Same-day flight change options??
 

Hello all,

Does Qantas offer a same-day flight change benefit to OW emeralds? I have a 7-hour layover in MEL with lots of flights departing for PER between my arrival time and scheduled departure, and I wouldn't mind heading out a bit earlier. If the only option would be to pay the difference in fare plus a change fee, I'll probably take a pass, but it would be good to know if there might be other options.

Thanks!

There is no such benefit, and they would generally apply ticket conditions to the rule. Only way around this is when they are calling forward, but you would be looking at mass disruptions anyway.

I find that they tend to flexible if you have arrived on a QF international flight and connecting on a domestic one, but usually not particularly flexible on domestic flights or domestic-to-domestic connection, unless you have a flexible ticket.

Flight flexibility on non-flexible ticket is not an OWE benefit on QF.

Thank you! Connecting from LAX. Fingers crossed the person I speak with is in a good mood...but based on both comments, I won't get my hopes up. Managed expectations.

Agreed. I've been able to change flights multiple times when arriving from international flights simply by asking at the check-in counter, including once when I was able to change to a later flight (even though I still had time to make the earlier flight, it worked out better to catch one a little later).

I can't remember any occasion when I arrived on a QF long haul international flight on a single ticket and couldn't leave on an earlier domestic flight, as long as there was a seat available in the same cabin as my original booking and the connection wasn't too tight. In many cases I have in fact been proactively offered an option to go on an earlier flight.

Although they may have been more generous with me due to my being Qantas Platinum, I suspect you will have a good chance if you approach them nicely.

Well, I can report back that I was denied by both the QP and Business Lounge in MEL. I wasn't on the lowest fare, but it was still not full Y, and they made sure to make me feel like a dog pestering his master for scraps when I asked.

Was not impressed at all with the MEL Business lounge.

There are recent reports (yesterday) on the "Australian Frequent Flyer" forums indicating a directive has gone out indicating that all discretion about such changes has been recently removed.

Unless there are IRROPS or Flow-Forward or the booking class is available and the fare allows it, no changes are permitted.

QF seems to ebb and flow with these directives...
Next month the NPS (Net Promoter Score) drops due to these new policies, so they go back to being customer friendly.

zpaul,
Agree the interior of the MEL Business Lounge isn't great, but the food and bev offerings are well above what you'd get in North and South America.
SYD and CBR equivalent are much better, BNE is average but due for renovation.

The brand new PER Business Lounge opens on Aug 27, depending on how long you are in Perth.

I've even had problems on a flexible Y fare (CBR-SYD) where the CBR QP agent would not put me on (one of the three) earlier flights but insisted I would have to ring my corporate travel agent to have them change the booking. :confused:

With some corporate tickets, QF is not supposed to make any changes without referring back to the agency regardless of booking class. If there was availability, the agency should have been able to rebook with little issue

It is not necessary to be booked in a Y booking class, just be booked on a fare that allows such changes. For domestic bookings, any flex fare is ( I believe ) allowed to be booked onto earlier flights.

I suspect that the transfer agents doing international to domestic connections have a bit more flexibility than lounge agents doing purely domestic changes. I've certainly never had an issue changing from a connecting international flight, especially when it arrives early.

Strangely, enough, even as a WP, they've never let me take an earlier flight after an international connection. Must've been asking the wrong people.

No problem changing to earlier Melbourne to Sydney flight today on BA-issued business class redemption, this way my 5 hour layover became only 2 hour. Just asked at premium check in and she was happy to oblige.

Was that in the domestic check-in at the international terminal?
T1 used to offer more (unpublished) flexibility on non-flexible tickets than over at T3, but reports the last year or 2 are mixed.