QFF & Status Credit Question (on Dragonair Flights)

[Yoz]

Hello All,

In an attempt to get from Melbourne to Beijing I put the details into the Qantas website and it offered the following flights:

QF29 - MEL-HKG
KA906 - HKG-PEK

It was listed as a 'SALE' fare with the following conditions:
- Points and Status Credits may be earned on this fare.
- Flight Upgrade Awards are not eligible on this fare.
- This fare is classed as Discount Economy when Status credits are earned.
- Points and Status credits are not accrued when travelling on Qantas codeshare flights operated by Jetstar.

According to the Qantas partner website you can earn on Dragonair flying discount economy in the following classes (BHKLMV).


However, I did not receive points and upon clicking the missing points link it returned:
UNSUCCESSFUL - INELIGIBLE BKG CLASS
KA 0906 FIRST 26JUL13 HONG KONG/BEIJING


Isn't it quite misleading to state that points and status credits may be earned on the fare without highlighting that KA906 won't earn. And furthermore the Qantas website never shows the booking classes so it's actually impossible to double-check the information?

Surely I'm not meant to assume based on the above that the Dragonair flight will not earn?

 

[Mwenenzi]

It was listed as a 'SALE' fare with the following conditions:
- Points and Status Credits may be earned on this fare.
- Flight Upgrade Awards are not eligible on this fare.
- This fare is classed as Discount Economy when Status credits are earned.
- Points and Status credits are not accrued when travelling on Qantas codeshare flights operated by Jetstar.

My bolding
"May be" is not the a same as "will be"

 

[Mal]

I don't trust points claims involving Cathay (dragonair's parent). I have been falsely denied before as their systems don't always work correctly.

I would try the email route to Qantas frequent flyer.

 

[Yoz]

My bolding
"May be" is not the a same as "will be"

Sure, but given the information provided on the Qantas website isn't it pot luck as to whether or not this earns?

You can't see the fare bucket so you have to rely on the type of fare information?

 

[moa999]

What is the actual fare code on the e-ticket that Qantas issued you?
Something seems to have gone awry with the "FIRST" comment.

 

[Yoz]

Qantas itinerary seems to list the QF flights as 'economy' and the KA flight as not having a fare code - which at a guess makes it ineligible?

Whether or not I get the points and credits isn't too much of a concern as the HKG-PEK segment on discount economy isn't worth too much and at 310 SCs (plus the year's expired since) it's not going to affect any status.

What is a bit annoying is that there is no way of checking whether or not a flight earns through the Qantas website before booking?

 

[serfty]

...

What is a bit annoying is that there is no way of checking whether or not a flight earns through the Qantas website before booking?

Actually there is: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....gram/qf-booking-class-22124-2.html#post849126

Those $1083 fares seems to book into O class.

 

[Red Roo]

Hello All,

In an attempt to get from Melbourne to Beijing I put the details into the Qantas website and it offered the following flights:

QF29 - MEL-HKG
KA906 - HKG-PEK

It was listed as a 'SALE' fare with the following conditions:
- Points and Status Credits may be earned on this fare.
- Flight Upgrade Awards are not eligible on this fare.
- This fare is classed as Discount Economy when Status credits are earned.
- Points and Status credits are not accrued when travelling on Qantas codeshare flights operated by Jetstar.

According to the Qantas partner website you can earn on Dragonair flying discount economy in the following classes (BHKLMV).


However, I did not receive points and upon clicking the missing points link it returned:
UNSUCCESSFUL - INELIGIBLE BKG CLASS
KA 0906 FIRST 26JUL13 HONG KONG/BEIJING


Isn't it quite misleading to state that points and status credits may be earned on the fare without highlighting that KA906 won't earn. And furthermore the Qantas website never shows the booking classes so it's actually impossible to double-check the information?

Surely I'm not meant to assume based on the above that the Dragonair flight will not earn?

Please contact our Frequent Flyer team with your FF details on 13 11 31 or email [email protected] to clarify this. Let me know how you go.

 

[Yoz]

Please contact our Frequent Flyer team with your FF details on 13 11 31 or email [email protected] to clarify this. Let me know how you go.

As Serfty has pointed out above the fare was booked into O Class for the KA906 segment of the itinerary (confirmed by calling the FF Team).

It's a little frustrating that the only information provided states that the fare is classified as discount economy but provides no further information on booking class without looking into the source code of the website. Obviously the information is available in the website coding but is being deliberately not shown.

However, by hiding the fare bucket information it means there is no [easy] way of knowing which booking class the discount economy flight is being booked into - and therefore there is no [easy] way for a Qantas customer to know whether or not the flight will/won't earn.

In my opinion the Qantas website needs a way of letting customers know/check this information without having to look into source code. Only other option is to call up but I don't think you want every customer calling up to enquire if a fare is going to earn or not?

 

[Red Roo]

As Serfty has pointed out above the fare was booked into O Class for the KA906 segment of the itinerary (confirmed by calling the FF Team).

It's a little frustrating that the only information provided states that the fare is classified as discount economy but provides no further information on booking class without looking into the source code of the website. Obviously the information is available in the website coding but is being deliberately not shown.

However, by hiding the fare bucket information it means there is no [easy] way of knowing which booking class the discount economy flight is being booked into - and therefore there is no [easy] way for a Qantas customer to know whether or not the flight will/won't earn.

In my opinion the Qantas website needs a way of letting customers know/check this information without having to look into source code. Only other option is to call up but I don't think you want every customer calling up to enquire if a fare is going to earn or not?

Appreciate this point. Feedback noted and passed on. Please do let me know if I can be of further assistance on this occasion.

 

[Danger]

Actually there is: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....gram/qf-booking-class-22124-2.html#post849126

Those $1083 fares seems to book into O class.

As Serfty has pointed out above the fare was booked into O Class for the KA906 segment of the itinerary (confirmed by calling the FF Team).

It's a little frustrating that the only information provided states that the fare is classified as discount economy but provides no further information on booking class without looking into the source code of the website. Obviously the information is available in the website coding but is being deliberately not shown.

However, by hiding the fare bucket information it means there is no [easy] way of knowing which booking class the discount economy flight is being booked into - and therefore there is no [easy] way for a Qantas customer to know whether or not the flight will/won't earn.

In my opinion the Qantas website needs a way of letting customers know/check this information without having to look into source code. Only other option is to call up but I don't think you want every customer calling up to enquire if a fare is going to earn or not?

I agree, Yoz. The lay consumer shouldn't have to know how to change to code view or whatever it is in order to determine something as important as the fare bucket. By the same token, however, I don't Qantas is alone in not making this aspect of the booking particularly easy to learn.

 

[Joshua]

Many other airlines show the fare bucket during booking however I will admit most of these seem to have left it in as part of the software package. It is shown in brackets in manage my booking, surely something similar could be done on the post flight selection page where the fare is priced - CX is a good example of this. It wouldn't exactly be difficult nor problematic for the interface.

 

[Yoz]

I agree, Yoz. The lay consumer shouldn't have to know how to change to code view or whatever it is in order to determine something as important as the fare bucket. By the same token, however, I don't Qantas is alone in not making this aspect of the booking particularly easy to learn.

Well. I've booked via Cathay before and they made it quite clear which fare buckets you were actually booking into

Cannot seem to recall for any other airlines. I'm not that frequent a flyer (about three or four international trips a year) but just thought it's quite ironic that the Qantas partner page tells you which classes do/do not earn but does not actually tell you which class you're booking into.

And the information 'may earn' basically tells you nothing either. It makes it pot luck unless you're bothered to look into source or call up.

 

[Yoz]

Many other airlines show the fare bucket during booking however I will admit most of these seem to have left it in as part of the software package. It is shown in brackets in manage my booking, surely something similar could be done on the post flight selection page where the fare is priced - CX is a good example of this. It wouldn't exactly be difficult nor problematic for the interface.

Well it's pretty bizarre that the information is in the code (as highlighted by Serfty) but not visually depicted. It's as though they've decided they'd prefer for the average consumer not to know this (to prevent confusion) but in doing so they need to make it explicitly clear in the booking conditions as to what rate you're accruing points/status credits.

 

[Archphoto]

I like the fact that CX shows what you get for the fare you pay, at the top of the page. If you want no-frills cheapest, it shows you don't accrue miles (and obviously SCs). If you do, you select the first one that shows their AsiaMiles logo - from there up the price increase matches various things like more flexibility etc.



And just in case you clicked on the wrong button, the summary shows fully which class you're booking in, if the flights selected initially accrue miles (or not), a list of the classes that accrue miles and the total price you'll be paying for the currently selected flights. You can then change or continue depending upon what you want.





It's transparent and provides the information succinctly.

If QF could design their's in a similar manner, it would make booking flights a lot easier for those of us wanting to get SCs and maximum points.