05/02/2026
THE MULTI CITY MYSTERY TOUR:
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to book a holiday with Qantas in 2025–26, let me save you the trouble: imagine a treasure hunt where the treasure is missing, the map is wrong, and the person running the game keeps insisting everything is working exactly as intended with a Dick Dastardly giggle. That’s the Qantas multi city booking experience — part mystery, part endurance test, part psychological experiment.
This all began with a simple, innocent attempt to book a multi city trip. Months later, I’ve dealt with multiple departments, several refunds, one regulator, supposedly two Qantas CEOs, and more “goodwill gestures” than a charity telethon. And yes, every word of this is true. I wish it wasn’t.
Like many Frequent Flyers, I booked a multi city itinerary with one goal: use my hard earned points for an upgrade. Easy, right? Qantas practically encourages it with all the programs they run. Except… not on the multi city platform. On that page — unlike the normal booking page — Qantas quietly hides its fare rules, upgrade eligibility, and any hint of what you’re actually buying. It’s like shopping blindfolded while someone whispers, “Trust us, it’s fine — we have your best interests at heart.” History now suggests otherwise.
Only after paying a fare more than a thousand dollars dearer than their competition — yes, Singapore Airlines, I said it — did I discover our tickets weren’t even upgrade eligible. I then had to pay an extra $618 just to be able to “request” an upgrade. Not receive one with my points — just request it. Not happy Jan! A bold business model. Bold like wearing white jeans to a curry buffet.
Then came the unauthorised itinerary changes. One day, our Singapore stopover existed. The next day, it didn’t. P**f. Gone... excuse the pun... Like a magician’s trick, but without the applause — or the talent. When I asked for it back, I was told I’d need to pay extra to “change my dates”. For my own flights... That they changed... After numerous calls to an overseas call centre where no one knew where the supervisor or manager was and some strongly worded emails to "Customer Care" — and I use the word “Care” very loosely — the stopover was eventually reinstated. But not before I lost the extra legroom seats I’d paid for, which of course were now no longer available. Yay. Refund, what refund, another phone call and another email and the money for the extra leg room seats eventually came through. Can this trip of a lifetime get any better. Yep...
At this point, I began to feel as though my complaints were being managed by a random number generator. One of my complaint emails I addressed to all six customer agents that had responded just to see who responded back.
Naturally, I escalated it to the Queensland Office of Fair Trading. Qantas responded with screenshots showing fare types, upgrade rules, and all the information missing from my booking pathway. Impressive — considering the screenshots were from a completely different booking pathway to mine. I mean, hello? Is anyone paying attention in there. It’s like complaining your toaster doesn’t work and being shown a photo of a microwave as proof that it does.
So Qantas then refunded the extra $618 I paid to enter the “Qantas Upgrade Lottery” as a “goodwill gesture” I was told, while still insisting “nothing wrong here”. A goodwill gesture is lovely. A correct explanation — or even acknowledging the actual complaint — would have been lovelier.
My interactions with Qantas Customer Advocacy could be turned into a board game. Roll a 1: “You got a refund. Case closed. Go away... Rude Gus rude..” Roll a 6: “Sorry about everything — your complaint should have "passed Go" and come directly back to me, not him, thanks Robbie. "We’re sorry, here are four lounge passes as a good will gesture.” Lovely idea, except no one noticed that I’m already a paid Qantas Club member. It’s like giving a snorkel to a fish. Pretty useless — and honestly have you been in a Qantas Club lately? Hope you like a toasted ham sandwich... Sorry, not much of a consolation prize.
The inconsistency was astonishing. One advocate rudely dismissed me. Another apologised. And the winner is… Qantas, because still no one was willing to talk about the elephant in the room: fare rule disclosure. It was customer service roulette. And information UNO.
But as the saying goes — that’s not all, folks. Just when I thought the comedy had peaked, I booked our Cairns–Brisbane legs for the start and end of the trip we had waited twenty years in the making for. Oh, the excitement builds. I thought, “Just in case the Singapore leg is delayed — which, if they operate their planes the same way they operate their booking systems, we could well end up in New Zealand — I’ll stick with Qantas to ensure we eventually get home.”
I paid extra for emergency exit seats on the way down to Brisbane and "premium extra legroom" seats on the way back to Cairns so after two long flights: London, Singapore, Brisbane we could stretch out... Oh, the comfort. I could feel it already.
Yeah, but naa but yeah but… the next day — not a week, not a month — the very next day, Qantas changed the aircrafts and removed the seats I chose and paid extra for. Screeching halt. You’re back in cattle class, and you’re back in cattle class. Knees up, let’s go. Refunded without consultation. Reassigned to standard seats. Again! By this point it was very much a “leave Britney alone” moment coming from my office… except I was Britney, and Qantas was — well, you get what I mean…
At this point, I wasn’t even angry. I was impressed. The consistency of the inconsistency of the sheer ludicrousness, it was almost artistic. What else can they do to completely stuff up a customer’s holiday and assist in having them lose all faith in this airline…
But this isn’t just my story. It’s a warning, anyone booking a multi city itinerary through Qantas is obscured from seeing material information, sold fares without rules being clearly shown, left in the dark about upgrade eligibility (sorry, bad luck Charlie saving all those frequent flier points), and forced to navigate a system that behaves differently from the rest of the website. This is what digital designers call a “dark pattern” — no, not the dark web, but can be just as sinister — in my experience, a system that nudges customers into decisions they wouldn’t potentially make if given the full information.
So, because of the complete lack of acknowledgement and customer care I’ve now lodged a detailed submission with the ACCC outlining the potential breaches of misleading or deceptive conduct, false or misleading representations, lack of due care and skill, fitness for purpose, and unfair digital design practices and this isn’t about compensation, i've got a bee in my bonnet. It’s about transparency. And trust. And the small matter of not accidentally gaslighting your customers. If they had handled the complaint appropriately I wouldnt be needing to even write this post let alone go to the trouble of everything else...
As I write this, I’m still waiting to see my points upgrade request be granted, (bit of sarcasm there me thinks...) It feels less like a loyalty program and more like a raffle. Qantas calls itself “The Spirit of Australia.” But lately for me, it feels more like “The Spirit of Taking a Punt and Hoping for the Best” as I take a shot of bad cheap vodka...
Still, I remain optimistic. Not because of Qantas — but because after everything that’s happened, surely the universe owes us a smooth flight.
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