Would You Do Reroute Or Buy A Separate Ticket?
 

Hi All,

Here is my dilema. I will by flying the final legs of my OWE in November, routing NRT-HKG-SIN-MEL//SYD-LHR (final leg to DXB to follow in '05). Due to a new job, I have had to shorten the trip and change the dates. My original plan was to spend two days in MEL and a day in SYD before flying the QF 001 from SYD-LHR the next day. Unfortunately, my new travel dates correspond with a Spring festival in Melbourne that has both Starwood hotels booked solid. Since I need Starwood stays and do not want to stay elsewhere in MEL, I will not be spending time there and will just go for a two day stop in SYD (where I have been before). Anyway, my current itinerary has a surface segment between MEL and SYD as I did not want to burn a OWE segment on such a short flight. Now, I can get a fairly inexpensive flexible ticket on QF and make an immediate connection on arrival in MEL to SYD, or I can reroute myself to skip MEL altogether and just route SIN-SYD. Buying the separate QF ticket will be more expensive than the $75 reissue fee, but probably a lot less hassle as my OWE is handwritten.

What would you do, reroute the OWE and save some money or buy the separate ticket and avoid the reissue hassle?

Thanks!

For you to have taken the time to spell out your dilemma above on such an issue may indicate that you suffer from "reissuing" syndromes.

You don't like waiting.. and the possibilities that await you when you issue?

Just reissue the d*mn ticket. AT least it's flexible.. and you can wait till the last minute to do so. Buy your QF ticket and if anything changes between now and then, you're scr*wed!

If your ticket is an economy ticket, then just buy the ticket. You can probably get a ticket for no more than the change fee. If it is a business/first class ticket, then its really just down to whether you want to wait while someone reissues a ticket

Dave

A First Class ticket. Because I cannot guarantee that I will be able to take the trip as scheduled, I would not be buying a deeply discounted ticket. Qantas offers a "Flexi-Saver" fare, which is flexible (no change fee), but is not refundable. That is what I would buy.

If you are fairly sure that your date/time is not going to change , then just buy the cheapest ticket QF has to offer. They start at about AUD90 ( approx USD64 ) . If it turns out that you need to change it, as long as you change it by at least the day before travel, you can change it for a fee of AUD33 ( approx USD 24 ) plus the fare difference to the best available fare. This is much better, imo, than just buying the flexi saver out right initially. You will avoid the AUD33 change fee , but will have had to pay out AUD240 for the ticket up front.

Dave

If you bought the original ticket pre fuel levy impositions, you may be liable for not only the USD75 for re-issue, but the additional $ per segment fuel levy. I'd be inclined to buy the QF ticket.

Thanks everyone. I think I'll stick with my original routing and buy the QF ticket.

I was in a somewhat similar situation recently. Completing my DONE4 arrived into LHR in transit to DXB etc... realized that I was "missing" my last segment MEL-SYD. I had LHR-MEL but not MEL-SYD. The reservation definitely had the MEL-SYD segment in it.

First I thought I had lost the last coupon - the itinerary had started in SYD hence I believed it ended there. Later inquiry with ticketing TA revealed for some reason it had only been ticketed to MEL. Due to open dated segments and separation of reservation and ticketing, the two had become inconsistent.

Anyway - I inquired in my first transit at LHR T4 and was told that ticketing had just closed. I should re-inquire at T1 on my next transit the following day.

I did so at the lounge in T1 (ticketing desk is at the back of the J lounge). I was quite happy to have the ticket re-issued and pay the $75 change fee (and even the 25 pounds extra usualyl asked by BA). The ticketing guy understood what I wanted (although didn't really know the rules of the fare). He told me to come back in 15 minutes and he would have the ticket re-issued.

Well, to my surprise, he came to find me in the F lounge with the new ticket - he had re issued LHR-MEL and MEL-SYD on a new (cardstock) coupon to replace the old LHR-MEL coupon. He gave me the ticket and left - without asking for payment.

Guess I was lucky! ^ ^ ^