QF 107 - if late arriving in LAX, appears QF uses different aircraft to JFK
 

I am departing to Australia this week, and returning mid-Dec. I am returning on QF 107 SYD-JFK. There are 5 other threads on the subject - but none answer my question.

On Sun, Nov 23, QF107 departed SYD 4 hours late and arrived 4 hours late at LAX at 10:24am. However QF107 form LAX-JFK left pretty much on time at 9:14am. (about 20 minutes late).

Question: Does QF use one of its earlier arriving aircraft to then fly QF107 from LAX-JFK? What happens to arriving passengers on QF107 from SYD - since they missed the continuation of their flight to JFK?

If that is the case - then what is the point of a direct flight 107?

(there appeared to be a link on 107 you are screwed - but the link no longer works).

QF107
 

I flew 108 from JFK to SYD last month and we were 2- 3 hours late out of JFK due to a combination of weather and lots of flights ahead on the departure list... we were told that when we landed in LA we were to go straight to the next gate over to get on the LA-SYD leg. The plane there had had already boarded and the First class pax were given an escort straight onto the flight.
we took off just minutes later with no time for a drink.
I would have preferred some time to get to the lounge and have shower/dinner but no luck. Also we were NOT processed by immigration at any point and I still had my green immigration slip in my passport which I sent back to the US last week. I also made sure I had my passport stamped upon entering Australia.
Cheers
IainF

QF can use the plane from MEL (QF93) or 149 from SYD (if operating that day and is a 3 class aircraft) to continue to JFK and may do this even if 107 is on time from personal observation. If you are late into LAX and connecting then QF will rebook you automatically onto another flight and on arrival in the baggage reclaim area in LAX QF groundstaff will hand you a new boarding pass and instructions. This flight could be operated by any carrier (not just AA) and you will then need to fax QF to get the points if it is not an AA flight.

Personally I wouldn't worry about this, it is not a big issue.

There is no exit immigration in the US ... it is up to you to give the green slip to the QF agent, either in JFK or upon boarding in LAX. QF then forwards them onwards to the US immigration folks.

I have found check in staff take it at check in without any prompting.

Check in staff should do this ...

Rubbish - it's a huge issue for a 5 hour alternate flight!

Especially if you are travelling in WHY! (Compare AA WHY with QF WHY!)

Eek! :eek: Would be preferable to confirm this with you, as there might be future travel to the US within its validity.

I've only ever had one check in staff member not take it. And I was able to hand it in at the gate, like several other people seemed to be doing. And this was on AY. If you get back to your home, and you still have it, and you need to re-enter soon, I was always told that the embassy/consulate can take care of it with a minimum of fuss.

Dude! Relax, you will live longer. I have done trans con in AA Y more times than most people have had a hot QF dinner (I think probably at least 25 times, perhaps as many as 30). 5 hours of AA or UA Y isn't going to kill you. There isn't a significant enough difference between AA or UA trans con Y and QF.

You misunderstand.

If you need to re-enter soon (within the typical 90-day validity), there is no issue. The I-94W allows multiple entries.

What I was getting at is that there cases where you wouldn't want the green I-94W taken off you when departing the US. As an example: there's a fee for doing a new visa waiver entry when crossing by land or sea. Having a valid I-94W on entry means the fee isn't payable.

More and more airlines take the form at check-in and not at boarding which is a problem because all connecting pax will still have their form in the passport.

BTW, how can you not have your passport stamped when entering Australia? We always get the Aussi passport stamped in and out.

If you hold an Australian passport Ausralian customs will not stamp the passport when arriving or leaving Australia.

And thanks for the information on where they should take the I94W when you leave the US.

machines stamp passports now? :)

Of course, I am quite relaxed, but there is a huge difference - and I never idicated it would kill me.(NB It is unlikely to happen to me unless QF Cancel a booked QF107/QF108 JFK service on me.)

It like the difference between prepaying a booking for a Ghia from Avis and when collecting told you can only have a Ford Festiva - with NO refund!

It is not relevant how many times you have done this on AA or UA - the QF107/QF108 JFK services are far more comfortable in WHY than on AA (and I presume the services of ANY USA based carrier).

There are quite a few facets to this huge difference. To name a few:YMMV

Cheers ...