What if I change my award booking after 25th May?

[Cosmo]

Hello, Ive also posted this under Qantas and it is my first time posting but hope you guys can help me with this one.
Ive got 2 award bookings made for Melbourne to frankfurt in Sept which Ive booked at the current point cost.
If I change the dates until early 2006 do I only get the 5000 point penalty for changes or will it be the 5000 plus the balance of what the new points will be after 25th May
(hoping that Ive beat the system if its only the 5000 point change penalty)
Your feedback is appreciated.

 

[NM]

Welcome to AFF, Cosmo.

The answer depends upon the type of change you initiate in the booking. A date change does not require the ticket to be re-issued, so the points won't be recalculated. However, you may be charged a "revalidation" fee of 2500 points per ticket. This fee may be waived if you hold certain levels of FF status with Qantas.

If you change the routing, such as from MEL-SIN-FRA to MEL-LHR-FRA or MEL-SYD-FRA, you will need to have the ticket re-issued and the points cost (as well as taxes and surcharges) will be recalculated and based on the rules prevailing on the day of the re-issue.

 

[johnsmith]

Hello, Ive also posted this under Qantas and it is my first time posting but hope you guys can help me with this one.
Ive got 2 award bookings made for Melbourne to frankfurt in Sept which Ive booked at the current point cost.
If I change the dates until early 2006 do I only get the 5000 point penalty for changes or will it be the 5000 plus the balance of what the new points will be after 25th May
(hoping that Ive beat the system if its only the 5000 point change penalty)
Your feedback is appreciated.

I have enquired about this with Qantas and if you book a flight before 25th May and make any changes after 25th May then the pre 25th May rules apply. So if you book a flight to London today to fly in February 2006 costing 110,000 points, then change this booking in January 2006 causing a ticket re-issue then you still pay 110,000 points. So the answer above is not correct.

This answer is not correct, i have asked Qantas this question again and they say any ticket re-issue would be calculated on the new conditions post 25th May.

 

[johnsmith]

Hello, Ive also posted this under Qantas and it is my first time posting but hope you guys can help me with this one.
Ive got 2 award bookings made for Melbourne to frankfurt in Sept which Ive booked at the current point cost.
If I change the dates until early 2006 do I only get the 5000 point penalty for changes or will it be the 5000 plus the balance of what the new points will be after 25th May
(hoping that Ive beat the system if its only the 5000 point change penalty)
Your feedback is appreciated.

 

[Cosmo]

How close to flight day can I reschedule?

Thanks NM and John for your quick reply
- and the answer I was hoping for! -

My mother in law is ill at the moment at there is a likelihood that the Sept trip will need to postponed, so I was hoping that we'd only loose the revalidation points to reschedule next year.

Do I have to notify them a certain amount of time before the flight or can I leave it until the week before to do this if necessary?

 

[johnsmith]

Re: How close to flight day can I reschedule?

Thanks NM and John for your quick reply
- and the answer I was hoping for! -

My mother in law is ill at the moment at there is a likelihood that the Sept trip will need to postponed, so I was hoping that we'd only loose the revalidation points to reschedule next year.

Do I have to notify them a certain amount of time before the flight or can I leave it until the week before to do this if necessary?

As far as I am aware you can leave it until 24 hours before the flight to make changes. But its best to change it as soon as you know your new dates because seating is very limited.

 

[NM]

I have enquired about this with Qantas and if you book a flight before 25th May and make any changes after 25th May then the pre 25th May rules apply. So if you book a flight to London today to fly in February 2006 costing 110,000 points, then change this booking in January 2006 causing a ticket re-issue then you still pay 110,000 points. So the answer above is not correct.

I would not rely on that advice from the QF agent. I think you should ask for it in writing being very specific about the type of change as that would be contrary to normal conditions of a ticket re-issue.

If the change is only to the date (ie the routing remains the same) then the ticket does not need to be reissued and the points and taxes/surcharges remain the same. No problem.

But if the routing is changed, then the ticket must be reissued and the cost will be recalculated, including the points and the taxes/surcharges based on the prevailing rules/costs at the time of reissue. If you are going to be relying on the advice you received from the Qantas agent for a re-isused ticket, then I recommend you seek written clarification prior to making the change as that advice is contrary to the usual process.

With paid tickets, any re-issue before the first flight sector has been taken will result in a recalculation of the fare. Once the first sector has been flown (and providing the fare permits routing changes) any reissue will just result in a recalculation of the taxes and surcharges for the remaining sectors and the fare is locked in.

So with paid tickets there is a difference depending on whether the first sector has been flown or not and I would expect the situation to be exactly the same for an award ticket. If the first sector has not yet been flown, the reissue is basically a cancellation and the isuse of a new ticket, hence the new calculation. But this only for a routing change, not a date change.

 

[johnsmith]

I have enquired about this with Qantas and if you book a flight before 25th May and make any changes after 25th May then the pre 25th May rules apply. So if you book a flight to London today to fly in February 2006 costing 110,000 points, then change this booking in January 2006 causing a ticket re-issue then you still pay 110,000 points. So the answer above is not correct.

I would not rely on that advice from the QF agent. I think you should ask for it in writing being very specific about the type of change as that would be contrary to normal conditions of a ticket re-issue.

If the change is only to the date (ie the routing remains the same) then the ticket does not need to be reissued and the points and taxes/surcharges remain the same. No problem.


Good idea getting this in writing, I would imagine that this situation will apply to thousands of people after 25th May.
But if the routing is changed, then the ticket must be reissued and the cost will be recalculated, including the points and the taxes/surcharges based on the prevailing rules/costs at the time of reissue. If you are going to be relying on the advice you received from the Qantas agent for a re-isused ticket, then I recommend you seek written clarification prior to making the change as that advice is contrary to the usual process.

With paid tickets, any re-issue before the first flight sector has been taken will result in a recalculation of the fare. Once the first sector has been flown (and providing the fare permits routing changes) any reissue will just result in a recalculation of the taxes and surcharges for the remaining sectors and the fare is locked in.

So with paid tickets there is a difference depending on whether the first sector has been flown or not and I would expect the situation to be exactly the same for an award ticket. If the first sector has not yet been flown, the reissue is basically a cancellation and the isuse of a new ticket, hence the new calculation. But this only for a routing change, not a date change.

 

[thadocta]

Don't forget though that with award tickets there are absolutely NIL - zero, zilch, nada - changes permitted once the first sector is flown (unless it is the airlines fault, flight cancellation, that sort of thing).

Dave

 

[NM]

Good idea getting this in writing, I would imagine that this situation will apply to thousands of people after 25th May.

If you do manage to get this confirmed in writing, please let us know. Then I will make several economy class SYD-MEL award bookings before May 25th (20,000 points each). Then sometime in the following year I can change them to first class SYD-LHR flights when I see some availability, and ask for the reissue to be done under the previous points table, costing me a 5000 point reissue fee plus a further 255,000 points being the difference between the booked award and the pre-change cost of a zone 5 First Class award.

If just booking the SYD-LHR F award after May 25, I would be up for 394,000 points. So the saving would be 114,000 points per booking - not too shabby really.

Somehow I do not think Qantas will permit me to change my SYD-MEL award routing and have the ticket reissued under the old points tables. But they would allow me to change the date of my SYD-MEL award for a 2500 point revalidation fee (pending appropriately award class availability).

But why would I do that since SYD-MEL-SYD is one award that actually drops in points cost after May 25th (16,000 down from 20,000). In which case I am better to have the reissue the ticket for 16,000 points, charge me a 5000 point reissue fee and I am only up for an additional 1000 points rather than 2500 revalidation fee.

Notice that the award change fee (5000 points) is the same as the award cancellation fee. In practice, a reissue is a cancellation and a new issue. You just get to keep hold of the sector reservations that you previously held so the unchanged sectors retain the same availability.