lovefly88

Greetings,
I need some advice. A friend recently flew on Qantas JFK-LAX-SYD r/t. Sunday after flying for a few hours the plane returned to SYD due to mechanical issues. They sat on the tarmac for an hour while mechanics attempted to fix the plane. Eventually they were taken back to a gate and off loaded. They left 6 hours later.
Once they finally arrived in LAX they were told the plane will need more extensive repairs. Due to the plane being the same one that goes from SYD-LAX-JFK, all passengers continuing on were told they would be put up in a hotel for the night but to return in 24 hours. Qantas gave my friend a room at the Hilton and a Visa gift card for $125 and put him on the flight the next day.
I asked how much of a voucher they gave him as well and said $0. The hotel and gift card was all they did.
From reading on here if this were an EU flight a lot of $$$ would need to be given due to him arriving at JFK 30+ hours after original scheduled arrival. I've never flown Qantas but do any of you have advice?
Thanks in advance!!!

Dave Noble

There is no entitlement to compensaton for the delay. The airline provided accommodation and $125 which means it has met its obligations

Indeed, if this was a flight from LHR-DXB, then Qantas would have been liable to pay EUR600, but on other routes, not aware of any entitlements

If the person writes in to customer service, maybe it will offer something

number_6

There is zero chance of additional cash compensation but some chance of QFF points ... which may not be worth the effort for your friend. As Dave described there is no legal requirement for compensation beyond the hotel and meals and these were provided already. Anything else is goodwill, unlike other routes ex-EU where law can apply. Neither US nor Australia has legislated similar requirements, leaving it up to airlines to do what they wish. How often you travel on QF and your commercial value sometimes affects what is offered.

lovefly88

Thank you both for your insight. I understand it now, not being a legal right but even for miles or a gesture of goodwill, what would a reasonable amount be? I often frequent the DL and AA forums. The same rules apply in the US that legally nothing is required and AA CS seems to be far from amazing. DL I would expect would give a voucher or a considerable amount of miles.
30 hour delay... What should he even ask for in regards to miles

jridge

If the extent of the delay was highly problematic, did your friend inquire (or were they offered) the possibility of flying another airline from LAX-JFK? Specifically how about one of the numerous AA flights? If this were offered and refused, then some of the delay is self-induced and the appropriate amount of miles is arguably less.

number_6

Another question is value of QFF miles; if flying QF casually, they are likely to expire unused unless you have a friendly relative in Oz. Not much of value can be redeemed with a small amount of QFF miles. As for rerouting, QF is pretty good (I've been rerouted by QF onto AA several times over the years, and it was painless and without much delay), so would be surprising that 30 hours was the shortest offered delay given the large number of seats that AA has LAX-NYC.

moa999

A couple of points... While the flight number is the same QF12 - the plane is actually different.
QF flies an A380 from SYD-LAX which then turns around and a
B747 from LAK-JFK (which actually operates BNE-LAX-JFK)

On 21/11 I see QF12 depart SYD late at 1957 AEST and arrive LAX at 1011 PST... The ongoing QF12 to JFK left at 0901 PST.
The following day QF12 LAX-JFK departed on time so I would think only a 24hr delay on arrival.

Now normally in this situation QF would put pax on AA/other airlines flights that afternoon, but possibly the weekend before thanksgiving not enough seats.

Most people would prefer a $ gift card over a restrictive voucher so I agree your friend is unlikely to get much more out of QF -- they already have a say US$150 hotel room and US$125 card.

Is your friend a Qantas FF member? as that would be the only miles they would give.

lovefly88

He's not a member of FT and therefore doesn't know what to push for. If the situation would've happened to me I would've been pushing for an AA flight as well.
He said that QF mentioned normally they would reroute them on another airline but due to it being Thanksgiving week (as you mentioned) all the flights were sold out on other airlines. Personally I find that hard to believe that since there was not a single seat on a single plane going from LAX to JFK on AA or to EWR on UA.
Thanks for all your help. For my future reference if the situation did happen and they said everything was sold out between LAX and JFK in coach would they put you in business if you pushed enough or simply say you have to wait for economy since that's the class you booked?
Thanks again for everybodys input.

Annalisa12

Happened to me on a Qantas flight to YVR due to delays. Had to spend the night in HNL asmissed the connection. QF paid for hotel. I asked for nothing and was given nothing. The reward for me was that we got to our destination safely.

lovefly88

I must say I'm quite surprised they can operate a business successfully like this. I've always wanted to fly Qantas myself but now it seems if given the opportunity I would shy away from it. I don't believe in risking important meetings by taking the last possible flight beforehand but I do have a work schedule. If I pay $1,000 + to get somewhere and I arrive 24+ hours late and the airline says we got you there and you received a night in a hotel on us, I wouldn't be too happy. Now it has cost me an extra day of vacation from work and no gesture of generosity would certainly leave a sour taste in my mouth.
To each his own though.

og

Delays are annoying and can sometimes completely kill a day of an itinerary - or worse. IMHO it is foolishly brave and corrageous to adopt a "just in time" philosophy with air travel - especially when there may only be one flight a day. You might think QF is bad with the offerings during irrops, but have a look at the UA FT Board and you'll read some very unhappy remarks about delays and cancellations. Even LH is not immune with a series of rolling strikes over recent years (and right now) by crew for several days at a time. Delays happen and you just have to roll with it.