Oman Air seats now showing up as QF Classic Rewards

[RealtimeY]

Trying to redeem my way to Europe and just noticed that Oman Air (WY) partner awards are now showing up on the QF website. This opens up a lot of new possibilities on a great airline. Looking forward to when they formally join OW!

 

[Gold Member]

Trying to redeem my way to Europe and just noticed that Oman Air (WY) partner awards are now showing up on the QF website. This opens up a lot of new possibilities on a great airline. Looking forward to when they formally join OW!

View attachment 413012

Qantas is charging $905 AUD in Carrier Charges and taxes on that combination. Why? Because they can.

By way of comparison, the direct BA service has a far more reasonable $294, while the KLM service via AMS charges a whopping $2,571! Nose bleed territory almost on par with Emirates.

 

[jase05]

That is very good news and the carrier charges wouldn’t stop me booking personally as they have a great J product
I’m rapidly running out of QF points though so hopefully they are bookable with Avios soon

 

[jrfsp]

Just wish they weren’t flying 737s on so many medium haul routes

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

Given the cash fares that can be had on some of these routes out of southeast Asia, you're really not getting great value out of 100,000 points with ~$1000+ surcharges each-way. And as just noted, a lot of these flights into Europe are moving to the 737... But horses for courses, I suppose.

 

[MELso]

Just wish they weren’t flying 737s on so many medium haul routes

Yeah - was just about to post that the KUL-MCT (and vv) route is often on a 737...

 

[DAC1]

Qantas is charging $905 AUD in Carrier Charges and taxes on that combination. Why? Because they can.

By way of comparison, the direct BA service has a far more reasonable $294, while the KLM service via AMS charges a whopping $2,571! Nose bleed territory almost on par with Emirates.

Doesn’t seem as bad on other routes. I found MCT-CGK in J for GBP 124 (and 75,000 points).

 

[ozflier]

Yeah - was just about to post that the KUL-MCT (and vv) route is often on a 737...

Great if OMan Air would start flying to Australia.

 

[Gold Member]

Great if OMan Air would start flying to Australia.

More carriers means more choice and more competition. Very much welcomed in my book.

And considering Qantas doesn’t seem to have major problems with Oman Air that I’m aware of other than competition, the Chairman’s Lounge (aka AUS Govt) should allow it if Oman Air sought access.

 

[jase05]

More carriers means more choice and more competition. Very much welcomed in my book.

And considering Qantas doesn’t seem to have major problems with Oman Air that I’m aware of other than competition, the Chairman’s Lounge (aka AUS Govt) should allow it if Oman Air sought access.

WY are still a pretty small airline so I doubt they venture down here anytime soon.
They are also best buddies with QR and probably in their sponsorship to join OW that they keep off their turf

 

[SYD]

Qantas is charging $905 AUD in Carrier Charges and taxes on that combination. Why? Because they can.

Taxes are taxes (common to any airline). But aren’t the bulk of fuel fines imposed by the operating airline?

Interesting to know what other partners are passing on and how much is actually QF fee?

By way of comparison, the direct BA service has a far more reasonable $294, while the KLM service via AMS charges a whopping $2,571! Nose bleed territory almost on par with Emirates.

Ditto. I doubt that’s QF picking a number out of their a$$?

We know the EK fines are even applied to their own FFs making SR almost junk status on premium redemptions….

 

[Gold Member]

Taxes are taxes (common to any airline). But aren’t the bulk of fuel fines imposed by the operating airline?

Interesting to know what other partners are passing on and how much is actually QF fee?

Ditto. I doubt that’s QF picking a number out of their a$$?

We know the EK fines are even applied to their own FFs making SR almost junk status on premium redemptions….

The Carrier Charges component are entirely at the Airline’s discretion. They will charge as much as they think they can get away with before the consumer cries fowl and calls them out, creates mass public backlash and their members disengage from the program. Even then, some airlines still just don’t care.

Carrier charges vary wildly based on several factors including (but not limited to) marketed/operating airline and the routing. As an example, more popular routes such as SYD-LHR using QF points on QF metal would charge significantly more in Carrier charges than a similar distance routing between two less desirable third world cities with different economies/wealth.

It goes without saying that Qantas is notorious for applying exorbitant Carrier Charges on award bookings. A couple of key reasons they do this is because;

1) It goes straight to their bottom line (more profit, more CEO bonuses etc), and

2) They can sneakily devalue members’ points in the background while remaining somewhat competitive in the points redemption market without seeming to charge a higher number of points upfront.

The consumer just sees the number of points required - all the Carrier Charges are treated like an afterthought in the redemption process and just a part of award redemptions. Given that most people may have just snagged a unicorn business cabin award, very few will stop mid-booking to think of how much their points are actually worth, let alone alternative FF schemes.

I’m still keen for @AFF Editor to conduct a thorough comparison of various FF schemes (inc all the American based FF programs) to contrast the huge disparity of Carrier Charges between Qantas and much better alternatives.

 

[madrooster]

It goes without saying that Qantas is notorious for applying exorbitant Carrier Charges on award bookings. A couple of key reasons they do this is because;

1) It goes straight to their bottom line (more profit, more CEO bonuses etc), and

2) They can sneakily devalue members’ points in the background while remaining somewhat competitive in the points redemption market without seeming to charge a higher number of points upfront.

I have seen this incorrect information being sprouted for quite some time now... so for the sake of getting it right...

For QF flights, QF sets the fuel surcharge. You are correct that these go to QF's bottom line. However, for non-QF flights, QF doesn't set the fuel surcharge at all.

Carriers make agreements with each other on whether they will or will not collect fuel or insurance surcharges.

This ultimately affects how much QF is then billed by the other carrier when a pax flies with a 081 ticket coupon on the other carrier. If QF is collecting the insurance/fuel surcharge on behalf of the other carrier, then the other carrier will bill QF for the value of that surcharge as part of the reimbursement processes that occur after a pax uses a 081 ticket coupon.

QF agrees to collect whatever fuel/insurance surcharge is levied by virtually all other oneworld carriers from what I have seen. These fuel/insurance surcharges are passed on by QF, from whoever the operating carrier is.

CX as an example, publishes their fuel surcharges here: https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_JP/prepare-trip/travel-advisories/fuel-surcharge-updates.html

QF and CX have an agreement that they collect each other's fuel surcharges. So this means that CX redemptions using QFF points will have CX's fuel surcharge within the taxes/fees/surcharges and QF redemptions using Asia Miles will have QF's fuel surcharge within the taxes/fees/surcharges.

Now as for why AA/AS don't collect insurance/fuel surcharges on most oneworld carriers... that's up to their individual agreement with the other carrier. The base reimbursement rate that AA/AS pays to say for example CX, will likely be higher than what QF pays (who does collect CX's fuel surcharge), to compensate for the fact AA/AS isn't collecting any insurance/fuel surcharge on behalf of CX. One way or another it's merely accounting.

There are a few combinations of oneworld carriers that don't collect insurance/fuel surcharges on behalf of another carrier. Here's some examples...

QR don't collect JL surcharges
JL don't collect QR surcharges
AS don't collect JL/QR/QF surcharges (and others too I believe)
QF/CX/BA/AA generally collect surcharges on behalf of everyone (for AA, it's commercial only.. for redemptions they don't collect other than for BA/IB)

The list goes on - there's numerous combos.

 

[janeo]

Qantas is charging $905 AUD in Carrier Charges and taxes on that combination. Why? Because they can.

By way of comparison, the direct BA service has a far more reasonable $294, while the KLM service via AMS charges a whopping $2,571! Nose bleed territory almost on par with Emirates.

isnt that 905 MYR so only 315ish aud?

 

[Mattg]

isnt that 905 MYR so only 315ish aud?

You are correct. On the KUL-MCT-LHR route in J, the taxes are MYR905 (~AUD313) of which MYR588 (~AUD203) is carrier charges. That's just over $100 per flight in carrier charges, which isn't really that bad, all things considered.

 

[elanshin]

Ah the good ol currency whoopsie. I remember seeing HKD surcharges for the first time and balked at paying $400 for a 1hr flight. Then i eventually remembered thats less than $100 AUD.

 

[Gold Member]

I have seen this incorrect information being sprouted for quite some time now... so for the sake of getting it right...

For QF flights, QF sets the fuel surcharge. You are correct that these go to QF's bottom line. However, for non-QF flights, QF doesn't set the fuel surcharge at all.

Carriers make agreements with each other on whether they will or will not collect fuel or insurance surcharges.

This ultimately affects how much QF is then billed by the other carrier when a pax flies with a 081 ticket coupon on the other carrier. If QF is collecting the insurance/fuel surcharge on behalf of the other carrier, then the other carrier will bill QF for the value of that surcharge as part of the reimbursement processes that occur after a pax uses a 081 ticket coupon.

QF agrees to collect whatever fuel/insurance surcharge is levied by virtually all other oneworld carriers from what I have seen. These fuel/insurance surcharges are passed on by QF, from whoever the operating carrier is.

CX as an example, publishes their fuel surcharges here: https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_JP/prepare-trip/travel-advisories/fuel-surcharge-updates.html

QF and CX have an agreement that they collect each other's fuel surcharges. So this means that CX redemptions using QFF points will have CX's fuel surcharge within the taxes/fees/surcharges and QF redemptions using Asia Miles will have QF's fuel surcharge within the taxes/fees/surcharges.

Now as for why AA/AS don't collect insurance/fuel surcharges on most oneworld carriers... that's up to their individual agreement with the other carrier. The base reimbursement rate that AA/AS pays to say for example CX, will likely be higher than what QF pays (who does collect CX's fuel surcharge), to compensate for the fact AA/AS isn't collecting any insurance/fuel surcharge on behalf of CX. One way or another it's merely accounting.

There are a few combinations of oneworld carriers that don't collect insurance/fuel surcharges on behalf of another carrier. Here's some examples...

QR don't collect JL surcharges
JL don't collect QR surcharges
AS don't collect JL/QR/QF surcharges (and others too I believe)
QF/CX/BA/AA generally collect surcharges on behalf of everyone (for AA, it's commercial only.. for redemptions they don't collect other than for BA/IB)

The list goes on - there's numerous combos.

I specifically named Qantas before giving two reasons why they do this. I even used Qantas on Qantas metal as an example to highlight this scenario. I’m well aware that non-native airlines carrier charges are not uniformly applied, but I did not refer to this scenario in the piece you have selectively chosen to quote.

I think we all appreciate your valuable insights @madrooster, but for the sake of getting it right, this is not “incorrect information being sprouted”.

 

[Gold Member]

isnt that 905 MYR so only 315ish aud?

Yup, my bad. The figures did seem very high!