I am deeply disappointed with Qantas' handling of my compassionate fare request during one of the worst moments of my life. On 3 June 2026, my 71-year-old mother suffered a catastrophic haemorrhagic stroke and was admitted to ICU in Brazil with an extremely poor prognosis. My husband and I urgently flew from Brisbane to São Paulo, believing we… Read more
might be attending her funeral.
After arriving, her condition changed unexpectedly. She underwent two emergency brain surgeries and remains in a critical coma with no discharge date and a very uncertain future.
I contacted Qantas with extensive supporting documentation, including certified medical translations, updated hospital reports and evidence of the impact this emergency has had on my studies and employment. I requested consideration under their compassionate fare policy and flexibility with my return flights, as I cannot predict when I will be able to leave my mother's bedside.
The response I received was simply to call an Australian reservations number. However, I am currently in Brazil because of this medical emergency. My Australian phone cannot make calls from here, and my Brazilian phone cannot reach the number provided. I explained this and asked whether Qantas could assist by email or call me instead.
At a time when compassion and practical solutions matter most, I found the process inflexible and inaccessible. My frustration is not about receiving a particular outcome, but about being unable to even have my request properly considered because the only communication channel offered is one I cannot access.
I sincerely hope Qantas reviews its procedures so that customers facing genuine family emergencies overseas are not left without a workable way to seek assistance.
For reference, my booking number is EQUAV9 and my Qantas Frequent Flyer number is 2012836421.
If a member of the Qantas customer care team reviews this post, I would be grateful if you could contact me by email, as I am currently in Brazil and unable to reach the Australian reservations phone number that I was instructed to call.
I booked flights to Japan which were changed by Qantas - so it was an involuntary change. I therefore lost the seats I had chosen when I booked originally. By the time of the change very few seats left so I paid for seats ($160) so my husband and I could sit together. The following day I rang Qantas customer service and stated I didn't think it… Read more
was fair I had to pay for seats. The Qantas agent was sympathetic and gave me options for getting a refund. This was a month before the flight. I was told I could get a refund at check-in but apparently thats not the case. And now I'm still trying to get a refund Qantas are refusing saying the seats were used (what were the choices?).They did not even investigate what I was told over the phone by a Qantas employee. All I received was an arrogant email in response. Very poor customer service.
I would like to thank the ladies on flight qf133 a very special flight as it was my first and my birthday the ladies made a fuss over me gifting me a key ring and a slice of cake and making sure I was comfortable and calm for the whole flight it’s a credit to qantas having this kind of staff on board it was truly amazing they all did a wonderfull job. Ty Show details
Reviews with attachments
What has happened to one of the greatest Australian icons? – I’ll start my review with summing it up - I’m ashamed about what has happened to our national airline - the face of Australia in the skies. Let’s start with a good - there is only one thing - safety record. That’s about it. The bad: 1. They are significantly more expensive than competition 2. They don’t care about their customers and employees.… Read more
3. If you ever will try to contact their customer support you either won’t get through or will not be helped. 4. 4. One of the poorest customer support I ever experienced. 5. If you have no straightforward easy resolvable problem they won’t help you and there are no ways to escalate problems within Qantas. 6. Some of their services are not linked and they won’t take accountability for that. E.g. you may buy a lounge pass, the lounge might need to close (during your allowance to be in there). They will kick you out and won’t reimburse you. 7. They will sell you a ticket on their website with QF number which may be share coded with another airline and Qantas will take no responsibility if anything will go wrong with that flight and logistics around it.
With my approach to support local/Australian made goods first after having a couple of significantly negative experiences with Qantas I’m making my conscious decision to stop purchasing any of their products and services. I also do not recommend using them to anyone else until they will change their corporate attitude. Some of my experiences I detailed in attached to this review video.
Sydney to Christchurch Overpriced and terrible service. Both flights delayed for over an hour. Ran out of food options on outward flight. Business is truly rubbish TIP : Fly Emirates for same price and massively better experience. Never again! Show details
As a passenger I am always treated as if I am invisible by the airline employees of Qantas. I get on the aircraft and no acknowledgment. I get off the aircraft and no acknowledgement as the hostie always turns to another hostie to talk to them when I approach. I wear neat and good clothes. Qantas is Just a rude airline to do business or travel… Read more
with, in my opinion. This airline I have seen decline in quality customer service since mid eighties where you were respected as a paying passenger to what it is today - a total shame. I have seen some of the rudest interactions ever with passengers and Qantas employees especially in the last ten years - over such small and insignificant matters - way more than I thought I ever would. This review has been made by myself, a former Senior Commercial Pilot, now retired.
A beautiful experience after a long time in my long haul flight. The crew set tone by being hospitable and emphatic. Cheery and positive crew in economy - Silva, Donna, Melinda and Narelle were absolutely outstanding as they dished out our meal and made our journey memorable. As I stretched my leg they were very hospitable and spoke to me as I… Read more
stood forlorn. Being a cancer patient stretching is important and I for once didn’t feel like I was invading anyone’s space. They spoke to my family and were very hospitable ensuring everyone once was comfortable in the flight. There interaction with everyone was polite and enthusiastic. The plane itself was as every other economy plane so like a car and bus it was a fantastic ride.
The worst customer care absolutely no answer when you complaint I will never book an international flight again in my life. Show details
Current state of Qantas Customer Service wait time: 1 hour 2 mins. This is the current waiting time for a call being put on hold. Highly suggested to use Call Hold Assist (iPhone users) whilst waiting for calls to be answered. Photo evidence attached of time elapsed in calling Qantas phone number 131313. Show details
Horrible is an understatement. I transferred points into my Qantas account to book a flight. Their website keeps throwing me a generic error message and won't let me complete my booking. I downloaded the app and it won't let me log in to my account. I've been on hold for over an hour now. I wish I could give 0 stars.
- +3
Our luggage was totally wrecked with quantis dissatisfied customer would not recommend flying Quantis.Wheels missing on luggage,cracks on suitcases,brand new pram even though bubble wrapped still scratched and scrapes on it.Flew from Perth to Melbourne then Melbourne to Wellington on the 12/10/2025.Got to the airport in Wellington to find our… Read more
luggage damaged tried to report it at the customer service desk only to be told by the young boy at the service desk that he didn’t no how to write up a report as our flight arrived 1am in the morning.Also there was another lady from the same flight as us with a damaged suitcase her case was ripped and her clothes were hanging out of it.She also was having trouble trying to report her suitcase.Please Quantis yous need to do something about your baggage handlers and refund your customers for the damage caused by your carelessness not acceptable.
In-flight service is always excellent. The flight attendants treat passengers with genuine hospitality and respect. However, Qantas cancelled our family’s tickets without notifying us, which gave us a huge shock at the airport check-in gates. Be extremely careful about this kind of issue. Show details
Find out how Qantas International compares to other International Airlines
Know better, choose better.
Avoid Bangkok Airways (Associated with Qantas) – First and Last Time! I booked a return flight from Sydney to Bangkok for $1,100, thinking it was a premium airline because of all the Qantas branding. Big mistake. Even though Qantas badges are everywhere, they won’t honour your frequent flyer points when you book with Bangkok Airways. The… Read more
experience was awful from start to finish. The crew were unfriendly, stingy with water, and gave me dirty looks when I politely asked for a bottle. I paid extra for a window seat, showed proof at check-in, yet the staff still refused to honour it. Completely unprofessional.
Customer service is non-existent. Both Bangkok Airways and Qantas seem happy to take your money but don’t care about passengers once they have it. Everything about this airline felt cheap, rude, and disorganised.
This was my first—and definitely my last—time booking with Bangkok Airways. I’d recommend avoiding them at all costs, unless you’re truly desperate to fly.
Will try and keep this short and sweet. Basically the worst customer service experiences I've probably every had in my life. Recently booked a return flight from Australia to France. On the morning of the flight, received an email stating that my last leg of the flight had been cancelled, and they'd booked me onto another flight 2 days later, just… Read more
assuming I'd be chill being left stranded in a completely different country I had no intention of travelling to. LOL. just lol. After waiting 1.5 hours to to get through over the phone (on the literal morning of my flight), and without being able to provide me with any other viable options to get me where I needed to be in a reasonable timeframe, they agreed to cancel my flight and refund me in full, so I could book a last minute alternative with a different airline. The customer service rep I spoke to advised me this refund would be received within a few days. Turns out a few days to Qantas is actually 6 weeks, and only because I eventually lodged a formal complaint.
Just this evening I booked domestic flight. The website glitched out and gave me a generic error message whilst loading the confirmation page for my purchased tickets. I didn't receive any confirmation of my tickets (shock), but you guessed it - still got billed. 2 hours. LET ME REPEAT - 2 HOURS of wait time to reach customer service over the phone and it's now sorted. I literally answered the call in the shower and it felt what I imagine winning the lottery might be like.
I didn't manage to keep this short, or particularly sweet, but its Qantas we're talking about and the standards are low. How this company went from being such a highly respected, quality Aussie brand to the trash heap it is now is honestly fascinating. Someone needs to make a doco about it, I'd watch it for sure. The end.
My company purchased two flights to PNG in A SINGLE TRANSACTION, paid for by our Managing Director (who was also one of the travelers) using his personal credit card. Unfortunately, the second traveler became unwell and was unable to take the flight. When we requested a refund, Qantas advised that a travel voucher would be issued in the name of… Read more
the person who couldn't travel....despite the fact that he neither booked nor paid for the flight! WHERE IS THE LOGIC??? Now that employee has been fired but still has that amazing voucher he didn't pay for... SO ANGRY WITH QANTAS. Look at their ridiculous email.
Had a very unpleasant experience flying qantas. Recently flew the LAX-SYD leg on their A380 (15hrs). It was a full flight. I am quite a short person but even I was crammed in so tight with barely any leg room for the 15 hour flight. The space was so small, when my bag opened and stuff fell out, I couldn’t even lean down to find it all and ended up… Read more
leaving items on the plane. I ordered a vegetarian meal (eggs/dairy ok) and both meals were inedible - a stale bun, a few measily pieces of fruit and the hot meal was rice chickpeas and sad spinach. It made no sense that my meal was so bad, when they had a vegetarian meal option anyway which I could have just had (pasta for dinner, fruit platter with yoghurt and muffin for breakfast). Had I known the standard meal would have been much better than mine, I would not have pre ordered. The meal services was exceptionally slow, it took them 3-4 hours to complete dinner and remove trays. For breakfast, they were still serving us 1 hour before landing, and I was not even at the back of the plane. They ran out of eggs as an option and so the only option for most people was that fruit platter. Even though they were so far behind, the crew were taking their time to serve people their food. The crew served the two men beside me their drinks, and then forgot me, I had to flag her down. I asked for a tea with milk and it was ICE cold, because of how long it had been sitting on the cart. Then they were quickly rushing around clearing everyone’s trays as we were beginning landing. I also can’t believe that it’s 2025 and so many airlines have wifi available on board, yet qantas still don’t. The USB charging port on the arm chair was broken and didn’t charge. Their selection of entertainment was sub par, and my screen barely worked, I had to press it multiple times to get it to respond and even then it was intermittently opening random things. For the price qantas charges, their service and product is not up to standard. I feel ashamed that this is our national airline :(
Would prefer 0 stars 21.25 and Just received the expected message that my data has been breached. Over 12 hours since the hack became public knowledge. Cannot change my pin (which shares some characters with some of my other passwords) from the app, and rang the helpline. Turns out to be FF and recorded message advised they are only open until… Read more
19.00 (2 hours ago) Went to the FAQ site and response to searching “data breach” is zilch NONE of this is Good enough.
Latest follow-ups
AI is an insult to customer intelligence – AI is an insult to human intelligence, it is nothing but a time wasting block. It fails to understand a simple six digit PNR. Absolutely useless albeit a consistent customer experience
Follow-up · Having been automatically disconnected on three occasions I successfully found a combination of numbers that took me to a person. Once connected the issue was resolved swiftly. It is a real shame that customer service is no longer this companies focus or priority
Business class so small I could barely get out of my seat. A seat that didnt work and couldnt recline which was a running joke amongst the crew. No seats worked. No air conditioning. I didnt think it possible but they some how managed to make the… Read more
toilet smaller. The food was some slop a child made - badly. Just the bottom of the barrel 3rd world. Avoid qantas
Follow-up · It was a full flight on a 737 800 of nearly 5 hours. For anyone thinking business class is special. All airlines have reduced business class down to nothing. A size 16 person would have great difficulty getting in and out of the seats or even getting into the toilet.
The worst company ever. Just because I bouth my tickets with latam while they were still partners, and I had to fright with them first from Sydney to Melbourne before going overseas, they decided to charge me for the extra baggage again, stating… Read more
that Latam did not put in the system. To find out later while charging latam in Melbourne, that qantas did it on purpose because my extra bags were in the system. Went back to qantas attenders while still in Melbourne, was told by the lady that l wan right but she could not do a reimburssement at the airport and I would have to contact qantas by website. Really??????? And guess what, they do not replay back on the website, and on the phone they just transfer to one another and not one can help you. That’s is such a bad customer service.
Follow-up · They did not resolve anything.
Positive reviews
Upon arriving in Sydney after 2 flights which originated in Chicago, I approached a security agent for directions. He did not hesitate, but took my suitcase and showed me where to check it. This agent set my suitcase on the conveyor belt. It was at that time that Agent Jasna Belovukovic began to check me in to my next flight. She then asked me if… Read more
I would like a window seat. I said i would. After Jasna saw that my final destination was Perth, she asked if I would like to fly straight there and not stop in Adelaide. I was so greatful that I began to cry! Before my trip, I was going over my itinerary with an agent in the United States and requested this same change. The agent told me it would cost an additional $900. At that point, i resolved to make the best of my itinerary. Therefore, I wish to thank the Security Agent and Agent Jasna. I reached my destination, Perth, at 3pm not after 9pm.I am very happy with Qantas Airlines and especially the Sidney Staff. Thank You, Rebecca Swerdon, 6881 Trailside Ave. Portage, Indiana 46368
Find out how Qantas International compares to other International Airlines
Know better, choose better.
Been travelling with Qantas since 2005 and have been a loyal customer in all my travels accept for the 1 time my brother in law insisted we travel ANZ because we're Kiwis living in Oz and it was a cheaper fare to LA/Vegas in 2013. That was the last time we used the disgusting ANZ and have faithfully used Qantas since around the world and 6 more… Read more
times to the US. As a diabetic and recent stroke recipient, Qantas have been amazing in the delivery of first class service in flights, connecting international/national and general care of their customers. Keep up the great work Qantas, you're a credit to your country!
We flew from Queenstown to Melbourne The service from all the staff on board was outstanding! One of the air hostess on our flight was the longest serving, 55 years!!! Congratulations to her & thankyou to you & all the other air hostess ladies who all provided friendly caring service! The food was delicious too! Keep up the great work Qantas! Show details
Negative reviews
Safety is 10/10 - we deserved it for what we paid Service 2/10 - almost non-existent Food 2/10 - mediocre rubbish Stewards 1/10 - some of them are not trained to look after passengers We travelled overseas to Melbourne via Sydney and arrived on 9 June 2025 at 0635 ( Manila to Sydney QF 20). In Sydney, the domestic transfer isn't operational,… Read more
and we had to wait for a bus, which came about once every 30 minutes. We had to use UBER to get into the domestic terminal. While we were waiting, there were 4 Qantas staff milling around in Qantas uniforms. But they were socially chatting instead of looking after the affected passengers. Then, when approached, the staff were so nonchalantly rude. QANTAS was not really looking after the passengers; it's just business as usual despite the hassle it has caused. You should not be surprised if competition will gobble up Qantas one day. It may not happen now, but it will eventually happen.
With unhelpful call centres in Fiji or Philipines, Qantas staff (even on msger) keep telling me they cannot assist allocating my seats or updating my app to show flights I am on, contact Jetabroad who advise they cant help either, my flights disappear, app isnt updating and they need to bring call centres back to Australia and learn to problem… Read more
solve. In future I will go through SIngapore or HK, avoid Qantas, Jetabroad and the middle east, all are pretty hopeless at the moment.
It's been years since I've had to contact customer care and wow, it's possibly the worst I've ever encountered. The call centre is so noisy, coughing, laughing and loud chatting makes it impossible to talk to the operator on top of a serious language barrier. Worse still is the terrible advice and total lack of experience. I used points + pay to… Read more
book a flight to Christchurch. Even though I could complete the booking I then received an email saying there was a problem and to call the customer service number. 4 calls and hours of my time later the issue still was not resolved. I was told I had to purchase additional FF points, which was terrible advice as at the end it's cost me $200 more than if I just paid the full amount. I asked to refund the FF points so I could re book the flight again but they refused. Hours of my time and money wasted and a "nope sorry too bad" resolution. I fly Qantas a few times a month but after this they will be a last resort.
Recent reviews
qantas points are useless for planning a trip. business seats are never available. i cant book 12 months ahead. The crews and the cabins are really good but that is no good to me if i cant get a ticket. im really happy with the cheaper china airlines. i could only get an economy seat to NZ 4 months ahead and on paying for it the taxes and fee… Read more
made it not worthwhile. I have flown twice on air Koryo the north korea airline and its service, every thing considered was better than qantas
We booked Direct and paid for flights to Bali from Melbourne, paid extra for our choice of seats in December In June, 2 weeks before we leave, they have asked us to pay extra money ($75)each to confirm our seats. Never heard of this before. Has anyone else had this happen? Show details
[Name Removed] at Melbourne airport check in counter is racist he don't deserve to work for a company like Qantas at all he is against people of colour he behaves aggressive if your not white and uses demeaning offensive language against people of colour we have reported to Qantas and humans rights of Victoria . No more white Australian policy… Read more
[Name Removed] !! I'm setting this record straight Qantas should remove you immediately for your actions on the 1 -6-26 for telling a traveler you won't let them travel to their destination how dare you !!!! If Qantas doesn't do anything we will assume white Australia policy is still at play and this is against human rights!!! Awaiting response from Qantas !
Extra Information
ProductReview.com.au has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence our content moderation policies in any way, though ProductReview.com.au may earn commissions for products/services purchased via affiliate links.
Update - Qantas has now given me the refund for purchased seats - but it took some effort and… Read more