Hey guys, got a questions regarding Qantas changing the departure city for a return international flight.
I booked a "classic rewards" return flight from Melbourne to San Francisco a couple of months ago. The deal pretty sweet: 140,000 frequent flyer points + $400 AUD (equates to about $1800 AUD if you take 100 points/$1)
The outbound flight departs 26th September '22 (2 days after the grand final - can't miss another tigers flag
) and I'm returning to Australia in mid October '22.
The return flight was supposed to be from
San Fransisco to Sydney, however I received an email yesterday announcing this had been cancelled, and I need to accept an alternative flight from
Los Angeles to Sydney -
so a different departure city!!!
They said nothing about an interconnecting flight between San Fran and LA until I complained about it in length to the Qantas Rep. the rep had to consult their supervisor and eventually call me back where I was offered an interconnecting flight from San Fran and LA, which sounds great except but this flight is from 6:00am - 8:00am, leaving me with a 14 hour wait at LAX as the international flight to Sydney leaves at 10pm - Not all that keen on this option but they wouldn't budge on anything else. They won't book/pay for any other commercial flight because of the T&C's regarding "Classic Rewards" flights.
Is it worth complaining to the ACCC or the Aviation complaints body? Just never heard of an airline changing departure city for an international flight before and it gives me the *smile*.
If i just need to suck it up I will do so - I'll still be better off booking a later flight from San Fran to LAX at a later time considering the good deal i received in the first place.