Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[NM]

Re: Oneworld award planning

Forgetting the Loganair bit for now (as I am very dubious) this is 156000 points, but from my reading of things if I use CX it turns into a Oneworld Award and will be 142,500 points (if I have the mileage right). The strange thing was that when I simulated something similar by picking Finnair for the LHR-HKG leg the points came out as 140000.

The 2500 point difference is the assisted booking fee which always had to be included for OneWorld Awards since they could not be booked on-line. I expect that if you can book your itinerary on-line then its 140,000 points and 142,50 if you need to book through an agent.

Also it is all very well to book 2 awards in this fashion, but what will it do to the kids airfares? We have been paying around $2K for them previously, but will they need to now purchase a Global Explorer (or similar) for $3K? The QF/BA fares used to often include a free side-trip to Europe but would the open jaw of Scotand/France/England comply?

A Global Explorer or OneWorld Explorer fare in not going to hep since it has to route through either North America or South America. The QF FF OneWorld Award does not need to be an ATW itinerary.

So you are going to need to book a combination of fares that allow the kids to travel where you want to go. So that is likely to be a UK return with a side-trip plus any other side trips needed to follow the target itinerary.

Note that if booking multiple one-way awards through QF, you can book each one at the 355 day mark and hopefully have access to the necessary availability. If you book a OneWorld Award you can only book when the last flight is 355 days out and by that time you may miss out on some of the earlier flights in the itinerary.

 

[JohnK]

Re: Oneworld award planning

He too was able to crash the system.

Yes I remember it clearly.

 

[acampbel]

Re: Oneworld award planning

From memory the recalcitrant QF Award booking system and/or the inability to book CX awards has resulted in the 2,500 pts fee being waived. I know this amounts to only 5,000 out of 285,000 pts but every bit helps.

**** STOP PRESS ****

Qantas now say they no longer waive the fee ..... it's just bad luck that you can't do everything from the web.

**** STOP PRESS ****

The good news is that Loganair (or at least the Orkney <> Shetland flights) are available for 16,000 pts return (actually 18,500 because of the assisted booking fee.)

The bad news is that my itinerary is illegal due to this flight, so I would have to split it off and cop the other 142,500 for the rest (yep - another booking fee because I can't access the CX flights).

So 161,000 x 2 gives me 322,000 points to chase - approximately 100K more than last time. It does save about 36K points over booking each leg individually, but as NM points out I will have to wait for the last leg to become available which may put at risk earlier flights.


Decisions .... decisions .....

.

 

[JohnK]

Re: Oneworld award planning

Qantas now say they no longer waive the fee ..... it's just bad luck that you can't do everything from the web.

I spoke to at least 8 QF customer service agents before I finally booked the RTW. A few of them wanted to charge me the 2,500 FF points for booking over the phone whereas the majority were keen to waive the booking fee as I was not able to book online. Even the last person that actually made the booking for me intially wanted to charge the booking fee but after 1.5 hours on the phone with me trying to book it he waived the fee.

Just persevere with trying to get the booking fee waived. It is not your fault that QF does not have all available flights, eg CX, and all available destinations. It may also help if you have a higher QFF status than Bronze or Silver.

 

[acampbel]

Re: Oneworld award planning

....It may also help if you have a higher QFF status than Bronze or Silver....

I did sarcastically comment that they probably waived it (the 2500 pts) for Gold or Platinum FF, but she assured me that everyone has to cop it. Looks like it may depend on how bidable the particular agent is.

Anyway - back to the itinerary.

As points may be scarce I have reworked the details a bit down to :-

Leg 1 : SYD to KOI (via LHR and GLA/EDI/ABZ)
Leg 2 : KOI to EDI (via LSI with <24 hour transit)
Leg 3 : EDI to TLS (via LGW)
Leg 4 : TLS to LGW
Leg 5 : LHR to HKG
Leg 6 : HKG to SYD

If we keep the Shetlands stop to under 24 hours I believe that won't count as a Stopover, so the stops will be Kirkwall, Edinburgh, Toulouse, London, and Hong Kong. The only other rule is the 2-transit limit per city, but I think we are doing 2 transits and 1 stopover in London so that is OK (?).

There is also the possibility to link flights in/out of LSI that are exactly 24 hours apart. Does this pass or fail the stopover rule?

So if all this comes to pass it will be 140K pts with a "negotiable" 2.5K booking fee. What will not be negotiable is the $40 booking fee for the kids flights, but my main concern there is what sort of fare(s) we will need to cover it. I should have enough points to cover a leg or two if that helps (assuming that seats are available), but what could a standard return cover? Optimistically it could be a Shetlands return fare with just the LGW-TLS flights as the side trip .... or am I dreaming?



Cheers,


Andrew

.

 

[JohnK]

Re: Oneworld award planning

If we keep the Shetlands stop to under 24 hours I believe that won't count as a Stopover, so the stops will be Kirkwall, Edinburgh, Toulouse, London, and Hong Kong

Correct.

The only other rule is the 2-transit limit per city, but I think we are doing 2 transits and 1 stopover in London so that is OK (?).

The 2 transits and 1 stopover per city is OK. Assuming that different airports in the one city still get treated as the same city after the latest changes to OWE.

There is also the possibility to link flights in/out of LSI that are exactly 24 hours apart. Does this pass or fail the stopover rule?

I would have thought a stopover would be defined as >24 hours.

So if all this comes to pass it will be 140K pts with a "negotiable" 2.5K booking fee. What will not be negotiable is the $40 booking fee for the kids flights, but my main concern there is what sort of fare(s) we will need to cover it. I should have enough points to cover a leg or two if that helps (assuming that seats are available), but what could a standard return cover? Optimistically it could be a Shetlands return fare with just the LGW-TLS flights as the side trip .... or am I dreaming?

You could try this type of fare on Bestflights to EDI/GLA/ABZ and then take care of the side trips to Shetlands and Toulouse with FF points. It allows 1 free stopover in each direction plus the final destination and you have a choice of going via 10 cities in Asia. The additional stopover in LHR would cost $75. A return airfare SYD-KOI/LSI could end up being more expensive.

 

[serfty]

... There is also the possibility to link flights in/out of LSI that are exactly 24 hours apart. Does this pass or fail the stopover rule? ...

... I would have thought a stopover would be defined as >24 hours. ...

Unfortunately the key phrase is "Within 24 Hours ...".

'Stopover' in relation to:
(i) an Australian domestic Itinerary, ... and
(ii) for all other Itineraries, including those containing a domestic to international connecting flight, means when a passenger arrives at an intermediate point and is not scheduled to depart within 24 hours of arrival;

 

[JohnK]

Re: Oneworld award planning

Unfortunately the key phrase is "Within 24 Hours ...".

Oh well there goes that option then....

 

[acampbel]

Re: Oneworld award planning

Not to worry .... if I can "do" Pisa in under 2 hours it should be a doddle to do the Shetlands in 20.

I'll give the Bestflights site a go and might also try a dummy booking with Qantas/FlightCentre/STA to see how it looks.


Thanks for your help.


Andrew

.

 

[serfty]

Try this site: ITA: Fare Finder

 

[willymaykett]

RTW Planning using FF points - Newbie!

Hi all,

Found this forum whilst googling for ff programs and haven't stopped reading for the last 4 hours and ended up registering to get some advice, so here goes...

Background info:
Have points split across 3 programs:
QFF, Amex and Westpac, giving close to 410,00 so far. Planning to use all of these...

Routing plan so far:
Syd - LA
LA - Toronto (maybe via SF)
Toronto - London
London - Amsterdam
Amsterdam - Sydney

Going with family of 4
2 Adults and 2 children (12 and 9 at time of travel). One fare will probably be paid for.

Looking at going September 08 and returnig mid Oct 08. No dates are fixed, only like to be back b4 13th October.

Been starting my research, but it is a bit daunting, not knowing the best way to go about it all.

What experiences does anyone have regarding the likelihood of succeeding in my routing plans?

Any help advice sincerly appreciated.

 

[simongr]

Re: RTW Planning using FF points - Newbie!

Welcome willmaykett

I assume this trip will be in economy?

The important thing is planning and flexibility. Four award seats is always going to be hard and I assume as you have kids that you plan to travel in school holidays for some of the trip? That immediately restricts your award opportunities.

Based on your routing a single seat is 140K points - so for three you would need 420K points.

Qantas release award seats 355 days before the date of travel so you need to thin about when you want to travel and work back from there. You will need to think about potentially flying on separate flights for the more popular routes (SYD-LAX is a killer for awards). Also if buying a separate ticket - maybe think about a oneworld explorer fare - might be cheaper (and an opportunity to earn heaps of poits for the next trip ). That can be booked after you get your award flights. One thing to watch out for is that once the award is booked and then the paid ticket is booked you will need to call QF to make sure the itineraries are linked so your seating doesnt get screwed up.

Probably a lot more advice to come - but I thought I would kick off

 

[Mwenenzi]

Re: RTW Planning using FF points - Newbie!

Welcome willmaykett
SYD-LAX is a killer for awards

Thats an under statement :shock:
Also try BNE/MEL/SYD to SFO/LAX and SYD/AKL followed by AKL/LAX.
A paid circle pacific or *ONE ticket can be good value options.
Are you going to LAX or somewhere esle in the LOTFAP (land of the free & paranoid - also know as USA) ?

 

[serfty]

willymaykett, It really depends on what reward 'programs' you are in with WestPac and Amex. Not all (e.g. Amex Choices) such programs allow transfer of points to QFF.

Yes, the Qantas oneworld awards would be your best bet.

FWIW. There is normally plenty of transpacific award availability on Qantas in WHY. e.g. I can easily get four award seats each way on the same flights across the pacific in February in Economy. (It is a 'killer' for the premium cabins though.)

 

[NM]

Re: RTW Planning using FF points - Newbie!

Having status in the QFF program can help with obtaining seats. Gold and Platinum FF members get access to extra economy class seats. I tok advantage of that a few years back and redeemed 7 award tickets for an ATW holiday, and there is no way I could have managed the award seat availability if I did not have access to the extra award seats by way of being a QF Platinum FF at the time.

Be flexible with your routing and think outside the square when it comes to getting yourself between stops. Note that taxes for 4 ATW tickets will likely exceed $2000 so be prepared for a hit on your credit card.

Read and understand all the fare rules for both the paid and award tickets. Also make sure you have appropriate travel insurance since some policies offer very limited protection for award tickets.

But most of all, enjoy the trip and the planning.

 

[serfty]

Having status in the QFF program can help with obtaining seats. Gold and Platinum FF members get access to extra economy class seats. ...

Good point!

I rechecked using my NB daughter's account and there is still plenty of WHY availability across the pacific in February.

 

[willymaykett]

Re: RTW Planning using FF points - Newbie!

Thanks for the replies ... was hoping to get one or two, and then saw these, I am very grateful, as this is a new experience for me.

Both the Westpac and Amex do transfers into QFF, so should be OK. May need to buy some top up points if I don't make the 420K, and we will be going in Economy all the way.

Aus school holidays are 29 Sep 08 to 10 Oct 08, which is when I want to do the return to Sydney so my kids can go back to school .

I think the planning will be my biggest problems, although the itenary is faily basic, and then checking availability for each segment. I am trying ot make it as direct as possible, but that is were I am looking for help.

The main reason to LA is for Disneyland etc, usual kids/tourist stuff, looking at staying abut a week there, then 3 or 4 days in Toronto, then off to the UK for a 3 or 4 daysm then 3-4 weeks in Holland, then back home.

Should I wait until I can book the whole trip in one go, wait until I am inside the 355 days, or book each segment as it falls in the 355 days?

I am sure to have heaps of questions as time goes on, so I appreciate the help.



Will

 

[Andy]

Re: RTW Planning using FF points - Newbie!

To make a One World award for 140K points you will have to be within the 355 days for the entire journey to book it as one ticket. If you start booking individual sectors, then you will be charged more points based on Qantas / Partner award table for that sector.

 

[serfty]

While a Qantas FF award flights can be booked 353 days out (Aug 17th Today), it may not be the case for award flight on other Airlines (IIRC, Awards on AA become available 330 days out).

Also, holiday periods are harder to get so be prepared to be flexible with your dates.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: RTW Planning using FF points - Newbie!

Hi all,

QFF, Amex and Westpac, giving close to 410,00 so far. Planning to use all of these...

.

So you are just short....

Grab the Earth deal if you are eligible...


Frequent Flyer - Earning Points - Earth Card


for you and yoir wife at 15,000 points each...and they MAY just post in time if you are lucky prior to your bookng at 355 days minus the date of last flight.

The Earth deal ends Aug 31 though..so do not delay.


With the last flight....consider coming backa few days or a week after school starts...and that will probably help with getting availability.