Flight centre - codeshare hell

[SlamEmDown]

i recently booked through flight centre Capalaba Central for a 3 week USA holiday. upon booking the flight portion i was handed an itinerary and that was it. upon looking at it, i saw one flight was marked with *Flight operated by AMERICAN AIRLINES. this was not made clear to me when i booked, and have since found out that American is not a full service airline.
it's the equivalent of jetstar or virgin.
i have asked flight centre to transfer me to a Qantas ran flight and they have not gotten back to any phone calls or e-mails.. when i call the consultant i booked through is mysteriously busy...

going to qantas they say they can't touch it as it was booked through flight centre.

[Section52]

Our experience occurred a few years ago when we flew on an around the world trip. The leg from Seattle- LA - Honolulu was with American Airlines. Now we know what 'cattle class' is really like. All passengers were herded into an underground tube with standing room only and then onto the aircraft with separated seat allocations. Didn't matter greatly to us because we have been married 45+ years but the honeymooners were rightly upset. When we arrived home I sent a complaint email and was honoured with a $60 voucher when we fly with them again. They have to be joking! We laugh about it now as one of lifes' experiences.
On the other hand we use Virgin frequently and think they are great value.

[SlamEmDown]

as an update i sent a summary of this situation to qantas CEO Geoff Dixon via e-mail. i was just contacted by someone in his executive customer relations team who will look into this and call me back tomorrow.

[h2o]

Actually AA is considered a full service airline in the USA. And they are a member of the One World alliance with Qantas.

You should always check which airline is actually operating the plane.

Of course Flight Centre should have told you but once they have your money that is the end of their caring about you,

[computerflyer]

slam,

AA is a full service airline as good as most in the USA. No US airline is up to QF unless you travel business or first.

QF flights across the USA are operated by AA (LAX-JFK is a popular code-share connecting from Australian origin QF flights). It is a QF ticket, a QF flight number, and an AA airplane and AA service. I suspect there is no QF run flight on that leg. And no, you don't get the same service on code-shares. Welcome to air travel in 2008. This is how it is.

[SlamEmDown]

after writing to qantas they have shifted me to a qantas flight out of new york.

[shillard]

Oh man, this is priceless!

I'm afraid the only flight within the US operated by Qantas is LAX-JFK (return), and that's considered an international flight by US authorities, as it's the final (first) leg of the QF SYD-LAX-JFK (or reverse) service.

AA is about as close as you get to a "full service" airline in the States, and the experience will give you some perspective - sadly lacking in people who whinge about Qantas.

[jeffinbris]

All of these details are visible on the document before you sign it. Why has money changed hands before you have read and signed the document?

Also- in the times i have had an issue with service or information provided by a FC or HWT employee, a quick word to the team leader has had the issue swiftly resolved, sometimes with a little discount. Everyone makes mistakes, even you, and codesharing, as pointed out, is fairly common in today's market. Lufthansa, for example, does not travel to Australia, all flights booked through this airline are codeshared.