How to use points on Qantas not Jetstar

[Corrievd]

This is my first post so I hope it's ok.

Last year I booked a one way flight to Hawaii to catch a cruise ship. Booked on line and flew with Qantas.
Trying to do the same, Sydney to Honolulu in October and it only allows me to fly Jetsar.
I have earned the points with Qantas and don't want to fly Jetsar.
Does anyone know a way around this.

Cheers
Corrie

 

[samh004]

Assume you're talking about booking a classic award. The award flight may not have any availability for the days you're looking at, thus you can't choose Qantas, while Jetstar may have availability. I'd suggest logging in and searching for a Qantas Any Seat Award, or searching for a cash flight and then switching to viewing the cost in points. These will be more expensive, but more likely to have availability, as it's "any seat" and thus any price.

If you have some form of frequent flyer status, you may be able to call up and get them to "release" classic award seats for you. But it appears to be rare unless you're at the top of the food chain.

Also, welcome at long last!

Edit: I had a quick look myself, it's worth noting the Jetstar classic awards (using points) come at a discount to the Qantas awards, so there's a saving to be had. Qantas appears to be double what Jetstar wants in economy, but if you choose to book with Jetstar (jetstar.com) instead of using points, their website offers significant savings over Qantas' website ($1012 booked with Qantas compared to $925.20 on Jetstar).

 

[Corrievd]

Thanks for your reply. I have tried booking for a week each side of my preferred day but get the same result. You are right if I book a cash flight using points it dos'nt seem like I'm getting any real value for my points.

 

[Limewood]

If going in Y book exit seats, its what I've done on both QF & JQ to that destination in the past, the second row exit on QF are the best.

 

[Tristanm]

I did a quick search for some random dates in October to satisfy my curiosity and couldn't see any classic awards for QF3 or QF4. Would be good if the calendar that pops up when you select flexible dates had an indicator that JQ only were available (perhaps a different "class" filter) so people who didn't want to use points on a LCC didn't waste their time progressing to the next step.

As a WP I tried 2 nights ago to get classic awards for August released on QF30 - computer said no. Last I looked J was relatively empty. Not sure how often it can be done.

 

[garybatz]

In late 2012 I flew HNL-SYD with Jetstar and I found them actually quite good. Plane was in good condiiton, food was fine (I paid extra for the bundle) and we purchased exit row seats and had plenty of leg room. I'm not sure about recently but not that long ago lots of people were complaining that the QF flights to/from HNL were poor quality as they seemed to be using the oldest planes in the fleet. Maybe ask around but you may find JQ not such a bad option for this route.

 

[Corrievd]

Thanks all for your input. Another question then, hope its ok to place here or should I start a new thread?
If we pay and book with Qantas, can I buy the economy fare and upgrade to Business. If so how many points are needed?

 

[samh004]

Thanks all for your input. Another question then, hope its ok to place here or should I start a new thread?
If we pay and book with Qantas, can I buy the economy fare and upgrade to Business. If so how many points are needed?

Always best to keep the questions along the same topic in the same thread

As far as upgrade go, you should look here, when booking you need to somehow (that's someone else's area of expertise) make sure you book into the right fare class, so you are eligible to upgrade. After that, it's not confirmed anyway, and priority will be given to higher status holders.

All that said, you may be able to purchase an upgrade with cash at check-in for substantially less, if seats are available.

If an eligible fare has been purchased, it would cost:

48000 points discount Y to J
30000 points full Y to J

 

[Oxy]

Are they using refurbished 767's on this route yet?

 

[mannej]

Are they using refurbished 767's on this route yet?

They have been for a while. I don't think there are any unrefurbed 767's left.

 

[dacom]

Always best to keep the questions along the same topic in the same thread

As far as upgrade go, you should look here, when booking you need to somehow (that's someone else's area of expertise) make sure you book into the right fare class, so you are eligible to upgrade. After that, it's not confirmed anyway, and priority will be given to higher status holders.

All that said, you may be able to purchase an upgrade with cash at check-in for substantially less, if seats are available.

If an eligible fare has been purchased, it would cost:

48000 points discount Y to J
30000 points full Y to J

There are only limited business class seats available on QF3 and QF4 and an points upgrade is almost impossible.
I spoke to a CSM and she told me that the business class seats are always fully booked.
Recently returned from HNL and the 767 was refurbished.