Qantas and El Al

[Shem Tov]

I had something strange happen.  Maybe someone can explain and help for the future.  Back in April I booked a flight on El Al using qantas points.  Flight was supposed to be at the end of July.  As Israel has yet to open its borders I called to cancel.  When I tried to cancel they told me that although they see the booking no ticket was issued so there is nothing to cancel or refund.  When I asked them why they said that notes seem to show that the agreement with El Al has changed and one can no longer book El Al with Qantas using reward points.  My question is as follows.  Is that accurate? I can not book EL Al using my points? And, had I not called and just gone to the airport I would have been left stranded.  Is that avoidable? Lastly, can I feel secure that what they told me is the case and that they won't now deduct points to cover the flight on the day of the scheduled trip?  TY

[AsherO]

I had something strange happen.  Maybe someone can explain and help for the future.  Back in April I booked a flight on El Al using qantas points.  Flight was supposed to be at the end of July.  As Israel has yet to open its borders I called to cancel.  When I tried to cancel they told me that although they see the booking no ticket was issued so there is nothing to cancel or refund.  When I asked them why they said that notes seem to show that the agreement with El Al has changed and one can no longer book El Al with Qantas using reward points.  My question is as follows.  Is that accurate? I can not book EL Al using my points? And, had I not called and just gone to the airport I would have been left stranded.  Is that avoidable? Lastly, can I feel secure that what they told me is the case and that they won't now deduct points to cover the flight on the day of the scheduled trip?  TY

They never deducted the points at the time of booking? Did you get a confirmation and/or Qantas locator for the booking?

[Shem Tov]

Points were not deducted.  I thought that I received an email confirming booking but can't find it now. The booking is listed on their site and I got an emailed referencing the fact that I was flying.