Qantas connection question

I'm involved in a thread on another website about an AS/QF misconnect. Several people on this board have direct experience and may be able answer a question:

The OP bought SEA-LAX-SYD tickets on the Qantas website. SEA-LAX was a QF codeshare on AS metal and scheduled connect time was only 105 minutes. The SEA-LAX flight was 30 minutes late, and by the time she made the landside transfer she arrived at the QF counter past the cutoff. They tried to rebook her to a flight 90 minutes later but she (dumbly) refused and got to SYD a day later.

OP is an inexperienced traveler....the flights were sold by QF with their flight numbers, she would not know the nuances of MCT at LAX, and her luggage was thru-checked to SYD at SEA...so there was a reasonable expectation she was fully checked all the way to SYD unless she was advised otherwise.

Is check in for the QF flight is required at LAX (to confirm passport and ETA), and AS does not do this? What awareness does AS or QF provide during the booking process or during travel?

Did she get her QF boarding pass when she checked in at SEA?

Ignore question; I found the forum in question. It appears this was two years ago?? I think the poster is very unreasonable to expect first that his wife be upgraded to business or first, and then to receive a free roundtrip ticket. You are correct; they seem to have very little understanding of air travel and how it works. She was offered a flight the same day and refused. She did get on a flight the next day. The guy needs to let it go.

Perhaps it would be helpful for people to read the original post in this other forum (I added paragraphs to make it more readable):

My father-in-law suffered a massive heart attack in Sydney Australia. My wife, Sylvia immediately booked flights through Qantas (using their online site) from SEA to SYD. On October 18, 2013, she boarded the first leg to LAX. The Qantas codeshare flight was operated by Alaska Air and left 30 minutes late. As soon as the flight arrived she went to the Qantas desk to check-in on the LAX to SYD leg. She was told that she was late, her seat had been reassigned, she was denied boarding and was turned away with no recourse.

As you can imagine she was completely distraught and called me immediately in tears. I advised her to go back to the desk, ask to speak to the "Desk Manager", explain the situation and they would correct this horrible mistake. She returned to the desk and made the request while I stayed on the phone. It was 9:15pm when she attempted to check-in and her flight would have departed at 10:20pm. There was still plenty of time to get her on her flight. Finally after her second request the Desk Manager arrived and told her that there was nothing that could be done. Alaska had not properly checked her in, the desk closed 90 minutes before departure, she was late, they had "sold" her seat to someone else and nothing could be done. Interestingly, her baggage was tagged from SEA to SYD so I am not sure where the checkin error occurred.

I spoke to the Desk Manager and asked him to upgrade her to Business or First class since they had made the error. Please be aware that at this point her stress level was through the roof. At the best of times the 15 hour non stop flight to Sydney is a challenge and she had selected her A380 premium economy (PE) ticket with an aisle seat with great care considering the circumstances (her stress level). The Desk Manager refused to upgrade her and finally offered her a seat on a later flight (more than 1.5 hours later) on a 747. She was offered PE in the middle section in a middle seat. Exactly her worst nightmare for the 15 hour leg. She declined the flight and was eventually rebooked the next day on a flight to SYD. It is now nearing midnight and she is stranded in LA.

The Desk Manager refused her request for Hotel assistance. It was her problem. The next day as she was getting ready to board her flight, they announced that the flight was being delayed for 1.5 hours to wait for "late" passengers out of a DFW flight. Can you believe the irony, she was denied boarding because she was late but is now being delayed further to wait for late passengers.

There is considerably more detail to this story but I am trying to provide a basis for what we did next.

Sylvia arrived in Sydney where she immediately tended to her ill father until he passed away 6 weeks later with her at his side. I contacted Qantas after 2 weeks and complained politely but strongly about her treatment. She was assigned to a Qantas Customer Service Executive who promptly denied her claim. Later, I found the address of the then head of Qantas Customer Service, Allison Webster, wrote her an e-mail asking for reconsideration. she assigned me to another Customer Service Representative who wrote me to say that she had reviewed Sylvia's claim, was giving her 20,000 miles on her frequent flyer program and that this issue was now considered settled.

My explanation is incredibly condensed for brevity. My position is that Sylvia could not possibly be late for the flight because she had checked-in at SEA properly, was on a Qantas flight that landed at LAX with ample time to board her connecting flight and had booked the entire flight through Qantas. All flights had Qantas flight numbers. They knew or should have known exactly where she was.

Finally, we believe that Qantas should provide Sylvia with a comparable roundtrip ticket, SEA to SYD in Premium Economy, to compensate her for the incredibly difficult trip they subjected her to because of their errors and 2 years of denials. Her Fathers condition was not Qantas's problem but a reasonable company would have shown some compassion, some understanding.

I have tried to work politely within the system with little to no results. Your help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have copies of all communications but have not included them because they include names and/or information that I would prefer not be publicly posted. I would be happy to share them with you in a secure private setting

What a ridiculous complaint!

1) Two years later!

2) Had to rush to get to Australia as quickly as possible but then decided to turn down boarding a flight because they couldn't get an aisle seat? Then had the balls to ask for an airline covered hotel and upgrade to First. Laughable. I can't help but think the ploy of turning down a middle seat in PE was some kind of attempt to be offered a business class seat gratis, then it backfired.

3) AS use the SABRE GDS and Qantas use Amadeus, so checking in for one doesn't mean checking in for both. She probably got a boarding pass of sorts at SEA that noted she couldn't be checked in for the QF flight and had to go to a QF desk. I've had this on single itineraries when changing airlines and GDSs.

Agree with everyone; but it does raise a question on how much info a passenger receives pre and post purchase. Since several on here travel codeshares to LAX and onward to Oz, I'm hoping one of them has direct experience on what info and instructions are provided upon check in for the first flight.

Currently QF website also has T6 > TBIT airside transfer instructions (airside T6>T4 shuttle, then the Gate 44 shuttle to TBIT). But I'm not sure that was an option in 2013.

The only comment I can make, is after reading the first post, it took me about 45 seconds to find this forum, which I'd never seen before, and pull up the thread in question.

If I can do this, why can't Southwest fliers figure out when the schedule opens?

The only comment I can make, is after reading the first post, it took me about 45 seconds to find this forum, which I'd never seen before, and pull up the thread in question.

 

If I can do this, why can't Southwest fliers figure out when the schedule opens?

Because they ARE Southwest fliers??

Because they're too busy trying to get free tickets from incidents years ago?

Because it's easier to ask someone else than do research yourself?

(And I blame Siri et al for some of that last one!!)

Because they ARE Southwest fliers??

 

Because they're too busy trying to get free tickets from incidents years ago?

 

Because it's easier to ask someone else than do research yourself?

 

(And I blame Siri et al for some of that last one!!)

Lmfao

Because they ARE Southwest fliers??

 

Because they're too busy trying to get free tickets from incidents years ago?

 

Because it's easier to ask someone else than do research yourself?

 

(And I blame Siri et al for some of that last one!!)

The only comment I can make, is after reading the first post, it took me about 45 seconds to find this forum, which I'd never seen before, and pull up the thread in question.

 

If I can do this, why can't Southwest fliers figure out when the schedule opens?

Is check in for the QF flight is required at LAX (to confirm passport and ETA), and AS does not do this? What awareness does AS or QF provide during the booking process or during travel?

Stripping away all the angst and drama (although this story could be the inspiration for a new reality tv show), I have flown SEA-LAX-SYD on a DL ticket with the SEA-LAX segment on AS.

At the AS counter in SEA, the agent did check passport and ETA (and issued an ongoing boarding pass). At this point, AS had done their due diligence. Does AS communicate this due diligence to DL? NO. Not their job.

In LAX, at the Skyclub (or departure gate) it is essential for DELTA (or in the example case, Qantas) to independently verify passport and ETA. After all, it would be Delta (Qantas) on the hook if they allowed a passenger to board without proper docs. Occasionally at the departure gate, the agent would page someone for a doc check. Had Sylvia arrived at the gate sooner, she would have been paged for a doc check.

Sylvia did not need to be made aware of the process in advance. Had she shown up to the gate IN TIME, the agent would have paged her and checked her docs.

Here is the story stripped down to its essence: a passenger through no fault of their own missed an international connection. The airline offered the next available flight in the same class of service (PE). Passenger refused for personal reasons. Airline offered a flight the next day. Passenger accepted and wanted a free hotel room. Airline denied. Passenger flew the next day. Airline threw some frequent flyer miles to passenger as a courtesy. Passenger thinks she deserves a free round trip ticket to Australia. Passenger needs to grow up and learn a life lesson.

Here is the story stripped down to its essence: a passenger through no fault of their own missed an international connection. The airline offered the next available flight in the same class of service (PE). Passenger refused for personal reasons. Airline offered a flight the next day. Passenger accepted and wanted a free hotel room. Airline denied. Passenger flew the next day. Airline threw some frequent flyer miles to passenger as a courtesy. Passenger thinks she deserves a free round trip ticket to Australia. Passenger needs to grow up and learn a life lesson.

Thanks, Shorex!! I know that you and a few others have first-person experience, hence why I posted here. Everyone on the other thread pretty much agrees. But it raised a good question on what actually transpires and the information a possibly inexperienced traveler receives about the LAX connection. The passenger was supposedly distraught over her father, urgently needed to get to SYD, a seat was available a few hours later (damn lucky on a longhaul route), and she refused it because it was a middle seat!

Over and above on Qantas' part.