Qantas strips 73-year-old cancer survivor’s frequent flyer points
A 73-year-old woman recovering from cancer has been cruelly stripped of 150,000 Qantas frequent flyer points, after missing a crucial email during her treatment.
Dr Elizabeth Greenhalgh had been undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer when she received an email from Qantas saying her points would expire if she didn’t reactive them.
The 73-year-old missed the email completely as she recuperated and as a result the airline stripped her of 150,672, the equivalent of thousands of dollars in flights.
“I would have expected somebody who's been a frequent flyer for 16 years to be treated somewhat more flexibly and with more compassion,” said Dr Greenhalgh told Fairfax.
Dr Greenhalgh contacted Qantas and explained her plight, but if she was expecting compassion from the carrier she was sorely mistaken. Qantas denied her request to have her points reinstated, instead offering her a ‘points challenge’ that could see her earn her credits back if she accrued 2,500 in six months on a Qantas card.
As is often the case, the problem seems to have been caused by details in the fine print. The terms and conditions on Qantas’ Frequent Flyer page states points expire after the 18th consecutive month of not being used.
“While we certainly appreciate Dr Greenhalgh's very difficult circumstances, according to our terms and conditions, points are not reinstated after they've expired,” Qantas responded, according to Fairfax.
“The goodwill challenge gives Dr Greenhalgh the opportunity to re-engage with our program, which is what any member must do to keep an account active in the first place, so we're not asking for anything that's hard to achieve.”
What are your thoughts? Is this simply a case of bad luck? Or does Qantas have a responsibility to up its game, and look after a loyal customer?