Booking business class award options for family of 4

[kamchatsky]

We are planning for trip from Sydney to Europe and UK for family of 4 (2A + 2C) in April 2025. 2 years ago we blew all our SQ miles on SQ to Europe and back on their 4 * J Savers there and back (roughly 1M points). So I don’t have any more KrisFlyer miles left. So this time I am looking at mainly OW options. I have a whole stash of miles across different programs: 410K QFF, 205K CX Miles, 208K QR/BA Avios, 290k + 260k (wife’s) AA Miles, 360k AS Miles. I also have 100K VA miles + 60K AC miles. I just signed up QFF and VA credit cards to build more miles.

Normally this is straight forward if we can fly 2 different flights as it seems that most airlines have 2 J awards for each flight. However, my wife insists that we all fly all on the same plane, and cannot be split into separate flights. So I am really looking into flights with 4 J awards available to book. Looking around I am struggling to find OW carriers having 4 J awards. So I am looking to see if any of you can give me ideas on best options and routes for 4* J Saver/Classic awards, as I haven’t been really using much OW awards. Any ideas are welcome.

 

[blackcat20]

We got four J seats on QF from the US for this year, but I think that was just good luck when they batch released a heap of seats. We've have more luck with SQ previously....

 

[levelnine]

SQ is by far and away the most reliable provider of 4x J seats to Europe.

With everyone else, you have to monitor constantly and hope to get lucky. If you are a gambler and feel like risking it, book economy with a program with cheap/free cancellations and look for last minute releases. Unlikely to work if your travel coincides with school holidays though.

 

[tdimdad]

Having the points / miles scattered across many programs, it's likely that you may end up looking at individual flights for 4*J. This could look like redeeming CX or AA points for the Australia - SE Asia leg, then a separate booking for the SE Asia - Europe segment using your QFF/AA/AS/whatever miles, or Australia - US on BA/CX points, US - Europe on QFF or something like that. Then a similar puzzle to put together for the return journey.

Having miles in many programs may actually end up working well for you but is likely to need a lot more legwork to search for the suitable & available rewards.

 

[olliekeighley]

Have a look at OW out of HKG. BA/CX sometimes offer 4 seats. Emirates also do but very high taxes.

Also via Qantas you can also get seats on Air France and KLM. Sometimes.

Tks
Ollie

 

[kpc]

We had to recently fly Dad-Sin-Syd in Sq Y as that was the only way to get 4 seats on same flight.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

100,000 VFF points won't let you SYD - SIN for 4, for 3 in Y maybe, if one way.
Esp not for return.
100,000/8 is 12,500... not enough.
So maybe take this out of the consideration for this Eu trip.
AC miles is not transferrable to SQ or VFF, they on their own are also too low.
Ergo VFF and AC can be taken out.
Also what is your QFF status?
Higher grade status members will get first opts at upgrades esp on QFi flights.

 

[andye]

In theory BA guarantee 4J seats in and out of London. Not sure how it applies to SYD-SIN. Not the cheapest YQ of course. I'm fairly sure they don't quarantine any of these seats to BAEC members* so if you get in when they are released you should be able to use different OW currencies

*oops not true

British Airways Limits Partner Access to Reward Seats

British Airways is now only releasing a small subset of award availability on its own flights to members of partner airlines.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[jase05]

Also via Qantas you can also get seats on Air France and KLM. Sometimes.

I have noticed that QF only gets a very small smattering of award seats from AF and KLM in comparison to SkyTeam partners

 

[kamchatsky]

We got four J seats on QF from the US for this year, but I think that was just good luck when they batch released a heap of seats. We've have more luck with SQ previously....

Well I am waiting for QF to release the next batch but it really is lottery. I should have 550K QFF points in 3 months as I’ve signed up a QFF credit card.

SQ is by far and away the most reliable provider of 4x J seats to Europe.

With everyone else, you have to monitor constantly and hope to get lucky. If you are a gambler and feel like risking it, book economy with a program with cheap/free cancellations and look for last minute releases. Unlikely to work if your travel coincides with school holidays though.

Yes I know. Loved be able to book SQ J Savers consistently for 4 for many years. I won’t be able to earn SQ points this time around. Even VA conversion won’t save me here.

Having the points / miles scattered across many programs, it's likely that you may end up looking at individual flights for 4*J. This could look like redeeming CX or AA points for the Australia - SE Asia leg, then a separate booking for the SE Asia - Europe segment using your QFF/AA/AS/whatever miles, or Australia - US on BA/CX points, US - Europe on QFF or something like that. Then a similar puzzle to put together for the return journey.

Having miles in many programs may actually end up working well for you but is likely to need a lot more legwork to search for the suitable & available rewards.

Yeah I may end up doing this, I am hoping that connections are minimised as I have 2 kids with me.

Have a look at OW out of HKG. BA/CX sometimes offer 4 seats. Emirates also do but very high taxes.

Also via Qantas you can also get seats on Air France and KLM. Sometimes.

Tks
Ollie

I will look at BA/CX from HKG. Never investigated AF/KL combination though. I think the high fees for EK will not make it worthwhile.

We had to recently fly Dad-Sin-Syd in Sq Y as that was the only way to get 4 seats on same flight.

If I have to fly Y, I may as well buy a return Y ticket to Europe as it should be getting cheaper ….

100,000 VFF points won't let you SYD - SIN for 4, for 3 in Y maybe, if one way.
Esp not for return.
100,000/8 is 12,500... not enough.
So maybe take this out of the consideration for this Eu trip.
AC miles is not transferrable to SQ or VFF, they on their own are also too low.
Ergo VFF and AC can be taken out.
Also what is your QFF status?
Higher grade status members will get first opts at upgrades esp on QFi flights.

I am QFF bronze so I cannot request award releases. For VFF I should be able to get to 190K miles in 3 months, I signed up Virgin Money CC last week.

In theory BA guarantee 4J seats in and out of London. Not sure how it applies to SYD-SIN. Not the cheapest YQ of course. I'm fairly sure they don't quarantine any of these seats to BAEC members* so if you get in when they are released you should be able to use different OW currencies

*oops not true

British Airways Limits Partner Access to Reward Seats

British Airways is now only releasing a small subset of award availability on its own flights to members of partner airlines.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Will check BA …. Even though I don’t really want to fly them lol.

 

[MooTime]

Maybe try the AFF concierge.

The service is there.

Could go to Europe with mix of Y and J.
Something better than nothing, concluding Y is nothing, ha.

 

[lilkid28]

If possible, aim for 3x J reward seat, then buy 1 revenue fare if necessary.

 

[Lemon_Party]

In theory BA guarantee 4J seats in and out of London. Not sure how it applies to SYD-SIN. Not the cheapest YQ of course. I'm fairly sure they don't quarantine any of these seats to BAEC members* so if you get in when they are released you should be able to use different OW currencies

*oops not true

British Airways Limits Partner Access to Reward Seats

British Airways is now only releasing a small subset of award availability on its own flights to members of partner airlines.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

These go within minutes of being released, took my brother 3 nights running to be fast enough to snag a pair of J rewards to Sydney for a year in advance!

 

[kamchatsky]

These go within minutes of being released, took my brother 3 nights running to be fast enough to snag a pair of J rewards to Sydney for a year in advance!

What time does BA release the seats daily?

 

[LadyC]

What time does BA release the seats daily?

When I was looking a few weeks ago it was around 5.30am AEDT. Definitely by 6am.