Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[ozflier]

Ta for that.

 

[ozflier]

I am working on my OWA itinerary covering Africa.
I am a little confused over the rules re open jaws surface sectors and the number of transfers in one city.
I plan to travel

Day one fly SYD to JNB to Capetown. No stopover
Day four surface sector Capetown to JNB
Day six fly JNB to Victoria Falls
Day eight surface sector Livingstone to JNB
Day Eight fly JNB to DOHA

I have a feeling that this is inconsistent with the OWA rules
I would love to be wrong .
I ask the question as I just can,t get my head round the inter action of open jaws, surface sectors and max transfers.

I would be grateful for your advice.

Cheers

 

[madrooster]

I am working on my OWA itinerary covering Africa.
I am a little confused over the rules re open jaws surface sectors and the number of transfers in one city.
I plan to travel

Day one fly SYD to JNB to Capetown. No stopover
Day four surface sector Capetown to JNB
Day six fly JNB to Victoria Falls
Day eight surface sector Livingstone to JNB
Day Eight fly JNB to DOHA

I have a feeling that this is inconsistent with the OWA rules
I would love to be wrong .
I ask the question as I just can,t get my head round the inter action of open jaws, surface sectors and max transfers.

I would be grateful for your advice.

Cheers

SYD-JNB-CPT - 2 sectors, stop #1 in CPT, transfer 1 of 2 allowed at JNB
CPT-JNB surface - 1 sector
JNB-VFA - 1 sector, stop #2 in VFA
LVI-JNB surface - 1 sector <-- you can turn this into a flight and it won't affect your stop count
JNB-DOH - 1 sector, stop #3 in DOH

You can do 2 more stops and 10 more sectors.

 

[ozflier]

Thank you for that .
Explains it really well!

 

[Inuniform]

I am currently in the middle of a very problematic OWA booking. I have explained these problems extensively elsewhere and will not go into them now. My question is regarding the rules of the RTW OWA. Are they at all flexible and at the discretion of QF? For example; Total miles exceeded allowable, a single leg in a higher class? I am wondering if the problems I have encountered may qualify me for some special dispensation or QF can not budge outside the rules no matter what.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I am currently in the middle of a very problematic OWA booking. I have explained these problems extensively elsewhere and will not go into them now. My question is regarding the rules of the RTW OWA. Are they at all flexible and at the discretion of QF? For example; Total miles exceeded allowable, a single leg in a higher class? I am wondering if the problems I have encountered may qualify me for some special dispensation or QF can not budge outside the rules no matter what.

No they will not budge on either of those things, greater than 35000 miles or one leg in a higher class.
Note that it is highly likely that you will be able to travel in F on AA Domestic soon on a J Award as that's being re-coded to J by AA.

 

[burnt]

Technical question, planning a 35,000 mile OW trip, have 16 flight sectors and 5 stopovers and to do the following, have 5 stopovers and (say A B C D E) and then end the trip in F (which is not really a stopover, as a stopover has a departure. From F there is no flight sector back to the starting point but obviously the distance will be included in the total to ensure this is still under the 35,000.
How do QF handle the end point in this situation, as it is not at the end of an ARUNK, nor does it have a departure and arrival to make it a stopover?

Had one agent claim they had to calculate the distance back to the starting point by flight sectors and not by the direct track?

Any thoughts out there about this

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Technical question, planning a 35,000 mile OW trip, have 16 flight sectors and 5 stopovers and to do the following, have 5 stopovers and (say A B C D E) and then end the trip in F (which is not really a stopover, as a stopover has a departure. From F there is no flight sector back to the starting point but obviously the distance will be included in the total to ensure this is still under the 35,000.
How do QF handle the end point in this situation, as it is not at the end of an ARUNK, nor does it have a departure and arrival to make it a stopover?

Had one agent claim they had to calculate the distance back to the starting point by flight sectors and not by the direct track?

Any thoughts out there about this

I can't answer your entire question, but the following extract from the Book of Rules suggests that the agent may have been incorrect:

14.5.3 A one way oneworld Classic Flight Reward Itinerary will be charged as a return Itinerary. oneworld Classic Flight Reward Itineraries finishing in a port other than the port of origin must include the distance to return directly to the port of origin when calculating the number of Points required to redeem the Flight Reward and the maximum distance for the Itinerary.

Happy flying...

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Technical question, planning a 35,000 mile OW trip, have 16 flight sectors and 5 stopovers and to do the following, have 5 stopovers and (say A B C D E) and then end the trip in F (which is not really a stopover, as a stopover has a departure. From F there is no flight sector back to the starting point but obviously the distance will be included in the total to ensure this is still under the 35,000.
How do QF handle the end point in this situation, as it is not at the end of an ARUNK, nor does it have a departure and arrival to make it a stopover?

Had one agent claim they had to calculate the distance back to the starting point by flight sectors and not by the direct track?

Any thoughts out there about this

You may have an issue if you're trying to fly 16 segments, and then also have a Surface Segment back to Point of Origin. The Book of Rules states that the Surface Segment also needs to be counted in the 16 Segement maximum:

13.2.4 A Reward Flight Itinerary must contain no more than 16 Segments (including any Surface Segments)

 

[roomer]

I'd be grateful if anyone had any knowledge re the Qantas's freq flyer booking process for ?

I am getting a bit concerned that I am unable to book the last leg of my business class oneworld award ( 280K points) from Houston to Adelaide despite being within the required advanced booking zone ie it's for a Tuesday October 3 so well ahead of the 353 day scenario

Speaking with the Qantas CSR on Sat, he said nothing had been released and for me to try Monday, well I did call Monday and the next CSR person I spoke to said the same thing. He suggested I ring on a daily basis or check the web, which I am doing but without success.

Having had success on the first two legs for my business class oneworld award for 280K points( ie booking on the first day that the day is meant to be available) I a bit concerned that time has ticked on and that I missed out ? or is this par for the course and I have to wait for the business flights to be added beyond the 353 day period? Be nice to know if this not unusual .

BTW I have recently read of a story where people have booked their business flight on points only to be downgraded to economy because the airline was overbooked. Has this been known to happen with Qantas , with flights booked a year out ?

 

[wokstar]

Hello everyone, hopefully someone can shed some light on a problem I am having.

I am midway through booking a 280k point award fare and called Qantas to add some additional flights.

The flights I wanted to add were:
12SEP, SGN > NRT > NGO (JL750 & JL3087)
13SEP, NGO > CTS (JL3117)

The Qantas operator was only able to make a booking for JL750, but was unable to add the Japan domestic flights for some reason. Said something about no award seats being available.

I have been checking with both BA's Executive Club search tool and the JAL mileage bank availability checker, and both of them show available award seats for SGN>NRT>NGO. But still the Qantas operator's computer couldn't see it.

I suggested to the Qantas operator if it was due to some sort of married segment rules, but still their computer said no.

Searching on BA's site shows domestic availability, even if I change the search to NRT > NGO, so I didn't think there would be a problem, but apparently there is.

Or is there some sort of other computer problem? As I notice that the points change fee has not shown on my QFF activity statement nor has the payment of taxes shown up as a pending transaction on my credit card either. (A previous change fee to my 280k award showed up instantly on my credit card - and some purchases I made this morning are showing as pending transactions so I don't think it is a problem with my credit card)

Any ideas on what is going on and what would be the best way of booking those Japan domestic flights?

Thank-you in advance!

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

---- snip
Or is there some sort of other computer problem? As I notice that the points change fee has not shown on my QFF activity statement nor has the payment of taxes shown up as a pending transaction on my credit card either. (A previous change fee to my 280k award showed up instantly on my credit card - and some purchases I made this morning are showing as pending transactions so I don't think it is a problem with my credit card)
---- snip

Just a word of caution....
If the change fee points haven't hit your account, and/or the taxes haven't hit your credit card, then the change that you think you've made may not have made it all the way through the sausage machine yet, and may be rejected.
I had a similar situation earlier this year. I had rung through a change [added some sectors], but a few days later when the new e-ticket hadn't issued I called back and found that there was a piece of information missing from my booking record (my middle name), which had caused the changes to stall. The CSA told me that if I had waited one more day the seats would have been forfeited and they would have gone back into inventory :shock: .
Now, if I don't have an updated e-ticket and the points & taxes haven't come through within 2 days of making a change, then I ring back to follow up.

Refer to the following extract from the Book of Rules:
13.2.2 Bookings for Reward Flights will not be considered accepted until the required Qantas Points have been redeemed and any required payment made by Accepted Payment Card (including authorisation by the merchant bank or other form of payment administrator).

 

[Kangol]

I'd be grateful if anyone had any knowledge re the Qantas's freq flyer booking process for ?

I am getting a bit concerned that I am unable to book the last leg of my business class oneworld award ( 280K points) from Houston to Adelaide despite being within the required advanced booking zone ie it's for a Tuesday October 3 so well ahead of the 353 day scenario

Speaking with the Qantas CSR on Sat, he said nothing had been released and for me to try Monday, well I did call Monday and the next CSR person I spoke to said the same thing. He suggested I ring on a daily basis or check the web, which I am doing but without success.

Having had success on the first two legs for my business class oneworld award for 280K points( ie booking on the first day that the day is meant to be available) I a bit concerned that time has ticked on and that I missed out ? or is this par for the course and I have to wait for the business flights to be added beyond the 353 day period? Be nice to know if this not unusual .

BTW I have recently read of a story where people have booked their business flight on points only to be downgraded to economy because the airline was overbooked. Has this been known to happen with Qantas , with flights booked a year out ?

What exact flights are you after? If on AA, they get released at T-331 days.

 

[roomer]

What exact flights are you after? If on AA, they get released at T-331 days.

It's the Qantas flight from Dallas/Sydney thence to Adelaide

 

[wokstar]

Just a word of caution....
If the change fee points haven't hit your account, and/or the taxes haven't hit your credit card, then the change that you think you've made may not have made it all the way through the sausage machine yet, and may be rejected.

Thanks Jimmy, will give it a couple of days and see if anything comes through.

I did notice that the taxes took a long time to calculate. I was sitting on hold for around 30 mins waiting for the CSA to come back with how taxes I needed to pay, which I thought was odd... Adding flights previously took no longer than 15 mins total for 3 flights, whereas adding 2 flights today took an 1.5hours total.

 

[Kangol]

It's the Qantas flight from Dallas/Sydney thence to Adelaide

QF8 on that day has availability in all classes, but you mentioned Houston. How are you getting from Houston to Dallas? That might be your problem. Best to book the long haul now and add the AA leg when it becomes available (IAH-DFW I'm guessing). Or just QF8 to the ADL connection if you are only planning on flying ex-DFW.

 

[cjd600]

QF8 on that day has availability in all classes, but you mentioned Houston. How are you getting from Houston to Dallas? That might be your problem. Best to book the long haul now and add the AA leg when it becomes available (IAH-DFW I'm guessing). Or just QF8 to the ADL connection if you are only planning on flying ex-DFW.

Availability on that day (Oct 3) would depend on status....
As NB I see zero J on that date

Check @ 300-310 days.
I see 2 J DFW-SYD Aug 14,15,16.
Early Oct is end of school holidays, so might not be any left by 310 days for NB to grab

 

[roomer]

Availability on that day (Oct 3) would depend on status....
As NB I see zero J on that date

Check @ 300-310 days.
I see 2 J DFW-SYD Aug 14,15,16.
Early Oct is end of school holidays, so might not be any left by 310 days for NB to grab

Thanks Kangol and cdj600, I may have to go home via Doha flying Qatar but even that is not giving me the date I want.

I now seem to be having the same issue with the Qatar bookings.
Anyone able to please suggest a reasonable solution for me to get back to Adelaide from Houston flying J as part of one world business award ( 280k). I had been told the Doha route would have made my total of miles as being about 31,000 but would prefer not having to fly all over the shop just to get home. Thing was, the bookings to leave and travel worked out brilliantly such that I thought the trip home was going to be easy

 

[ozflier]

Thank you to the posters who drew my attention to the issues of slow processing and loss of award seats on Qatar.
I made an award booking on QR thru QFF and the agent told me to ring back if the ticketing had not come thru in 48 hours .
It hadn't so I rang back and a priority processing request was made (or the like) and we are now ticketed for those flights

 

[cjd600]

Thanks Kangol and cdj600, I may have to go home via Doha flying Qatar but even that is not giving me the date I want.

I now seem to be having the same issue with the Qatar bookings.
Anyone able to please suggest a reasonable solution for me to get back to Adelaide from Houston flying J as part of one world business award ( 280k). I had been told the Doha route would have made my total of miles as being about 31,000 but would prefer not having to fly all over the shop just to get home. Thing was, the bookings to leave and travel worked out brilliantly such that I thought the trip home was going to be easy

I'd be waiting 6 weeks until the leftover J come out for early Oct for NB status....
Best bet will probably be LAX-BNE-ADL or SFO-SYD-ADL, DFW-SYD is slightly less likely in my experience.
Try CX SFO-HKG-ADL/SYD or LAX-HKG-ADL/SYD as well (use multistep to bring up these 2 legs, might need a stopover 24hrs in HKG)