Award flight assistance requested

[ramboflyer]

I recently posted on a now closed thread looking for guidance on a planned first overseas trip on retirement. The dates and the destinations are pretty much locked in. I am interested in booking premium economy or business class award seats where possible. Right now, after doing multiple searches on the Qantas site I am disillusioned by the whole thing. I am either getting error messages that I can find no answer to or there are no suitable award flights within weeks to suit. This is all within the period of May to July 2015.

Today I spoke to a travel agent who said there are only 2 business award seats on flights from London to Australia and people actually sit on their computer 330 days (or whatever it is) out waiting to grab those seats. What hope does a first timer like me have? I also understand that I will have practically zero chance of upgrades as a Bronze FF member.
Anyway enough whinging. I am more than happy to pay if someone can find flights where I can use points for seats above economy but I don’t have much flexibility as we are travelling with other couples and their travel dates are locked in.
I am only concerned with the long haul flights so wont include the short haul which are only in the U.S. The itinerary is for 2 people:
16/5/2015 Australia to LA (not flexible)
28/5/2015 Las Vegas to Washington (could be difficult)
6/6/2015 Boston to Rome (flexible within a day or 2)
19/7/2015 Britain to Australia (flexible within a few days)
Other flights will be LA to SFO and SFO to Las Vegas.
All other destinations (New York, Boston, Paris and London will be by train.
I have 480,000 points and will have another 100,000 in about 2 months when a credit card comes through with bonus points. If necessary I can “borrow” 100,000 from my brother in law to tide me over.
I would be ecstatic if at least 2 of my sectors could be booked using points in either PE or business, particularly going out and coming home.

 

[Mattg]

What you want is a "oneworld award" in business class, which costs 280,000 Qantas points plus taxes (approx. $1000). This allows you to travel up to 35,000 miles with up to 5 stopovers using oneworld airlines. You may include (I believe) up to 2 surface sectors - I note that you have 3, you'll have to travel one of those legs by air instead, or fly back to the original airport to continue the itinerary. (This could be possible with Boston to Washington).

Your itinerary is a challenging one! The trouble with finding award seats, as you have discovered, is that the best seats sell out fast. You have to be flexible, and as your dates are unfortunately locked in, we'll have to look outside the box.

The other option is to book the cheaper economy version of this award, but there is no chance you will be able to upgrade any of the legs.

I'm assuming your start/end point is HBA?

Leg 1: HBA-LAX 16/5/15
There is no chance of getting a direct flight from Australia to LAX in business. (Economy might be available.)

I had a look at a range of options via Asia and this was the best I could come up with:
HBA-MEL-HKG on 16/5/15 on either QF1500/QF29 OR QF1502/CX104
Overnight in Hong Kong
HKG-LAX on 17/5/15 on CX898, arriving in LAX at 07:55 on Sunday 17th.

Leg 2: LAS-IAD/DCA on 28/5/15
Only flights on AA First are showing up between Las Vegas and Washington DC. If you take the first flight it will push the entire booking into the first category and you'd be up for another 140,000 points, so that's not an option.

You could either just leave this as a surface sector and book this separately (so on the Qantas booking you would fly into LAX then the next flight would be out of Boston) or look at a slightly creative routing.

Business is available on some AA routes such as LAX-JFK. You could fly LAS-LAX-JFK-IAD, and the first and last leg would be in economy, but it would all be included in the points price for business. If you went via LAX and booked the LAS-LAX flight separately, you would also bring down the number of surface sectors to 2, saving you trouble later!

Leg 3: BOS-FCO on 6/6/15
There is availability on BA flying BOS-LHR-FCO in business on that date. The best connection is probably BA202/BA560.

If you have already used 1 surface sector by this point, fly back to Washington DC - the same airport you flew into - and go from there. There is also availability on BA from Washington DC so that shouldn't be an issue.

Leg 4: LHR-HBA on 19/7/15
Time to get creative again! Not surprisingly, Qantas Award seats from London to Australia in the middle of the European summer are all gone. Let's have a look at some other possible routings:

If you left London a little later and/or had a stopover in Dubai, you could fly on Qantas from London to Dubai on 25 July or earlier, to pick up the QF10 in MEL (and onto HBA) on the morning of 27 July. There is still a seat available on this flight in business.

There's a couple of options via HKG if you are willing to spend a couple of days there (again!) on BA/CX within a week of your desired departure date.

You could also have a look at Malaysia Airlines via KUL although I couldn't find anything because they aren't coming up on the QF search engine at the moment.


Here's a copy of a workable itinerary. The price was 280,000 points + taxes. (Sadly I don't have 280,000 points in my account so couldn't get a quote on the taxes):



If you want to book this, you'll need to call Qantas and pay a $60 booking assistance fee. I would suggest that if your happy, book soon as the availability of award flights will only diminish over time.

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions. I'm going to have a lie-down now, my head hurts...

 

[ramboflyer]

Thank you so much for the hard work. I will look closely after work today. I understand that to get the seats I crave I will have to be flexible but not sure the wife will be of the same mind and we are travelling with another couple who will be in paid economy all the way.

 

[ramboflyer]

What you want is a "oneworld award" in business class, which costs 280,000 Qantas points plus taxes (approx. $1000). This allows you to travel up to 35,000 miles with up to 5 stopovers using oneworld airlines. You may include (I believe) up to 2 surface sectors - I note that you have 3, you'll have to travel one of those legs by air instead, or fly back to the original airport to continue the itinerary. (This could be possible with Boston to Washington).

This is looking more likely now I have spoken to the wife. A couple of (dumb) questions:

what does a stopover mean?
having read the t & c's it appears that surface sectors are not limited - merely counted toward the distance travelled
is your draft itinerary for 2 people?

 

[Mattg]

What you want is a "oneworld award" in business class, which costs 280,000 Qantas points plus taxes (approx. $1000). This allows you to travel up to 35,000 miles with up to 5 stopovers using oneworld airlines. You may include (I believe) up to 2 surface sectors - I note that you have 3, you'll have to travel one of those legs by air instead, or fly back to the original airport to continue the itinerary. (This could be possible with Boston to Washington).

This is looking more likely now I have spoken to the wife. A couple of (dumb) questions:

what does a stopover mean?
having read the t & c's it appears that surface sectors are not limited - merely counted toward the distance travelled
is your draft itinerary for 2 people?

A stopover is only when you break the journey for 24 hours. Under 24 hours is considered a "transfer" and does not count towards your 5 stopovers.

You may be right that surface sectors are not limited. The reason I thought it should be limited to 2 is because the Qantas booking engine seemed to crash every time I put in three, but worked for two. When you book over the phone they may be able to give you 3. If they can't though, I'd recommend just flying back to LAX to pick up your flight to New York/Washington.

A surface sector only counts as 1 stopover, which is to your advantage. So for example if you got off one flight in Washington DC and boarded the next in Boston, it only counts as a single stopover, although as you've said the distance between the two airports counts towards your total mileage.

The itinerary was only for 1 person. For two people you'd be looking at double that, so 560,000 points + ~$2000-$2500 in taxes.

 

[casanovawa]

When I did one of these 140k/280k awards in 2011 I had 3 or 4 open jaws (into one place and out of another), so unless they have changed something you could have up to 5 (with the 5 stopovers) but yes each land component I think counts as one of the 16 legs/flights your allowed and they do count towards the 35,000 mile limit...

 

[dajop]

The itinerary was only for 1 person. For two people you'd be looking at double that, so 560,000 points + ~$2000-$2500 in taxes.

With LHR departure and transatlantic, probably more like $3000 in taxes and surcharges for two (probably wipe out $500-$700 if departing from outside England/Scotland/Wales)

 

[ramboflyer]

I rang Qantas today and got the bad news. 16/5 MEL/HKG only 1 business seat. HKG/LAX no award seats. 8/6 BOS/LHR 2 PE LHR/FCO 2 business seats (good). 25/7 LHR/DUB 2 PE. 27/7 DUB/MEL zip. I probably should have jumped on Friday but I had to consult fellow travellers. It's looking very much like all paid flights.

 

[Mattg]

Sorry to hear that.

I'll put my thinking cap back on later today or tomorrow and see what the best option is from here.

 

[ramboflyer]

Thanks for that. For reasons only my wife understands (something to do with being on the same plane as her best friend) I am going to stick to just the 3 flights on the oneworld business award seats. MEL/LAX BOS/ROME & BRITAIN back home. Maybe leaving Dublin or Paris might be an option coming home?. I will almost certainly pay for a PE or business coming home if the award seats dont work out. I now have over 560,000 points.

 

[Mattg]

Thanks for that. For reasons only my wife understands (something to do with being on the same plane as her best friend) I am going to stick to just the 3 flights on the oneworld business award seats. MEL/LAX BOS/ROME & BRITAIN back home. Maybe leaving Dublin or Paris might be an option coming home?. I will almost certainly pay for a PE or business coming home if the award seats dont work out. I now have over 560,000 points.

Ok... This was a really tough one, but I think I have found another combination of flights which will fit in with your plans and be eligible for 2x 280,000 point oneworld awards in Business class, which in my opinion is one of the best value ways to spend QFF points. The only catch would be that one of you would have to fly from MEL-HKG either in economy, or on a different flight, and you would have to fly home via Johannesburg. But don't worry, that would be in business (except potentially the British Airways leg from London to Johannesburg, which would be premium economy). Also, you may be better off booking on two separate tickets, but that's for you to decide. I will explain why shortly.

If you are happy with this, book it as soon as possible to avoid disappoint!

Here's the itinerary:



The cost would be 280,000 points each plus taxes, same as the other one.

I'll go through and explain each leg one at a time.


Leg 1: Hobart - Los Angeles on 16/5/15

As you've discovered there's no availability on direct Qantas flights to the US, and only one seat available in Business on my suggested HBA-MEL-HKG (overnight in Hong Kong) - LAX routing.

The problem was (only) the MEL-HKG leg. There are two, possibly three flights you could take to Hong Kong that all have just 1 business award seat available on each. But there are two J seats on HBA-MEL and on HKG-LAX departing Hong Kong on the Sunday morning. So you could get the award seats by travelling to Hong Kong on different flights, then meeting in Hong Kong and flying out together in Business on the same flight the next morning. I know it's not ideal. If you want to do that, one of you could fly MEL-HKG on QF29 and the other on either CX104 (departing in the afternoon, arriving in the evening) or CX178 (overnight flight, which arrives in HKG 2hr20mins before the LAX flight departs.

If you want to travel on the same flights, there are two award seats in economy on QF1500/QF29. The other possibility, which I alluded to earlier, is to book two separate tickets. One of you could take the only business seat, while the other flies in economy for this leg. At least it's only a daytime flight.

Either way it's a compromise, I realise that.


Another option (which I honestly think is a bit of a long shot) could be to wait until QF starts selling seats on its new MEL-LAX service QF95, which will start up early next year. It's a late afternoon departure from Melbourne, arriving in Los Angeles just after lunchtime. It won't be operating on the Saturday you want to leave (only 3x weekly) but you could have a look at getting a seat on the Friday or Sunday flights, once the award seats are released. Be warned though, they WILL go quickly! Unfortunately I can't find a date that these seats will be released, but I would suspect in the next week or two. (If the QF95 schedule does not work for you, then ignore this option.)


Leg 2: Boston to Rome
No problems finding award seats in business on BA via London, or on other dates also on Iberia via Madrid.


Leg 3: London - Hobart
Trying to find award availability on Qantas is pretty much impossible as the award seats on the Dubai to Sydney and Melbourne sectors are exhausted already in all classes. I think I've found a solution: Fly to Johannesburg on British Airways, then fly from Johannesburg to Sydney on Qantas. A slightly longer way home, but it'll get you there nonetheless.

Around your travel dates, it's not possible to get 2 business seats on a single British Airways flight from LHR to JNB. You have two choices here - take the premium economy option (which on the A380 probably isn't too bad anyway) or if you travel on separate flights, you could each pick up the one available seat. For example, on the date of the flight in the sample itinerary I posted, there is a second BA flight from LHR to JNB departing just 2 hours later. If you book separate tickets, then you could each snag the one remaining seat on both flights.

Unfortunately the BA flights do not connect nicely to the QF64 flight to Sydney, as they arrive in the morning and QF64 departs at 18:15. I would suggest stopping at least for one night, maybe even more if you're interested in seeing some of South Africa. (I'd personally stop over for a week.) There is availability in business for 2 people on QF64 most days.

Then it's just a matter of getting back to Hobart, which would be a breeze although probably via Melbourne if you wanted to go home on the same day.

Another thing you could look at to keep it as a oneworld award is flying home on Malaysia Airlines. MH are not coming up on the QF search engine, but over the phone they should have access to award availability. Look at options from LHR, AMS, CDG and FRA, via KUL and either SYD, BNE, MEL, ADL, PER or even DRW.


I hope you found this useful and can get the flights you want!!

 

[ramboflyer]

Thanks for that! We have pushed the boston rome leg out to 8/6. Can you check that? Cheers

 

[Mattg]

Thanks for that! We have pushed the boston rome leg out to 8/6. Can you check that? Cheers

Departing on the 8th of June, you can fly to Rome on Iberia via Madrid in Business class. (Business class not available on BA that day.)

8/6 IB6166 BOS 17:30 - MAD 06:20 (+1 day)
9/6 IB3230 MAD 08:55 - FCO 11:25

 

[ramboflyer]

I like this. Need to talk to wife after work and if she is ok I will book it. I did a dummy booking for the international legs on the Qantas site and all looks good. Does this have to be done over the phone?

 

[Mattg]

I like this. Need to talk to wife after work and if she is ok I will book it. I did a dummy booking for the international legs on the Qantas site and all looks good. Does this have to be done over the phone?

I guess you could try to book online but from my experience it won't let you and you'll have to ring up (and pay the phone booking fee). But by all means try online first.

If you ring up and find that for some reason one or more of the flights are no longer available, the operator should be able to help you find new flights on airlines which for some reason don't come up on the QF website, such as Malaysia Airlines or Japan Airlines.

 

[Princess Fiona]

With respect the itinerary you would like to book is fairly complex with not much flexibility and Mattg has done a fantastic job IMHO finding flights. Multiple J seat Awards are rare, and transient and I would be booking your seats as soon as availability has been identified and be prepared to tweak things later.

 

[ramboflyer]

Have decided not go via HKG to LAX due to time limitations. Have booked PE/BUS from LON-JOH-SYD ($1880 fees!!). Having problems with BOS/ROM. Shows 2 J seats but wont let me book (error message). Conntacted Qantas last night but can't help saying 2 J seats not showing. Same today. Would it help if I contacted Iberia?

 

[Mattg]

Have decided not go via HKG to LAX due to time limitations. Have booked PE/BUS from LON-JOH-SYD ($1880 fees!!). Having problems with BOS/ROM. Shows 2 J seats but wont let me book (error message). Conntacted Qantas last night but can't help saying 2 J seats not showing. Same today. Would it help if I contacted Iberia?

Hmm.. I don't think contacting Iberia would be of much use. Occasionally there are lag problems, which cause flights to continue to come up on the QF search engine for some time after the seats are sold. This happened to me with a CX flight a while back - it was showing as available while I was on the phone with QF and the agent was telling me the seat had already been taken in in the last day or two.

My suggestions for Boston to Rome:
-Try getting on the Iberia flights the day before
-Try connecting though, or departing from another US city. E.g. Try getting on the direct US Airways flight from Philadelphia to Rome. Or have a look at options through New York, Washington DC, Charlotte, or even Montreal or Miami.
-Try airberlin, who fly out of New York, Miami, Fort Myers and Chicago to Berlin and Dusseldorf (connecting onwards to Rome)
-Consider options in Premium economy

If you ring up Qantas, they should be able to conduct very specific searches and find something, if you try out all the combinations I've suggested above. (I tried some of them but the QF website seems to not be working for me at the moment.)

 

[ramboflyer]

Mattg you really are a gold mine of advice. I rang Qantas about the Iberian flights when I saw 2 J seats available thinking they might be able to book them rather than me getting more error messages but no go. The lady I spoke to could not have been more helpful. She went looking for other options and after several tries came up with 2 J seats on a direct flight on Alitalia! After much deliberation sge said the seats are exempt from fees and taxes. I have an email confirmation and booking number so all good. Thank you Sally from Brisbane call centre and Mattg!! Now all I have to do is book 2 economy seats from MEL-LAX and all done

 

[ramboflyer]

btw the flight in my previous post was from Boston to Rome