Adding a new segment to an existing oneworld classic-reward

[p--and--t]

Why is there a change fee if it’s never imposed though?

You might have got lucky. The agent I had was Australian so assume she knew what she was doing.

Changes to itinerary always used to need an operator (probably still do) , and hence no change fee - cos you couldn't do it online.

 

[justinbrett]

Changes to itinerary always used to need an operator (probably still do) , and hence no change fee - cos you couldn't do it online.

I think you’ve mixed up the change fee vs service fee.

Change fees are for the ability to change the flight regardless of the method.

Service fees are if you need help to do it.

 

[tripledot]

I see. I tried to call again, and happened to be serviced by the agent in Fiji. This time around I was advised slightly differently. He found a Business class flying for my additional route. (the previous agent that I called cannot find any Business class).
Furthermore, this agent said that even if I add a new segment to my existing booking, I will need to pay the full amount (57k for business class one way per-person DPS-MEL) of the qantas point for the new flight-segment (instead of free -- i..e being absorbed by my already capped 318k oneworld classic reward booking).
Hence, with the same point spent, he suggested me to just create totally separate new booking for this new flight-scheme.
He allow me to hold it for the time being - until end of Jan 2023, in which then he said, later on I can decide to go ahead or cancel it (without attracting any fee for cancelling the seat-hold).

 

[p--and--t]

I think you’ve mixed up the change fee vs service fee.

Change fees are for the ability to change the flight regardless of the method.

Service fees are if you need help to do it.

I was not charged any additional points, nor $$ for adding & deleting sectors to the itinerary, other than the calculated taxes and charges associated with the itinerary. I deleted a sector and added a sector in the US and was asked to pay an additional $2-3 (airline charge). Maybe the operator made a mistake or was generous.

The new itinerary continued to meet all the conditions of the OneWorld Classic capped award.

Note: Always check for changes to T&Cs, the last booking I made or changed was 8 months ago.

EDIT: I just copied this from the QF FAQ a few moments ago

"Service Fees will not be applied when changing Classic Flight Rewards booked for travel in Business or First class."

"For changes made to bookings on and from 18 December 2019: 7,700 Qantas Qantas Points per passenger" EDIT : Incorrect - should be 5000

 

[p--and--t]

I see. I tried to call again, and happened to be serviced by the agent in Fiji. This time around I was advised slightly differently. He found a Business class flying for my additional route. (the previous agent that I called cannot find any Business class).
Furthermore, this agent said that even if I add a new segment to my existing booking, I will need to pay the full amount (57k for business class one way per-person DPS-MEL) of the qantas point for the new flight-segment (instead of free -- i..e being absorbed by my already capped 318k oneworld classic reward booking).
Hence, with the same point spent, he suggested me to just create totally separate new booking for this new flight-scheme.
He allow me to hold it for the time being - until end of Jan 2023, in which then he said, later on I can decide to go ahead or cancel it (without attracting any fee for cancelling the seat-hold).

Before going another round with them check your proposed new itinerary meets all the rules for the capped award. Ensure all the additional sectors you are requesting are available on points.

There is a thread on AFF where you can seek advice if you want to double check.

If you are absolutely sure you will not break any rules, I would go back politely but assertively insisting that they add the requested sectors to the booking repeat to them it is a capped award and ask them to explain exactly which rule they believe you have allegedly broken, and if they don't understand the rules, transfer you to someone who does.

 

[justinbrett]

I was not charged any additional points, nor $$ for adding & deleting sectors to the itinerary, other than the calculated taxes and charges associated with the itinerary. I deleted a sector and added a sector in the US and was asked to pay an additional $2-3 (airline charge). Maybe the operator made a mistake or was generous.

The new itinerary continued to meet all the conditions of the OneWorld Classic capped award.

Note: Always check for changes to T&Cs, the last booking I made or changed was 8 months ago.

EDIT: I just copied this from the QF FAQ a few moments ago

"Service Fees will not be applied when changing Classic Flight Rewards booked for travel in Business or First class."

"For changes made to bookings on and from 18 December 2019: 7,700 Qantas Qantas Points per passenger"

But when was the original booking made? If it was made before the end of September, change fees are waived.

I've never been asked to pay a service fee, even in Y, I think it's a given that if you're calling, you're doing so because you can't do it online. My comments were in relation to the change fee, which going forward, is a thing again. Also the change fee should be 5000 - where did you get 7700 from?

 

[p--and--t]

But when was the original booking made? If it was made before the end of September, change fees are waived.

I've never been asked to pay a service fee, even in Y, I think it's a given that if you're calling, you're doing so because you can't do it online. My comments were in relation to the change fee, which going forward, is a thing again. Also the change fee should be 5000 - where did you get 7700 from?

Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions | Qantas

These Terms and Conditions form the basis of Qantas Frequent Flyer, to protect both Members and the Qantas Group.

www.qantas.com

 

[justinbrett]

Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions | Qantas

These Terms and Conditions form the basis of Qantas Frequent Flyer, to protect both Members and the Qantas Group.

www.qantas.com

That’s the reward assistance fee. You need to keep scrolling to change fee, which is 5000.

 

[aikman]

Denpasar -> Singapore (Economy)

Which oneworld airline flies this route?

Also, changing your country of origin just adds an extra layer of complexity increasing the chancs of things going wrong.

 

[renatts]

Firstly, the first agent was just inexperienced and providing you with incorrect information. You can add/remove sectors from a Oneworld Award. Providing it still meets all the rules the points will remain the same, the taxes will be recalculated and charged, and a new ticket will need to be issued. The ticket issuing is usually where this falls down and you lose your booking due to incompetence.
There is no such thing as a different availability for 'adding to existing bookings' or 'new bookings.' If the award is available, it's available.

Secondly, who was the DPS - SIN flight with? No oneworld airlines fly this route direct. If it was Jetstar or KLM then this would break the oneworld award rules and the points would be recalculated as a regular uncapped award. These airlines are Qantas partners, not Oneworld members.

 

[renatts]

To add this, as a general opinion;

If you have this whole itinerary already booked and ticketed then in my opinion it is not worth the risk of losing everything to save some points on DSP - MEL.

At this point in time it is almost a guarantee that the agents will make a mistake and you will lose your partner awards. Getting them back will be a nightmare, and not at all guaranteed.

The only exception is if you get a Hobart based call centre operator, they will be able to do this competently.

I have had multiple flights on multiple oneworld awards accidentally cancelled, or auto-cancelled, due to Fiji/SA incompetence over the past 24 months - it took over 100 hours of calling and over 300 phone calls to get all these different issues fixed. The kicker was most of the flights I fought for we never flew due to covid, but I wanted them there 'just in case' things improved.

 

[hutch]

Having recently booked a 318J ticket, I confirm that Qantas call centre staff are currently hopeless. It may be different if you get Hobart, but both South Africa and Philippines centres just do not understand what they are doing when it comes to these bookings and have no ability to get your flight ticketed. Not a single time did a flight get ticketeked within the multiple different timeframes they provided. And none of them understand the rules of the award.

Ended up changing the booking via Facebook Messenger. While not seemless, they did actually get the flight ticketeked within a reasonable timeframe.

I'd only be changing my booking now if I really really had to and next time I look to do one of these, I'll be trying to make my itinerary fully bookable online.

Qantas may be answering phones now, but the lack of knowledge of their staff, they may as well not bother.

 

[dandandan]

Hi all, I booked 4 x J Classic Rewards to the US (SYD-LAX QF metal) in later December 2024 yesterday morning. Can I add another reward segment to this booking, so LAX-LAS, to make the ticket SYD-LAX-LAS? There is AA availability for LAX-LAS.

I meant to book SYD-LAX-LAS, however in the rush to secure the 4 x J at normal classic reward points rates I only booked SYD-LAX. Obviously I can add a seperate ticket, LAX-LAS, however the points would be the same if I can add the additional sector, just some differences in taxes.

I called Qantas last night, within 24 hours of booking, I didn't get Hobart however was told they could cancel the ticket so I could rebook again. Obviously I don't want to do that, do if a sector can't be added easily I will just add LAX-LAS seperate.

 

[hutch]

Hi all, I booked 4 x J Classic Rewards to the US (SYD-LAX QF metal) in later December 2024 yesterday morning. Can I add another reward segment to this booking, so LAX-LAS, to make the ticket SYD-LAX-LAS? There is AA availability for LAX-LAS.

I meant to book SYD-LAX-LAS, however in the rush to secure the 4 x J at normal classic reward points rates I only booked SYD-LAX. Obviously I can add a seperate ticket, LAX-LAS, however the points would be the same if I can add the additional sector, just some differences in taxes.

I called Qantas last night, within 24 hours of booking, I didn't get Hobart however was told they could cancel the ticket so I could rebook again. Obviously I don't want to do that, do if a sector can't be added easily I will just add LAX-LAS seperate.

It would seem you would be covered by this https://www.qantas.com/au/en/manage-booking/same-day-no-mistake.html

 

[muppet]

I recently added 2 AY segments and 2 QF segments to make an existing partner booking the full 318k U OWA.

Couldn’t be more pleased with the agent, found the exact flights easily, removed them from inventory before dealing with other issues so I didn’t lose them, and knew the existing MH sector had to be reticketed straight away or lost so she waited on the call with the ticket desk until it was done.

Great service and about 25hrs of J flights for 2 pax added for a couple of hundy thousand points.

 

[djkelly69]

Can I add another reward segment to this booking, so LAX-LAS, to make the ticket SYD-LAX-LAS?

If you have no luck on the phone, you could try contacting QF via their Facebook Messenger chat. Once you manage to bypass the bot, they are quite helpful (albeit somewhat slow due to timezone differences - they seem to be South Africa-based).

I am NB but managed to get SYD-CBR flights added onto a LAX-SYD booking via this method.

 

[dandandan]

If you have no luck on the phone, you could try contacting QF via their Facebook Messenger chat. Once you manage to bypass the bot, they are quite helpful (albeit somewhat slow due to timezone differences - they seem to be South Africa-based).

I am NB but managed to get SYD-CBR flights added onto a LAX-SYD booking via this method.

Thanks @hutch, @muppet and @djkelly69, I though if I could get the additional sector added I would be covered by the same day policy, however when I called, I think I got the South African call centre and was told it couldn't be done without cancelling and then rebooking myself. Obviously I don't want to loose the SYD-LAX leg so I will call again today and hopefully get through to Hobart. I will report back how I go.

 

[dandandan]

Thanks @hutch, @muppet and @djkelly69, I though if I could get the additional sector added I would be covered by the same day policy, however when I called, I think I got the South African call centre and was told it couldn't be done without cancelling and then rebooking myself. Obviously I don't want to loose the SYD-LAX leg so I will call again today and hopefully get through to Hobart. I will report back how I go.

Just reporting back. I called again, South African call centre I believe however a helpful agent was able to add the classic reward LAX-LAS sector in (Y) to my already booked SYD-LAX (J) classic reward. The agent waived the change fee of 20,000 points (5,000 x 4 after) on request after I let them know I was told I couldn't do this on Monday night. Only thing was extra fees for 3 x adult ticket was $8.60 each while the child ticket was $68.60. I asked why the child ticket was more and was told the child ticket loses the discount when rebooking, I didn't bother pushing the issues more so may look into that a little later.

Thanks for the help.

 

[serfty]

Thanks for the help.

Do you have new ticket numbers (although AA is a little less stringent about ticketing)?

 

[dandandan]

Do you have new ticket numbers (although AA is a little less stringent about ticketing)?

I hadn't received new ticket number by today, however I called tonight and received straight way. The new E-Ticket Itinerary & Receipt shows I am getting a refund of $260.61 AUD for adding on the LAS sector.