Its just not fare

Frequent Flyers everywhere beware, because if you’ve got hard-earned points, think twice before talking to Qantas, as it could cost you!

As you are aware no doubt, Qantas is linked to the oneworld network of airlines and proudly boasts their combined flight coverage reaches nearly all points of the globe, whether you’re on a Frequent Flyer ticket or not, admitting that their online Frequent Flyer booking system is incomplete, with not all destinations and flights linked into their system.

So, If you’re one of their unfortunate passengers who wants to travel to say, Istanbul, on points, accessing flights on both Qantas and British Airways, you won’t be able to make that booking on their internet site, although depending on what day and in fact, what time of day you try to access the site, determining your level of success, because sometimes Istanbul is there, sometimes it’s not!

Why did Constantinople get the works?  I don’t know, ask Qantas!

As a result, to get to Istanbul you have no alternative but to make a call to their Frequent Flyer Reservation Centre and for two passengers, that call will cost you 5000 points, just to make the booking with several weeks later, an entry on your Frequent Flyer statement reading “Assisted Booking Fee, 5000 points”.

But hang on, I couldn’t book it on line………………..so, I phoned Qantas to ask them why this was so and their response?  “………..because it’s a service we offer, and that attracts a service fee.”

Sorry, Qantas, can I have that again please?…………….it’s a service you offer?………… don’t you mean it’s a service you DON’T offer?

Qantas, bless them, firmly believe their own hype and have managed to convince their employees to trot out the same answers by rote, so as many of us end up having to do, I spoke to the Reservations Supervisor who told me the fees were listed in the terms and conditions, posted to me 18 months ago…………of course I should have remembered, where is that little book?  This poor man blindly believed everything his masters at Qantas had told him, and he went on to say, in defence of the airline, “We surveyed our members and have made changes to the program according to their feedback.”

Really, how interesting, no one surveyed me and I don’t think I would have told them that I wanted to spend 5000 more points to make a booking by phone when I’d prefer to do it on the net and I also know that I would not have told them I was happy for them to increase the number of points it now costs to travel anywhere.

I also most certainly wouldn’t have told them that I was happy to wait 30 minutes on the phone just for the privilege of talking to someone and then pay 5000 points for the pleasure, but apparently, all you other members did.

So, they changed the program “accordingly”, with the Frequent Flyer program terrific now with fees and charges just like a bank – just what the members asked for – maybe that is why it appeals to Macquarie Bank?  Remember, this is a loyalty program, but Qantas seems to have forgotten that!

It also seems Qantas may have lost sight of the fact that holiday travel is for pleasure, because when confirmation of my booking was eventually emailed to me, with me having to make the booking 11 months in advance to get a seat, I noticed the connection time in Sydney was just one hour and five minutes.

Now, I’ve made that connection several times before and know how tight it can be to connect with my next leg to Mumbai, which is a published connection so the flight will wait until we get there!

To make it within that one hour and fifteen minutes, I’ll need to sprint from the domestic terminal, bus it over to the international terminal, clear customs and immigration then rush on to my flight, flustered, bothered and panting. The slightest delay out of Melbourne will hold up the next leg and inconvenience the other few hundred passengers and all because the transfer time is inadequate.

So, yes you guessed it, I phoned them again to see if they could make the domestic sector a little earlier, as a type of insurance policy for them and me, with Qantas responding incredulously, “Oh yes sir, we can do that but it will cost you 2500 points for each passenger.”

While it seems inconceivable that Qantas would not change the booking and give me and them a little breathing space, I suppose that they must have their valid reason and I’ll make the connection but I won’t rush…………..I won’t leave anything at the security check like last time when I was under pressure and…………………..if the international flight is delayed………………… I’ll be sorry to all the other passengers…………………..but it’s the airline’s fault not mine………….I tried!

Reminding myself that travel for leisure is indeed a pleasure, perhaps Qantas needs to give that some thought!

Report and Comment by Kevin Moloney, Australia based international travel writer and TravelMole contributor.