QANTAS: My experience rebooking and cancelling flights to North America after COVID diagnosis

As regular readers might know, I was due to travel to North America for two weeks in October 2024. Five days before I was due to leave, I had a COVID diagnosis. My first time.

Initial reaction

Ever the optimist, I hoped for a quick recovery. With antivirals onboard within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms, I thought my quick recovery was a certainty. I would complete the course of antivirals on the day of departure from Sydney to Vancouver. I was scheduled to spend two nights in Vancouver before travelling on to Seattle. The rest of the trip included Dallas and Colorado Springs.

I was prepared to wear a mask the whole flight given my COVID diagnosis. Feeling confident I could travel and use the two days in Vancouver as further recovery time. I would only have to forego an ambitious tourist itinerary.

My booking with Qantas

My flights to and from North America were booked with Qantas as sale fares. I also booked a return trip within the USA, redeeming Qantas points on American Airlines via the Qantas website. All my other flights had been booked as refundable Business Class airfares using my travel agent. I did this as the booking was somewhat complex, and some travel dates depended on yet-to-be-confirmed meetings and other arrangements.

I was scheduled to fly to Vancouver, Canada, via LAX on an A380 in Business Class, and then, after a layover of 6+ hours, fly onto Vancouver with WestJet. My return would be a direct flight on a Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Vancouver to Sydney.

I had also successfully requested a points upgrade from Business to First on the A380 flight to LAX. A godsend given my COVID diagnosis.

I was looking forward to experiencing the Qantas A380 refreshed First Class cabin, the LAX Qantas First Lounge, and new destinations, including Vancouver, Seattle, Dallas and Colorado Springs, the home of BoardingArea.com

Re-Booking

With the onset of a horrendously sore throat, it soon became apparent that my recovery was not as imminent as I had hoped. Given my COVID diagnosis, recovery was going to be long. Departure on Saturday — in a couple of days would not be possible.

I rang Qantas requesting changes to my travel plans due to my COVID positive diagnosis with the following options in mind:

1. I did not rate my chances of doing this highly at all. I could re-book my departure, say, in a week, pushing it out by a few days at the other end within the cost of the Sale Fare I had purchased.
2. I would be willing to delay and re-book my trip, with a cost difference of around AU$2,000, which I would be willing to pay slightly reluctantly. I thought this was the most likely option, although I was not confident about it being only AU$2,000.
3. Cancelling the trip, paying the penalty and getting a refund or flight credit for the fare already paid, depending on the conditions that applied to my fare, or was the most advantageous option.

To my utter surprise, the first option was possible. We rebooked the flight to North America and made it direct to Vancouver. OK, it meant missing out on experiencing the LAX Qantas First Lounge and avoiding a 5-plus-hour layover. It also saved me roughly AU$250 in taxes, which Qantas would refund.

The return flight was pushed out by a few more days but again was direct, saving me another layover.

My time on the line

This took an hour or more on the phone with a delightful Qantas Premium call centre agent. The agent waived all change fees and found fares still within the Sale fare category, so there was no additional payment. I had to hold a couple of times for 10 to 15 minutes, but getting a result that involved refunding me money and flying on roughly the dates I desired was the best outcome I could have expected.

The associate even rebooked my points redemption fare on American Airlines for me and waived the points penalty for doing that, too. I even got my upgrade points returned without penalty.

Legend status for this Qantas calls centre consultant!

Cancelling Flights

Within days of my rescheduled travel date, I was still testing positive on RAT tests and feeling lousy. The idea of any travel, and with a revised schedule that involved multiple flights on the first three days of my trip, just felt impossible.

I rang Qantas premium call centre again and spoke to a different consultant about cancelling my trip.

The consultant thanked me for not travelling with COVID-19 to protect other passengers and staff. She advised that a refund would be the best option. Her reasoning was that she could cancel any penalties (points or cash) and fees and therefore guarantee a full refund, including from the AA points redemption booking. If I opted for a flight credit, she said it was more likely that I would be charged the booking change fee of AU$400, and she could not prospectively waive that.

I took her advice. I expected to be told that it would take 8 weeks to return the charges to my credit card, but she said it would occur within 72 hours. And true to her word, that’s when all (but those booked through my travel agent) the refunds hit my account. The points were returned even sooner.

2PAXfly Takeout

This generous treatment by Qantas is in sharp contrast to its attitude back in 2022/23. Then, according to Joe Aston in ‘The Chairman’s Lounge: the inside story of how Qantas sold us out,’ Qantas actively deceived its customers into thinking the only option was a flight credit.

I was very impressed by the attitude and cooperation of the Qantas premium call centre staff I dealt with. I got through without any waiting. Service was gracious, friendly, knowledgeable and cooperative from all the consultants I dealt with.

The ability to waive fees and charges and find the most cost-effective solution to my re-booking problem was faultless. As a last-minute change, I expected to have to pay handsomely for my impudence. In fact, the consultant deliberately sought the cheapest solution. They only offered more expensive options if meeting my preferred dates was more important than the increased cost.

I have left this experience with a higher regard for Qantas customer service. I’m also determined to retain my Platinum Status, which gives me access to the Premium contact centre.