Qantas, like many carriers around the world, have a clear-cut view on ticket name changes and corrections. Changes are sometimes required when you are unable to fly or simply want to pass the ticket along (especially in times like Covid)
Unsurprisingly, ticket name changes are one of those areas that airlines want to strictly enforce to maintain their bottom line, as in effect you are touting your ticket.
Qantas is actually unique in this regard as it does allow some form of ticket change (well domestically at least) whereas many major carriers – such as British Airways do not offer anything similar.
Qantas does allow for tickets to be passed on as a credit so long as travel is conducted wholly within Australia
Type of Amendments
Importantly, a ticket “name change’ and ‘correction’ has 2 different meanings and are not interchangeable.
A name correction allows the airline to correct the name to match a government-issued document as a result of a miss-spelling, correction due to marriage/maiden/divorce names, legal name changes, secondary last name or middle name, inverted names, etc., and in many cases, it also applies if the gender or age does not match between a legal document and the ticket issued (such as in the USA where all info needs to match).
I discuss name corrections in another article.
A name change is a complete or partial change of name (such as to a new person or a relative with the same surname). It applies when the existing passenger is no longer travelling and requests that the unused ticket be used as credit towards a new ticket in another customer’s name.
Qantas Domestic Ticket Name Changes
Qantas does allow for tickets to be passed on as a credit so long as travel is conducted wholly within Australia. There are some rules when it comes to it but hopefully, this article aims to set it out
Qantas Domestic Ticket Name Change Conditions
Qantas obviously wants to shure up the policy as in any event it affects their bottom line. The rules are below and can be found on a policy doc.
Original Ticket Rules
- The original Qantas ticket must commence with 081 (ie 081-xxxxxx)
- The ticket must be valid for exchange and not expired (eg. flight not missed)
- The ticket in its entirety must not have commenced
- All the flight sectors on the ticket must be within Australia
- All flights must be on Qantas operated by Qantas with a QF flight code -codeshare flights are not permitted
- You are only allowed to exchange 1 ticket for another.
You must know the flight you want to exchange at the time of application. although this is exempt due to Covid and a 12-month voucher is issued but all travel must be completed by the original ticket issue date
Rebooking Rules
- All the flight sectors on the ticket must be within Australia
- All flights must be on Qantas operated by Qantas with a QF flight code -codeshare flights are not permitted
- All flights on the new ticket must be in one of the following classes – J, C, D, I, Y, B, H or K
Instances of Ticket ‘No Show’
Depending on your ticket, you may be able to change the name on the ticket depending on the applicable fare rules
- Business (I, D, C and J class) fares can have the name changed up to 24 hours after scheduled departure;
- Flex (K, H, B and Y class) fares require cancellation at least 30 minutes prior to departure as per published fare rules. A fare is forfeited upon a no-show.
- Red eDeal (E, O, Q, N, S, V, L and M class) fares would require cancellation and upgrade to a Flex fare or higher at least the day before travel. Red e-Deal fares cannot be changed on day of departure.
Where a ticket has a combination of Flex and Business Class and a passenger no shows on the Flex fare, the remainder of the ticket cannot be name changed
Time Requirement to Change a Name on Qantas Domestic Ticket
The time you are required to provide Qantas is dependant on the class and fare rules on the original ticket.
For example, if you wanted to change a ticket on the same day of travel to another person then:
- For Flex (K, H, B and Y classes) fares, this would require cancellation at least 30 minutes prior to departure as per published fare rules.
- A Red eDeal ticket (E, O, Q, N, S, V, L and M classes) would require cancellation, and would need to be upgraded to Flex or Business the day before travel. This is because Red eDeal fares cannot be changed on the day of travel.
Qantas Domestic Name Change Costs
There are two fees to consider when looking at changing your name, the first is the administrative charge for the change of ticket and the change costs associated with the ticket
Cost 1 – Application of Change Fee
The change fee will apply per person per ticket, and each and every subsequent change will incur a fee
At present, the fee is A$99 – as listed on the Qantas website
Cost 2 – Fare Difference
As the ticket acts as a voucher, you are required to pay the fare difference if applicable.
As per the rules of ticket name change policy, your new fare must be in J, C, D, I, Y, B, H or K; therefore, if your original ticket was in E, O, Q, N, S, V, L or M class, then a fare difference will apply.
Qantas International Ticket Name Changes
On international flights name changes from one person to another are not allowed as you would be effectively touting a ticket at a lower price than what it would potentially go for at a later date (even if you paid the administration fee).
If you did want to make a change you will be pretty much relying on the fare rules of the ticket.
Same Day No Mistake
If you make a mistake in your Qantas booking you can make a change using their same day no mistake offer until midnight on the same day as the booking with no change fee – provided you made your booking via qantas.com rather than a travel agent.
U.S. Government Policy
Aside from Qantas’ own policy, there is no cooling off period unless you are travelling to the United States. The USA’s Department of Transportation’s 24-hour refund regulation states that all airlines flying in the U.S., even international carriers, must issue a full refund if the reservation is cancelled within a one-day window. But there are caveats to this.
