Disgruntled Qantas Customers Kept Waiting

If you’ve been waiting an eternity for a refund from Qantas, you’re not alone. Many Qantas customers have posted recently about their frustration in waiting for a refund from the airline.

It appears that waiting several months for a refund from Qantas, even in cases where the airline cancelled its own flight, is now normal. But there are some ways to speed up the lengthy process.

The complaints about Qantas’ refund process have been coming in thick & fast. One member was told they would have to wait five months for a refund of their Qantas Club membership fees, after they cancelled the membership during the advertised cooling-off period. Another member was issued a credit voucher when they specifically asked for a refund of their fully-flexible airfare. They are still waiting for that refund.

After waiting a week for a refund which had not been processed, one member decided to call Qantas. They discovered that their refund had been placed in a “call passenger” queue due to an anomaly. In this case, calling did accelerate the process.

It seems that refunds can take even longer to process if the original booking originates outside of Australia. Refunds for overseas bookings are manually processed by the relevant overseas office.

One member’s complaint was resolved by the Airline Customer Advocate. Our member had been waiting several months for a refund after a reward flight booked with Qantas points was cancelled by the operating airline. Initially, Qantas did not even respond to the request for a refund. But a full refund was processed within 11 days of taking the case to the Advocate.

The Airline Customer Advocate is an industry-funded “ombudsman” for Australian airline passengers. It provides a free and independent service for Australian consumers that are not satisfied with the way an airline has handled their complaint. If you too have been waiting several months for a refund – from any Australian airline – the Advocate may be able to help.

Share your experience HERE.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.