Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[esther_a]

Hello all. I'm trying my hardest to book a classic reward, but getting the dreaded "THE ITINERARY CONTAINS MORE THAN ONE DEPARTURE FROM THE FIRST DEPARTURE CITY/COUNTRY" error.

I had the same error when I was experimenting with a OWA starting in AKL. It was as though the system was counting AKL as being part of Australia. I changed the departure to SIN and the error disappeared.
I'm interested in what others have to say on this. It is certainly much more convenient to start a OWA in AKL than SIN!

 

[vetrade]

I had the same error when I was experimenting with a OWA starting in AKL. It was as though the system was counting AKL as being part of Australia. I changed the departure to SIN and the error disappeared.
I'm interested in what others have to say on this. It is certainly much more convenient to start a OWA in AKL than SIN!

Perhaps the obvious solution is to just ring the call centre and forget about trying to do it online

 

[Mr H]

It was as though the system was counting AKL as being part of Australia.

But in a way it actually is.

 

[repete]

Perhaps this explains my error up-thread about being 'allowed' when booking an Aus departure to come back through Aus and end in NZ. Is the QF system counting NZ as AUS? Annoying that they let that go through if it's not allowed (we have taken @vertrade's advice at the moment and reached out to Qantas for clarification but not happy about the process from QF. The rules don't pop up anywhere when booking and their site allowed this (and in @esther_a's case, didn't allow it!)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hello all. I'm trying my hardest to book a classic reward, but getting the dreaded "THE ITINERARY CONTAINS MORE THAN ONE DEPARTURE FROM THE FIRST DEPARTURE CITY/COUNTRY" error. I don't think I am breaking that rule, so can anyone provide any insight?

AKL-HKG-FRA (stop)
FRA-DOH-MEL (stop)
MEL-NRT (stop)
HND-SYD-AKL (stop)

I can select flights for the first 2, but when I choose the flight for MEL-NRT, the error pops up. Can I not transit through the same country (AU) that I have a stop in?

This exact issue came up a couple weeks ago with member Ari Gold, (see discussion at post 9972 in this thread, and onwards).

 

[tooten69]

Just to confirm could I book HKG-LHR online and add MEL-HKG over the phone when it's available? (I.e. add a trip to the start of a booking?)

 

[Jacques Vert]

Just to confirm could I book HKG-LHR online and add MEL-HKG over the phone when it's available? (I.e. add a trip to the start of a booking?)

Yes you can.

 

[DC3]

Just to confirm could I book HKG-LHR online and add MEL-HKG over the phone when it's available? (I.e. add a trip to the start of a booking?)

Flights may be added in any order.

 

[madrooster]

Just to confirm could I book HKG-LHR online and add MEL-HKG over the phone when it's available? (I.e. add a trip to the start of a booking?)

Yes you can.

Flights may be added in any order.

This causes some level of grief from a ticketing perspective as booking HKG-LHR online will mean the ticket is issued in HKD currency and it will require someone at QF who knows how to manually convert everything to AUD or knows how to keep the ticket in HKD even though the ticket starts in Australia.

The better answer is to book the HKG-LHR over the phone in AUD. Ask for the booking fee to be waived since you cannot book HKG-LHR online in AUD.

 

[Jacques Vert]

This causes some level of grief from a ticketing perspective as booking HKG-LHR online will mean the ticket is issued in HKD currency and it will require someone at QF who knows how to manually convert everything to AUD or knows how to keep the ticket in HKD even though the ticket starts in Australia.

The better answer is to book the HKG-LHR over the phone in AUD. Ask for the booking fee to be waived since you cannot book HKG-LHR online in AUD.

I defer to the master... @tooten69, I suggest you take Madrooster's advice.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Given the T&Cs around oneworld awards. Can I ask how people booking are feeling if testing positive to COVID mid-trip?

I have just enough points and am tempted to book a J RTW toward the end of next year. But also scared of the prospect of such limited changes to be made after the first flight is taken?

Hope the above makes sense...hic....

 

[tooten69]

I defer to the master... @tooten69, I suggest you take Madrooster's advice.

Great will do!

Thank u Jacques and Madrooster

 

[DC3]

Great will do!

Thank u Jacques and Madrooster

Cape Town should be able to assist.

 

[Mr H]

Given the T&Cs around oneworld awards. Can I ask how people booking are feeling if testing positive to COVID mid-trip?

I have just enough points and am tempted to book a J RTW toward the end of next year. But also scared of the prospect of such limited changes to be made after the first flight is taken?

Hope the above makes sense...hic....

I have booked such a trip. If Covid testing is still a thing by then, I will cancel my booking.

 

[GaryLG]

Given the T&Cs around oneworld awards. Can I ask how people booking are feeling if testing positive to COVID mid-trip?

I guess I am hoping that doesn't happen and I am careful enough to minimise the risk.

Taking insurance of course.

Post automatically merged: Nov 14, 2021

I have booked such a trip. If Covid testing is still a thing by then, I will cancel my booking.

Decided I can live with that but hoping it isn't needed.

 

[Mr H]

I guess I am hoping that doesn't happen and I am careful enough to minimise the risk.

Taking insurance of course.

This is an extremely contagious virus and I don't believe being careful is any guarantee that you won't get infected. And if this testing thing is still going on, a positive test would send you into lengthy and expensive quarantine while your itinerary evaporates into thin air.

Is there really insurance that covers this - and if so, who sells it?

 

[11sjw]

To those of you actively booking OWA's are you perturbed at all by the potential to have to take a PCR (or other) COVID test for entry into each country you visit?

 

[GaryLG]

This is an extremely contagious virus and I don't believe being careful is any guarantee that you won't get infected. And if this testing thing is still going on, a positive test would send you into lengthy and expensive quarantine while your itinerary evaporates into thin air.

Is there really insurance that covers this - and if so, who sells it?

Of course it isn't a guarantee but just like here you can try and minimise the chances through your behaviour, etc and yes there is insurance that will cover the costs involved. Have a look at this topic
for some examples.

Post automatically merged: Nov 14, 2021

To those of you actively booking OWA's are you perturbed at all by the potential to have to take a PCR (or other) COVID test for entry into each country you visit?

A bit annoyed and hoping it won't be the case by the time of my trip but realising it is part of the new normal and may well be so for the foreseeable future.

 

[gilldo]

Today I commenced a booking for a Classic Oneworld RTW Business ticket, which I expect to finalise in coming weeks as later flights become available.

Every time I attempted the booking online, I was thwarted with an error message like this:

“We are unable to confirm your selected flights. Select ‘Start over’ and choose alternative flights.”, followed by an error message number 15079-421.

A quick look online suggested that this was because of issues with the Qantas booking site and certain flights, but that Service Centre staff would need to address it.

The end result was a 50 min wait (they estimated 30-60, so on target) for QF staff to assist, followed by 140 mins of assistance - over three hours on the phone.

I described the problem and the agent tried booking the same QF rewards (starting ADL via US West Coast). He diligently looked at all the options, and one-by-one, found that they weren't available for me (despite appearing as being available). He did admit that this was his first OneWorld RTW ticket he'd ever booked!

The upshot was that of the 4-5 different options (showing as AVAILABLE Classic Business rewards) for QF flights from BNE/SYD/MEL to either LAX/SFO/DFW in the middle week in September 2022, NONE could actually be booked. Despite me asking a number of times, no real explanation was offered as to why.

In the end, the only option I could book was a flight via NRT with JL. It's not my preferred solution, but it's one I accepted until a better option becomes available.

I've had a look at my statement since, and I've been charged two International Assistance fees - 15400 pts.

Given the booking I wanted to make I couldn't make through no fault of my own (along with options 2, 3, 4,& 5), I feel that it's a bit rough that I get charged for choosing my only option #6. I was also not informed that I would be charged this fee either.

This raises a few questions:
- why do Classic Rewards flights that are supposedly not available appear as available (and still do after the event)?
- how do I tell if a flight that is listed is actually available for booking (without calling the Service Centre)? how do we have confidence in what we're dealing with?
- anyone had any experience getting refunds on service fee pts after the event? This would only seem fair

 

[motef]

Today I commenced a booking for a Classic Oneworld RTW Business ticket, which I expect to finalise in coming weeks as later flights become available.

Every time I attempted the booking online, I was thwarted with an error message like this:

“We are unable to confirm your selected flights. Select ‘Start over’ and choose alternative flights.”, followed by an error message number 15079-421.

A quick look online suggested that this was because of issues with the Qantas booking site and certain flights, but that Service Centre staff would need to address it.

The end result was a 50 min wait (they estimated 30-60, so on target) for QF staff to assist, followed by 140 mins of assistance - over three hours on the phone.

I described the problem and the agent tried booking the same QF rewards (starting ADL via US West Coast). He diligently looked at all the options, and one-by-one, found that they weren't available for me (despite appearing as being available). He did admit that this was his first OneWorld RTW ticket he'd ever booked!

The upshot was that of the 4-5 different options (showing as AVAILABLE Classic Business rewards) for QF flights from BNE/SYD/MEL to either LAX/SFO/DFW in the middle week in September 2022, NONE could actually be booked. Despite me asking a number of times, no real explanation was offered as to why.

In the end, the only option I could book was a flight via NRT with JL. It's not my preferred solution, but it's one I accepted until a better option becomes available.

I've had a look at my statement since, and I've been charged two International Assistance fees - 15400 pts.

Given the booking I wanted to make I couldn't make through no fault of my own (along with options 2, 3, 4,& 5), I feel that it's a bit rough that I get charged for choosing my only option #6. I was also not informed that I would be charged this fee either.

This raises a few questions:
- why do Classic Rewards flights that are supposedly not available appear as available (and still do after the event)?
- how do I tell if a flight that is listed is actually available for booking (without calling the Service Centre)? how do we have confidence in what we're dealing with?
- anyone had any experience getting refunds on service fee pts after the event? This would only seem fair

Did you specifically say to the customer service agent (CSA) that you wanted to book a "Oneworld RTW" if so that's a problem. That is a different product https://www.qantas.com/au/en/book-a-trip/flights/round-the-world.html

What you are booking is a Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Award or in the forum here it is commonly abbreviated to OWA.

There is nothing special any CSA needs to do to book this, to them it's just a collection of flights that are booked the same as booking any other flight and there is no need for you to mention anything special

It is up to you to do the research and make sure your collection of flights fits the rules and if so the points required for Business (J) will top out at 318K pts per pax

Also if you need to add flights or change flights again no need to mention anything other than " i want to add some flights to my existing booking"

The charging of the assistance fee is incorrect and you need to call back to get that removed

What is your routing , number of pax and dates you are looking at and people here in the forum are always happy to help out with double checking or advice