ASA change summary & How to Book them

[sbc269]

THIS THREAD IS A GUIDE TO CALLING UP AND BOOKING THESE

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From the success/failure thread: (Frequent Flyer - Using Points - Qantas & Jetstar Any Seat Awards)

1. "From 26 June 2013 Any Seat Award bookings made on Qantas marketed and operated flights in reservation classes X, Z, U or P cannot be made online at qantas.com. To make an Any Seat Award booking in these classes please call 1300 366 587 (dial in +61 2 8222 2430 from outside Australia). In most cases the points required for Any Seat Awards booked in these classes are higher than those required for a Classic Award in the same class of travel on the same flight."

Indeed! Many thanks for the link. After my two refusals today I sought this out....it is buried deep but fairly easily found...and had it open in preparation with my third call. But it wasn't needed.
Good luck to all who try to sail on the good ship mASA

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Any Seat Awards can still be booked on-line with the new booking front-end. Any flight can be booked as a combination of Points plus Pay, which is an Any Seat Award*.

However, Any Seat Awards that book into the Classic award fare buckets of X, Z, U and P cannot be booked on-line. These can only be booked on-line as Classic Awards.

If you want to book an Any Seat Award that books into the Classic Award fare classes, follow this process:

1. Check on-line for classic award availability. If Classic Award availability exists, proceed to next step.
2. Call the new special phone number (1300 366 587) 9am-5pm EST Mo-Fr and ask "I would like to book a Classic Award fare as an Any Seat Award please".
3. You should not be charged any Telephone Assistance Booking Fee for the reservation
4. If the agent does not understand the request, ask them to check with a supervisor and try reversing the request above to "I would like to book an Any Seat Award in X/Z/U/P class" [these are the classic award fare classes for economy/premium/business/first]

* Note that some AFF members disagree that such booking is an AnySeatAward (ASA) as defined in the Qantas Frequent Flyer terms and conditions, and that this is just a means of payment for a commercial ticket using a combination of points and cash. This topic is debated in other threads discussing the topic of recent changes to ASA

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If the agent tries to charge a service fee, tell them there is non payable and this is specifically noted noted on "Right on Q" number 7740":

A wise old Roo told me recently (this week) the following: -

The fee waiver information most definitely does appear in the internal cluecard, and offers the staff member a step by step guide of the necessary system entries required.

As my good friend Newk has already mentioned....Don't let them get away with it

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Hi all,

hopefully not being a pain, I don't have the required time to read through over 1700+ posts to get the info, so I'm hoping a concise post can clear things up here.

Obviously by now it is confirmed that the way ASA's are booked has changed for the worse, but can someone summarise the new process for the less experienced like myself, I was away for a couple of weeks, came back yesterday to check site and was quite surprised by the changes, I had planned on booking my first JASA later this year.

To be clear, as I understand from the 100+ posts I randomly read through before my brain felt like imploding, we can still do ASA's, we just have to take pot luck with the phone centre and pray for a knowledgeable operator??? But it is in our best interest to check for classic deals at the low rate first and quote those flights/days???

Is there anything I am missing, any special buzz words I should use.

All help greatly appreciated.

 

[medhead]

re: ASA change summary & How to Book them

There is actually a much shorter thread already on success of using the phone process that covers most of your questions.

 

[NM]

re: ASA change summary & How to Book them

Ok, let me summarise here. I will make this a sticky and close the thread, so continue to post comments in the regular thread. If anyone disagrees with my summary, send a PM and I will consider appropriate edits.

Firstly, Any Seat Awards can still be booked on-line with the new booking front-end. Any flight can be booked as a combination of Points plus Pay, which is an Any Seat Award*.

However, Any Seat Awards that book into the Classic award fare buckets of X, Z, U and P cannot be booked on-line. These can only be booked on-line as Classic Awards.

If you want to book an Any Seat Award that books into the Classic Award fare classes, follow this process:

1. Check on-line for classic award availability. If Classic Award availability exists, proceed to next step.
2. Call the new special phone number (1300 366 587) 9am-5pm EST Mo-Fr and ask "I would like to book a Classic Award fare as an Any Seat Award please".
3. You should not be charged any Telephone Assistance Booking Fee for the reservation
4. If the agent does not understand the request, ask them to check with a supervisor and try reversing the request above to "I would like to book an Any Seat Award in X/Z/U/P class" [these are the classic award fare classes for economy/premium/business/first]

* Note that some AFF members disagree that such booking is an AnySeatAward (ASA) as defined in the Qantas Frequent Flyer terms and conditions, and that this is just a means of payment for a commercial ticket using a combination of points and cash. This topic is debated in other threads discussing the topic of recent changes to ASA

 

[serfty]

re: ASA change summary & How to Book them

Excerpt of the fine print from Qantas Email received 27th June 2103:

Please note that from 26 June 2013 Any Seat Award bookings made in reservation classes X, Z, U or P cannot be made online at qantas.com. To make an Any Seat Award booking in these classes please call 1300 366 587 (dial in +61 2 8222 2430 from outside Australia) between the hours of 0900 and 1700 AEST on Mondays to Fridays. In most cases the points required for Any Seat Awards booked in these classes are higher than those required for a Classic Award in the same class of travel on the same flight. See qantas.com for more information and full terms and conditions.

 

[QF WP]

re: ASA change summary & How to Book them

When on the phone to a CSA who doesn't know how or unsure how to process a MASA

The reference card used is known as "Right on Q" number 7740 which might help nudge those agents who aren't sure what to do. Also asking for an 'Any Seat Award booked into U class' is better than asking for 'Any Seat Award at Classic Award rate'

 

[NM]

re: ASA change summary & How to Book them

Excerpt of the fine print from Qantas Email received 27th June 2103:

Please note that from 26 June 2013 Any Seat Award bookings made in reservation classes X, Z, U or P cannot be made online at qantas.com. To make an Any Seat Award booking in these classes please call 1300 366 587 (dial in +61 2 8222 2430 from outside Australia) between the hours of 0900 and 1700 AEST on Mondays to Fridays. In most cases the points required for Any Seat Awards booked in these classes are higher than those required for a Classic Award in the same class of travel on the same flight. See qantas.com for more information and full terms and conditions.

Note that Qantas has since removed the restriction of calling during business hours and these bookings can now be made by phone any time of day.

 

[serfty]

re: ASA change summary & How to Book them

If the agent tries to charge a service fee, tell them there is non payable and this is specifically noted noted on "Right on Q" number 7740":

A wise old Roo told me recently (this week) the following: -

The fee waiver information most definitely does appear in the internal cluecard, and offers the staff member a step by step guide of the necessary system entries required.

As my good friend Newk has already mentioned....Don't let them get away with it

 

[admin]

re: ASA change summary & How to Book them

JessicaTam has compiled a spreadsheet summarising some successful ASA Bookings which were booked at (or close to) the classic rate. This is a really useful reference so you can see what is possible.

See http://www.australianfrequentflyer....kings-booked-classic-53677-12.html#post922199

 

[serfty]

re: ASA change summary & How to Book them

From the success/failure thread: (Frequent Flyer - Using Points - Qantas & Jetstar Any Seat Awards)

1. "From 26 June 2013 Any Seat Award bookings made on Qantas marketed and operated flights in reservation classes X, Z, U or P cannot be made online at qantas.com. To make an Any Seat Award booking in these classes please call 1300 366 587 (dial in +61 2 8222 2430 from outside Australia). In most cases the points required for Any Seat Awards booked in these classes are higher than those required for a Classic Award in the same class of travel on the same flight."

Indeed! Many thanks for the link. After my two refusals today I sought this out....it is buried deep but fairly easily found...and had it open in preparation with my third call. But it wasn't needed.
Good luck to all who try to sail on the good ship mASA