Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[exceladdict]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

What is "YQ"?

Short term for the fees and charges associated with an award booking. Also known as fuel tax.

 

[prozac]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Short term for the fees and charges associated with an award booking. Also known as fuel tax.

Can't believe I have been reading this thread for so long and hadn't picked up on that.

 

[hutch]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thanks travelislife, that explains it then - I was trying to avoid the APD and departure tax - did't realise that it wasn't payable . No, she didn't try to charge the $80 change fee - she called it an increase in taxes of $95.

There is so much to learn and understand and remember with these OW bookings! I should be just grateful that I have us travelling in J where we want to go and when.

Personally, I would have been tempted to pay the extra to avoid flying BA J...particularly if AY is flying their A350's to Singapore. But YMMV of course.

Having said that, I'd be surprised if AY's taxes are higher than BA's (not sure if anyone tops BA's fees, even excluding the APD). I had to HUCA and complain to get my taxes reviewed... sometimes the computer ain't right!

 

[Sale]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Personally, I would have been tempted to pay the extra to avoid flying BA J...particularly if AY is flying their A350's to Singapore. But YMMV of course.

Having said that, I'd be surprised if AY's taxes are higher than BA's (not sure if anyone tops BA's fees, even excluding the APD). I had to HUCA and complain to get my taxes reviewed... sometimes the computer ain't right!

Thanks Hutch - I went ahead and booked the AY flights through Helsinki - still cost the extra $95 (which really is inconsequential). The airline factor is a big thing and I think HEL-HKG is on the new A350.

The flights back to Hobart are a bit of a slug - CDG-HEL-SIN-HKG-MEL-HBA so in the absence of more direct flights comfort works for me!

 

[vosadrian]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi All,

I have done a fair bit of research but just after a sanity check, so please excuse my ignorance. Great info on this thread so thanks for that.

I have 650000 Qantas FF points. I want to take my family on a trip to Europe and USA. My understanding is that the best way in terms of economical use of points is the round the world option. I would be using 4 economy RTW flights. I understand that this is around 140,000 points each, so about 560,000 points. My family consists of 2 adults, 1 child 13 and 1 child 11.

I have been on the qantas rewards booking site finding economy one way rewards flights for 4 people and have found the following itenerary of available economy classic reward flights:

* 28/6 Syd->QF489->Melb, Melb->QF9->Heathrow
* 2/7 Heath->BA550->Rome
* 8/7 Rome->BA571->Heath, Heath->BA308->Paris
* 15/7 Paris->BA331->Heath, Heath->BA175-New York
* 20/7 New York->QF12->Syd

Please do not book these flights!!

Now am I understanding this right, or am I totally messed up with my understanding and headed for dissappointment?

Does this seem doable? Any advice on how to do it better? Should I ring qantas to make the booking ASAP to secure flights?

Cheers and thanks for any advice,

Adrian

 

[FrankC]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi All,

I have done a fair bit of research but just after a sanity check, so please excuse my ignorance. Great info on this thread so thanks for that.

I have 650000 Qantas FF points. I want to take my family on a trip to Europe and USA. My understanding is that the best way in terms of economical use of points is the round the world option. I would be using 4 economy RTW flights. I understand that this is around 140,000 points each, so about 560,000 points. My family consists of 2 adults, 1 child 13 and 1 child 11.

I have been on the qantas rewards booking site finding economy one way rewards flights for 4 people and have found the following itenerary of available economy classic reward flights:

* 28/6 Syd->QF489->Melb, Melb->QF9->Heathrow
* 2/7 Heath->BA550->Rome
* 8/7 Rome->BA571->Heath, Heath->BA308->Paris
* 15/7 Paris->BA331->Heath, Heath->BA175-New York
* 20/7 New York->QF12->Syd

Please do not book these flights!!

Now am I understanding this right, or am I totally messed up with my understanding and headed for dissappointment?

Does this seem doable? Any advice on how to do it better? Should I ring qantas to make the booking ASAP to secure flights?

Cheers and thanks for any advice,

Adrian

You'll need to have 2 One World airlines besides QF, not just one (BA)
Maybe you can try AA for trans-Atlantic?

 

[Familyman1]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi Vosadrian

Trying to book 4 reward seats during Aussie school holidays is challenging so you have done well to find this availability - particularly because you are doing it so late (11 months before would have thrown up many more options). If these flights are all showing up on line, you could book them on line to save the booking service fee of 8,000 points per person you will probably get charged by booking over the phone. I see a problem: you have only used 1 other airline besides Qantas and the rules say you have to use 2 other airlines besides qantas. See if there are any Cathay flights to Europe, or American Airlines flights you could include in the US. One other warning: Qantas and BA both charge a lot in taxes and fees so if you can avoid them where possible, you will save lots.

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Vosadrian, the most obvious drawback I can see with your plan is the costs. In addition to the points cost there will also be taxes and fuel surcharges for each person, which surprisingly are about the same for Y or J. In some cases the taxes & surcharges have been known to be not much less than the cash price for a discount economy fare without the points requirement. QF and BA are known to charge the highest amounts for these so there could be significant savings to be had if you investigated options on other carriers such as CX. Also there is a hefty airport departure tax of around $300-400 per person payable if you depart LHR (not so if only transiting there). I would suggest you ring QF and get them to calculate the total taxes for your itinerary - if you don't actually book your flights during this call there is no call centre fee payable. At the very least you will be fully aware of what this trip is going to cost you other than the points.

Because of the taxes a lot of people would suggest it is worth investigating for the adults to fly in J (280k points pp) and purchase economy tickets for your children. Of course seat availability will probably be an issue as you are looking to book only 3-4 months in advance of your trip.

Another observation is that you have one stopover and 2 transits at LHR. Maybe you chose that because there was no award seat availability on alternate flights, but if you haven't considered it yet there are plenty of alternate OW airlines flying in Europe. One alternative is that maybe you could get direct flights from Paris to NY instead of going through LHR again.

 

[vosadrian]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thanks for the very helpful advice!

I have some options to get another carrier in by using Emirates syd->London. Also, on the Lond->Rome flight I could choose a two stop option that includes air berlin (and BA) for that flight.... is it good enough to use AB for one step of a 2 flight trip?

I have been adding up the taxes from the one way flights using the rewards booker, and total taxes for the first itenerary was about AUD$5k (for 4 people) with the worst being around $2k for New York to Sydney (Is there any way to reduce this, or just change airlines?). I am unsure of the departure tax from heathrow. Is that on top of the taxes on the flight (so payable when departing.... so I can expect a $1500 departure cost for my family of 4? Is there any way to stop in London and avoid this departure tax? Could I take a train to Paris and reorder my trip to do paris before Rome?

I am unsure what the Y and J stand for... are they class?

It is suggested to use other OW airlines in Europe. Will these appear on a classic rewards flight search on the qantas site (This is all I have used so far) or do I have to look elsewhere to find these?

Thanks so much for the help!

Cheers,

Adrian

 

[ejd711]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

I once flew GUA-MIA-NYC (20 hour transit)-LHR (8 hour transit)-DXB-MEL-BNE once. That was a long haul with everything except GUA-MIA in Y. Only way to get home on a 140k award...

Thanks Hutch - I went ahead and booked the AY flights through Helsinki - still cost the extra $95 (which really is inconsequential). The airline factor is a big thing and I think HEL-HKG is on the new A350.

The flights back to Hobart are a bit of a slug - CDG-HEL-SIN-HKG-MEL-HBA so in the absence of more direct flights comfort works for me!

 

[hutch]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Noting that you can't fly Emirates on an one world award ticket.

Don't depart from the UK by air. Train option to Paris etc works, if it ties in with your plans.

Y - economy
J - business

Taking Iberia across the Atlantic is an option. Personally, I would avoid BA on long-hual. YMMV

 

[vosadrian]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Noting that you can't fly Emirates on an one world award ticket.

Don't depart from the UK by air. Train option to Paris etc works, if it ties in with your plans.

Y - economy
J - business

Taking Iberia across the Atlantic is an option. Personally, I would avoid BA on long-hual. YMMV

Noted on Emirates... thanks for that.

Does the qantas rewards booking site search all oneworld carriers for rewards flights? Or should I go elsewhere to find other options.

On the London departure tax, the flight is economy to Rome and comes up as GBP145 (for all 4 people) on the rewards booker on qantas. A quick google says this tax is charged by airline so this should be included (can anyone confirm google?). Google also said the departure tax was much reduced or removed for lower class flights of lower distance. If this is all true, I can take the GBP145 cost. My biggest problem is qantas NY-Syd is US$1540 taxes for the 4 of us. This is much more than the syd to London of AU$1000 which seems OK. The BA Paris to New York is EUR760 which would be good to reduce also. The original itenerary came up to about AUD$5000 in taxes. I assume this is much cheaper than any other option paying for flights... about $1250 per person for a lot of flights. Would be great if I can get it down to around $3k though.

I will start looking into other flight options to get another airline in.

Thanks!

 

[travelislife]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Departing London in economy will be fine, don't do the train to try and avoid it, may be worth it in J. Yes all the taxes and fuel surcharges will be included in your ticket when you book, no more to pay afterwards. If you can get AA flights (similarly CX flights) this should reduce the fuel surcharges a lot.

 

[vosadrian]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

So I have done some more searching. Just want to see if this itinerary meets the RTW requirements. Main change is a flight to Venice rather than Rome and it includes 1 leg that is on air berlin. This is for 3 adults and 1 child.

* 28/6 Syd->QF489->Melb, Melb->QF9->Heathrow (AUD$1086 taxes)
* 2/7 Heath->BA936->Dusseldorf, duss->AB8774->Venice (GBP192 taxes)
* 8/7 Rome->BA571->Heath, Heath->BA308->Paris (EUR243 taxes)
* 15/7 Paris->BA331->Heath, Heath->BA175-New York (EUR758 taxes)
* 20/7 New York->QF12->Syd (US$1539 taxes)

Does the added air berlin leg (as part of a flight started on BA) now meet the requirements for round the world? We will take surface transport Venice to Rome.

No other airline options come up on the qantas rewards search engine for Paris->NY and NY->Syd. These are the two highest taxed legs. Would AA and CX come up in the qantas search? If not, is there anywhere I can check for available classic rewards with AA and CX for these legs? Might save $1-2k if I can change that. Currently around $5k in taxes for 4 travellers.Pretty sure changing to payed economy flights for my 2 kids will be more expensive than the $5k, but have not checked.

Is there any other flight costs I have not considered that I may incur?

Thanks again!

 

[travelislife]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

So I have done some more searching. Just want to see if this itinerary meets the RTW requirements. Main change is a flight to Venice rather than Rome and it includes 1 leg that is on air berlin. This is for 3 adults and 1 child.

* 28/6 Syd->QF489->Melb, Melb->QF9->Heathrow (AUD$1086 taxes)
* 2/7 Heath->BA936->Dusseldorf, duss->AB8774->Venice (GBP192 taxes)
* 8/7 Rome->BA571->Heath, Heath->BA308->Paris (EUR243 taxes)
* 15/7 Paris->BA331->Heath, Heath->BA175-New York (EUR758 taxes)
* 20/7 New York->QF12->Syd (US$1539 taxes)

Does the added air berlin leg (as part of a flight started on BA) now meet the requirements for round the world? We will take surface transport Venice to Rome.

No other airline options come up on the qantas rewards search engine for Paris->NY and NY->Syd. These are the two highest taxed legs. Would AA and CX come up in the qantas search? If not, is there anywhere I can check for available classic rewards with AA and CX for these legs? Might save $1-2k if I can change that. Currently around $5k in taxes for 4 travellers.Pretty sure changing to payed economy flights for my 2 kids will be more expensive than the $5k, but have not checked.

Is there any other flight costs I have not considered that I may incur?

Thanks again!

AA generally doesn't show on QF. Best to use the BA award engine or AA's own and look at saver awards. If you could get CX or QR to London it should reduce the taxes their too. BA is one of the worst airlines for YQ.

 

[vosadrian]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Forgot to add to my last post.... in order to avoid the over phone booking fee it was suggested to start a booking online. To do this do I start booking as many of these flights as I can online? I won't have enough points to do everything. Then do I ring and make changes tot hat booking?

Also, I know I am leaving my run late on this. We have had some family issues that have been resolved that prevented me booking earlier. Will I be able to select seats so my kids don't end up sitting alone on a long flight. It would not be great to have my 11 year old on the other side of the plane nowhere near her parents on a long haul flight.

Cheers

 

[hutch]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Is there any reason why you can't book this online via the multi-city tool? Fees can add up when doing an Y booking.

Seat selection is as per normal bookings... which means paying for Qantas and BA if you are after guaranteed seats. I would expect airlines to keep families together though.

 

[travelislife]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Forgot to add to my last post.... in order to avoid the over phone booking fee it was suggested to start a booking online. To do this do I start booking as many of these flights as I can online? I won't have enough points to do everything. Then do I ring and make changes tot hat booking?

Also, I know I am leaving my run late on this. We have had some family issues that have been resolved that prevented me booking earlier. Will I be able to select seats so my kids don't end up sitting alone on a long flight. It would not be great to have my 11 year old on the other side of the plane nowhere near her parents on a long haul flight.

Cheers

Careful! Don't book all the individual flights online you won't be able to join them all together afterwards so it won't reprice.

That is only if you book the first one online (or combination through the multi city tool) and then call up to add others (and cop the fee) it will then reprice at 140k.

 

[ejd711]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

I have booked an entire 140k online, however only because I booked when ALL flights were within 12 months. The main reasons to book over the phone are to get access to flights that don't appear on Qantas website, and to make changes to add flights when they weren't available when the initial flights were booked (usually because you were doing the initial booked > 353 days or whatever it is before those flights would happen).

Is there any reason why you can't book this online via the multi-city tool? Fees can add up when doing an Y booking.

Seat selection is as per normal bookings... which means paying for Qantas and BA if you are after guaranteed seats. I would expect airlines to keep families together though.

 

[Familyman1]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

It's sounding a little risky to book any flights now if you don't have the 560,000 points yet. With July fast approaching, your choice of flights from USA to Australia will be falling every day and so you might be stuck with having to pay in full for the US to Australia flights.
I would wait until I have the 560,000 points before beginning this booking.
September is a great time travel in the Northern Hemisphere so you could consider those school holidays.