Traveller Letters: Downgrades and cancellations - readers have their say on Qantas

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Traveller Letters: Downgrades and cancellations - readers have their say on Qantas

Passengers board Qantas 737 at Launceston Airport.

Passengers board Qantas 737 at Launceston Airport.Credit: Craig Platt

EDITOR'S NOTE: Over the past few weeks we've received a significant amount of reader correspondence about Qantas and, while we can't publish every letter we receive, we've decided to publish this special extra edition of Traveller Letters to share your thoughts about the current performance of our national carrier.

EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE

I second the letters about the depths to which Qantas has sunk. Our erstwhile premium carrier has lost its mojo. On my last three domestic flights my baggage has not made it to the destination with me. Each time Qantas knew the issues with their baggage handlers; the helpful but overworked baggage services staff confirmed that. The same staff apologised and told me that when they fly, they do so with only hand luggage. Some vote of confidence from them. And while still waiting in the baggage services line for the third and last time, I googled Mr Joyce's income to read he had voted himself a $2 million pay rise. Maybe he should hand that back to employ a few more baggage handlers.

James Turnbull, West Melbourne, VIC

COMPUTER SAYS NO

I used my frequent flyer points in February to book a return flight to Berlin in June. Qantas sent me my e-ticket with written confirmation that all legs were confirmed. A week before my departure I went to select my seats only to find that my bookings on all international legs had been removed. No reason was given and I have still not received a refund for the $1000 paid for taxes or a refund of my points.

Peter Edwards, Parkville, Vic

DOWNER OF DOWNGRADE

Having flown into Brisbane from Los Angeles to connect with a Melbourne bound Domestic flight I arrived at the gate to be told my seats had been downgraded from business to economy due to my Qantas "status" being the lowest of the passengers on board and that Qantas regularly oversell seats, even though I had my actual boarding passes issued in LA. When I questioned the Qantas manager about this her manner became very defensive. I am now being told by Qantas that I will not even receive the points difference back for the domestic downgrade as my ticket was booked from LA to Melbourne. I was told to put the complaint in writing. I did this weeks ago and received no reply.

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Danny Segman,, Melbourne, VIC

FULL CREDIT

I feel I have to stand up for Qantas. On June 14 I cancelled flights from Melbourne to London Heathrow return which had been booked on "Points + Pay" a few months ago. On June 20, the points were back in my frequently flyer account and all funds credited back to my credit card. Well done, Qantas.

Petrushka Owen, Hawthorn, Vic

LONG WAY ROUND

I knew Norfolk Island was an international flight despite being an Australian territory but I didn't expect returning to Melbourne to take 12 hours. I was dropped off at Norfolk Island Airport at 11.30am (AEST) for a 3pm flight. The airport facilities roughly consist of one vending machine. My flight to Sydney arrived at 4pm, landing in Sydney at 6.30pm, the same time my flight to Melbourne was due to depart. After clearing customs and immigration I arrived at the domestic check in at 7pm and waited another 45 minutes to drop my luggage off and travel to the domestic terminal, despite already having a boarding pass. My flight was being called as I was waiting for my carry-on to be screened. By the time I arrived at the gate the flight had disappeared off the board and didn't reappear for an hour. I heard no announcements to explain the delay. I eventually boarded at 8.30pm, after we waited for the arrival of two Emirates flights with Melbourne-bound passengers. After finally arriving in Melbourne, luggage took 30 minutes to come out. I then took a taxi to Melbourne's CBD. Arrival time 11.30 pm. No acknowledgment or apology from Qantas.

Lorraine Cryer, Melbourne, VIC

MAJOR DISCONNECT

We booked Bendigo, Victoria to Aberdeen, Scotland return, directly with Qantas. I discovered, with no word from Qantas, that the Bendigo to Sydney flights we were booked on had been cancelled and that we were rebooked onto flights with unacceptable timings. I rebooked, paying a fee, to fly from Melbourne. We arrived at Tullamarine very early for our flight (airport chaos had been reported) and were rebooked to an earlier one, later discovering that the one we had been booked on was cancelled. We would have missed the connection in Sydney. The Qantas ground staff misinformed us that we had to collect our baggage at Heathrow. This was not the case and we missed the connecting flight searching for it. On the way back we could not check in via Qantas or British Airways apps, we were told we had to check in at Aberdeen airport. That codeshare flight (with British Airways) was cancelled too - with no communication - evidently some days before. British Airways could not help, saying we had to contact Qantas. By sheer luck, we managed to contact the Qantas call centre after only one hour on hold and were rebooked for the next morning. And no, they would not pay for the hotel room.

Jim Ettles, Eaglehawk, Vic

WINES AND WHINES

We have just returned from a great Ponant Kimberly cruise, and this afternoon completed our Broome to Sydney Qantas flight in economy class. Having read all the moaning about our Australian icon of late we were not to expect anything special, just a flight from point A to point B. What a surprise. The food was excellent with good wine and professional service throughout. After two years of COVID restrictions, please stop your moaning and give the airline staff a fair go.

John Verhelst, Huntleys Cove, NSW

TEAM WORK

On a recent flight from Sydney to London with Qantas, there was a hunger of things that went wrong, all flight segments were delayed, the entertainment system didn't work and doors wouldn't close due to a mechanical malfunction. But what did go right was the incredible Qantas flight attendants. The true spirit of Australia was seeing two flight attendants look after a mother travelling alone with her infant and baby, giving her a moment to herself to get everything sorted. It was such a simple gesture but one that led her to tears and moved me to write this letter. Travel has problems at the best of times, let alone as traveller numbers return to pre-pandemic times with staffing levels remaining lower than in the past. What makes it all worthwhile is the acts of kindness and support from a crew that truly cares. Just remember to take a moment to thank the hardworking teams that make travelling possible.

Harry Bevan, Paddington, NSW

UNTIMELY FASHION

In September last, I booked my wife and I to travel in March of this year from Brisbane to Denver via San Francisco with Qantas. This was after Qantas announced a return to international flying. In the next four months we were given six revisions to this itinerary as Qantas repeatedly cancelled flights and we eventually flew out in March from the Gold Coast via Sydney and LA to Denver on a ticket written in January. As a result of fare changes, Qantas owed us a refund of $180 for duplicated seat bookings and $280 for the tickets. After a dozen phone calls and days on the phone, Qantas refunded the $180 in late March and advised in writing (email) they would also be refunding the $280. Three months later that refund had not appeared and again I spent days on the phone with Qantas chasing it down. Finally at June end the money was refunded. How does Qantas get away with treating other people's money with such abandon?

Dennis Leman, Gold Coast, QLD

PLANE SQUEEZE

After spending 7+ hours online on various devices & browsers & 90 minutes on the phone with Qantas trying to book return flights CNB-BNE, I was asked to cough up $445 including the unwavered booking fee of $42 despite the Qantas website unable to proceed to the payment page before timing out.

My wife, realising that I was moments away from blowing apart a heart valve then spent 5 minutes on Jetstar website to book the exact same flights for $318. A saving of $127! Am I the only traveller being squeezed even before taking to the air?

Neil Cheesman, Malua Bay, NSW

TASSIE BEDEVILLED

My husband and I visited Tasmania on the weekend. We had booked return flights from Melbourne to Hobart many weeks ago to arrive on Saturday and leave on Sunday. Early Sunday morning we were advised our return flight was cancelled and we would have to wait until Tuesday to return. Qantas advised us there were no seats on any other flights from anywhere in Tasmania, economy, business or Jetstar that would get us back to Melbourne any time on Sunday. It was imperative that we be in a Melbourne by the Monday morning.

We searched ourself and discovered seats available from Launceston only a 3 hour drive away and family could drive us there. We recontacted Qantas and booked two seats but had to pay approximately $1400 for the two ONE way seats. The cost of the return flight seats from Hobart that Qantas had cancelled could not be used to pay for the return flight from Launceston. On arrival at Launceston airport we heard an announcement that Jetstar also had seats available to Melb.

We will now be investigating all avenues available as to protection for consumers.

Jenny Callaghan, Hawthorn, Vic

DON'T CARE FACTOR

With the re-commencement of travel, everything is chaotic but some airlines and airports are coping extremely well. In early June, after Jetstar cancelled my flight from Sydney, I was grateful to be put on the next Qantas flight to Auckland, only to be delayed a further two hours while baggage was loaded in Sydney. I missed my Auckland connection to the Cook Islands.

I spoke with the Qantas managing agent at Auckland Airport and was advised that because the connection was on a separate Qantas redemption ticket, I would have to contact Qantas reservations. The agent also stated he didn't have the ticketing skills to rebook my flights.

After three attempts and four different telephone representatives (and about three hours on the phone), I was advised to book an Air New Zealand ticket and make a claim with Qantas head office. In doing so, two of the Qantas consultants hung up on me while another put me on hold until another consultant took the call.

Overall, the Air New Zealand flight and Auckland Airport experience was seamless andI am still waiting on a reply from Qantas customer care to make an insurance claim.

Tony Holmwood, Waterloo, NSW

SMOOTH OPERATORS

My wife and I, along with her infant grandchild, travelled from Sydney to Bangkok in April by Qantas. The check in process, while cumbersome with the various documents, was done very smoothly by the wonderful check in person. We also had a car seat and stroller for the baby. She found large plastic bags for them and also provided us with a small stroller for getting to the gate. I use a walker and she arranged for a wheelchair to meet us in Bangkok. At the gate we were ushered into a priority boarding area and boarded first. Every step, from arriving at the check in desk to being seated on the plane, could not have been better.

Charles Berghofer. Khon Kaen, Thailand

UNDERWEAR TO UNDERWHELMED

After receiving a letter from Qantas asking whether the issue of our luggage had been resolved a month after it was lost, I feel compelled to list the inconveniences of this experience.

On arrival in Hobart our checked bag was not on our delayed flight from Sydney. We queued with others on our flight in the same predicament to be given a reference number to call. The following days were spent on the phone with a recorded message to listen to and time in between spent shopping for replacement chargers, undies and other items. It's not the customer service we've been accustomed to from Qantas.

Milana Votrubec, Manly, NSW

HOW TO WRITE TO US

We give preference to letters of 100 words or fewer and they may be edited for space, legal or other reasons. Please use full sentences, don't use textspeak and don't include attachments. Email us at travellerletters@traveller.com.au and, importantly, include your name, address and phone number.

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