Partner Airline Award Ticket Schedule Changes: Always Frustrating

Partner Airline Award Ticket Schedule Changes: Always Frustrating

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Airline schedule changes happen all the time — the further in advance you book, the bigger the chances you’ll have a significant change to your flights as the departure date approaches, given how often airlines tweak their schedules.

While there are plenty of situations where you can make schedule changes work to your advantage, the exception is on partner airline award tickets, where schedule changes are almost always a huge headache. In this post I wanted to share one such situation I’m currently dealing with.

My Qantas partner award ticket downgrade

In late February 2023, Qantas released a bunch of award seats in all classes. I managed to book a Qantas first class award on the Airbus A380 from Sydney to Los Angeles using American AAdvantage miles. I was excited about this, since Qantas first class awards are generally near impossible to find, and on top of that I haven’t reviewed Qantas A380 first class in many years.

I’ve been in the process of planning the rest of my trip, though over the weekend I hit a roadblock. On April 15, I received a schedule change notification from American, informing me that I had been downgraded from first class to business class on my flight (you’ll see the confirmation states that “P” is premium economy, but that’s a known glitch, as that’s the first class fare code for Qantas).

My American schedule change notice

So, what’s going on here? Well, for certain days in the coming months, Qantas has taken the Airbus A380 off the Sydney to Los Angeles route, instead replacing it with a Boeing 787-9.

I noticed that the A380 is still scheduled to operate the route on both the day before and the day after my original flight, so it should be a reasonable request to be rebooked on one of those flights.

In these kinds of partner award ticket schedule changes situations, here’s how that usually works:

  • Airlines don’t generally have a way to directly open award space on partner airlines in these situations
  • However, airlines have liaisons that work between airlines, so that there are ways to make reasonable requests in situations like this
  • It’s often not an instant process, but the intent is that in the event of an involuntary schedule change, an agent with one airline can put in a request with another airline for a seat to be opened

Anyway, this is how things are supposed to work. That’s not necessarily how things actually work, though, especially with the first try.

Qantas’ Boeing 787 business class

My experience trying to get rebooked

This morning I picked up the phone and called the American Executive Platinum desk. I explained to the agent that I was involuntarily downgraded, and asked for a request to be made for Qantas to open award space on the same route either the day before or after.

She said she’d check, and she put me on hold for well over 20 minutes. A quick tangent — why is is that half of agents seem to check on you every two minutes when you’re placed on hold, while other agents don’t check on you at all — in this case it was the latter, which was probably a sign of how this would go).

After being on hold for an extended period of time, the agent informed me that Qantas is unwilling to rebook me on a different flight. The reason? The agent claimed it’s because I accepted the schedule change. I asked the agent for more details about when I allegedly accepted the schedule change, and she claimed that I did so on April 5. I explained that:

  • I was first notified about the schedule change on April 15, less than 48 hours before I called American
  • I intentionally didn’t “accept” the change in any way, for obvious reasons

I assume the agent wasn’t making this up, though it doesn’t feel good to have someone essentially accuse you of having approved something two weeks ago, when that simply isn’t the case (both in terms of the timeline and in terms of accepting the change).

To the agent’s credit, she said they were able to open up first class award space on American:

  • Airlines often do this in situations with partner award ticket schedule changes, as it’s often the easiest solution
  • That being said, I’ve flown American’s 777-300ER first class, and it’s not great, to put it mildly (and never mind that the soft product has been downgraded significantly since then)
  • For that matter, American shouldn’t have to open first class award seats on its own flights, when it should be Qantas fixing the situation it created
American’s Boeing 777 first class

You can bet that I’ll be calling again later. I’m probably the most anti-phone person on earth, and I go great lengths to avoid phone calls. As you might expect, I’m already dreading this, as I’m sure it won’t be quick.

While I book tons of partner award tickets, for my own travels I tend to book very last minute, so I don’t deal with schedule changes very often anymore. I get messages all the time from readers about their frustration with schedule changes on partner award tickets, so I just want to say “I hear you.”

I’ll report back if/when I get this resolved. Who knows what the last agent noted in my record, which might even make this more of an uphill battle (something like “passenger refused to accept alternative offer”).

Part of what makes this all so frustrating is that you’re basically playing a game of telephone (literally and figuratively), with the phone agent you’re talking to relaying details to someone in a different department, who is relaying details to someone at the other airline (often not in real time), so a lot can get lost in translation.

Bottom line

While it’s easy to make many schedule changes work in your favor, one major exception is partner airline award tickets, which can be a real headache at times. Airlines have liaisons through which they can request that partner airlines open award tickets when there are involuntary schedule changes, but the challenge is actually getting a decent agent on the line, having them advocate for you, etc.

I don’t think my request is unreasonable. I booked a Qantas first class award. Qantas downgraded me. I’d still like to fly the airline, route, and cabin I booked, and I’m willing to move to another date, even though it’s less convenient. Unfortunately they’re somehow claiming that I accepted this schedule change nearly two weeks ago, which simply isn’t true, as I didn’t learn about it until two days ago.

If you’ve recently dealt with a partner airline award ticket schedule change, what was your experience like?

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  1. Alp Guest

    In late 2021, I booked award travel to India. During that time, airlines still had a decent number of schedule changes. For example, Swiss cancelled my flight to India (I think the weekly frequency decreased), United canceled my flight to Zurich (added a stop in Newark), etc.

    I had the option to book the flight with Aeroplan miles or LifeMiles, but I deliberately chose to book with MileagePlus. Why? Because I knew that if...

    In late 2021, I booked award travel to India. During that time, airlines still had a decent number of schedule changes. For example, Swiss cancelled my flight to India (I think the weekly frequency decreased), United canceled my flight to Zurich (added a stop in Newark), etc.

    I had the option to book the flight with Aeroplan miles or LifeMiles, but I deliberately chose to book with MileagePlus. Why? Because I knew that if there were schedule changes, United has flights to India on their own metal, and I knew/suspected that they'd open saver space on those flights as well as the domestic US feeder flights. I wasn't sure if Air Canada would do the same, and I didn't want to deal with Avianca (lol).

    Now, this almost went awry -- I ghosted United after my Turkish cancellation for a few days so I could figure out my travel dates, and one of the United flights had fewer than three seats for sale, so they couldn't open space in business class. However, they had another flight to India, so all is well that ends well.

    However, I realize that this is suboptimal when you're trying to fly in a specific cabin on a specific partner airline. It sounds like OneWorld has some sort of alliance mechanism of resolving this, at least in theory... I don't think Star Alliance has that same concept. I'm always told that the partner airline is a separate airline and the issuing airline (United in this case) can't open partner space.

  2. Dd1 Guest

    Perhaps stop booking first class awards for business purposes (reviewing) when you could pay and get a tax deduction. Leave rewards to people actually seeking a reward rather than work. Karma got ya this time I’m afraid

  3. Thrawn Guest

    I've booked a multi carrier award with BA and one of the middle flights (5th freedom flight with Qatar) has been cancelled.
    I think there is no way to get a different replacement flight or a reimbursement pf the miles and taxes and fees?

    If I'd do that, the whole itenery would be recalculated and I'd possibly lose all the other flights?

  4. Points and Miles Doc Guest

    Currently dealing with an EVA business class booking through Avianca that EVA schedule changed to an impossible connection.

    Called Avianca - can only rebook into available partner space. At this point all of the available partner space is gone.

    I set an ExpertFlyer alert for new EVA business class space, which became available, so I called Avianca to rebook. But now the layover would be more than 24 hours which would count as a stopover,...

    Currently dealing with an EVA business class booking through Avianca that EVA schedule changed to an impossible connection.

    Called Avianca - can only rebook into available partner space. At this point all of the available partner space is gone.

    I set an ExpertFlyer alert for new EVA business class space, which became available, so I called Avianca to rebook. But now the layover would be more than 24 hours which would count as a stopover, which Avianca won't allow.

    They can't confirm any part of my original booking because the impossible connection makes it an impossible booking.

    Not sure that I have any chance here except cancelling the booking and orphaning my points with Avianca for the time being. :( Anyone have ideas?

  5. robbo Guest

    Qantas are a pain the arse, period. Terrible call centre. Have you tried calling them directly?

  6. Morgan Diamond

    I would contact Qantas come at it from all sides and put pressure on both airlines.

  7. Azamaraal Diamond

    I was denied boarding a year ago on a QR Q-suite MLE-DOH-SEA because QR changed planes and had AA (ticket issuer) change seat assignments which meant a new ticket number. QR properly changed the ticket number for my wife but did not change mine so by the time I tried to board the ticket was invalid. Long story was they wouldn't contact AA to fix and I couldn't get through (4 hour wait on phone...

    I was denied boarding a year ago on a QR Q-suite MLE-DOH-SEA because QR changed planes and had AA (ticket issuer) change seat assignments which meant a new ticket number. QR properly changed the ticket number for my wife but did not change mine so by the time I tried to board the ticket was invalid. Long story was they wouldn't contact AA to fix and I couldn't get through (4 hour wait on phone and no internet access in MLE) Had to buy very expensive J fare and sit in 42B for 17 hrs.

    Still fighting a year later but maybe making progress as I finally managed to get a case number. Hoping QR will be nice and refund the $3200. And maybe a few Avios?

    Moral - don't fly on a partner airline out of a "small outstation" like MLE.

  8. JB Guest

    Absolutely believable. There's a reason Qantas has become known as the "f**k-you-kangaroo" by many Australians with their customer service attitude over the past year.

    Hope you manage to get it sorted when you try again and AA get someone on the QF end with a bit more motivation to fix it.

  9. glenn t Diamond

    Qantas is not known as 'The Queen of Mean' for no reason.
    Their Customer Service, such that it is, is a cruel joke.

  10. Omar Guest

    In my view this is QF’s responsibility to take over the ticket and reissue, not AA, and if you fail to get progress with AA I would call QF.

    1. glenn t Diamond

      Fine if you have got a free half day to remain on hold!

  11. iamhere Guest

    What you don't discuss is the business side of it. You are not a loyal QF customer. You are a loyal American customer. QF may be in the same group as American, but that's not the point. So, it is not in QF's interest to accommodate you since you paid through their partner and it is in American's interest to offer you seats on their flight to hopefully keep your loyalty. This article would be...

    What you don't discuss is the business side of it. You are not a loyal QF customer. You are a loyal American customer. QF may be in the same group as American, but that's not the point. So, it is not in QF's interest to accommodate you since you paid through their partner and it is in American's interest to offer you seats on their flight to hopefully keep your loyalty. This article would be stronger if you discussed the relationship airlines have when you redeem partner rewards.

    1. TravelinWilly Diamond

      Good grief what a naive, dumb, point-missing comment.

  12. Liam Guest

    I feel your pain.

    I had an AS award in JL F go awry last year when JL3 got axed. This was originally JFK-HND-BKK.

    Luckily with some persistence I was able to fix this totally in my favour, but it was very frustrating.

    I had to be in NYC on a certain date, and after checking for several days I somehow managed to find award space on JL 34 in J and JL6 in F...

    I feel your pain.

    I had an AS award in JL F go awry last year when JL3 got axed. This was originally JFK-HND-BKK.

    Luckily with some persistence I was able to fix this totally in my favour, but it was very frustrating.

    I had to be in NYC on a certain date, and after checking for several days I somehow managed to find award space on JL 34 in J and JL6 in F on the perfect day. I snagged that very quickly.

    Then there was the second issue - changing what I had in the other direction, which was booked with Aeroplan. After some persistence I managed to find YYZ-YUL-FRA-BAH-BKK or YYZ-YUL-FRA-MCT-BKK all in J. The pinch point was obviously the transatlantic, because there was almost zero "I" space available at that time. There was just the one flight available around the dates I needed, and thankfully this was still when free changes were being offered. I ended up grabbing the itinerary via BAH. It was a long trip but worth it. That lounge in BAH was fantastic, apart from the infamous shower.

    Not to mention on the return, I got to fly proper F for the first time. And of course because this flight in JL F was departing from Japan, that meant I got to try Salon 2007!

  13. John Guest

    I agree with @Brad about quitting this farce now. If QF can't get its customer service right for its own base, how do you expect it to give a hoot about AA's customer?! I've been flying QF since 1980. Long time customers can see the damage wrought by that Irishman on all aspects of customer service. He can't leave soon enough.

  14. Greg A Guest

    Happened with me last summer on an AA Award ticket on Qatar.

    I was scheduled to fly QSuites from DOH-JFK. Unfortunately, AA started service so I got moved to the AA operated flight from DOH-JFK. I emailed AA corporate and they told me that there was nothing they could do, so I had to settle for the downgrade from QSuites to AA Biz.

    I know from reading on here and other blogs, there...

    Happened with me last summer on an AA Award ticket on Qatar.

    I was scheduled to fly QSuites from DOH-JFK. Unfortunately, AA started service so I got moved to the AA operated flight from DOH-JFK. I emailed AA corporate and they told me that there was nothing they could do, so I had to settle for the downgrade from QSuites to AA Biz.

    I know from reading on here and other blogs, there should be some sort of One World Liaison who could have made this work. However, I had no luck.

    1. Azamaraal Diamond

      At least you got to fly in "first". When they did it to me they cancelled the ticket and made me purchase a full fare last minute Y ticket for row 42B. Still fighting (a losing cause?)

  15. Randy Diamond

    I think I would just keep the AA F flight. Have flown QF F many times in past 35 years, with multiple generations of F seats. The A380 seat is good, but not great. Food not that good.

    Be lucky you have F on AA for 110K miles. AA J is 450K.

    1. D3kingg Guest

      @Randy

      Yes. Prices are 450K now but there were deals back in February. It’s a narrow window for Ben to have the opportunity to fly Qantas F on the a380. Even Qantas J would be much better than AA F but it’s Qantas fault for the operational change and they need to make Ben whole again.

  16. Touring Tim Guest

    It was all so much easier when the only 14 hour plane was a 747 and they all had the same level of comfort. Nowadays the equipment changes are completely random based upon capacity requirements and I get that. For me, I've travelled so many miles I don't care. As long as I have lounge access, priority check in and priority luggage tags if I checked something in and a bed for overnight flights then I'm OK

    1. Mike C Diamond

      I agree and would take the same approach, but we're not Ben. My reason for travel is to get from A to B. His is to take an opportunity to review, in this case, QF F so another airline or another class of travel isn't much use to him. As others have said, good luck with QF customer service!

  17. Yen4Travel Guest

    I've flown six Qantas segments on Alaska Miles since March, 2022, five in Premium Economy and one in business. I've had multiple schedule changes due to Qantas reallocating between A380s and Boeing 787s.

    Given the absence of business redemptions and fares for Business and Premium Economy, I decided that PE redemptions were good value and accepted five long PE flights paid with miles as a good alternative for me. I priced the fare for the...

    I've flown six Qantas segments on Alaska Miles since March, 2022, five in Premium Economy and one in business. I've had multiple schedule changes due to Qantas reallocating between A380s and Boeing 787s.

    Given the absence of business redemptions and fares for Business and Premium Economy, I decided that PE redemptions were good value and accepted five long PE flights paid with miles as a good alternative for me. I priced the fare for the last PE round trip a couple of months before the trip and saw the ticket would have been in the $7000 - 9000 range.

    I'm not optimistic Qantas will offer quality redemptions for Alaska miles. I have a late year trip to Australia and back which combines a Japan Air mileage redemption, with a paid Singapore Air flight from HND to MEL connecting in SIN, with stopover in SIN on the way back to HND. The return flight to SFO is a few days later. An early 10 day stay in Japan, with five night stopover in SIN, with a late four night stopover in Tokyo at the end of the trip.

    I think flexibility is the operative principle for using miles. If Qantas offers lower Business or PE fares, I'll opt for paying. I think Qantas has large numbers Aussies with lots of Qantas points they want to redeem and will prioritize the best redemptions for Aussie flyers.

  18. harry hv Guest

    Lucky, you'll need all your luck if you fly Qantas, this airline has seriously overdone the cost-cutting. To the extent where the service is now terrible from everyone involved, the agents, baggage handlers, caterers, and - as you found -the fleet is insufficient to handle the schedule. Delays/cancellations are like the worst LCC.

  19. Amy Guest

    Please file a report/complaint with the US DOT. The report will be escalated to AA, and AA's special team that handle these will most likely get you your first class seat on the alternate date to look good in front of the DOT. More importantly, the DOT is tracking these shenanigans for future actions. And please do make a post about this process.

  20. Long Way Around Guest

    Oh Qantas, the flying binfire that makes AA look like SQ.

  21. Golfingboy Guest

    This sucks... I would try to do everything to get this fixed, but also expect that you may not have a choice other than to settle for J with a mileage difference refund.

    I ran into the same issue with an AA award booking on QR, who has a notorious reputation for not working with the OW liaison desk or their partner airlines to fix cancelations/downgrades caused by QR. I called multiple times, followed...

    This sucks... I would try to do everything to get this fixed, but also expect that you may not have a choice other than to settle for J with a mileage difference refund.

    I ran into the same issue with an AA award booking on QR, who has a notorious reputation for not working with the OW liaison desk or their partner airlines to fix cancelations/downgrades caused by QR. I called multiple times, followed up multiple times, and QR simply flat out refused to work with AA to fix the booking that I lost because they canceled one of my four segments (QR cancels the entire booking if their system cannot auto rebook). I had to create a new booking from scratch and settled for one segment in Y despite holding award biz class seats on that exact flight a few hours ago.

    I think a program where alliance partners can force inventory to open up on partner airlines under very strict guidelines (i.e. status member and only on the operating airline that caused the issue) would be a good way to differentiate the alliance.

  22. Mick Guest

    If you get downgraded is aa going to refund some miles? They downgraded me from aa first to aa j and told me it was the same thing and wouldn’t refund points!

    I don’t call aa anymore. Have had plenty of success using aa chat service. Booked all my recent Qantas flights that weren’t online on this service.

  23. KW Guest

    Qantas is the worst airline in the developed world for dealing with issues such as this. A airline that is more focused on pillaging the consumer and stealing from the government.

    1. Mick Guest

      Agree with this. Sadly nearly all Australians are beholden to Qantas.

      In this situation I’d also say the Qantas website crashed during this release and all the aa members snapped up the flights (me included). So Qantas was left with a ton of bad press in australia and lost a ton of award seats. Chances are they won’t be in the mood to accommodate an aa passenger!!

  24. Derek Guest

    Qantas has a corporate culture of weaseling and outright lying to you in the first instance. It is done on purpose, as a business model. The reason is maths. The vast majority of people just give up. This greatly reduces their financial liability in a wide range of situations. This systemic lying is then combined with gaslighting. If you persist, they will eventually cave in, and they will simultaneously act like they never lied in...

    Qantas has a corporate culture of weaseling and outright lying to you in the first instance. It is done on purpose, as a business model. The reason is maths. The vast majority of people just give up. This greatly reduces their financial liability in a wide range of situations. This systemic lying is then combined with gaslighting. If you persist, they will eventually cave in, and they will simultaneously act like they never lied in the first place. Cruel mental abuse. That’s literally how they operate. And it’s done on purpose.

  25. D3kingg Guest

    Ben keep on knocking it will take a few a few calls and I’m sure someone at Qantas will get you into F the day before or after. Let them know who you are. Make sure you have screenshots and proof of the original booking showing F on the Qantas A380. An operational change was made on their end and you’re not changing routes. Let us know.

    I had a simple issue with an...

    Ben keep on knocking it will take a few a few calls and I’m sure someone at Qantas will get you into F the day before or after. Let them know who you are. Make sure you have screenshots and proof of the original booking showing F on the Qantas A380. An operational change was made on their end and you’re not changing routes. Let us know.

    I had a simple issue with an upcoming trip and it took 2 phone calls. I blocked 5A on a 772 rear facing window club world seat on BA. Now the equipment change to another old 772 with a slightly different configuration booted me into 10G an aisle seat. Then the system and first agent initially wanted $136 for a seat change. They put me on hold “to discuss with their team” then told me to call club world to move my seat. I was switched back to a rear facing window seat and received a few apologies. I’ve never had an AA agent apologize to me with sincerity before.

  26. Serge T Guest

    Ha Ben, I am in a similar situation. Qatar has taken their A380 out of Bangkok for September. So they downgraded me to J. I called American for that and something else, and I have to say the agent helping me she was great on my other request (on changing my connecting flight back from Europe to earlier, at an even exchange). But when I got to talk to her about the Award Ticket downgrade...

    Ha Ben, I am in a similar situation. Qatar has taken their A380 out of Bangkok for September. So they downgraded me to J. I called American for that and something else, and I have to say the agent helping me she was great on my other request (on changing my connecting flight back from Europe to earlier, at an even exchange). But when I got to talk to her about the Award Ticket downgrade she was like laughing at me for this request. She is like that is not possible. You also have accepted the change and miles were refunded (to which they actually have not, as I have not accept anything). I told her it was. That my request to change the ticket to August when the plane still flying (to which she said you do not even know if they won't pull it out also lol) was impossible. I told her it should not be. That is what there is a Liaison Oneworld desk. And if you explained to them carefully what happened they should be able to open up the space without an issue. Unfortunately the one world desk was not open (they work very limited hours) so I have to call back tomorrow as I am currently flying.
    I have read some on Flyertalk of people calling directly Qatar and having them work on the background to open up the space and get it on the record so that when the liaison call the space is already there and ready to reticket. Not sure how successful that is but I may also give that a try.

  27. Grogg Member

    I agree that these situations can be very frustrating. I had booked a Qantas A330 from Auckland to Sydney using British Airways Avios that had a schedule change to a 737 without lie-flat seats. British Airways refused to provide me with an involuntary refund or rebook me on an alternate A330 flight. I got stuck with a $55 cancellation fee. I submitted a DOT complaint but they were unable to help since I had booked...

    I agree that these situations can be very frustrating. I had booked a Qantas A330 from Auckland to Sydney using British Airways Avios that had a schedule change to a 737 without lie-flat seats. British Airways refused to provide me with an involuntary refund or rebook me on an alternate A330 flight. I got stuck with a $55 cancellation fee. I submitted a DOT complaint but they were unable to help since I had booked travel on a foreign airline between two foreign cities.

    1. D3kingg Guest

      @Grogg

      Sorry that happened. Are you high status with BA or Qantas ? because since Ben is One World Emerald and Executive Platinum even more reason he should force the issue.

    2. Grogg Member

      Thanks for your note. I'm Platinum Pro (Oneworld Emerald) with AA, but no status with BA or Qantas.

  28. Brad Guest

    Ben - I have some advice for you - give up now. I went through a similar issue with American and Qantas last year. The problem will be at the QANTAS end and there is little chance they will fix it. A few months ago, we had two identical awards with the same itinerary for our family - then QF cancelled the flight. They rebooked one itinerary on a new flight and would not rebook...

    Ben - I have some advice for you - give up now. I went through a similar issue with American and Qantas last year. The problem will be at the QANTAS end and there is little chance they will fix it. A few months ago, we had two identical awards with the same itinerary for our family - then QF cancelled the flight. They rebooked one itinerary on a new flight and would not rebook the other ???. 5 calls to the EP desk over a couple of months and every time they tell me they are still waiting on QANTAS.
    Net net, wait a couple of years and try again when the QF group isn't an operational mess.

    1. D3kingg Guest

      @Brad

      I disagree. While each situation is unique Ben should get his original booking and as a last resort should be screaming at the top of his lungs on the fourth or fifth call if it comes down to it.

    2. Phillip Diamond

      Although I too would be miffed at being downgraded and flying AA First is no comparison to QF First, AA have clearly been very customer focused and opened up space on their own flight, given that QF is clearly putting up the barriers! I wouldn’t take that either, but there is at least willing by AA to help.

    3. Brad Guest

      Scream over his lungs to who? - The AA EP desk were terrific but they have to submit their requests to the black hole that is QF.

      I actually agree with someone above - This is one time I would encourage Ben to let QF know exactly who he is - maybe then they will help him. All I was suggesting was to get his miles refunded and book QF F another time.

      ...

      Scream over his lungs to who? - The AA EP desk were terrific but they have to submit their requests to the black hole that is QF.

      I actually agree with someone above - This is one time I would encourage Ben to let QF know exactly who he is - maybe then they will help him. All I was suggesting was to get his miles refunded and book QF F another time.

      As someone stuck with using QF at times, I now go out of my way to book QF itineraries on an AA ticket. At least I know that AA will help me when it all goes to ....

    4. D3kingg Guest

      @Brad

      I would deal with Qantas head on. Call repetitively ; not take no for an answer and hopefully it is resolved in 24-48 hrs. Also call during business hours in Australia. How much time can Ben spend and stress over this ?

    5. Brad Guest

      Ha - have you called QF recently - my last call I was on hold for 4 hours before they picked up.

  29. Arun Guest

    Even worse is when the flight for one leg of a multi-leg journey is rescheduled, leading to inability to complete the journey per the original itinerary. Adding insult to injury is when the passenger has to notice this and take the initiative to call and inform the airline!

    I had AAdvantage awards tickets booked from SJC-DFW-MAD-DSS. Iberia changed my booking from MAD-DSS to the PREVIOUS day. Luckily I noticed that and called American to change...

    Even worse is when the flight for one leg of a multi-leg journey is rescheduled, leading to inability to complete the journey per the original itinerary. Adding insult to injury is when the passenger has to notice this and take the initiative to call and inform the airline!

    I had AAdvantage awards tickets booked from SJC-DFW-MAD-DSS. Iberia changed my booking from MAD-DSS to the PREVIOUS day. Luckily I noticed that and called American to change my outbound to DFW and MAD to match.

    A few months ago, I booked American award tickets from SJC-LHR-BLR on BA. Well, they changed the first leg to be out of SFO at a later time, which meant I’d have missed the connection to BLR. American could not find a suitable Business Class seat after this schedule change but luckily they got me in for the previous day.

  30. Ryan Guest

    Ben - Why did you call the AmEx Platinum line if you booked via American Airlines? I'm a new AmEx Business Platinum cardholder and don't know all the benefits.

    Why would they help with a booking that wasn't made through them?

    1. DENDAVE Member

      Unless it was already edited, he said "American Executive Platinum" as in the line for Executive Platinum members for American Airlines, not Amex Platinum. I misread it the first time through, too.

  31. Ben Holz Guest

    Ben, I am not aware if there are any regulations prohibiting this in the US, but wouldn't it be best to try and get both QF and AA on a three-way call?

    As someone previously pointed out and obviously as a very last resort, you could always try to escalate the issue within QF (see Elliott Report for executive contacts). I'm personally very skeptic of doing stuff like this, but the single time I did...

    Ben, I am not aware if there are any regulations prohibiting this in the US, but wouldn't it be best to try and get both QF and AA on a three-way call?

    As someone previously pointed out and obviously as a very last resort, you could always try to escalate the issue within QF (see Elliott Report for executive contacts). I'm personally very skeptic of doing stuff like this, but the single time I did something of the sort, it did provide me with a satisfactory result and with the alternative being downgraded to J, AA F or getting a refund, surely there's no harm in trying...

    1. AnishReddi Gold

      I think the problem with this, for Ben at least is that he likes to stay anonymous and give realistic recounts of what a passenger can expect. Going to more senior staff could ruin this.

    2. Nb Guest

      Where did I hear that? Oh yeah the usual Karens: wanna talk to the manager. LOL

    3. AndrewDTX Guest

      I'm tired of anyone escalating their legitimate customer service issues to a manager being called a Karen. Yes, Karens absolutely exist, but escalation is sometimes necessary (such as the scenario this post covers).

  32. Phillip Diamond

    I too am in the middle of such a fiasco between Aegean Airlines and Air Canada. I received no notification from either airline, I noticed the change myself coincidentally while monitoring the booking.

    Air Canada cancelled my day flight from YYZ-LHR in business and decided it was appropriate to put me on the last flight the day before.

    I spoke to both Air Canada and Aegean Airlines with both airlines doing their absolute best...

    I too am in the middle of such a fiasco between Aegean Airlines and Air Canada. I received no notification from either airline, I noticed the change myself coincidentally while monitoring the booking.

    Air Canada cancelled my day flight from YYZ-LHR in business and decided it was appropriate to put me on the last flight the day before.

    I spoke to both Air Canada and Aegean Airlines with both airlines doing their absolute best to rid themselves of responsibility! Aegean’s offer was any other flight which had reward availability or a refund. Air Canada’s attitude was that the ticket was issued by Aegean and they cannot touch it (despite having already touched it)! Three times I asked Aegean to please contact Air Canada to ask for a different flight and Aegean point blank refuses to make any such communication. The best they could do was tell me to call Air Canada myself and if they queue through the flights I want they will happily reissue the ticket.

    Air Canada’s agents have been mostly disappointing, at times rude. On the booking I was directed to Aeroplan. On Twitter, the team told me to contact Aeroplan as it’s an award booking. Aeroplan agents spoke to me the first time and the second time told me it was nothing to do with them and to call central reservations who were baffled!

    All in all, exceptionally poor customer service!

  33. dn10 Guest

    I had an AA award ticket booked on Qatar for a MLE trip a bit ago and the schedule changed which would have caused a 20 hour layover in DOH or something like that (Vs like 4 hours) and they downgraded one leg from business to coach. Even after multiple calls and emails to both airlines, nothing worked. Ended up just cancelling and going a few months later but it was frustrating.

  34. Benjamin Perley Guest

    That is absolute nonsense for sure. American doesn’t have any customer facing mechanism to explicitly accept or decline the schedule change that I know of. It might be happening internally, but not from my perspective.

    1. Benjamin Perley Guest

      They may have some algorithm that refreshes the segment status so that the partner carrier thinks the change has been accepted, but it’s not like the customer has a choice on it

  35. Paul Guest

    I, like you, hate getting on the phone unless all alternatives have been exhausted.

    Some things i've learned:
    There is no Executive Platinum desk. The agent receiving the call may or may not get an identifier for your call depending on how your call was routed initially and whether or not you accepted a callback (generally better to stay on hold).

    As an Executive Platinum, you are always playing phone roulette with AA....

    I, like you, hate getting on the phone unless all alternatives have been exhausted.

    Some things i've learned:
    There is no Executive Platinum desk. The agent receiving the call may or may not get an identifier for your call depending on how your call was routed initially and whether or not you accepted a callback (generally better to stay on hold).

    As an Executive Platinum, you are always playing phone roulette with AA. Sometimes you get good experienced, helpful agent and sometimes you get..

    When you find yourself in a losing situation with an agent, always best to HUACA with some reason why you immediately need to end the call without referring to the quality of the call itself so as not to prejudice the followup call.

    1. George Romey Guest

      I find not only the "EXP TAs" all over the map when it comes to quality so are the AC staff. Some of them are outright dreadful.

      What I've learned is to do my own research (go online and look for F or J availability for SYD), find it call and then call or go to the AC staff and say please book me on these flights and put me in these seats still showing open.

  36. Dominic Kivni Guest

    Maybe the frustration comes from the fact that airlines in a JV, as AA and QF have between the US and Australia, consider their cabins equivalent (i.e., AA Flagship First and QF first are considered by both AA and QF to be equivalent) even if passengers strongly prefer one airline's cabin in a particular class over another? After all, AA offered an alternate flight on Flagship First, so they did provide a solution to rebook...

    Maybe the frustration comes from the fact that airlines in a JV, as AA and QF have between the US and Australia, consider their cabins equivalent (i.e., AA Flagship First and QF first are considered by both AA and QF to be equivalent) even if passengers strongly prefer one airline's cabin in a particular class over another? After all, AA offered an alternate flight on Flagship First, so they did provide a solution to rebook into an F cabin. This is the same issue that comes up when people flying the EK A380 J product see a product swap to the 777 or if BA goes from a Club Suite plane to a Club World plane. They still consider themselves offering a J product, even if it's a far inferior product, and don't really see any need to deliver anything more an a product in the same cabin class (or a cabin class down if the original cabin class isn't available, as is the case here)

  37. SamG Guest

    Oneworld is usually the best at this - they can liaise via the oneworld helpdesk and most airlines will fix it (Cathay Pacific and Qatar being two that won't usually budge)

    *A though...forget it! I did manage to painfully persevere once and get Avianca to load in new flights and Turkish to reticket it. Though I ended up needing a voluntary change and that had screwed up the ticket so badly I ended up having...

    Oneworld is usually the best at this - they can liaise via the oneworld helpdesk and most airlines will fix it (Cathay Pacific and Qatar being two that won't usually budge)

    *A though...forget it! I did manage to painfully persevere once and get Avianca to load in new flights and Turkish to reticket it. Though I ended up needing a voluntary change and that had screwed up the ticket so badly I ended up having to get it refunded via the Madrid ticket office via a bank transfer and starting again!

    1. Phillip Diamond

      I agree! OW have generally been great, with clear published policies from the partner airlines. BA made it very easy for me to make changes to cancelled JAL flights telling me the window I had for changes before and after the original date!

  38. Icarus Guest

    If a flight is cancelled changed you should be reproceted in the same cabin irrespective of the actual booking class.
    Admittedly it could be an issue in first if the airline concerned doesn’t offer many seats. However airlines generally won’t simply release space to accommodate irregular operations. Just rebook a different class in the same cabin. In addition the carrier has operating the flight has to resolve it.

  39. Joshua Member

    I’ve had this happen twice. Once with Air France when using virgin Atlantic points to book. Only a Hail Mary attempt at writing snail mail letters to both CEOs got the problem resolved (“canceled”flight, no new ticket issued on “new” flight).

    Second time American flight booked with aveos. Schedule change made connection at LAX nearly impossible (35 minutes between landing and departure to make it from eagles nest to main terminal). A single call...

    I’ve had this happen twice. Once with Air France when using virgin Atlantic points to book. Only a Hail Mary attempt at writing snail mail letters to both CEOs got the problem resolved (“canceled”flight, no new ticket issued on “new” flight).

    Second time American flight booked with aveos. Schedule change made connection at LAX nearly impossible (35 minutes between landing and departure to make it from eagles nest to main terminal). A single call to American and the agent rebooked me through PHX instead. Easy as pie.

  40. JIC Guest

    I had a terrible Air Canada experience recently. Air Canada recently had a schedule change flying Air Canada metal using Aeroplan. They downgraded me from business to mixed cabin (with the long-haul segment in PY now). They claimed that I "accepted" the schedule change by not calling them within a few days of them sending me an email. They refused to put me back into business class, even though there were seats available and they...

    I had a terrible Air Canada experience recently. Air Canada recently had a schedule change flying Air Canada metal using Aeroplan. They downgraded me from business to mixed cabin (with the long-haul segment in PY now). They claimed that I "accepted" the schedule change by not calling them within a few days of them sending me an email. They refused to put me back into business class, even though there were seats available and they hadn't processed upgrades yet, and I had my original itinerary that showed I was scheduled to fly on the same flight in J.

    1. Phillip Diamond

      Air Canada was absolutely abysmal during Covid and they clearly want to maintain that crown!

  41. Chocolate Factory Guest

    Ben - changes like this are covered under EU261 if the flight itself falls under EU261.
    EU261 stipulates that the "offending" (=operating) carrier has to fix this, and if they so have to rebook you on a revenue ticket on a competing carrier. If they're not being helpful, you could also book a new ticket yourself and then they'd have to reimburse you (well, you might have to sue). For any flights falling under...

    Ben - changes like this are covered under EU261 if the flight itself falls under EU261.
    EU261 stipulates that the "offending" (=operating) carrier has to fix this, and if they so have to rebook you on a revenue ticket on a competing carrier. If they're not being helpful, you could also book a new ticket yourself and then they'd have to reimburse you (well, you might have to sue). For any flights falling under German law (origin/destination in Germany and/or German operating carrier), a lawsuit should be a good idea. There's a lawyer who is specialized in these kind of cases. TL;DR: Thanks to EU261, passengers have a pretty strong position in such situations.

    1. Daniel Guest

      Not really useful though when it's a QF ticket booked using AA miles ;)

    2. Tom Guest

      Or from LAX-Australia which won't touch the EU

    3. Chocolate Factory Guest

      Correct - but the article was about how this is handled in general, so I commented in general.

    4. Nb Guest

      You for real? He got a seat. And business. It’s not that dramatic. Omg I can’t first First, I’m so sad. Really?

  42. Eli Guest

    Get Qantas on the phone.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

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Daniel Guest

Not really useful though when it's a QF ticket booked using AA miles ;)

4
AndrewDTX Guest

I'm tired of anyone escalating their legitimate customer service issues to a manager being called a Karen. Yes, Karens absolutely exist, but escalation is sometimes necessary (such as the scenario this post covers).

3
Tom Guest

Or from LAX-Australia which won't touch the EU

2
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