About 3 weeks ago, I booked a multi-city ticket from CHC to PVR (Mexico). Because it was quite complicated, with stopovers and transfers etc, I had to do it over the phone with Qantas (my preferred TA was away). I paid the $60pp booking fee. The consultants I have dealt with up until this morning were all really helpful. The fare I booked was a flexi (H class) fare that provides as follows regarding ticketing:
WHEN RESERVATIONS ARE MADE AT LEAST 30 DAYS BEFORE
DEPARTURE, TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN 30 DAYS
AFTER RESERVATIONS ARE MADE OR AT LEAST 13 DAYS BEFORE
DEPARTURE WHICHEVER IS EARLIER.
This was communicated to me at booking, although there was made mention of the fact that because there were some AA sectors in there (2 out of 8 flights), it may be necessary to rebook those sectors during that time as they might cancel out. This did in fact happen with the AA sectors cancelling out three times (pretty much every 4-5 days). The first time I rang these were rebooked without issue and I was told to just keep an eye on it and keep calling back if it happened again, reinforcing that I had until 21 September to pay. The second time it cancelled out the sectors, they were automatically rebooked without me calling (someone must get alerts at QF) within 24 hours. On this last occasion, I noticed that it took almost 3 days for the flights to be rebooked by QF, with the sectors reappearing yesterday.
This morning, I received a call from Qantas Premium explaining that they had rebooked the flights, but telling me that AA was insisting on payment for the flights today. Further, I was told if I did not pay today, AA would cancel the whole reservation. I explained to the consultant that I did not think it was correct that AA could cancel my entire reservation given it was made with Qantas, and also made the point that the fare rules specified 30 days so I did not see why I was being made to pay earlier. The consultant then became quite forceful (not aggressive), pretty much telling me she understood that, but there was nothing that could be done. Moreover, if I didn't pay, my entire booking would be cancelled and I would have to rebook the whole itinerary from available inventory AND I would lose my non-refundable booking fee. I interpreted this as me having to pay it again for any rebooked flights. I asked if I could make payment tomorrow (my credit card rolls over then so an extra 6 weeks free money) and this was met with an absolutely not, no way, never going to happen response.
Really, it was the "not my/QF problem" attitude that got me a fired up, and I really think there could have been a lot more acknowledgement from the consultant that being asked to pay a week earlier than the fare rules require is something I was entitled to be a bit peeved about - especially seeing as I was prepared to pay tomorrow.
In the end, I said I would call back after I had thought about it, because I could feel my crankiness factor rising - it was at this point the consultant again impressed upon me that I needed to understand if no payment was received by midnight, my whole booking would be cancelled.
Overall, I understand this is not a big deal, but I feel it was a really bad QF experience.
Has anyone else ever had these sort of issues with AA/on QF sectors on flexi tickets?
WHEN RESERVATIONS ARE MADE AT LEAST 30 DAYS BEFORE
DEPARTURE, TICKETING MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN 30 DAYS
AFTER RESERVATIONS ARE MADE OR AT LEAST 13 DAYS BEFORE
DEPARTURE WHICHEVER IS EARLIER.
This was communicated to me at booking, although there was made mention of the fact that because there were some AA sectors in there (2 out of 8 flights), it may be necessary to rebook those sectors during that time as they might cancel out. This did in fact happen with the AA sectors cancelling out three times (pretty much every 4-5 days). The first time I rang these were rebooked without issue and I was told to just keep an eye on it and keep calling back if it happened again, reinforcing that I had until 21 September to pay. The second time it cancelled out the sectors, they were automatically rebooked without me calling (someone must get alerts at QF) within 24 hours. On this last occasion, I noticed that it took almost 3 days for the flights to be rebooked by QF, with the sectors reappearing yesterday.
This morning, I received a call from Qantas Premium explaining that they had rebooked the flights, but telling me that AA was insisting on payment for the flights today. Further, I was told if I did not pay today, AA would cancel the whole reservation. I explained to the consultant that I did not think it was correct that AA could cancel my entire reservation given it was made with Qantas, and also made the point that the fare rules specified 30 days so I did not see why I was being made to pay earlier. The consultant then became quite forceful (not aggressive), pretty much telling me she understood that, but there was nothing that could be done. Moreover, if I didn't pay, my entire booking would be cancelled and I would have to rebook the whole itinerary from available inventory AND I would lose my non-refundable booking fee. I interpreted this as me having to pay it again for any rebooked flights. I asked if I could make payment tomorrow (my credit card rolls over then so an extra 6 weeks free money) and this was met with an absolutely not, no way, never going to happen response.
Really, it was the "not my/QF problem" attitude that got me a fired up, and I really think there could have been a lot more acknowledgement from the consultant that being asked to pay a week earlier than the fare rules require is something I was entitled to be a bit peeved about - especially seeing as I was prepared to pay tomorrow.
In the end, I said I would call back after I had thought about it, because I could feel my crankiness factor rising - it was at this point the consultant again impressed upon me that I needed to understand if no payment was received by midnight, my whole booking would be cancelled.
Overall, I understand this is not a big deal, but I feel it was a really bad QF experience.
Has anyone else ever had these sort of issues with AA/on QF sectors on flexi tickets?
