Is Discounted Economy a Dirty Word at Qantas?
 

I fly a lot of last/first legs on Qantas after flying in on AA.com

A few times I've asked question like going standby and the response is always "but this is a discounted economy ticket" said with a bit of a sneer?

In the US most tickets are discounted economy, is that not the case at QF?

I ask this because I'm flying back soon (QF MEL-SYD) then using AA. I'm a bit worried if I misconnect QF will treat me shabbily. It's all ticketed on AA but AA has no presence in MEL and minimal presence in SYD.

it isn't a dirty word, it is factual

If you buy a flexible ticket, then one of the benefits is to be able to change flights at any time with no fees ( just any fare difference )

A discounted ticket does not permit this; I expect that the agents here a lot of times a day for nor permitted changes on day of departure

Lots of people do buy flexible tickets if they want flexibility

If you are flying on QF from MEL-SYD, QF will take you on the flight that you have booked, Unless you have a flexible ticket ( indicated as FLEX in the booking column) , it will not allow you to travel on a different flight

( there are exceptions - e.g. a flight gets cancelled or there are other events where QF decides to allow passsengers flexibility to deal with the situation )

QF does not do standby at all - any change is a confirmed change; if it is permitted by the fare purchased, it will be done easily

If you have a through ticket from MEL-SYD onto AA, if booked through QF then QF will permit changes in accordance with the fare rules of the ticket otherwise refer you back to where you purchased it If you do misconnect it will be responsible to get you onwards to the ticketed destination

If this is 2 separate tickets, then it will be simply down to AA how it wants to treat the no-show situation; if you have this and are concerned that you have not left enough time to make the connection, might be a good idea to rebook onto an earlier flight ; discount tickets can be changed for $99 - details of what is permitted are at https://www.qantas.com/regions/amade...ED1JQ_SUMMARY/

Thanks. All on one ticket all flights coded as AA.

What it comes down to is that AA only has one flight back to the US. If my QF flight is delayed and I miss it. What happens. I know QF have many flights back to the US will they put me on their metal?

I only have Ruby status with OW.

Since this is on a through ticket then if you were to misconnect, Qantas would simply rebook you on another flight to the USA - no issues there

Status makes no difference in this

You seem to be over thinking this. You cannot expect more than the ticket conditions allow. However at the QF domestic check in the SYD T1 international terminal I have be offered an earlier SYD-MEL flights at times.

Delays MEL - SYD are uncommon. If you are at MEL and your QF flight may be delayed QF are likely to put you an other flight: talk to customer service. At that time on the morning there are frequent MEL SYD flights.
10:15 AM – 7:25 AM Sydney (SYD) – Los Angeles (LAX) American 72 · Boeing 777

Thanks. So if I am going to miss AA72 SYD-LAX due to my MEL-SYD QF flight being late, then QF will put me on one of their flights to LAX?

yes - or on another carrier if needed

Great. Thanks for your help. But am I correct that QF doesn't sell many discounted fare class tickets? I'm a MM with United and I don't think I've ever bought anything but discounted fare classes. Discounted fare classes are still flexible, you just pay a change fee. Furthermore, one can go same day standby if needed without a fee on discounted fare class tickets.

Qantas allows changes on its discounted domestic fares subject to (a) paying aa AUD99 ( approx USD78 ) , (b) paying any applicable fare difference and (c) making the change prior to the day of departure

The domestic discount fares do not allow for changes on day of departure

If you want to have flexibility to change on day of departure then need to book a flex ticket

Obviously for international fares, changes will be based on applicable rules - for an AA issued ticket, can expect to be sent back to AA for any voluntary changes ( day of departure or otherwise )

You seem to be thinking what happens on USA airline will happen on other airlines: the real world does not work that way.

The words "discounted fare class tickets" have no real meaning.
QF (like other airlines) sell a range booking fare class's that have different t&c's. A ticket issued by AA may have different t&c's for the same booking class on QF flight.
https://www.qantas.com/fflyer/dyn/pr...m-1-march-2016
This link may be out of date http://www.travelctm.com/uploads/QFDomesticFareGrid.pdf (there is a similar chart of the QF site that I cannot find)

If you had super elite status with Qantas ie Plat One or Chairmans Lounge then you can change on the day even with a discounted fare type. Everyone else cannot unless of course there is bad weather, a flight cancellation or some other kind of network disruption in which case there will be a 'flow forward' when anybody can be transferred to a later/earlier flight regardless of fare type.

If airlines changed restricted fares types on the day it would leave very little incentive for anybody to purchase flexible tickets.

You are incorrect. Many businesses and public sector organisations buy the absolutely lowest cost tickets for their staff.

Basically, you are not in Kansas anymore!

(deleted - duplicate)

The lowest "practical" cost ticket .... :)

Similarly, some organisations (govermnent or private) may insist on their staff having "fully flexible" tickets. But commonly these organisations have contracts with QF (or anyone else) which provide those tickets at significantly lower proces than the general public can ever get the them - about 40% lower than the retail prices IIRC for one example I know with booking into "Y". So it may only be the mug public that ever pays full price if they want ultimate flexibility (or they are possibly forced to buying a "fully flexible" ticket if its a "walk up" purchase at the airport on day of travel).

When I am travelling domestically for business, I always buy flexible tickets for the return journey; depending on the destination, I may buy a restricted ticket for the outbound

That gives me the best chance of getting home as soon as possible after I finish teaching

If there are lots of flight options ( such as SYD-MEL ) I get a flexible outbound ticket too, so as to be able to get there with no waiting around