Hi I'm Jenny, my very first post.

[JennyMG]

I've joined the community because I'm going to Europe with my husband next year.
I've gone400,000QFF points, and looking for a business class trip home on Classic rewards.
I hope I can find something. I've been watching flights, and the closer it gets to July next year, the less there seems to be.
(Rome to Sydney on 23rd July - which isn't out yet.) The one I picked seems to have disappeared in July. :/ it was a china Eastern Airlines flight, business class all the way, leaving at 8.20pm from Rome.
I wonder if these offerings change...more seats get allocated (I guess it's more common to have less seats as time goes on.)
More flights? different combinations? I'm a bit flummoxed.

 

[I love to travel]

Hi Jenny and welcome. Do you have status with Qantas?

 

[JennyMG]

Hi Jenny and welcome. Do you have status with Qantas?

Thankyou for responding. Status points? on and off. So no. As a QFF 400,000 points. Bronze member. I've been a QFF member for ages, but not an active 'user' until now. I was saving the points for this Europe trip and find I don't know much about how to search for classic reward combos. I'm a bit shocked that the flight I was looking at doesn't seem to be appearing now that the openigns for July 2020 are starting.
I'm having difficulty finding combinations, rome to Sydney and not sure who to ask for help.
Any suggestions on how I can get help for this? (I know it's too early, but I like to be prepared.)

 

[I love to travel]

You need to wait (based on current rules) until 301 days for Qantas and Emirate combination flights to open up. All Emirates flights will be sooner than that but no specific release times. Europe is hard now that Cathay have tightened up. Be as flexible as you can.

 

[JennyMG]

You need to wait (based on current rules) until 301 days for Qantas and Emirate combination flights to open up. All Emirates flights will be sooner than that but no specific release times. Europe is hard now that Cathay have tightened up. Be as flexible as you can.

Thanks for that, actually I was watching the China Eastern Airlines flight from Rome to Sydney. It was business class all the way, stopping in Shanghai half way. It's been available all through June 2020, but now, in the first few days of July, seems to be changing, business classs being replaced by 1/2 and 1/2, and also some flights NOSEATS available.
I wonder two things. Are they going to offer them later? am I just too early?
Or has the offerings changed completely for July (from JUne schedule)
And finally, what does NO SEATS mean, that it's booked out, or than none were offered in the first place?

 

[Steady]

Welcome aboard JennyMG

 

[JennyMG]

Welcome aboard JennyMG

Thankyou Steady. I hope to learn a bit to enhance my europe trip next year.

 

[Steady]

Thankyou Steady. I hope to learn a bit to enhance my europe trip next year.

You have come to the right place, read up on the areas of most interest and then ask specific questions. If you put a bit of effort in, you will get heaps from this site and members will generally be very helpful.

 

[RooFlyer]

I wonder two things. Are they going to offer them later? am I just too early?
Or has the offerings changed completely for July (from JUne schedule)

Hi

I can't help specifically with China Eastern, sorry, but can venture that the availability of award seats on many airlines 'come and go' without apparent rhyme or reason. I have followed both Singapore Airlines and Turkish airlines in the past 6 months during the period coming up to their award seats release dates, with availability in J aplenty. Then, just as 'my' dates came into range - no availability. It re-appeared spottily a week later.

Very frustrating, but nothing to be done about it, unfortunately.

'No seats' could mean all gone, or never there. They may come onto the inventory at a later stage.

 

[FrankP]

hi Jenny, welcome to the forums.
Are you able to fly out from other cities like ADL or BNE? Sometimes the other cities have less competition/flyers. You may have to be very flexible to get what you want. Also I'm sure that a few more weeks will help. For example I just checked for reward flights Brisbane>Rome and whilst nothing came up so far for July, there were reward flights for most of June, incl Biz and First (J and F class), via Perth and Doha on Qatar and returning on China Air (both OW partners).

 

[JennyMG]

Hi

I can't help specifically with China Eastern, sorry, but can venture that the availability of award seats on many airlines 'come and go' without apparent rhyme or reason. I have followed both Singapore Airlines and Turkish airlines in the past 6 months during the period coming up to their award seats release dates, with availability in J aplenty. Then, just as 'my' dates came into range - no availability. It re-appeared spottily a week later.

Very frustrating, but nothing to be done about it, unfortunately.

'No seats' could mean all gone, or never there. They may come onto the inventory at a later stage.

Ha ha, it's all as clear as mud. That pretty much sums up my experience. I can feel it in my bones...as my date comes up, I can feel the business class seats slipping away....or maybe they will never be there. rergh.

 

[JennyMG]

Thanks Frank, yes I can be VERY flexible.....I'm going to be unbelievably happy if I find a business class flight ALL THE WAY from Rome to Sydney ( or Rome to Brissy, or Melbourne) with Classic Rewards. What I'm not feeling flexible about is economy in any way shape or form. I've saved these points up and want to treat my husband and I for the very first time in business class.
BTW it's actually Rome to Sydney (I've already got my flight out, just looking to come home.)

 

[RooFlyer]

You might not have the option of flexibility in this case, but the one consistent thing you will hear in relation to finding 'award' seats, is flexibility - the date, the departure/arrival port in particular.

Unless you have high status (for instance, Platinum or above with Qantas Frequent Flyer), avoid planning for school holidays and/or popular routes such as to London or Los Angeles - why? Because the high status folks get to request these before the rest and they will be gone before you can even see them.

Your plan to fly China Eastern is a good strategy, as they are not a popular option among QFFers.

Finding all the tips and tricks is not a quick thing here. Take the time to look at the forums list (top LH in the menu) and then have a trawls around the ones that seem likely.

 

[FrankP]

Finding all the tips and tricks is not a quick thing here. Take the time to look at the forums list (top LH in the menu) and then have a trawls around the ones that seem likely.

True true, good advice. Use the 'watch' button at the top of the screen for each forum, watch the forums of interest and you'll get push notifications to email when new entries are started in those forums. Very useful. I'm watching maybe 11 forums. And be sure to read the forum intro notes (A note to our new members) and copy the abbreviations list - will help a lot with forums msgs from experienced mbrs

 

[JennyMG]

Thank you Frank and Rooflyer. Both generous suggestions and thoughts. I have researched extensively online, and am delighted to have found these forums which hopefully will build my knowledge of ff points and reward flights etc, and get me where I want to go in a higher class for less points! Thanks again. I've picked a few threads to follow.

 

[Mattg]

Rome to Sydney on that week of July is going to be very hard, but lucky you're planning well in advance! This is the busiest week of the year for travel on that route.

Good luck and welcome to AFF!

 

[Dr Ralph]

Welcome to AFF. Take the China Eastern flights whilst available is my strong suggestion.

 

[Deleted member]

Hi JennyMG, you may want to consider other options.
Eg points return to an Asian Port and then paid J on a different airline (watch out for specials) getting seats out of Oz can be Fraught!
Many newbies like you come to groups like this one quite late in their planning process, to make some of these things happen it requires a lot of study of the options, good luck in your quest

 

[JennyMG]

Welcome to AFF. Take the China Eastern flights whilst available is my strong suggestion.

My thoughts exactly. I’m just going to do it if it shows up on my date in about 2 weeks. Crossing fingers. I won’t waste any time, pounce!!

 

[JennyMG]

Hi JennyMG, you may want to consider other options.
Eg points return to an Asian Port and then paid J on a different airline (watch out for specials) getting seats out of Oz can be Fraught!
Many newbies like you come to groups like this one quite late in their planning process, to make some of these things happen it requires a lot of study of the options, good luck in your quest

Lucky that I’m TOO early then. I’m a rabid planner. Going great so far, learned heaps even in one week. I wish I found this forum a year ago but ...
I’m very happy with my choice and options , all reward flight, so hoping my options turn up on booking day in a week or so! Thanks for your help