Qantas flight cancellation - compensation for cabin downgrade
6 replies
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Qantas flight cancellation - compensation for cabin downgrade
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Qantas flight cancellation - compensation for cabin downgrade
nige00160
nige00160
Member since 07 Jan 2016
Total posts 64
A question for the AusBT community.
On Sunday night I was scheduled to fly JFK>LAX on Qantas QF12 as a fully-paid Premium Economy passenger. It was the first leg of the longer journey back to Australia.
At last minute, Qantas cancelled the service and I was shuffled onto American Airlines domestic flight AA9245 for the JFK>LAX flight (AA9245 is the flight number on my re-issued eTicket). As the aircraft that operated this service (Boeing 737) did not have a Premium Economy cabin - I wound up at the 'back of the bus' in row 30 in a regular economy seat.
My question: Given that I had paid a Qantas Premium Economy Fare for the JFK>LAX flight and only received the standard economy seat & service, can I expect some form of compensation or reimbursement for this downgrade from Qantas ?
docsimonm
docsimonm
Member since 29 Mar 2017
Total posts 34
From the Qantas conditions of carriage:
If we need to ask you to downgrade for any reason, we will at your option:
nige00160
nige00160
Member since 07 Jan 2016
Total posts 64
Thanks for the advice, docsimonm. Will do.
PLEASEupgrademe
PLEASEupgrademe
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 16 Nov 2017
Total posts 95
nige00160,
nige00160
nige00160
Member since 07 Jan 2016
Total posts 64
I must admit it wasn't a great customer experience. I've lodged a query to Qantas's customer assistance email address and am awaiting their response. I'll be sure to share the response with you all (assuming I get one). I forgot to mention that American Airlines also hit me $100 for excess baggage fees given that the baggage allowance on my Qantas Premium Economy ticket was not honored by AA when I was downgraded to their Economy cabin. Admittedly I don't fly AA Economy much, so I was also surprised that their dinner service for the 5-hour flight only consisted of a single biscuit. Anyway ... at the end of the day I was probably one of the lucky one's as there were a number of other passengers denied boarding by AA at the gate as the flight had been overbooked. Lots of customers vocally expressing their displeasure with the situation. I'm just happy to be home now.
John Phelan
John Phelan
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 28 Oct 2011
Total posts 261
What other option would you have suggested? The aircraft went tech in LAX, so did not operate the flight to JFK. Hence there was no QF aircraft to operate the QF12 JFK-LAX sector. Qantas organised AA to put on an extra JFK-LAX flight to cover most of those booked. AA domestic aircraft don't have a Premium Economy cabin, so pax booked in that cabin could not be accommodated in Premium Y seating. QF should provide either points or dollars in compensation.
nige00160
nige00160
Member since 07 Jan 2016
Total posts 64
If we need to ask you to downgrade for any reason, we will at your option:
After 3 weeks, Qantas Customer Care made an offer of 2000 Frequent Flyer Points for the downgrade. Going by the 'Points top-up' page on the Qantas web site this equates to $86 of points. To say we are underwhelmed by this offer is an understatement. The baggage fees alone imposed by American Airlines (who refused to honor the checked-baggage allowance of the paid Qantas fare) was USD$100 alone.