thaigold

Well, thats my advise too - however why would QF give me the two vouchers then?

Thaigold

Aisle Seat H

Exactly, I can only surmise from the OP's latest post - stating that the travel agent have claimed that their systems still show it as an F booking and that QF are offering compensation - that the original IT/fare-loading issue/error happened somewhere at QF's end. (To do with which cabin the 'R' fare was still associated with, I'm guessing).

There is no reason whatsoever otherwise why QF would offer compensation - I can assure you from personal experience (as I'm sure can many others) that they don't throw around 500 buck vouchers unless they are 100% convinced that they are at fault in regards any particular matter! The offer implies they are worried that if it ever did come to legal challenge that either the OP or the travel agent would be able to require QF to seat the paxs in F. Much cheaper for QF if they take the vouchers instead and it never reaches that point.

Will be interesting to hear how things develop from here.

Dave Noble

I think that you should take the $500 vouchers and be happy with Qantas. My thoughts are exactly what they were in post 2 that the system had incorrectly converted the P PE code to display as 1st class and that you should get a refund without penalty since Qantas is only going to take you in Premium Economy regardless

Qantas has given you an ex gratia voucher when they had no need to; QF has done nothing wrong at all that I can see, the only errors have been at Best Flights

A mistake occurred; mistakes happen; if you really think you can win in a small claims court, and I wouldn't go there without taking legal advice on whether there is any point , then your complaint is with Best Flights and not Qantas.

Mistakes happen and you were told it was a mistake 6 weeks ago

Dave

Dave Noble

I doubt that the Qantas system shows it as a 1st class ticket but that they simply show it as P ; Best Flight's computer system , not being updated, displayed this to the end user as First Class

Dave

Mr. Bean

I agree, I think it is a TA issue. Other TAs were not showing R as F, so how can it be QF IT's fault? That makes no sense. Yes QF offered vouchers, but I'm not sure why, except as a courtesy, since they are not at fault.

EDIT: Also, I'm sure that if you had checked the fare rules for R at that time, it would have specified Y+ and not F (on ITA). I'm not sure if/what the bestflights fare rules said, but it seems pretty clear they were trying to sell an F ticket.

Lonely Flyer

I would not be surprised to find that it is not actually QF offering the vouchers.

If it was a QF technical issue why did not other sites offer the special.

There are no other threads complaining about other sites.

Someone at Bestflights did not read the memo.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

The only issue I have with the legal advice given is that another lawyer acting for Bestflights will see it in a completely different way! And I stand by that there is the possibility of a mistake (in the strict legal sense of it).

The worst that can happen out of that scenario is that you get a full refund.

Then there is the ACCC side of things - and I really don't know how that would pan out. There is plenty of commentary but it is not conclusive. But what have you got to lose? Probably not much except you might end up still in PE - at a fairly expensive fare (when J is available on someone like Japan airlines for not much more than you have paid for PE).

Anyways - thanks for the update and let us know how it goes!

Regards

lme ff

Dave Noble

Given that the OP had stated that he didn't want to travel in PE at that price , then he has the risk of losing the ability of purchasing an economy ticket at a reasonable price or of purchasing a business ticket on another carrier at a low price

The ACCC does, iirc, allow for genuine mistakes, which I cannot see how this is anything other; BF messed up in not properly reclassifying P as PE and wasn't intentionally trying to mislead

Even if trying to sue, there has to be a loss and, without purchasing a different 1st class ticket ( and ensuring that he is diligent at attempting to mitigate losses ) and then trying to sue for the difference , I don't see how could instigate a claim against BF. Since the likely claim would be more than $10,000 , I don't think that it is eligable for a simple small claims track ( at least in NSW )

Seems to me a case of "company made a mistake, how can I screw them over for it" to me

Dave

Lonely Flyer

Even with my limited experience with premium fares I would have realised that this must have been an error. I would have double and triple checked before releasing my money to an online merchant.

If it goes to court then the experience of the OP will be surely tested.

Mr. Bean

Not really. They stated multiple times that it was an F fare. Even after the OP called and said it looked like PE, they said it should be F. How is the OP trying to "screw them over"? If anything, the company is screwing themselves (and their customers) through bad information.

$6K is an obvious mistake fare??

Dave Noble

for a 1st class return to London departing from Australia, very much so

QF doesn't even have business class fares that low , so would say it is pretty obvious it was a mistake

If it was a UK-Oz fare, not so

Dave

Dave Noble

Umm.... They have come back admitting it was a mistake (as he was advised here when it 1st occurred) and is now saying

"Now Bestflights are not returning my calls and I have decided to take legal action against them, as they are according to my lawyer liable to me and must honour the tickets"

This now looks like he is attempting to screw them over what seems to be a genuine mistake which they have offered a reasonable token of $500 a ticket

Dave

Maybe1

I don't think that "fault" is binary in this situation, rather a mixture of unfortunate events, from a number of areas.

On the Qantas side, I think that they probably should have allowed a longer "down-time" during which the fare code/bucket was not used for any sales activity, also given more warning time to its agents about the change in code delineation (to enable them to update their systems) and actively monitored some of its major sales channels to make sure that the change was applied correctly.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that even the AA.com website was displaying & marketing this fare code as "Discount First".

I would imagine that through proactivity, the OP has exposed a problem which will enrage other passengers (over the next few months...) as they arrive at airport check-in counters. That is, unless Qantas & it's sales channel partners are proactive about identifying & contacting those who have in good faith booked "Discount First", and "dealing" with the situation swiftly.

Leumas

You and a few people who have extensive experience on this route and on premium travel may know that. A normal Joe Blogg seeing this fare may not realise what is a realistic F fare.

While I may be a bit more knowledgable than the normal Joe Blogg, I'm nowhere near as experienced as you. When I first saw the topic, I actually thought it's for real. Yes, it's cheap, but hey, it's the airline that won't stop moaning about no one is willing to pay money for the pointy end...

I can understand that a Joe Blogg may enter this contract/agreement with BF in good faith and promptly handed over the money to secure this price. Have this thrown back at them can be annoying.

Dave Noble

The OP obviously did by virtue of his Original Post where he is advocating others to be quick and that he "quickly grabbed" tickets for the flight

Also he found pretty much straight away when he checked on the Qantas site and it stated Premium Economy

Dave