What compensation have you received for a delayed or cancelled QF flight?

[Downwind]

About 2 years ago, when QF first started flying to DFW, I flew via there in PE. The cabin was horribly dirty and dusty and about 1 hr into the flight I found a used teacup from the previous flight wedged down the side of my seat. All of this was reported to the CSM and we were met by the duty manager in DFW, who promised us a confirmed upgrade to J for our return trip. This would have been the end of the matter, but at check in, J was apparently full AND the flight would be flying via AKL. So we were asked if we minded overnighting in DFW at QF's expense with a reroute to LAX the next day in Y on AA and then J direct to MEL. Fair enough, we thought..... Until we arrived at the Hyatt and they didnt know anything about it. When we returned to the airport the next day, we learned that QF hadn't reissued the ticket and AA couldn't check us in and were told to call QF. So we did. Finally we were allowed to board the 763 and were allocated the very last row. We did not receive a meal, despite the famous QF advice of "dinner" on AA codeshares. In LA, the duty manager refused the upgrade claiming the flight was full and we'd have to fly Y, despite having a PE ticket. We declined, she offloaded us and called the police to escort us from the terminal as we no longer had BP's for a flight that night. As you might imagine, I was LIVID. On return, QF reimbursed our expenses and after MUCH negotiation, we each received 3 space available, origin to destination (meaning MEL-DXB-LHR counts as only 1 upgrade) system wide upgrades Y/Y+ to J or J to F. We demanded that the upgrades not have the usual 12 month expiry date. This was because of my concern that QF would simply decline any upgrade request for 12 months and then say "bad luck". That foresight was quite fortuitous because in the 2 years since, we've only been able to redeem 1 of them. In fairness, I only request them on longhaul flights in order to maximise their value.

 

[smit0847]

About 2 years ago, when QF first started flying to DFW, I flew via there in PE. The cabin was horribly dirty and dusty and about 1 hr into the flight I found a used teacup from the previous flight wedged down the side of my seat. All of this was reported to the CSM and we were met by the duty manager in DFW, who promised us a confirmed upgrade to J for our return trip. This would have been the end of the matter, but at check in, J was apparently full AND the flight would be flying via AKL. So we were asked if we minded overnighting in DFW at QF's expense with a reroute to LAX the next day in Y on AA and then J direct to MEL. Fair enough, we thought..... Until we arrived at the Hyatt and they didnt know anything about it. When we returned to the airport the next day, we learned that QF hadn't reissued the ticket and AA couldn't check us in and were told to call QF. So we did. Finally we were allowed to board the 763 and were allocated the very last row. We did not receive a meal, despite the famous QF advice of "dinner" on AA codeshares. In LA, the duty manager refused the upgrade claiming the flight was full and we'd have to fly Y, despite having a PE ticket. We declined, she offloaded us and called the police to escort us from the terminal as we no longer had BP's for a flight that night. As you might imagine, I was LIVID. On return, QF reimbursed our expenses and after MUCH negotiation, we each received 3 space available, origin to destination (meaning MEL-DXB-LHR counts as only 1 upgrade) system wide upgrades Y/Y+ to J or J to F. We demanded that the upgrades not have the usual 12 month expiry date. This was because of my concern that QF would simply decline any upgrade request for 12 months and then say "bad luck". That foresight was quite fortuitous because in the 2 years since, we've only been able to redeem 1 of them. In fairness, I only request them on longhaul flights in order to maximise their value.

My god. This post belongs in some sort of 'worst airline service of all time' hall of fame thread.

 

[Downwind]

My god. This post belongs in some sort of 'worst airline service of all time' hall of fame thread.

I can laugh about it now, but at the time, I can assure you it was anything but funny. The best bit was when I asked the officer for his details, he told me his name was "Casanova" and I was like "yeah right!!", but then he showed me his badge.

In all seriousness though, I was quite disappointed that I had to fight them for appropriate compensation but am glad it was resolved amicably, because I was not going to back down and QF knew that if it made it to court (which is what I was prepared to do) the consequences for them would have been far worse.

 

[cirqueboy]

After a few horror stories, mine is a good one.

A few years ago flying J LHR - SYD, the flight (A380) went tech and we were delayed leaving LHR by 6 hours. Doing the maths, it was obvious that we would be after the curfew for landing in SYD. In SIN, QF attendants greeted all F & J pax on the plane to explain the situation and advised us that we would be put up in hotels for 8 hours. For the J pax, it was the Sheraton. A friend was in F, he went to the Raffles

I received complimentary food and drinks at the Sheraton, a wake up call an hour before departure from the hotel. All the usual perks at the airport and a nice flight back home.

About a month later a flight voucher for $500 arrived in the mail.

I wasn't on a schedule for anything, I was coming back from work for a 2 week break, so the extra stopover wasn't a big deal for me.

All up, nice service from QF and was happy to be looked after.

 

[SandyS]

Hi there,
This is my first post. Really interesting reading the big differences in customer service due to cancelled/delayed flights. This is my experience flying with the new Qantas/Emirates partnership.
Booked international economy return flights, for a family of four, through Qantas website at last minute due to a sudden family bereavement. Return journey, via Dubai with Emirates.

· Arrived 3 hours early at airport to what became a shambolic check in as the flight was delayed.
· Because of delay, we'd miss our connecting flight from Dubai to Australia and got really messed around, getting passed from counter to counter being told we'd been rebooked and then told we hadn't. We were calm the whole time until I eventually said, “You’ve got to be kidding” when we were sent to wait in yet another queue. Not really what you want when you’ve just been to your father’s funeral.
· Eventually, got told we'd been rebooked on flight from Dubai 24 hours later than the original and we'd been booked hotel accomodation etc and not to worry everything including meals etc would be taken care of on arrival at Dubai .
· Got on the plane (I hadn’t checked the boarding passes) and we’d been reallocated seats from the ones we’d originally booked and were given 4 seats all over the plane despite one woman having a middle row entirely to herself.
· Get to Dubai and get told at the customer service counter there’s no hotel booking for us as they hadn’t confirmed it and there’s nothing they can do for us and we aren’t allowed to stay in the airport for 24 hours. Get handed an Emirates customer complaint form.
· Get ourselves a cheap Premier Inn room and finally leave the airport after 4am.
· Flight to Australia next night (day) at 2am and again we don’t have seats together – teenagers each on their own.
· Get back to Australia and get really messed around with Qantas customer service. Have to keep emailing and calling until eventually told, rather curtly, we'd be reimbursed our costs (all in approx. $400 for 4 people) but really it was Emirates fault not Qantas and I have to expect teething problems! As if that's not bad enough, I'm still waiting for my refund over a month later! We did eventually get our points after a few phone calls because when Emirates rescheduled, they didn’t enter our FF number so Qantas apparently had no record of our flights. Compensation? A real grudging 2000 ff points and when I said I wasn’t happy with that, was told too bad. And I’m still waiting for my $400 out of pocket expenses!

 

[Red Roo]

Hi there,
This is my first post. Really interesting reading the big differences in customer service due to cancelled/delayed flights. This is my experience flying with the new Qantas/Emirates partnership.
Booked international economy return flights, for a family of four, through Qantas website at last minute due to a sudden family bereavement. Return journey, via Dubai with Emirates.

· Arrived 3 hours early at airport to what became a shambolic check in as the flight was delayed.
· Because of delay, we'd miss our connecting flight from Dubai to Australia and got really messed around, getting passed from counter to counter being told we'd been rebooked and then told we hadn't. We were calm the whole time until I eventually said, “You’ve got to be kidding” when we were sent to wait in yet another queue. Not really what you want when you’ve just been to your father’s funeral.
· Eventually, got told we'd been rebooked on flight from Dubai 24 hours later than the original and we'd been booked hotel accomodation etc and not to worry everything including meals etc would be taken care of on arrival at Dubai .
· Got on the plane (I hadn’t checked the boarding passes) and we’d been reallocated seats from the ones we’d originally booked and were given 4 seats all over the plane despite one woman having a middle row entirely to herself.
· Get to Dubai and get told at the customer service counter there’s no hotel booking for us as they hadn’t confirmed it and there’s nothing they can do for us and we aren’t allowed to stay in the airport for 24 hours. Get handed an Emirates customer complaint form.
· Get ourselves a cheap Premier Inn room and finally leave the airport after 4am.
· Flight to Australia next night (day) at 2am and again we don’t have seats together – teenagers each on their own.
· Get back to Australia and get really messed around with Qantas customer service. Have to keep emailing and calling until eventually told, rather curtly, we'd be reimbursed our costs (all in approx. $400 for 4 people) but really it was Emirates fault not Qantas and I have to expect teething problems! As if that's not bad enough, I'm still waiting for my refund over a month later! We did eventually get our points after a few phone calls because when Emirates rescheduled, they didn’t enter our FF number so Qantas apparently had no record of our flights. Compensation? A real grudging 2000 ff points and when I said I wasn’t happy with that, was told too bad. And I’m still waiting for my $400 out of pocket expenses!

Sorry to hear of your personal circumstances. Please PM your details as I would like to follow this up with our Customer Care team.

 

[Downwind]

RedRoo, Im certain that everyone appreciates and values your input on this forum, I know I do, but the question begs, why does Customer Care need following up?

In all honesty, some of the things I have, seen, heard and experienced leave a lot to be desired, especially from the self proclaimed "worlds most experienced airline". Having said that, I understand that $hit happens and I personally rarely get upset when it does. What I find inexcusable is when things happen that were/are entirely avoidable, like what happened to SandyS above. What is unacceptable, is the failure to remedy the situation appropriately and follow through with ones promises. Id have thought Customer Care (CC) staff were the creme de la creme who have the ability to listen, understand, sympathise and offer an appropriate solution. Instead they are rude and indifferent. What I DETEST most is the insincere apology and the cut and paste "we value your feedback, we hope to welcome you on board soon" response that does NOTHING to address the issue at hand. SandyS should not have to beg QF CC to do what it promised it would. Whats worse, is that whatever happened has happened, but you now have the ability to remedy this, and it appears that CC just cant be bothered. And if they cant be bothered, why should I or anyone else with an issue waste their time dealing with such an inept department?

I'm a fair and reasonable person, but I am sick and tired of having to force QF to live up to their end of the deal. Im also not convinced as to why you need to tell them how to do their job.

Given the indifference shown by CC to my issues, which include the lack of priority boarding, priority luggage, special meals (especially to/from OOL) and the J lounge closure over christmas, perhaps you may be willing to offer an explanation as to why QF fails so dismally to provide these services/benefits and what the appropriate compensation should be, when you breach your own contract?

If you, on behalf of QF, wont, then I'm sure VCAT will.....

 

[mitch24]

You can claim Original Routing Credit for the original CX flight you were booked on.

Send your itinerary and new boarding pass to QFF with an explanation of what happened and they will credit you the SCs and QFF points.

That was great advice as the points and SCs have now been received!

 

[vitagen]

SandyS your EK experience mirrors mine when plane went tech in DXB. EK ground crew are shocking!

 

[Virgin Bart]

Reading both those bad experiences enraged me. And that's while having a drink in my warm house, so it takes a bit.

Unbelievable.

 

[wafliron]

I would have thought that there is a manual on how this is to be done the QF way that a supervisor/manager could follow and co-ordinate all parties? This has to be a common but hopefully not regular event.

I'm sure there must be a standard process for handling cancellations, which is what baffled me in my situation. A little organisation would have made all the difference.

About 2 years ago, when QF first started flying to DFW, I flew via there in PE.

<snip>

Wow, that is truly terrible. Almost unbelievable (I don't mean that literally).

 

[burrco]

Well thanks to Red Roo and the Qantas team, my issue (now very trivial after some of the above posts) with the delayed flight has been resolved in a very prompt and professional manner and I'm a happy chappy.

 

[Red Roo]

Well thanks to Red Roo and the Qantas team, my issue (now very trivial after some of the above posts) with the delayed flight has been resolved in a very prompt and professional manner and I'm a happy chappy.

You're welcome. Glad your issue is sorted.

 

[Chucksta]

Apologies for posting about JQ on a QF thread, but JQ is part of the QF group last time I checked.

Does anyone know what happened to JQ115 (QF280 codeshare) on 9 May 2013? It was scheduled to depart Jakarta at 8:25pm and arrive 1:30am in Perth. I had family on the flight and it was delayed a couple of hours. Then passengers got told the flight was cancelled! So they put up the passengers in a hotel for the night and were told that they "MAYBE" flying at 11:00am tomorrow. Brought them back to the airport the next morning, and made them wait all day at the departure gate, with no aircraft in insight. Another update, you "MAYBE" flying at 2:00pm. Then transferred them to a hotel again, and told them you "MAYBE" flying at 2:00am.

I know JQ is a budget carrier and all, but seriously??? Maybe.... and stuff people around for over 24 hours????

Some people had enough by then and just got a refund or rebooked onto other JQ flights, many days later.

Does anyone know if JQ115 even departed at 2:00am??? Or was this another MAYBE? I tried to check the Perth airport website for departures and arrivals and it doesn't show the flight at all. JQ114 is the return flight from PER-CGK, so the passengers at PER would have been affected too.

What compensation should passengers be entitled too in that situation?

 

[AIRwin]

Does anyone know what happened to JQ115 (QF280 codeshare) on 9 May 2013?

I just checked thejetstarsource.com but there were no operational updates on this. In fact, it's showing that 9V-JSF operated the flight on 9 May with the routing SIN-CGK-PER which is also consistent with flightradar24.com:
JQ115 / JST115 Live flight info - Flightradar24

Odd?!

 

[Chucksta]

I just checked thejetstarsource.com but there were no operational updates on this. In fact, it's showing that 9V-JSF operated the flight on 9 May with the routing SIN-CGK-PER which is also consistent with flightradar24.com:
JQ115 / JST115 Live flight info - Flightradar24

Odd?!

Well the SIN-CGK flight arrived ok, but something went wrong in CGK and the aircraft never continued onto PER.

That scene in "A Few Good Men" just popped into my head... "How can you make a whole flight disappear... check the tower chief's log." LOL

 

[abstraction]

Since I've been platinum I have to say I have never been disappointed with Qantas' response to a delay or inconvenience. It isn't always the same, I don't hang out expecting anything like a spoiled WP, so am usually delighted with the response. It has resulted in 2-3 nice holidays for my wife and I or upgrades to business on occasion.

 

[Propertypaul]

I flew QF 1 to London on 14 May which was due to be delayed 5 hrs but ended up being delayed 7 hrs and I missed my Fathers Funeral by 2 hrs. I had to email Qantas 3 times and call them twice before they offers me 10,000 FF points which was 2 weeks later. Frankly they were so hard to deal with I gave up. Now it sounds as if I should of pushed for more !

 

[AIRwin]

I flew QF 1 to London on 14 May which was due to be delayed 5 hrs but ended up being delayed 7 hrs and I missed my Fathers Funeral by 2 hrs. I had to email Qantas 3 times and call them twice before they offers me 10,000 FF points which was 2 weeks later. Frankly they were so hard to deal with I gave up. Now it sounds as if I should of pushed for more !

Sorry to hear that... But welcome to AFF!

 

[sjd]

I take regular Dash8 QFlink flights BNE to BCI/LRE that regularly have baggage offloaded due to aircraft being overweight (but not fat, just big bones). I have been very lucky in not having my luggage offloaded (perhaps that WP QTag is good for something) but many colleagues on this route have. Hope my luck holds.