Oneworld Award has nearly beaten me!

[N860CR]

I'm in the process of booking a OneWorld J Award for 2 people. It's taken me the better part of the day! The mixed Y/J flights that it brings up have almost been the death of me!

Anyway I finally got it sorted as follows:

SYD-BKK (Stop 1)
BKK-LHR-CDG (Stop 2)
CDG-BUD-SKP (Stop 3)
SKP-BUD <24 Hours
BUD-MAD-JFK (Stop 4)
JFK-LAX (Stop 5 - Are there ever award seats on QF108 or doesn't it happen anymore?)
LAX-HKG-SYD

Comes in at 31,000 miles so well under the maximum and it will happily sell it to me.

However, now I make things hard for myself! We actually start in BNE however I want to depart SYD so I can make my (probably) one and only trip to the F Lounge. It hits me, why not make it BNE-SYD-BKK and LAX-AKL-BNE. Both have award availability and it will let me book the 11:15am BNE-SYD to connect to the 16:40 SYD-BKK, so plenty of lounge time. Perfect!

However, when I go to book it, I get to the very last page and it fails. The little counter at the bottom has a think and tells me that all is good for a 280K Oneworld Award, however when I hit to go the final screen I get an error message saying "Cannot find a fare for your itinerary".

Have I missed something obvious? Or have I just made it all too confusing for the computer to handle?

 

[JohnK]

The QF award booking engine is filled with errors. Sorry I can't be of help to your particular situation but I have seen this error before when trying to book a certain combination of flights.

Your best bet may well be to get it booked over the phone and ask them to waive the assisted booking fee.

 

[N860CR]

Thanks John. I had hoped that was just the case, however I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed something obvious with the fare rules.

I'll see if I can talk my way out of the fee, but regardless it's worth paying as the additional legs from BNE-SYD-BNE will end up costing more I'm sure.

 

[lsmi4126]

SYD-BKK (Stop 1)
BKK-LHR-CDG (Stop 2)
CDG-BUD-SKP (Stop 3)
SKP-BUD <24 Hours
BUD-MAD-JFK (Stop 4)
JFK-LAX (Stop 5 - Are there ever award seats on QF108 or doesn't it happen anymore?)
LAX-HKG-SYD

Since you're not taking the onward QF108 to Sydney (or any onward QF flight from LAX for that matter), I suspect you can't book QF108 trans-US due to QF eighth freedom / cabotage restrictions in the US.

 

[serfty]

Since you're not taking the onward QF108 to Sydney (or any onward QF flight from LAX for that matter), I suspect you can't book QF108 trans-US due to QF eighth freedom / cabotage restrictions in the US.

Actually, there are no 'cabotage' based restrictions on using QF108/QF107 LAX/JFK on an International itinerary. e.g. NRT-(JL)-xLAX-(QF)-JFK is quite legitimate. i.e. Cabotage does not apply to international journeys.

For their own reasons, Qantas choose not to sell this segment unless connecting directly to/from a Qantas flight. e.g. AKL-(QF)-xLAX-(QF)-JFK.

 

[N860CR]

Didn't even think of that... I dare say it's built into the award system somewhere. That said, at that point of the booking it doesn't know how I'm returning from the USA (could just as easily select one of the QF trans-pac options).

Regardless, I think given it's in J and AA have a better J product on the JFK-LAX services, I'm probably better off on that and arriving in LA at a better time rather than risk 10Late and not make it to the hotel until after midnight. I mean, really, what better way is there to enjoy the first afternoon in LA than with the traffic from LAX to Bev Hills at 5pm!

While on the subject, I believe I've selected the best routes, but some opinions would be nice on these:

BKK-CDG - I've gone with the QF1 to LHR then BA to CDG as I figured the long overnight from BKK would maximise the chances of sleep. The other option is RJ BKK-AMM-CDG which only has an 8 hour leg to AMM and then a short one on the A321 up to CDG. Seem like QF/BA is the better of the two?

BUD-MAD-JFK - Options were hard on this part. It seems anything to Eastern Europe has got to be MA or sometimes AY (however there is little to no J availability on the latter). My options are the selected via MAD and then IB to JFK, or a more complex three stop which gets me to LHR for BA to JFK. Is IB on on the trans-Atlantic? I've heard mixed reports.

 

[NM]

Actually, there are no 'cabotage' based restrictions on using QF108/QF107 LAX/JFK on an International itinerary. e.g. NRT-(JL)-xLAX-(QF)-JFK is quite legitimate. i.e. Cabotage does not apply to international journeys.

For their own reasons, Qantas choose not to sell this segment unless connecting directly to/from a Qantas flight. e.g. AKL-(QF)-xLAX-(QF)-JFK.

I agree with your description. I once managed to have a DONE3 issues as KUL-HKG-LAX-MCO-DFW-LAX-JFK-LHR-CGD-LHR-HKG-KUL. The LAX-JFK was on QF107. I managed to check-in at LAX and board the flight (with a points upgrade to F). Upon arrival at JFK I was met by the QF duty manager who wanted to know how my ticket had been booked and issued as, according to him, I should not have been allowed to use QF107 as I did not arrive into the USA or was departing the USA on a QF flight. I mentioned your point that being on an international itinerary I should be able to use use QF107 (I had a direct conneciton to a BA flight JFK-LHR). The QF duty manager mentioned that other airlines monitor their manifests and challenge their right to carry USA domestic passengers with the FAA on a regular basis. He was concerned that they would identify me as a passenger not meeting the "requirement" of arriving or departing the USA on a QF flight.

So QF certainly try to limit carriage on QF107/108 between LAX and JFK to passengers arring or departing the USA on a QF flight, wven it technically anyone on an international itinerary should be able to use that sector.

 

[cove]

AA in First or J between JFK and LAX is generally quite ok so I dont bother trying to use QF for that run as it can be too restrictive when there are more suitable times available.

 

[jpk]

Anyone ever had any joy finding a CX J award for the transcon segment? I was thinking JFK-YVR then down to SFO or LAX might be an interesting way to do this...

 

[Reggie]

I haven't managed to get the assisted fee waived yet, even when booking itineraries that were valid, but the QF website would not book.

Goodluck, let us know how you go.

 

[N860CR]

Thanks, fingers crossed I guess. It's hard to believe they can get away with charging a fee for a service that can't be done any other way.

Is it possible to pay the fee in cash?

 

[JohnK]

How did you go booking the award danielribo?

I haven't managed to get the assisted fee waived yet, even when booking itineraries that were valid, but the QF website would not book.

Both times I booked a Oneworld award (2007 for myself and 2009 for 2 people) I could not book online and did not pay an assisted booking fee.

Don't get me wrong there wasn't a shortage of customer service agents that were waiting to charge me the 2,500 QFF point assisted award booking fee but I politely thanked them and called back until I got someone who would waive the assisted award booking fee.

Don't know what it would be like now but I will continue to try and get the assisted award booking fee waived next time I am ready to book a Oneworld award.