Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[motef]

Hi all will be booking my first OWA in the next few months and had a question on booking each segment as availability is opened (I'm a qantas bronze member).

If I book leg 1 of the journey as it's the first to open, how do I then add on more segments and have it all linked up so that it's an OWA ticket and capped at 318,000 points (flying in J)?

Based on this forum it looks like I'd have to call up qantas each time a segment is open, pay the 5,000 points fee and as long as the tickets don't break the rules, the system will know to treat as an OWA ticket? Is that correct?

Yes you are correct

Book the first available leg online, it may not be the first actual leg ie if it is with Qatar these open up before Qantas etc

Once you have booked online and have your PNR then call Qantas and just start the conversation by saying " I would like to add some flights to my existing booking"

when you meet the rules it tops out at 318,000​

Don't mention OWA or points just yet

Then when they ask what flights you want to add then give them
- Date
- Departure airport
- Arrival airport
- Flight number
- class

Then tell them you want to pay using points​

By the way the fee is 5,000 pts per passenger

I have had extraordinary luck not being charged this fee at times when adding legs when I politely mention that the wait time has been ridiculously long.

Also keep in mind some legs have lots of award availability and aren't as time sensitive so you can bundle these up and book them with others

 

[Cerveza]

Yes you are correct

Book the first available leg online, it may not be the first actual leg ie if it is with Qatar these open up before Qantas etc


Once you have booked online and have your PNR then call Qantas and just start the conversation by saying " I would like to add some flights to my existing booking"
when you meet the rules it tops out at 318,000



Don't mention OWA or points just yet



Then when they ask what flights you want to add then give them

- Date

- Departure airport

- Arrival airport

- Flight number

- class



Then tell them you want to pay using points

By the way the fee is 5,000 pts per passenger

I have had extraordinary luck not being charged this fee at times when adding legs when I politely mention that the wait time has been ridiculously long.

Also keep in mind some legs have lots of award availability and aren't as time sensitive so you can bundle these up and book them with others

Thanks so much for your help - exactly the information I was after!

 

[DC3]

Hi all will be booking my first OWA in the next few months .... If I book leg 1 of the journey as it's the first to open, how do I then add on more segments ... it looks like I'd have to call up qantas each time a segment is open, pay the 5,000 points fee and as long as the tickets don't break the rules, the system will know to treat as an OWA ticket? Is that correct?

Yes, that’s pretty much it. All changes are done by telephone, only.

If you book one, or more flights, on the web, then you just phone the Call Centre, quote the Booking Reference, and tell them what you are adding/changing.

Edit: motef got in while I was responding.

 

[flapper]

Hi all will be booking my first OWA in the next few months and had a question on booking each segment as availability is opened (I'm a qantas bronze member).

If I book leg 1 of the journey as it's the first to open, how do I then add on more segments and have it all linked up so that it's an OWA ticket and capped at 318,000 points (flying in J)?

Based on this forum it looks like I'd have to call up qantas each time a segment is open, pay the 5,000 points fee and as long as the tickets don't break the rules, the system will know to treat as an OWA ticket? Is that correct?

That sounds right to me.
Try doing the booking using dummy dates and you will hopefully see it will top out at 318,000.

 

[knightfall88]

Hi, I've completed my award bookings. For the non-qantas flights, how do I confirm my class of travel? It's not obvious from the ticket or the booking page? Cheers

 

[motef]

Hi, I've completed my award bookings. For the non-qantas flights, how do I confirm my class of travel? It's not obvious from the ticket or the booking page? Cheers

Log into your account on the Qantas website ,go to Manage Booking, select the booking and scroll down

 

[knightfall88]

Log into your account on the Qantas website ,go to Manage Booking, select the booking and scroll down

View attachment 203805

thanks mate, i appreciate it

 

[acinod]

How does one get from South America to Australia now that LATAM as pulled out?

There's a SCL-MEL but availability looks difficult for low status members.

I noticed you can also fly out from the US via SFO/LAX. But how does one get from SCL to SFO/LAX? Seems like you have to transfer via MIA/DFW but are there any direct flights?

 

[stirlo]

Last night (one week after I booked everything in) Qantas released some more J seats on QF25 so I was able to update to direct SYD-HND taking out my previous stop in MNL. Will be fun to ride in the upstairs of the old 747 before it's finally retired.

MEL-SYD-HND
HND-SVO
DME-LHR-MAD
BIO-MAD-HAV
HAV-LIM-CUZ
CUZ-SCL-SYD-MEL

I'd definitely recommend continuing to check your itinerary against the Qantas website if it's not perfect. 5000 points is a tiny fee to pay for getting way better flights and if you're not looking you'll ever know if more become available.

 

[motef]

Last night (one week after I booked everything in) Qantas released some more J seats on QF25 so I was able to update to direct SYD-HND taking out my previous stop in MNL. Will be fun to ride in the upstairs of the old 747 before it's finally retired.

MEL-SYD-HND
HND-SVO
DME-LHR-MAD
BIO-MAD-HAV
HAV-LIM-CUZ
CUZ-SCL-SYD-MEL

I'd definitely recommend continuing to check your itinerary against the Qantas website if it's not perfect. 5000 points is a tiny fee to pay for getting way better flights and if you're not looking you'll ever know if more become available.

If you have an Expert Flyer subscription then you can also automate this searching.

 

[k_sheep]

Are you sure?:



There is no way of telling EF what status you have, but it must be able to glean it from your FF number. At least that way it is dynamic and stays current.

Yep for seat selection only, not award availability as pointed out.

 

[dcvr]

Just booked my second OWA in J thanks to the great tips and advice from this forum, but I noticed an oddity when hunting down availability:

I found MEL-AMM via KUL & BKK, but wanted to split it and spend some time in KL. Searching MEL-KUL in the preceding days found nothing, but I did find an ADL-KUL via MEL (!) 2 days prior.

Not wanting to go MEL-ADL-MEL-KUL, I ended up calling up to book the itinerary instead of using the website, just mentioned the MEL-KUL sector and the agent booked it without any issue.

Is this perhaps because I'm only PS and the agent just let me book it anyway, or do QF deliberately only display convoluted award availability to make searching for redemptions harder? I've seen plenty of other odd multi-stop routes come up where a sub-sector looks interesting to me, but searching for it directly returns nothing.

 

[Matt_01]

With the information Here looks like getting either around the world or OW rewards (the 35K mile thing) leaving AU in F has got got a little better. In my experience JL F redemptions have been relatively easy to come across but I will wait and see from SYD. Now for CX to follows suit.

 

[JohnM]

Just booked my second OWA in J thanks to the great tips and advice from this forum, but I noticed an oddity when hunting down availability:

I found MEL-AMM via KUL & BKK, but wanted to split it and spend some time in KL. Searching MEL-KUL in the preceding days found nothing, but I did find an ADL-KUL via MEL (!) 2 days prior.

Not wanting to go MEL-ADL-MEL-KUL, I ended up calling up to book the itinerary instead of using the website, just mentioned the MEL-KUL sector and the agent booked it without any issue.

Is this perhaps because I'm only PS and the agent just let me book it anyway, or do QF deliberately only display convoluted award availability to make searching for redemptions harder? I've seen plenty of other odd multi-stop routes come up where a sub-sector looks interesting to me, but searching for it directly returns nothing.

Sounds like married segment issues to me - although why the agent was able to apparently circumvent that is a mystery.

 

[Ktan89]

I remember reading here someone was asking why they can't find any J seats with AY. It looks like Finnair has restricted their award availability to 60days for partner redemption.

Edit: here is the read: Finnair Restricts Partner Business Class Awards | One Mile at a Time

Sad times.

 

[mustkill]

hey all,

First time trying to book RTW with Qantas so seeking some assistance.

I'm seeing award availability on aa.com but apparently Qantas can't find the award seats??? Am I doing something wrong?

IE: AA6045 & AA6006 economy on 25/05/2020
AA shows award availability but Qantas says no.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance!

 

[vetrade]

I remember reading here someone was asking why they can't find any J seats with AY. It looks like Finnair has restricted their award availability to 60days for partner redemption.

Edit: here is the read: Finnair Restricts Partner Business Class Awards | One Mile at a Time

Sad times.

That is prime information which explains a lot. It will save me doing hours of unproductive searches.

 

[Kangol]

With the information Here looks like getting either around the world or OW rewards (the 35K mile thing) leaving AU in F has got got a little better. In my experience JL F redemptions have been relatively easy to come across but I will wait and see from SYD. Now for CX to follows suit.

Great news, but you have to wonder how long it would last. It wasn't that long ago that JL used a 777 on that route and then stopped it.

 

[Cerveza]

Not sure if it's the right forum to use within, but does anyone have any experience with J OWA with a baby? My son will be 18 months old around the time we fly. Just looking for any tips or stories on experience!

 

[DC3]

Not sure if it's the right forum to use within, but does anyone have any experience with J OWA with a baby? My son will be 18 months old around the time we fly. Just looking for any tips or stories on experience!

Travelling with the babies and young children

I heard the woman who runs this site talking on the radio and she seemed very sensible. Useful for parents travelling I hope. Baby Travel Resources, Tips & Advice – Babies Who Travel

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Travelling with a baby in Business Class

If you are travelling from Sydney to London in mid-December in Business Class, I apologise. I will be that unfortunate father sat there with a baby in the bassinet praying and hoping that everything is going to be OK, that the baby doesnt make too much noise and trying to avoid all the horror...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au