Changing Qantas Classic Reward Seats

[hunee22]

Hi Everyone,

I am still trying to go through all of my options for our flight from SYD - LAX next year.

I was wondering if I booked 4 x Economy Reward seats on Qantas (QF11) and if closer to the date or any time in between 4 x Business reward seats became available do I just pay 5000 points each to change plus any extra $$?

Would it matter if it the new flight was on American Airlines with an AA flight number like AA72?

For example I can see on the 24th of July there are 4 business reward seats on AA.

There are days with 4 Qantas seats but I’d rather not have to change the accommodation in LAX.

Thanks

 

[encryptededdy]

I was wondering if I booked 4 x Economy Reward seats on Qantas (QF11) and if closer to the date or any time in between 4 x Business reward seats became available do I just pay 5000 points each to change plus any extra $$?

Yes, this is correct. 5000 pts per passenger

Would it matter if it the new flight was on American Airlines with an AA flight number like AA72?

Nope, that's fine

 

[hunee22]

Thank you. Is this something that it allows you to do online or do you have to call ?

 

[hunee22]

Sorry just one more question.. is it usually more points to do this? I found a Qantas upgrade calculator on their USA site and it is saying that it is 109,000 points to upgrade from an Economy reward to Business.

 

[encryptededdy]

Sorry just one more question.. is it usually more points to do this? I found a Qantas upgrade calculator on their USA site and it is saying that it is 109,000 points to upgrade from an Economy reward to Business.

That's to put in an upgrade request, which doesn't necessarily require business reward space. Rebooking into a business reward seat is different.

Thank you. Is this something that it allows you to do online or do you have to call ?

Yeah, generally you can do it online

 

[hunee22]

That's to put in an upgrade request, which doesn't necessarily require business reward space. Rebooking into a business reward seat is different.


Yeah, generally you can do it online

Phew - thank you! I will add that back onto my options list

 

[Seat0B]

That's to put in an upgrade request

And of course there is totally no guarantee at all that your upgrade request would be accepted - so i reckon if you can see 4 x J award tickets (which are a bit of a unicorn these days), I would take them and sort out the hotel later.

 

[hunee22]

And of course there is totally no guarantee at all that your upgrade request would be accepted - so i reckon if you can see 4 x J award tickets (which are a bit of a unicorn these days), I would take them and sort out the hotel later.

I am looking at July next year .. they are showing up for July this year. So I was just thinking of getting 4 economy reward seats and then changing them to a business reward seat if 4 get released closer to our departure date.

If available.. would it be the 108,400 minus what I have paid already for our economy reward seats? Plus the 5000pts each to change?

Will it let me change if it is the same date and flight? Or does it need to be a different date?

 

[levelnine]

So I was just thinking of getting 4 economy reward seats and then changing them to a business reward seat if 4 get released closer to our departure date.

Be aware that the chances of 4x J reward seats on SYD-LAX appearing in a busy period (eg school holidays) are very low.

If available.. would it be the 108,400 minus what I have paid already for our economy reward seats? Plus the 5000pts each to change?

It is in addition to what you've already paid. There's no change fee to submit a classic upgrade award.

Will it let me change if it is the same date and flight? Or does it need to be a different date?

The classic upgrade award request is for flights you have already booked (ie exact same flight). It doesn't involve any day/flight changes.

It sounds like you would benefit from reading this guide: https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/qantas-frequent-flyer-guide/

Especially the section on how to redeem Qantas points.

 

[Seat0B]

I am looking at July next year .. they are showing up for July this year. So I was just thinking of getting 4 economy reward seats and then changing them to a business reward seat if 4 get released closer to our departure date.

Thanks for clarifying. In that case, it depends how badly you want the J seats and if you are stressed about losing the 5,000 points per person to change from Y if a better offer comes along, if you grab the Y seats when/if they become available for next year.

4 x Classic reward seats are pretty hard to come by in popular times, even in economy, so if you can get the 4 seats I would probably book them and secure your trip. Then if better seats come up and you can get them, you can just cancel and lose your 5,000 per cancelled seat, which is not too bad a price to pay. But...I would never cancel an award seat that I had until I was absolutely certain that I had the new one booked, so hopefully you will have enough points to cover that. If you have to cancel the Y seats and wait until the points are refunded (minus the cancellation fee), it's a big risk that your desired seats will be gone , especially if they are business. The points refund process is not instant and usually takes a couple of days. Some people report it taking over a week. Just a heads up.

The upgrade option you posted about above is a real gamble - and people with higher FF tiers are more likely to win the upgrades. Your profile doesn't say what FF tier you have, but usually upgrades will be offered first to Chairman's Lounge, then Platinum 1, Platinum, Gold, Silver and then Bronze in that order. Work out where you are in the pecking order and that will give you an idea of how likely you are to get the upgrade. So really, that option is just a bit of a stab to see if it comes off, and most likely it won't. That said, miracles do happen!

 

[ronlon]

I have had luck in the past where I have booked economy reward seats then a higher class appeared a few days later for the same flight. I expected a change fee of 5000 points per passenger but it was 5000 points for the booking. I don't know if was a mistake.

I agree with SeatOB. If you can get 4 economy seats on SYD-LAX for a peak travel time grab them. Check everyday in case business class pops up and if not you might get lucky if you register for an upgrade. Also depending on your travel party you could split the confirmed booking and mix and match class and upgrade numbers.

 

[pointslord]

In the instance of having purchased a rewards flight in economy, then the same flight showing up with business class reward tickets, can anyone explain the process of changing flights from economy to business? I have an upcoming return leg from HKG to BNE and will likely be overseas by the time business rewards becomes available, meaning calling Qantas may be difficult. Is there a step by step guide on how to do this online?

 

[ronlon]

If business end up appearing in a standard search for flights then go into 'manage my booking' and click on 'change' and see how that goes.

 

[dairyfloss]

In the instance of having purchased a rewards flight in economy, then the same flight showing up with business class reward tickets, can anyone explain the process of changing flights from economy to business? I have an upcoming return leg from HKG to BNE and will likely be overseas by the time business rewards becomes available, meaning calling Qantas may be difficult. Is there a step by step guide on how to do this online?

Hi - and welcome to AFF! - Ordinarily, you can make these and a number of other changes to a CR booking online, via QF 'Manage Booking', however if travel has commenced, or the first flight's departure is inside of 24 hours, then your only option will be to do this via QF over the phone. You can find the Global contact numbers, including the one for Hong Kong, on this page: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/support/contact-us.html

Some more detail on cancelling or changing a Reward booing can be found here:
https://help.qantas.com/support/s/article/Cancelling-or-changing-a-Reward-flight-booking

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[pointslord]

Hi - and welcome to AFF! - Ordinarily, you can make these and a number of other changes to a CR booking online, via QF 'Manage Booking', however if travel has commenced, or the first flight's departure is inside of 24 hours, then your only option will be to do this via QF over the phone. You can find the Global contact numbers, including the one for Hong Kong, on this page: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/support/contact-us.html

Some more detail on cancelling or changing a Reward booing can be found here:
https://help.qantas.com/support/s/article/Cancelling-or-changing-a-Reward-flight-booking

Cheers,
Matt.

Thanks Matt, much appreciated!