Hi

New here so please be gentle. I recently booked a QF F award on QF/EK MEL-BNE-DXB-GVA in December 2020. This week I was notified that my flights have changed, which seems to be because Emirates changed their schedule and EK435 (BNE-DXB) is no longer operating on the day I was planning to travel. I was re-booked on EK435 two days earlier (which is fine) and EK89 (DXB-GVA) two days after my original flight, resulting in a 4-day layover in DXB.

I called Qantas to change my booking and asked whether I can be booked on the next available flight EK89 DXB-GVA after EK435 BNE-DXB arrives in DXB. EK89 is scheduled to operate on that day and the itinerary (3-hr layover in DXB) can be booked on the QF website. I was told this isn't possible as there is no award space on EK89 on this day and I can only re-book on flights where the same booking class is available. The options I was given were to cancel the ticket or re-book on a BA Y award via SYD-SIN-LHR, which I would like to avoid.

Does anyone have experience with a similar situation and is it correct that QF award tickets can only be changed if the same booking class is available, even in cases where the airline changes my booking?

Many thanks in advance.