Major change coming to Qantas – and it’s bad news for Aussies

Qantas has quietly increased fees for changing or cancelling bookings for domestic flights. 

The national airline carrier will bump up the price of changing the flight, the name on a booking or cancelling all together from $99 to $119 for a range of fare types from October 9.

The increase will affect flight changes for ‘Red eDeal’ economy tickets, name changes and cancellations for economy ‘Flex’ flights’ and all changes and cancellations for premium economy ‘Saver’ tickets.

This will include group tickets, tickets acquired through Qantas Business Rewards and any tickets purchased or issued from October 9. 

Other fare conditions remain will the same.

Qantas also revealed the first change for a domestic flight purchased prior to October 9 will be subject to the $99 charge, even after the change is introduced.

The airline quietly made its first change since 2017 last Friday, uploading a FAQ with relevant information without announcing it in a statement.

‘Qantas continuously monitors its fares, surcharges and operating costs and as a result has made an adjustment to these … fees,’ the FAQ reads.

Qantas has quietly increased the price of changing the flight, the name on a booking or cancelling all together from $99 to $119 for a range of fare types from October 9 (stock image)

The change was outlined shortly before Qantas released its annual and sustainability reports on Thursday.

The reports focused on improving customer trust after the airline recorded a $2.08billion pre-tax profit for the 2023-24 financial year.

It announced changes to Qantas’ executive remuneration framework to make executive bonuses more transparent.

Customer outcomes will also bear more weight on annual bonuses while brand reputation will be introduced as a performance measure for long term incentives.

The increase will effect changes for 'Red eDeal' and 'Flex' economy tickets and  premium economy 'Saver' tickets issued after October 8 (stock image)

The increase will effect changes for ‘Red eDeal’ and ‘Flex’ economy tickets and  premium economy ‘Saver’ tickets issued after October 8 (stock image)

‘Qantas has made significant progress over the past 12 months, but we know there’s a lot more to do to restore trust with our customers,’ Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said in a statement.

‘We’ve seen strong improvement in on-time performance, customer satisfaction and reputation for both Qantas and Jetstar, and the Group is performing strong financially.

‘It’s this financial strength that means we’re able to continue investing in new aircraft, improving the experience for our customers and our people.

‘The board has listened to feedback on the pay structure for our executives and have made a series of changes which we are confident will encourage better outcomes for our stakeholders.’

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