Widow devastated by Qantas flyer points policy: ‘I’ve just had enough’
- Replies 20
We all know how hard it can be to accept the death of a loved one. Aside from the emotional turmoil you go through, there’s the issue of processing and sorting various documents and other affairs of your deceased loved one.
But for one widow, what was supposed to be a seamless process of transferring flyer points turned into another heartache.
After losing her husband, Brian, of 52 years in May, Rhonda said she was ‘cranky’ when Qantas denied the transfer of 6,800 frequent flyer points from her late husband’s account to hers.
Despite offering ‘sincere condolences’, the airline stated that their ‘terms and conditions’ did not allow such a transfer, and it asked the widow to immediately close the account by sending in a copy of her husband’s death certificate.
Rhonda said, ‘I know it's not a lot of points, but it's the principle of it because you get hardly anything out of it anyway.’
‘I just thought it would naturally come to me, so once I told them he passed away, I could've easily gone in and transferred them to myself without telling them, but I wanted to do the right thing.’
Qantas announced in September that it would change its policy, allowing frequent flyer points to be claimed by the next of kin from the beginning of October.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said that the announcement was an attempt to redeem their flagging reputation by addressing customer ‘pain points’.
This announcement brought hope for Rhonda, who asked the airline again about her points. However, there was no response.
‘I immediately wrote back (to Qantas) and said, “After hearing the news item, I was under the impression you were now looking at this”,' Rhonda said.
‘I haven't heard a word back since. I don't know if they're just ignoring me. I've just had enough.’
‘Everywhere I turn, there's a barrier, and what's 6,800 points to them? They are trying to keep their reputation intact, and until I heard that announcement, I was done with it,’ she continued.
'Now I still haven't heard, and I am cranky about it.’
However, when Rhonda's story went public, it wasn’t long before Qantas gave in and credited her with the points. Still, Rhonda remained less than impressed with the process, lamenting that it took media attention before getting credited with those points.
Qantas extended its sincere apologies to Rhonda. According to Qantas Loyalty spokesperson, ‘Our customer team have been in contact with her to advise that her husband's points have now been transferred to her frequent flyer account.’
Are Qantas frequent flyer points worth it? We wrote about a previous story where customers sparked outrage when the airline was undergoing point devaluation. Read more about it here.
Other airlines have discussed flyer points policies. In the case of Virgin—a rival of Qantas—mentioned that it will pass Velocity points to the deceased’s loved ones only if it is indicated in their will.
The company said, ‘If the deceased member has left instructions for their points balance to be transferred to a beneficiary, we'll let you know the next steps to complete this.’
What do you think about this story? Have you ever been in a similar situation? Share your experiences in the comments below!
But for one widow, what was supposed to be a seamless process of transferring flyer points turned into another heartache.
After losing her husband, Brian, of 52 years in May, Rhonda said she was ‘cranky’ when Qantas denied the transfer of 6,800 frequent flyer points from her late husband’s account to hers.
Despite offering ‘sincere condolences’, the airline stated that their ‘terms and conditions’ did not allow such a transfer, and it asked the widow to immediately close the account by sending in a copy of her husband’s death certificate.
Rhonda was ‘cranky’ when Qantas refused to transfer her late husband’s flyer points. Credit: Unsplash
Rhonda said, ‘I know it's not a lot of points, but it's the principle of it because you get hardly anything out of it anyway.’
‘I just thought it would naturally come to me, so once I told them he passed away, I could've easily gone in and transferred them to myself without telling them, but I wanted to do the right thing.’
Qantas announced in September that it would change its policy, allowing frequent flyer points to be claimed by the next of kin from the beginning of October.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said that the announcement was an attempt to redeem their flagging reputation by addressing customer ‘pain points’.
This announcement brought hope for Rhonda, who asked the airline again about her points. However, there was no response.
‘I immediately wrote back (to Qantas) and said, “After hearing the news item, I was under the impression you were now looking at this”,' Rhonda said.
‘I haven't heard a word back since. I don't know if they're just ignoring me. I've just had enough.’
‘Everywhere I turn, there's a barrier, and what's 6,800 points to them? They are trying to keep their reputation intact, and until I heard that announcement, I was done with it,’ she continued.
'Now I still haven't heard, and I am cranky about it.’
However, when Rhonda's story went public, it wasn’t long before Qantas gave in and credited her with the points. Still, Rhonda remained less than impressed with the process, lamenting that it took media attention before getting credited with those points.
Qantas extended its sincere apologies to Rhonda. According to Qantas Loyalty spokesperson, ‘Our customer team have been in contact with her to advise that her husband's points have now been transferred to her frequent flyer account.’
Are Qantas frequent flyer points worth it? We wrote about a previous story where customers sparked outrage when the airline was undergoing point devaluation. Read more about it here.
Other airlines have discussed flyer points policies. In the case of Virgin—a rival of Qantas—mentioned that it will pass Velocity points to the deceased’s loved ones only if it is indicated in their will.
The company said, ‘If the deceased member has left instructions for their points balance to be transferred to a beneficiary, we'll let you know the next steps to complete this.’
What do you think about this story? Have you ever been in a similar situation? Share your experiences in the comments below!
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