Seriously Disappointed with Qantas

[krm]

Im a gold FF have been for many years. I just asked for some compassionate assistance.

I have friend of 40 years staying with me I booked him to go home PER to MEL on Friday for his 45 wedding anniversary . Last night he fell down the stairs broke his back shoulder and 2 toes ( 70 years old ) .

Obviously not flying home on friday but the Dr expects to clear him to fly in a week with a back brace, sling and a big limp.

I asked if i could change his flight and apply for an upgrade on compassionate grounds using my points. no argument about change fees etc happy to pay that

The sales person at Qantas just told me since he is not a relative I cant upgrade him. I was aware of that and asked on compassionate grounds given his physical condition. I was intending to accompany him. I was told no chance. The compassionate policy at Qantas doesn't kick in unless he dies, so if he dies its ok to upgrade him. What sort of sick organization have I been loyal to for decades.

Fully aware I could have just done it and listed him as a distance relative and they would never know. but trying to do the right thing doesn't work. Ill cancel the flight and book business with another airline as well as all the flights I book for myself and staff in the future. Good bye Qantas

 

[Princess Fiona]

Im a gold FF have been for many years. I just asked for some compassionate assistance.

I have friend of 40 years staying with me I booked him to go home PER to MEL on Friday for his 45 wedding anniversary . Last night he fell down the stairs broke his back shoulder and 2 toes ( 70 years old ) .

Obviously not flying home on friday but the Dr expects to clear him to fly in a week with a back brace, sling and a big limp.

I asked if i could change his flight and apply for an upgrade on compassionate grounds using my points. no argument about change fees etc happy to pay that

The sales person at Qantas just told me since he is not a relative I cant upgrade him. I was aware of that and asked on compassionate grounds given his physical condition. I was intending to accompany him. I was told no chance. The compassionate policy at Qantas doesn't kick in unless he dies, so if he dies its ok to upgrade him. What sort of sick organization have I been loyal to for decades.

Fully aware I could have just done it and listed him as a distance relative and they would never know. but trying to do the right thing doesn't work. Ill cancel the flight and book business with another airline as well as all the flights I book for myself and staff in the future. Good bye Qantas

An unfortunate situation for your friend to be in and it's terrific that you are trying to get him home in comfort.
What you have to remember is that the call centre staff are very limited in what they can do when faced with a request which is clearly outside the T&Cs. This is the same for any airline, or indeed any business.
Fairly likely that they have never been asked before for a compassionate upgrade by a friend. Your loyalty to Qantas isn't something that they can take into account. The computer systems simply don't allow this to happen.
The reality is that most of these upgrades etc take place online and you may well find that a more successful approach is to have the flight changed and then make sure that there are enough points via family transfers or otherwise to have your friend upgrade the flight online.
Domestic upgrades are not subject to status at time of booking. If you select a flight which has Business Class Classic Award Seats on it then you can upgrade the flight immediately it's ticketed.
I would certainly look hard at the alternatives in Australia before directing all of your business elsewhere. I suspect the answer from the competitors would have been exactly the same in these circumstances.

 

[dajop]

You can choose to pragmatic- and trade off your honesty and principles - and upgrade your "cousin" which is most would do ... or continue on your current path against Qantas.If you upgrade your "cousin" you should be able do it online.

 

[kevrosmith]

If you are a Business, then hopefully you've been collecting Qantas Business Reward points (formerly Aquire) and the benefit of those points is that you can transfer them to anyone (even non-family members). You could therefore transfer your Qantas Business Reward points to your friend's QFF account and they could apply for the upgrade themselves.

 

[mannej]

Sorry for the injuries your friend has suffered, but if you were aware of the T&C's why not request the upgrade online?

As PF has stated, your status isn't relevant to the upgrade chances of the friend.

I am sorry, but I feel it's a petty reason to throw away your status over QF not bending the rules that you were aware of.

 

[Altair]

Well I thought if you were on the same PNR then all passengers would have to be upgraded, regardless of familial connection.

 

[krm]

An unfortunate situation for your friend to be in and it's terrific that you are trying to get him home in comfort.
What you have to remember is that the call centre staff are very limited in what they can do when faced with a request which is clearly outside the T&Cs. This is the same for any airline, or indeed any business.
Fairly likely that they have never been asked before for a compassionate upgrade by a friend. Your loyalty to Qantas isn't something that they can take into account. The computer systems simply don't allow this to happen.
The reality is that most of these upgrades etc take place online and you may well find that a more successful approach is to have the flight changed and then make sure that there are enough points via family transfers or otherwise to have your friend upgrade the flight online.
Domestic upgrades are not subject to status at time of booking. If you select a flight which has Business Class Classic Award Seats on it then you can upgrade the flight immediately it's ticketed.
I would certainly look hard at the alternatives in Australia before directing all of your business elsewhere. I suspect the answer from the competitors would have been exactly the same in these circumstances.

I didnt ask for the upgrade to go through what got me was Qantas compassionate policy doesn't kick in till there is a death. Well I suggest that is a policy that needs looking at.

I dont accept the argument the computers wont allow it ...that's just corporate garbage. Organizations can do what they want if they are committed.

 

[mannej]

I didnt ask for the upgrade to go through what got me was Qantas compassionate policy doesn't kick in till there is a death. Well I suggest that is a policy that needs looking at.

I dont accept the argument the computers wont allow it ...that's just corporate garbage. Organizations can do what they want if they are committed.

Sorry but if you knew you could do it online, why not do it online and be done with it?

 

[Pushka]

Sorry but if you knew you could do it online, why not do it online and be done with it?

They wanted a guarantee I think.

 

[njba]

What you have to remember is that the call centre staff are very limited in what they can do when faced with a request which is clearly outside the T&Cs. This is the same for any airline, or indeed any business.

It's a good point to remember, and it's where the human to company interaction always breaks down.

 

[Vic]

I dont accept the argument the computers wont allow it ...that's just corporate garbage. Organizations can do what they want if they are committed.

I've had to call up to book family awards. I'm pretty sure they used basically the same book system that requires the relationship to be selected from a drop down list. Exactly the same as the customer sees on the website. You probably needed to talk to Alan Joyce if you wanted someone to change that drop down list.

 

[bam71]

You can choose to pragmatic- and trade off your honesty and principles - and upgrade your "cousin" which is most would do ... or continue on your current path against Qantas.If you upgrade your "cousin" you should be able do it online.

I have no moral dilemma in upgrading a "cousin" ....aren't we all from the same mitochondrial eve?

 

[mannej]

They wanted a guarantee I think.

Post 7 suggests the OP just wanted to lodge the upgrade.

 

[ric_melb]

General consensus is that fewer airlines are offering compassionate airfares these days, and of those that may you can sometimes get a better airfare by booking sale type fares.
Compassionate airfares are mostly restricted to bereavement, or unexpected critical medical emergencies, and involving a "close family member". In the case of the OP there has been no death, there is no unexpected and critical medical emergency, and there is no family member.
In addition travel insurance is wise for all trips to cover all matters including medical.
The course is now open to the OP and friend to make what arrangements are available.
Blaming Qantas in this instance is inappropriate.

 

[Happy Dude]

General consensus is that fewer airlines are offering compassionate airfares these days, and of those that may you can sometimes get a better airfare by booking sale type fares.
Compassionate airfares are mostly restricted to bereavement, or unexpected critical medical emergencies, and involving a "close family member". In the case of the OP there has been no death, there is no unexpected and critical medical emergency, and there is no family member.
In addition travel insurance is wise for all trips to cover all matters including medical.
The course is now open to the OP and friend to make what arrangements are available.
Blaming Qantas in this instance is inappropriate.

The OP wasn't purchasing a compassionate fare nor was he "blaming" them. He was appealing to QF's compassion in allowing him a points upgrade for a friend - a request that was made knowing it was outside the T&C's of the relevant policy.

It's ridiculous that what he should have done was be a devious fibber and done it online, but I'm guessing that such behaviour might be hard to reconcile for some generations.

If the policy can be circumvented simply by being untruthful, it's not a good policy. A bit of sensible discretion by QF here would have been entirely reasonable, particularly for a SG.

 

[krm]

The OP wasn't purchasing a compassionate fare nor was he "blaming" them. He was appealing to QF's compassion in allowing him a points upgrade for a friend - a request that was made knowing it was outside the T&C's of the relevant policy.

It's ridiculous that what he should have done was be a devious fibber and done it online, but I'm guessing that such behaviour might be hard to reconcile for some generations.

If the policy can be circumvented simply by being untruthful, it's not a good policy. A bit of sensible discretion by QF here would have been entirely reasonable, particularly for a SG.

Thank you that was exactly my point.

 

[ric_melb]

Then unfortunately in this case Qantas were unable to offer compassionate assistance. Terms and conditions may not always suit us.

 

[basso]

In airline terms, compassionate reasons are generally around short notice emergency situations, such as getting to a death or critically ill person. What you were after was an exemption on medical grounds. The problem is, people can come up with all sorts of reasons why their case is 'special', and unfortunately companies don't work that way.

 

[greyyy]

what got me was Qantas compassionate policy doesn't kick in till there is a death

Isn't the "compassionate policy" about issuing refunds for flights where the passenger died after booking? Not to help a friend upgrade someone else?

 

[RichardMEL]

And chances are if there's a seat the staff at PER would see his situation and make it happen i reckon