A couple of questions from an AAdvantage newbie

[alieninperth]

Have QR started flying to SYD? I thought it was only PER and MEL

 

[sergeyvzn]

Have QR started flying to SYD? I thought it was only PER and MEL

Apparently they start in March 2016, it was announced yesterday by SYD management

 

[alieninperth]

that's great, as long as they don't remove the Perth service

 

[Limewood]

that's great, as long as they don't remove the Perth service

If our QR flight DOH/PER on Tues. this week is anything to go by I doubt it not an empty seat.

 

[Nizar]

Guys if I want to get from MLE to CDG on EY J one way it would be 30k wouldn't it ?

For me to get the AUH-CDG portion in F (no offered on the MLE-AUH route), I would have to pay just an additional 10k miles as Middle East/Indian subcontinent region to Europe is 40k ?

Is that correct ?

 

[Danger]

I found award space with QR on the new SYD-DOH service using AA miles. Once again, the same flight wasn't available with QF points.

But AA had problems booking it. I spoke with five agents. Well, four actually; the first and second agents happened to be the same, 12 hours apart. Each time the agent could see the space, went to book it and then got an error message saying the seat was unconfirmed. The suggestion was to keep calling back but that the first (and second) agent would report it to whoever to look into. Called again a few minutes ago and now the seat is gone. Brilliant.

As an aside, the AAustralian number has very average staff. They're polite and want to help but they don't know much.

Guys if I want to get from MLE to CDG on EY J one way it would be 30k wouldn't it ?

For me to get the AUH-CDG portion in F (no offered on the MLE-AUH route), I would have to pay just an additional 10k miles as Middle East/Indian subcontinent region to Europe is 40k ?

Is that correct ?

That looks to be correct on both counts.

 

[Nizar]

That looks to be correct on both counts.

Cheers.

And I totally agree on the sentiment regarding AA staff on the Sydney number.

 

[leyy]

Hi guys,

need some advice.

I have 320,000 AA points which expire in 8 months.

Do you guys have any suggestions on what to do with them for best value?

Ideally in J/F to Europe or America

I am based in Sydney.

Lastly, when i check for availability i can rarely find it and it doesn't show CX, JAL or many other oneworld carriers.

Do you have to call to make a booking for these carriers?

 

[sergeyvzn]

Hi guys,

need some advice.

I have 320,000 AA points which expire in 8 months.

Do you guys have any suggestions on what to do with them for best value?

Ideally in J/F to Europe or America

I am based in Sydney.

Lastly, when i check for availability i can rarely find it and it doesn't show CX, JAL or many other oneworld carriers.

Do you have to call to make a booking for these carriers?

best value and easiest to find a book online - Qantas F to London and further on in Europe (it'll be via Melbourne on QF9/10). 80K one way. You've got enough for 2 return tickets. QF seats show online. CX, JAL, Malaysian, Qatar etc will show on ba.com and you'll need to call. Best to call USA rather than AA's call centre in Fiji as US based agents are much more knowledgeable

also, if you lucky you might find a F seat on Etihad on their A380, their First class Apartments are amazing. It'll be 2 separate awards from Sydney to Europe/America, foe example Sydney to Europe will be 60K + 40 K = 100K one way in F. Only makes sense if it's in the Apartment at least one of the sectors otherwise just go with Qantas F for 80K

Etihad seats show on their website, you need to look for Etihad Guest seat, the very first column on the left, if it's showing a seat AA will be able to book it for you


good luck

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi guys,

need some advice.

I have 320,000 AA points which expire in 8 months.

Do you guys have any suggestions on what to do with them for best value?

Ideally in J/F to Europe or America

I am based in Sydney.

Lastly, when i check for availability i can rarely find it and it doesn't show CX, JAL or many other oneworld carriers.

Do you have to call to make a booking for these carriers?

First up, you can extend the validity of the points by purchasing 1000 miles (not terribly cost effective, but given the amount of points you have, probably the easiest solution to protect your investment).

CX and JAL availability you can search on the JAL frequent program calendar (JAL mieage bank is free to join, just a little clunky to use). Alternatively, you can search for CX availability on the QF tool, but reliability isn't so great (shows phantom seats that you can't actually book).

Once you have found seats you can book directly with AA by phone.

Australia to Europe will cost you 80K points each way on either CX or QF, First class. Flying to America is more difficult because unless you can get the non-stop AA or QF services, you'll need two awards each way - one for Australia to Asia (either Hong Kong or Tokyo) and a second award from Asia to USA.

 

[Swan]

CX and JAL availability you can search on the JAL frequent program calendar (JAL mieage bank is free to join, just a little clunky to use).

The JAL site gives by far the most accurate availability for CX, however the site has not been working for a couple of weeks in relation to none JAL flights.

 

[boomy]

The JAL site gives by far the most accurate availability for CX, however the site has not been working for a couple of weeks in relation to none JAL flights.

Tried to search flights on CX Europe-Hong Kong last night, both JL and BA returned errors. QF multi-city search finally did the job.

 

[hossein_au]

Australia to Europe will cost you 80K points each way on either CX or QF, First class. Flying to America is more difficult because unless you can get the non-stop AA or QF services, you'll need two awards each way - one for Australia to Asia (either Hong Kong or Tokyo) and a second award from Asia to USA.

Is Australia to Europe on CX is also 80k? I thought the only exception was via either Doha on QR or on QF via Dubai (i.e. anything else needed two separate redemptions)?

 

[Formal Hall]

I'm certain this will have be covered somewhere, but how does changing an award destination work?
I am using AA miles to book LHR-SYD on QF next year but not sure what my final domestic destination will be yet.
I am an Executive Platinum so I assume change of destination will be free rather than $150. However, are they able to add or drop domestic legs easily over the phone or does it require a redeposit and a new award, which would run the risk of availability disappearing when the award was redeposited.
Would appreciate hearing people's experiences.

 

[sergeyvzn]

Is Australia to Europe on CX is also 80k? I thought the only exception was via either Doha on QR or on QF via Dubai (i.e. anything else needed two separate redemptions)?

Yes it is
you can't connect in Middle East unless it's Doha on Qatar or Qantas direct (no change of a flight number in a 3d zone ie you can't connect in Dubai from a QF to a BA flight, for example). Connections in Asia are allowed so you can do Australia to Europe via HKG, SiN, Tokyo, KUL etc on any combinations of OW airlines

 

[Danger]

I'm certain this will have be covered somewhere, but how does changing an award destination work?
I am using AA miles to book LHR-SYD on QF next year but not sure what my final domestic destination will be yet.
I am an Executive Platinum so I assume change of destination will be free rather than $150. However, are they able to add or drop domestic legs easily over the phone or does it require a redeposit and a new award, which would run the risk of availability disappearing when the award was redeposited.
Would appreciate hearing people's experiences.

Fees will be waived as an EXP. As for cancelling and re-booking, my experience is that AA does indeed do it this way (ie. cancel and re-book); however, the way that they do it somehow protects the availability so the seat you're cancelling doesn't actually go back to inventory. That's my experience, anyway.

 

[Alanslegal]

Just a quick one - when searching for MH, is BA pretty accurate?

 

[hossein_au]

Yes it is
you can't connect in Middle East unless it's Doha on Qatar or Qantas direct (no change of a flight number in a 3d zone ie you can't connect in Dubai from a QF to a BA flight, for example). Connections in Asia are allowed so you can do Australia to Europe via HKG, SiN, Tokyo, KUL etc on any combinations of OW airlines

Wouldn't Asia be the 3rd zone (going from Australia to Europe)? I am getting my head around the move from USDM to AA, hence my elementary question. I thought AA does not, in general, allow touching a 3rd zone unless it is explicitly specified in the list of exception. Between Australia and Europe, I thought, the only exceptions are the ones you mentioned as well (QF direct, and via Doha on QR). Isn't this correct? Is there any exception for going via Asia?

 

[serfty]

yep ... Oz via asia to/from Europe is fine.

I have seen connections offered in SIN, NRT and KUL. HKG and BKK should be eligible as well.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Wouldn't Asia be the 3rd zone (going from Australia to Europe)? I am getting my head around the move from USDM to AA, hence my elementary question. I thought AA does not, in general, allow touching a 3rd zone unless it is explicitly specified in the list of exception. Between Australia and Europe, I thought, the only exceptions are the ones you mentioned as well (QF direct, and via Doha on QR). Isn't this correct? Is there any exception for going via Asia?

With the exception of QF and the single BA service, you can't really get from Europe to Australia direct. Asia has been a traditional exception for transfers from Europe. (The middle east on the other hand hasn't been, until the Doha exception was extended.)

There are several examples where touching a third region is allowed. Lucky at onemileatatime has produced a handy reference guide: American Airlines Award Routing Rules - One Mile at a Time