know that my dad had taken an unexpected turn for the worse and was not expected to live for much longer. I was in the Admirals Lounge in Miami when I got the call and a wonderful traveling companion, along with an incredibly helpful AA staff member, got me onto the next flight from Miami to LAX and connecting onto QF94.
Unfortunately the flight from Miami to LAX was delayed and it looked like my connection time in LAX was going to be tight. As can be expected, I was a mess but managed to explain my situation to the AA flight attendants who in turn spoke to the Captain. The message that I got back was that Qantas had been contacted, and that they had arranged for someone to meet me at the gate to quickly transport me (I had carry on luggage only) to my connecting flight. They explained that this sort of thing had been done before. All sounded wonderful. The AA FAs also spoke to all the first class passengers and asked them to wait until I had come through from economy before they all stood up so that I wouldn't get caught in a gridlock trying to get off the plane.
Everything worked wonderfully until I got off the plane to find no-one from Qantas waiting for me. I was told to go down to the transfer desk where when I asked what was happening, they knew nothing about me. They started making calls but either people wouldn't pick up, or they picked up said they were too busy to talk and then hung up again. Meanwhile, time is ticking and I knew that my chances of making the connection were getting slimmer.
When they finally did get a hold of someone, the only bit of the conversation that i hear is "Oh, so you've cancelled her off the flight". I was beside myself. Eventually they managed to get me onto QF108 and I was loaded onto the normal transfer bus with every other connecting passenger and told to hurry. We made it to QF108....and then sat on the tarmac for two hours with a mechanical issue.
Now I completely agree that they got me home.....but I truly believe that they could have done it with a bit of compassion. I had no luggage and if they had met me as promised, they could have got me onto QF94. Or at least they could have made the transfer to QF108 smooth rather than traumatic. Instead, it appeared that no-one cared and I was treated as an annoying passenger. I also know that planes breaking down are outside of their control...but two hours sitting going nowhere knowing that my dad was dying was pure torture.
Sadly my dad passed away whilst I was in the air. And the delay due to missing the QF94 meant that I missed being there for my mum whilst she had to make funeral arrangements. Now I understand that this was a really emotional time for me...but I just feel really disappointed in how it was handled by Qantas.
