Qantas Frequent Flyer - Flight Change Notification

I received an email from Qantas yesterday, letting me know there was a change to my booking on QF127 in October.

I feared the worst, thinking I'd been downgraded or cancelled, but instead, they were simply advising that the arrival time into HKG had changed from 1800 to 1750. Still leaves at the same time. Still on a 747 (on a Wednesday).

Anyone got any idea why they have decided that they can get there earlier all of a sudden? Seems to me that on a 9 hour flight a few minutes either way would always be unpredictable, so why would they bother making the change?

Don't know, but guessing it's may be to do with daylight saving and minimum connection times.

Not sure why the change was made but maybe it was a courtesy to everyone booked - it is easy just to target those with connecting flights but you might be on a connecting flight with a seperate PNR (or other carrier) so it might actually be easier to send a note to everyone. They might have got feedback previously about a small change like that and people not being aware of it.

Received the same for QF127 in October. It's about the 3rd I received recently for 10 minute changes to arrival times.

I wish QF change notifications included details of the change. Not just the new details.

I would at least like a heads up on a change which involves a time delay.
Went online to check on seating changes and discovered (only when going into the booking reference) that the flight has changed departure by an hour.

Why do we not get emailed information about these notifications? We used to and have not changed any settings - I check on our accounts periodically but even under Your Bookings you still have to go into the actual booking to find out it has changed.

Isn't there due diligence required for the airline to send information regarding these changes? Makes me feel I have to check constantly ..

Anyone got any idea why they have decided that they can get there earlier all of a sudden? Seems to me that on a 9 hour flight a few minutes either way would always be unpredictable, so why would they bother making the change?Airlines don't decide schedules simply on the basis of how long they think it will take to fly the service. Schedules (particularly on international flights) often also have to take into account other factors such as slot restrictions and times. Twice a year, a few months before each of the IATA scheduling seasons starts, airlines typically finalise their schedules for the forthcoming season, taking into account slots and other factors, and lots of schedule changes are made while this is done. Many of them are small adjustments.

At the moment, this period is in full swing for the forthcoming northern winter 2012/13 season, which starts on the last Sunday in October (28 October 2012). If your flight is at the very end of October, this may well be the reason why you've had this notification.

Thanks Globaliser, that makes sense. Fair enough then.