Booking reward flights with the Amex Platinum card

[beardoc]

I have an Amex Platinum Credit Card and was about to book the free flight - I remember someone saying in a previous thread that Amex told them that if there is a Red e-deal available, Amex can book it for them. However, I just called them (after midnight, mind you) and they said "please don't use the QANTAS website as a template. We're easier to find a reward flight than a Frequent flyer flight, but they are not as available as a paid flight."

Has anyone had difficulties booking such flights? I was hoping to book Sydney to Adelaide return leaving about 3-4 weeks from now.

 

[Mal]

I believe the secret is O class availability on a direct flight.

(Does not exactly relate to Red-e-deal availability, but is similar).

I think you should try again during working hours. The T&C state that you can only book the flights between 9am-6pm Mon-Fri.

 

[Standby]

Qantas has 2 classes in its Red-e-Deal fare family...O class and N class
O is about 118 from MELSYD and the N class fares is about 135ish.
That maybe why you were told it wasnt avail if the amex offer is linked to a particular class
cheers

 

[aasz1978]

I know this sounds amateurish but I want to understand the translation of class codes and I know you're talking about "O" and "N" classes, but what do they actually mean?

I am planning to use my free flight sometime soon so I'll tell my booking stories next time around.

Cheers

Me

 

[Batesy]

I have used the booking service. I booked my wife on a flight fro PER to MEL next month AMEX were very helpful. I just looked up the available flights on the Qantas site, rang AMEX told them the dates and flight numbers that I wanted and they booked it straight away. Very helpful.

They sent me confirmation from Qantas holidays confirming that it is a platinum benefit and I added her FF number to the booking on line, moreso for seating purposes as no points are earnt. If flying from Perth the annual fee of the card pays for itself with the free flight.

 

[Standby]

I admit I'm not sure what class Amex need avail to make these bookings all I was pointing out is that within the different fare families(Red-e-Deals,supersaver,flexisaver etc) there are more than 1 fare offered .
my comment was just because Qantas.com shows a Red-e-deal fare is avail it may not be the class Amex sell the space from in the deal they have signed with QF.although given that amex actually pays QF for the seat just like it does FF points it would be fair to assime it is in the lowest fare class which is O.
As I have said I dont have amex so havent read any literature.Amex should be able to disclose which class without breaking any trade secrets
youd think
cheers

 

[serfty]

Red e-deals come from N and O classess. Apparently with the AMEX awards you need the less expensive O class to be available.

So rather than look at the Qantas web site booking engine you will need some facility that shows class availability.

 

[Standby]

The easy way to know if O is the class avail in the Red-e-deal display is
1.check the cheapest fare from the bulletin board on the home page.
2.If the red-e-deal fare in the flight availability search = the bulletin board...bingo you got O class.
Just be careful as sale activity on a market can show 2 or 3 differnt leadin prices. Check the travel dates applicable for each fare shown to determine what the O class fare is for you departure date
cheers

 

[kyle]

Red e-deals come from N and O classess. Apparently with the AMEX awards you need the less expensive O class to be available.

So rather than look at the Qantas web site booking engine you will need some facility that shows class availability.

I've just made my booking for January 2007. The friendly lady on the phone said that even if the cheapest Red e-deals are sold out, that do not necessarily mean the Amex award seats are not available.

On another matter, I can't seem to add my FF number to the booking on the Qantas website. Says booking not found when I put in the booking reference???

 

[Gulliver]

So is it reasonably easy to get this free flight, or do you just have to fly when they tell you there's a seat available? eg how long in advance would you need to book?

You don't have to make any Qantas purchase to get this free flight, do you?

I notice the Qantas Ultimate Amex card is very similar, except you have to make a Qantas purchase each year before the free flight. I've I've understood that correctly, why would anybody take a Qantas Ultimate card???

 

[NM]

I notice the Qantas Ultimate Amex card is very similar, except you have to make a Qantas purchase each year before the free flight. I've I've understood that correctly, why would anybody take a Qantas Ultimate card???

Because the Qantas card pays 2.25 QF FF points per A$ spent with Qantas. So if you purchase lots of QF airfares on your card you can earn lots of QF FF points. Since all my airfare purchases go to my Corporate Diners Club card (corp policy for all business expenses), the QF card would be of no value to me over other Amex cards that pay 1.5 points/$. In fact, since the points are sent directly to Qantas, the Qantas card would be more restrictive to me - I can send my Amex MR points to QF or any of their other partners such as HHonors, Starwood, VS etc.

 

[Gulliver]

Ah, I'd ignored that part. Does that include international flights? Can I get the lowest prices purchasing direct from Qantas, rather than going through Flight Centre or whoever, or would I have to pay full price?