Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[devpianist]

Thanks for the info all! Can't believe I've only found this forum now

Qantas generally releases award seats a year in advance, and then very close to the date.

I read that they've changed from releasing 353 days in advance recently, is that still the case or are you better off booking that far in advance to get the pick of the lot?

I would try to find an Economy seat for now, or look at routings via the above ports.

My RTW trip will be in economy - I'm planning on doing a business one eventually but I'd like to do one this year somewhat on the cheap points wise. There are a good few options for JNB up until mid June so about a month out from what I'm after.

I've seen some people in this thread incrementally book their RTW based off availability of certain legs - is this common practice? Would I be able to do this given the trip starts with the JNB leg? Just not sure how I'd go about it.

I don't believe that MH flies direct between KUL and JNB. Can you check that these flights only consist of oneworld airlines?

You're right, it's MH as far as Doha and then QR to JNB

As someone who regularly looks out for JNB reward flights in any class with QF, I say you'd be lucky. They just don't come up too often.

I do see plenty for the next few months in economy, just not the dates I'm after (and maybe you're looking for business?)

 

[RichardMEL]

I read that they've changed from releasing 353 days in advance recently, is that still the case or are you better off booking that far in advance to get the pick of the lot?

Yes, planning as far in advance in possible usually yields better results.

As for this discussed change in behaviour- that's all it is - discussions and amecdotes of releases not showing as expected and so on. There is nothing concrete that proves or disproves this imo - or even than the 353 day thing holds for all or now only some routes.

You're right, it's MH as far as Doha and then QA to JHB.

Uh, do you mean QR (Qatar Airways) and to JNB (Johannesburg?

 

[devpianist]

Uh, do you mean QR (Qatar Airways) and to JNB (Johannesburg?

Sure do, fixed - it's late haha

 

[Mwenenzi]

Welcome to AFF @devpianist!

Qantas generally releases award seats a year in advance, and then very close to the date. In your case, I can't really see any availability on SYD-JNB (Qantas' only direct route) at all. To add to that, not many oneworld airlines fly to JNB. You have:

• BA from LHR
• CX from HKG
• QF from SYD
• QR from DOH (But QR doesn't release award seats to Qantas this far ahead)

CPT also has oneworld airlines.

• BA from LHR & LGW(seasonable)
• QR from DOH

Source --> Cape Town International Airport - Wikipedia

Getting a little off topic when Oman Air finally joins OW will be some more routes

List of Oman Air destinations - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Rich]

I do see plenty for the next few months in economy, just not the dates I'm after (and maybe you're looking for business?)

Yes you are right, there are a few. Maybe I don't look as often as I thought. I do look more at peak times and have been looking for Dec/Jan 353 days out or whatever it is and there is never anything left for a lowly Bronze, J or Y. Except via SIN and DBX which is not so desirable.

 

[Murmal]

Thankyou AFF, you've been a great source but not until now do I have a burning question, so add me to your members.
I have a OW award booking made and ticketed for Sept/Oct. I'm very happy with what I found, (thx to seats.aero too), mainly all sectors in J and the 318,000 max cut in. In hindsight I may have been able to add a few legs for a later trip but it's complicated enough to find routing availability for when you know you want.
I have a QF sector SYD-DFW in PE. I immediately requested an upgrade and it stated the number of points required if successful. My question is, as most of the flights in the itinerary are J and if an upgrade became available, wouldn't that be still under the 318,000 umbrella?
Probably anticipating a 'no' from Qantas but if I cancelled the booking IF a J reward seat was released, then rebooked the entire itinerary, it WOULD be capped @ 318,000.
Apologies if this has in the past been asked.

 

[elanshin]

Thankyou AFF, you've been a great source but not until now do I have a burning question, so add me to your members.

Welcom to AFF !

I have a OW award booking made and ticketed for Sept/Oct. I'm very happy with what I found, (thx to seats.aero too), mainly all sectors in J and the 318,000 max cut in. In hindsight I may have been able to add a few legs for a later trip but it's complicated enough to find routing availability for when you know you want.
I have a QF sector SYD-DFW in PE. I immediately requested an upgrade and it stated the number of points required if successful. My question is, as most of the flights in the itinerary are J and if an upgrade became available, wouldn't that be still under the 318,000 umbrella?

No, if you upgraded the seat that's not the same as booking the seat directly under OWA.

Probably anticipating a 'no' from Qantas but if I cancelled the booking IF a J reward seat was released, then rebooked the entire itinerary, it WOULD be capped @ 318,000.
Apologies if this has in the past been asked.

If there is a J ticket released again, I would suggest calling to change from PE to J as that should not cost you extra in points.

 

[Murmal]

Thx elanshin. Pretty much as expected but nice to have it clarified. Finding T & C of OWA is not easy @ either QF or OW.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thx elanshin. Pretty much as expected but nice to have it clarified. Finding T & C of OWA is not easy @ either QF or OW.

There are no T & C for the OWA on the OW (oneworld) website. The only ones that apply are those by qantas given this is one awards through their FF program.

The conditions of carriage of each respective airline apply however for your immediate travel on them. But Qantas alone determines the rules for their issuing the award in the first place.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Thx elanshin. Pretty much as expected but nice to have it clarified. Finding T & C of OWA is not easy @ either QF or OW.

Here‘s a link to the T&C.
Mainly clauses 13 & 14, with 14.5 specifically relating to OWA.
Happy reading…

Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions | Qantas

These Terms and Conditions form the basis of Qantas Frequent Flyer, to protect both Members and the Qantas Group.

www.qantas.com

 

[skobuffs]

Hi all, thanks for the great resources and advice upstream in this and other threads

I have a question about the intricacies of OneWorld Reward redemptions that I haven't specifically seen addressed before (please link me if the solution has been posted elsewhere!).

I have already started an 11-month trip with SYD-BNE-NRT-KIX, with a follow-on leg of KIX-HEL-GVA in a few months, both in economy. Cost for these together was about 76k pts and a few hundred in taxes/levies.

When initially planning the trip, all I could find for my next desired leg (BRU-BOG) was a business class classic reward redemption for BRU-MAD-BOG for 90k pts and a few hundred in taxes, as there were no options in economy in my desired time period (late Jul/early Aug). This puts it at 166k pts plus taxes/levies, with a final flight from South America to Aus still outstanding.

There are now economy classic reward journeys available on this leg for 104k pts and similar taxes/levies, so my question is: can I cancel the business class classic reward leg for the 6k pts fee, replace it with the 104k pts economy leg, and have the overall points cost (barring the cancellation fee) cap at the 132,400pts economy OneWorld Award redemption limit?

The advantage to this is that if/when SCL-SYD classic rewards (hopefully) become available for early Jan 25, this will also sit under the cap, whereas with the current single business leg I would keep paying until 318,000. If this falls through I would still be 26k pts better off changing to economy and applying the lower cap (but I'd definitely pay that premium to retain the J flight if I can't find a reward flight home from South America down the track..) Any other suggestions or advice?

I am within the stopover limit and will only have two open ground sectors (GVA to BRU and BOG to SCL), and already have 3 OW airlines on my routes, so afaik I should be in keeping with the redemption requirements.

This was my first attempt at a OneWorld Award redemption so I probably should have set it up better to be more flexible with dates rather than class. I do not desire to upgrade remaining legs to business just to better use the cap, at this time, as I only have around 220k pts remaining and won't be churning this year.

Finally, as alluded to above, I am really struggling to find availability post-November for SCL-SYD Classic Reward flights, any tips or info? I don't expect any availability right around christmas/NY, but until a month ago the CR options were showing up at around the 355 day horizon like clockwork. The Qantas Chile website seems to be very poor at accurately displaying reward flights all of a sudden.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Mr H]

Hi all, thanks for the great resources and advice upstream in this and other threads

I have a question about the intricacies of OneWorld Reward redemptions that I haven't specifically seen addressed before (please link me if the solution has been posted elsewhere!).

I have already started an 11-month trip with SYD-BNE-NRT-KIX, with a follow-on leg of KIX-HEL-GVA in a few months, both in economy. Cost for these together was about 76k pts and a few hundred in taxes/levies.

When initially planning the trip, all I could find for my next desired leg (BRU-BOG) was a business class classic reward redemption for BRU-MAD-BOG for 90k pts and a few hundred in taxes, as there were no options in economy in my desired time period (late Jul/early Aug). This puts it at 166k pts plus taxes/levies, with a final flight from South America to Aus still outstanding.

There are now economy classic reward journeys available on this leg for 104k pts and similar taxes/levies, so my question is: can I cancel the business class classic reward leg for the 6k pts fee, replace it with the 104k pts economy leg, and have the overall points cost (barring the cancellation fee) cap at the 132,400pts economy OneWorld Award redemption limit?

The advantage to this is that if/when SCL-SYD classic rewards (hopefully) become available for early Jan 25, this will also sit under the cap, whereas with the current single business leg I would keep paying until 318,000. If this falls through I would still be 26k pts better off changing to economy and applying the lower cap (but I'd definitely pay that premium to retain the J flight if I can't find a reward flight home from South America down the track..) Any other suggestions or advice?

I am within the stopover limit and will only have two open ground sectors (GVA to BRU and BOG to SCL), and already have 3 OW airlines on my routes, so afaik I should be in keeping with the redemption requirements.

This was my first attempt at a OneWorld Award redemption so I probably should have set it up better to be more flexible with dates rather than class. I do not desire to upgrade remaining legs to business just to better use the cap, at this time, as I only have around 220k pts remaining and won't be churning this year.

Finally, as alluded to above, I am really struggling to find availability post-November for SCL-SYD Classic Reward flights, any tips or info? I don't expect any availability right around christmas/NY, but until a month ago the CR options were showing up at around the 355 day horizon like clockwork. The Qantas Chile website seems to be very poor at accurately displaying reward flights all of a sudden.

Many thanks in advance!

If you have already started flying your route then you can’t change it. If the SCL-SYD is with LATAM then it is ineligible for OWA anyway, and if it is with QF then I imagine award seats would be very scarce.

 

[skobuffs]

If you have already started flying your route then you can’t change it. If the SCL-SYD is with LATAM then it is ineligible for OWA anyway, and if it is with QF then I imagine award seats would be very scarce.

Thanks for your response
I'd been watching for the Qantas direct SCL-SYD flights through the normal booking tool but found the Chile site to display "no available flights" for almost all dates, since the start of January (even without the CR filter).
I tried using the Multi City booking tool today and had much more come up, which was interesting. Given that the OWA cap is no longer relevant, I found a single-stopover LATAM classic reward flight that does the trick and was reasonably cheap on points and taxes. Good to know there's a few own-goals to avoid next time!!

 

[sap1l]

Hey guys!

I'm running into the "only new bookings" issue when trying to add/remove flights to an existing itinerary. Right now I have:

KUL-NRT JL
HND-SYD QF
SYD-SIN-HEL-LHR QF/AY
LHR-HEL-ICN AY
TPE-HKG-SYD CX

I'm trying to change the LHR-HEL-ICN leg to LHR-HKG on CX in J. Most agents can see availability, but they are struggling to add the LHR-HKG leg to my itinerary. They can add the leg in Y, but not in J.

I'm wondering if this could be a married/divorced segment issue, but there are more than 24 hours on both sides of this flight, and I'm flying directly from LHR-HKG. Could it be some weirdness with the surface sector between HKG-TPE?

Am I just running into a slew of incompetent agents? Or could it actually be impossible to add this leg?

 

[firede]

I have a business class OWA starting end of February. One flight (mid October) was changed from SEA-HEL-MUC (Finnair, business class) to SEA-CLT-MUC (American Airlines, economy). It seems like Finnair does not fly this route anymore. There is award availability on BA for SEA-LHR-MUC in business class for two days earlier which I am fine with.

First agent told me that they can only rebook me on Finnair business class OR to any other airline in economy. Sounded wrong so I hung up and called again.

Second agent entertained my idea of rebooking on SEA-LHR-MUC (BA) and could confirm business class availability - however she said the system "would not allow her to add it and if I have any other ideas". I insisted on her investigating why the system is not allowing that option and after talking to a supervisor she said she will give me a call back. Now waiting for that.

I have two questions:
- What is the responsibility of Qantas (and Finnair?) in this situation?

- If they are able to change my flight to the British Airways flight will I have to pay the additional taxes/fees for British Airways compared to Finnair? I originally had chosen Finnair to avoid the higher taxes/fees on British Airways.

 

[Mr H]

I have two questions:
- What is the responsibility of Qantas (and Finnair?) in this situation?

- If they are able to change my flight to the British Airways flight will I have to pay the additional taxes/fees for British Airways compared to Finnair? I originally had chosen Finnair to avoid the higher taxes/fees on British Airways.

Air passenger rights - Your Europe

Travellers' rights - flight delays, cancellations and overbooking (passengers unable to fly on flight they booked)

europa.eu

You would not have to pay any additional taxes/charges, but note that if you subsequently make further changes at your own initiative, you will have the entire itinerary repriced and you would have to pay increased charges.

 

[firede]

You would not have to pay any additional taxes/charges, but note that if you subsequently make further changes at your own initiative, you will have the entire itinerary repriced and you would have to pay increased charges.

Thanks, is that also the case if it was not ticketed yet? I made some changes some days before this and it is not clear to me if it had been ticketed yet.

Overall my experience with the OWA has been really frustrating so I don't have any faith in the process anymore. Nearly all of the agents seem uncapable and unwilling to help.

 

[Mr H]

Thanks, is that also the case if it was not ticketed yet? I made some changes some days before this and it is not clear to me if it had been ticketed yet.

Overall my experience with the OWA has been really frustrating so I don't have any faith in the process anymore. Nearly all of the agents seem uncapable and unwilling to help.

I suspect it depends on whether you had paid or not.

Your best bet is to contact the reward escalations email address and rely on common sense and good will to prevail.

 

[firede]

I suspect it depends on whether you had paid or not.

Your best bet is to contact the reward escalations email address and rely on common sense and good will to prevail.

My credit card has not been charged the 8 AUD yet for adding one additional AA sector at the end of the booking. I fear that that will be reason that they will then reprice the whole itinerary.

Thanks, I will see what the agent says (which promised a call back) and then use the reward escalation email. It's rather difficult to accept that I will need to rely on good will when both the delay in ticketing and the cancellation of flight are not caused by me.

 

[Mr H]

It's rather difficult to accept that I will need to rely on good will when both the delay in ticketing and the cancellation of flight are not caused by me.

If you read this thread, you'll find that the people who work with agents to find solutions end up doing better than the people who get legalistic and demand their rights.