How long in advance for business class seat return using only QFF points?

[PLANT]

Hi there,

How long in advance do you NOW need to book a business class seat return to London or New York using only QFF points ie. 256,000?

 

[ANstar]

Hi there,

How long in advance do you NOW need to book a business class seat return to London or New York using only QFF points ie. 256,000?

It really depends when you want to go.

You can book something like 350 days in advance... though sometimes I have seen availability a couple of weeks before the dates I wanted... Ie back in 2007 I managed to get 2 x J seats to LHR on 20th DEC... I booked these on 3rd December...

 

[Maca44]

I tried to book a J award seat SYD-SFO for a flight for 20th August 2008. I logged on, on the morning of maximum day, and found no J award seats available. I contacted QF who advised that four (4) seats had already been booked (and I don't know how many J seats would be allocated for award bookings or whether it was a WP who had additional seats released), but my meetings meant I had to fly on that date, and I don't fly into LAX. So, if it is a busy period (and as I now do) you might consider booking at midnight on the maximum day to make sure you get the seats on the dates you want.

 

[PLANT]

What is a "maximum day"?

 

[serfty]

The "Maximum Day" is the day Qantas make seats available for booking 353 days in advance.

As of today, seats can be obtained as far in advance as Jan 20th 2010.

I tried to book a J award seat SYD-SFO for a flight for 20th August 2008. I logged on, on the morning of maximum day, and found no J award seats available. I contacted QF who advised that four (4) seats had already been booked ...

Now here's a tip:

The online booking engine will not have any seats available for Jan 20th 2010 until 1st Feb 2009 UTC, i.e. just under 2½ hours after this post. (11am Summer time in SYD, 10am in BNE)

There have been reports that people can call QFF before this time and snaffle the seats, paying a 2½K assisted award booking fee for the privilege.

 

[Alanslegal]

The general rule is the earlier you book or as far as advance as possible is when you are likely to get 2x seats. If the dates are not available, it is also a good idea to spend a few minutes each and every day to see if award seats miraculously become available. Seats can return to award inventory if someone cancels or the airlines releases more tickets for redemptions.

 

[simongr]

However at the moment I have been seeing lots of availability due to the credit crunch as sats arent selling so QF can whittle down it's liability whilst generating revenue. Other airlines are also doing the same thing.

 

[Kendall Roy]

However at the moment I have been seeing lots of availability due to the credit crunch as sats arent selling so QF can whittle down it's liability whilst generating revenue. Other airlines are also doing the same thing.

Correct - notwithstanding poor J/F award availability on the USA routes, LHR/Europe ex. AUS and return is providing some excellent options over the next couple of months.