Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[GaryLG]

I am about to start booking and the preference is F. The F options are available but are slim as QF and QR are currently not operating aircraft with F seating. JL, CX and AA offer F on most of their 777-300 and BA has F on their 777-300, some 777-200, the 787-10 and 787-9. When booking the F option will show as available or not. I will be taking the punt on F however the issue that may come to light is carriers could swap aircraft to one that does not offer F. It is not an indication of what travel will be like in 12 months but looking at FR24 carriers such as CX and JL who publish F seat availability on certain routes have been using the a350 and 787 which do not have F cabins. Booking F is a bit of a risk as you have used the points but may be downgraded to J.

Thanks. I figured I wasn't going to find all flights with F options but still a shame QF and QR are not offering them currently. It might still work as my itinerary includes SE Asia, Middle East and Europe.

I'll post a proposed one soon for feedback.

 

[GaryLG]

There not too many locations close enough to australia that makes a 2 stage OWA feasible - singapore , manila , auckland come to mind.
Even economy fares to SIN can be very high - aud 600 depending on the season.
MNL is not served directly from all mainland capitals.
This kind of 2 stage itinerary is perfect if you are restricted how long you can stay away from home - eg kids , work etc.
Also need to be aware that the one middle stop counts as a "stopover" leaving only 4 left for the whole trip.

Just had a look and Manila isn't that much different unfortunately though there are some direct flights.

Good point about the number of stopovers, just counted and I'll be fine if I only go to one stopover in that first leg and/or keep the others to under 24 hours.

Mind you the end I might just make it one big trip and go for it!

 

[ozflier]

Just had a look and Manila isn't that much different unfortunately though there are some direct flights.

Good point about the number of stopovers, just counted and I'll be fine if I only go to one stopover in that first leg and/or keep the others to under 24 hours.

Mind you the end I might just make it one big trip and go for it!

I was contemplating splitting my trips into two and at Singapore .
Covid screwed my itineraries ( on three occasions) and I have ended up with a non split one at the moment.
Starting from Brisbane has its challenges as lots of QF flights late this year and early next have only placeholders for their services eg BNE-HKG.
As I might have mentioned earlier in this forum , some Minimum Connecting Times for places like HKG and SIN have been extended for obvious reasons and the normal good 2-3 hour connecting time has gone for some airlines ( eg QR and CX ) .
Direct Qatar flights Australia to Doha would normally be suitable to get us to the Middle East but for late this year and early next , only one business class award seat offered per flight. Not great for a couple! (Still I know who would be down the "back"!)
I have been able to confirm that changing flights between London Heathrow and Gatwick ie arr LHR and dep 6 hours later from LGW does count as a "stopover"- always suspected that was the case so now confirmed.
FYI, I have gone to a lot of trouble not originating long haul flights out of the UK. The outrageous UK APD charges ( round aud 320 per person for prem econ , business or first for > 2000 miles) do not apply if you are connecting at the UK airport and staying less than 24 hours. The situation is complicated though and bears a good look before you finalise your itinerary - and exceptions exist - eg Belfast to the USA is exempt from APD.
Sorry to rant on but I have learnt so much from other posters that I like to share what info that I can.
I sense that we are coming out of this mess and I genuinely thank Qantas for not charging award booking change fees at this time.

 

[GaryLG]

I was contemplating splitting my trips into two and at Singapore .
Covid screwed my itineraries ( on three occasions) and I have ended up with a non split one at the moment.
Starting from Brisbane has its challenges as lots of QF flights late this year and early next have only placeholders for their services eg BNE-HKG.
As I might have mentioned earlier in this forum , some Minimum Connecting Times for places like HKG and SIN have been extended for obvious reasons and the normal good 2-3 hour connecting time has gone for some airlines ( eg QR and CX ) .
Direct Qatar flights Australia to Doha would normally be suitable to get us to the Middle East but for late this year and early next , only one business class award seat offered per flight. Not great for a couple! (Still I know who would be down the "back"!)
I have been able to confirm that changing flights between London Heathrow and Gatwick ie arr LHR and dep 6 hours later from LGW does count as a "stopover"- always suspected that was the case so now confirmed.
FYI, I have gone to a lot of trouble not originating long haul flights out of the UK. The outrageous UK APD charges ( round aud 320 per person for prem econ , business or first for > 2000 miles) do not apply if you are connecting at the UK airport and staying less than 24 hours. The situation is complicated though and bears a good look before you finalise your itinerary - and exceptions exist - eg Belfast to the USA is exempt from APD.
Sorry to rant on but I have learnt so much from other posters that I like to share what info that I can.
I sense that we are coming out of this mess and I genuinely thank Qantas for not charging award booking change fees at this time.

That does make me wonder if it might be better to wait a little before booking but then I guess that also has risks.
London is a key stopover but I guess if I fly to somewhere else in Europe when leaving then that should avoid the UK APD charges for long distance.
No need to apologise, it is all useful info and helps avoid the traps. Thanks.

 

[Matt_01]

Has anyone flown on the JL sky suite III, I was meant to last year but it did not happen. I have dropped in another sector SYD-HND and after checking it indicates the 787 will be the sky suite III, last time I had checked the operating aircraft from either SYD or MEL had the sky suite. Maybe this occured when the 777 was changed back to the 787. My original plan was ensure I was able to get to JP and QF for the seating however if the sky suite III is available I may stick with JL as the service is normally better than QF. I suspect that remaining with JL will most likely cheaper.

I would assume that the sky suite III is a reasonably good product.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Has anyone flown on the JL sky suite III, I was meant to last year but it did not happen. I have dropped in another sector SYD-HND and after checking it indicates the 787 will be the sky suite III, last time I had checked the operating aircraft from either SYD or MEL had the sky suite. Maybe this occured when the 777 was changed back to the 787. My original plan was ensure I was able to get to JP and QF for the seating however if the sky suite III is available I may stick with JL as the service is normally better than QF. I suspect that remaining with JL will most likely cheaper.

I would assume that the sky suite III is a reasonably good product.

I flew it SIN-HND on the red-eye. Pretty much a standard reverse herringbone like CX, which I like. But not as good as the window Apex suites (which are around 7 foot long in bed mode)

 

[Matt_01]

Just wondering if anyone on this site has any insight to the CX award availability. It is good up to 26 Mar 22, which from other threads ties into the northern winter schedule changes and availability across a number of carriers becoming non existent for a couple of weeks while the schedules were readjusted. It is now a month on and CX seems to have not released any reward seats, post 26 Mar 22.

 

[flapper]

I’ve noticed that too. It’s the same with IB. I keep looking and hoping they start to release seats again.

 

[Matt_01]

I’ve noticed that too. It’s the same with IB. I keep looking and hoping they start to release seats again.

I had forgotten about IB, from recollection they also topped out at around 26 Mar 22. I am pulling together a OW F trip and what I had noticed BA were not offering F on the day I wanted to travel LHR-JFK so I was going to use IB J over BA J, as IB was not available and I booked BA J. Then fate stepped in, a couple of weeks back I did random search and to my disbelief the BA F class on the day and flight I was hoping to travel on appeared as available. As the saying goes - like a rat up a drain pipe I called QF to change from the non preferred date and time J to the F flight I was hoping for and it all worked out. I have the ticketed confirmation, selected seats so sometimes you just get lucky.

 

[Matt_01]

For those waiting for CX their awards seats are back.

 

[Spacetravel]

So I currently have my 4 chosen flights in J available and ready to book (will be calling to add other sectors later). When I attempt to book on QF website via multi-city booking I get the dreaded 4004 error and have been attempting to ring. I'm only bronze so get the worst call centre treatment. I have been trying to call for 3 days at various hours and never get through. I usually wait over an hour until it hangs up on me. Currently been waiting for 1 hour 30 min and hopefully won't get hung up on this time.

I'm new to QF, is it always this bad? Is there any other way I can book my flights? This also concerns me as my plan is to add another 11-12 segments on by calling up as seats are released. If it takes days to get through each time I may miss out on certain flights I need.

I will be gold with the status match offer in June, is the wait any better with gold?

 

[Familyman1]

So I currently have my 4 chosen flights in J available and ready to book (will be calling to add other sectors later). When I attempt to book on QF website via multi-city booking I get the dreaded 4004 error and have been attempting to ring. I'm only bronze so get the worst call centre treatment. I have been trying to call for 3 days at various hours and never get through. I usually wait over an hour until it hangs up on me. Currently been waiting for 1 hour 30 min and hopefully won't get hung up on this time.

I'm new to QF, is it always this bad? Is there any other way I can book my flights? This also concerns me as my plan is to add another 11-12 segments on by calling up as seats are released. If it takes days to get through each time I may miss out on certain flights I need.

I will be gold with the status match offer in June, is the wait any better with gold?

The Call Centre is particularly bad at the moment. As a bronze, I've had to wait over 4 hrs recently (rang at about 2pm which may be a bad time) and then got through to the South African office and got only half the requested job done. I have to ring them back to get the eticket that was meant to be sent to me within 24 hours, but the thought of another 4 hours wait is horrendous.
Maybe I'll try ringing earlier in the day.
I am surprised you are having trouble booking your first flights online. Try another browser - that has worked for me in the past.

 

[DC3]

... I am surprised you are having trouble booking your first flights online. Try another browser - that has worked for me in the past.

I agree. Four flights should not usually pose any issues on the web, unless due to some sort of temporary glitch. I would keep trying.

 

[Spacetravel]

I agree. Four flights should not usually pose any issues on the web, unless due to some sort of temporary glitch. I would keep trying.

So i've tried over multiple days and across chrome, firefox, safari, edge on windows and mac osx - all with the same result.

My itinerary is:
SYD > HND > SAP
SAP > HND
HND > LAX

So what I found is it works if I try and book SYD > SAP for the first leg (still route via HND but it puts me in Y for HND to SAP despite J being available and bookable when I do it myself.

So I guess i'm left with is the call centre wait worth it or economy for 1.5hours. Funny thing is i've already waited more than the duration of the flight. Currently at 2hr 40 min.

 

[DC3]

So i've tried over multiple days and across chrome, firefox, safari, edge on windows and mac osx - all with the same result.

My itinerary is:
SYD > HND > SAP
SAP > HND
HND > LAX

So what I found is it works if I try and book SYD > SAP for the first leg (still route via HND but it puts me in Y for HND to SAP despite J being available and bookable when I do it myself.

So I guess i'm left with is the call centre wait worth it or economy for 1.5hours. Funny thing is i've already waited more than the duration of the flight. Currently at 2hr 40 min.

Also, if the Call Centre sees just what you can see .......

 

[Spacetravel]

Also, if the Call Centre sees just what you can see .......

do you mean if they can only book what I can (HND > SAP in Y)? not like this

 

[DC3]

do you mean if they can only book what I can (HND > SAP in Y)? not like this

Well, they can only book what they can see as being available.

 

[Familyman1]

So i've tried over multiple days and across chrome, firefox, safari, edge on windows and mac osx - all with the same result.

My itinerary is:
SYD > HND > SAP
SAP > HND
HND > LAX

So what I found is it works if I try and book SYD > SAP for the first leg (still route via HND but it puts me in Y for HND to SAP despite J being available and bookable when I do it myself.

So I guess i'm left with is the call centre wait worth it or economy for 1.5hours. Funny thing is i've already waited more than the duration of the flight. Currently at 2hr 40 min.

I recently asked the South African office to book me 2 business class seats: SYD>HND>ITM because I also couldn't do it online. They said they couldn't add the HND>ITM leg because it was only available in economy and their system wouldn't allow it. So I just booked the SYD>HND business sector and I will ring later to try to add the HND>ITN sector (in economy or business - I don't care). So don't be surprised if they have trouble with your request (which is well within the rules and should therefore be possible).

 

[DC3]

So i've tried over multiple days and across chrome, firefox, safari, edge on windows and mac osx - all with the same result.

My itinerary is:
SYD > HND > SAP
SAP > HND
HND > LAX

So what I found is it works if I try and book SYD > SAP for the first leg (still route via HND but it puts me in Y for HND to SAP despite J being available and bookable when I do it myself..

So, just to clarify, you are trying to book the four segments SYD-HND, HND-SAP, SAP-HND. and HND-LAX?

In any case, I would take whatever I could get now (including Y) and then monitor availability.

 

[Spacetravel]

I recently asked the South African office to book me 2 business class seats: SYD>HND>ITM because I also couldn't do it online. They said they couldn't add the HND>ITM leg because it was only available in economy and their system wouldn't allow it. So I just booked the SYD>HND business sector and I will ring later to try to add the HND>ITN sector (in economy or business - I don't care). So don't be surprised if they have trouble with your request (which is well within the rules and should therefore be possible).

Ah cough. Well if I still have to ring it doesn't help my problem much

I'm very leaning towards just booking the sector in Y and be done with it. I'd rather 1 1.5 hour sector in Y vs losing an entire long haul leg

Post automatically merged: May 5, 2021

So, just to clarify, you are trying to book the four segments SYD-HND, HND-SAP, SAP-HND. and HND-LAX?

In any case, I would take whatever I could get now (including Y) and then monitor availability.

Yes I am, it is available in J. If I do it in multi city booking tool it gives me the exact same flights in J. Just on the final screen I get 4002 error. If I do SYD > SAP and use automatic routing it puts me on same flight in Y.