Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[DC3]

… Should one expect to pay the same taxes and surcharges for individual flights as a combination? ….

The taxes will usually be coughulative, but there can be exceptions. For example, I found that the USD5.60 tax for an AA flight did not increase when I added anther leg (scheduled within 24 hours). Then again, AA domestic taxes are so low anyway.

Maybe just do some more dummy bookings, individually, to check.

You could always confirm your taxes with another agent at the Call Centre.

My experience with Cape Town on calculation of taxes has been rather sub-par.

 

[vetrade]

I added the below flights to a OW Award J itinerary this morning over the phone. I was charged $834.20 in taxes and surcharges. I questioned the Qantas CSR believing the taxes seemed high but they said they were right. Following the phone call, I checked the taxes for the last 3 flights individually on QF and it came to $410 aud (I could not check all the segments together as I didn't have enough points). Should one expect to pay the same taxes and surcharges for individual flights as a combination? Is it possible to dispute the charges?

IB FCO - MAD stop
IB MAD - ORY stop
JL CDG - HND stop - $834.20

I assume you were charged an extra $834 to add those flights? When you make changes to a booking the taxes for all flights, not just the added ones, are recalculated at today's exchange rates, but usually that doesn't make a lot of difference overall IME.

You have a stop after each flight so I would have expected the taxes would be calculated for each flight separately, then added together. So, I would think your figure of about $400 should have been pretty close. Connecting flights can be different - the best example of that being the UK's higher airport departure taxes you have to pay unless you are transiting. Also, the taxes can vary depending on what direction you take a flight in.

I got figures of 41 & 29 Euros for your 2 IB flights individually (total of 70E) but when I did them as a multi-city the total taxes were 95E i.e. about a third more. The CDG-HND flight came in at 190E. Not sure why there would be that difference for the IB flights but I'm not up with all the nuances of how QF does their calculations. It would be good if someone more knowledgeable could post some info.

 

[Inuniform]

I assume you were charged an extra $834 to add those flights? When you make changes to a booking the taxes for all flights, not just the added ones, are recalculated at today's exchange rates, but usually that doesn't make a lot of difference overall IME.

You have a stop after each flight so I would have expected the taxes would be calculated for each flight separately, then added together. So, I would think your figure of about $400 should have been pretty close. Connecting flights can be different - the best example of that being the UK's higher airport departure taxes you have to pay unless you are transiting. Also, the taxes can vary depending on what direction you take a flight in.

I got figures of 41 & 29 Euros for your 2 IB flights individually (total of 70E) but when I did them as a multi-city the total taxes were 95E i.e. about a third more. The CDG-HND flight came in at 190E. Not sure why there would be that difference for the IB flights but I'm not up with all the nuances of how QF does their calculations. It would be good if someone more knowledgeable could post some info.

Yes, it was $834 extra. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Matt_01]

QF26 is operating HND-SYD the following day and at last check was showing J9 D6 I0 and U0.

Given its QF ticket stock, and a cancelled flight, I expected moving to QF26 the following day would be straightforward.

However, I’ve had two agents tell me it can’t be one (one HBA, one AKL). In both instances the agents requested seat release because I’m WP, and had it declined by the droid. An outcome I expected given the loads.

From what I understand the bot would have automatically knock back the request for a seat to be released based on 0 I inventory. For releasing seats for a WP it will normally be successful if I is available, if a WP1 requests seats the inventory can come from I or D. At the moment QF are not doing manual assessments.

 

[Matt_01]

It would be good if someone more knowledgeable could post some info.

@madrooster once started a thread to ask question and do price comparisons for OW related travel. I cannot find the thread or know if it is still open.

 

[vetrade]

@madrooster once started a thread to ask question and do price comparisons for OW related travel. I cannot find the thread or know if it is still open.

Yes that started out looking very promising but he stopped replying after only a short time. It sounded like an overly generous offer right from the start so maybe he soon realised it was just too time consuming
Obviously people should be prepared to do their own "leg work" but it can be confusing - so it would be helpful if there was some general info about what rules apply or how QF do their calculations

 

[muppet]

I added the below flights to a OW Award J itinerary this morning over the phone. I was charged $834.20 in taxes and surcharges. I questioned the Qantas CSR believing the taxes seemed high but they said they were right. Following the phone call, I checked the taxes for the last 3 flights individually on QF and it came to $410 aud (I could not check all the segments together as I didn't have enough points). Should one expect to pay the same taxes and surcharges for individual flights as a combination? Is it possible to dispute the charges?

IB FCO - MAD stop
IB MAD - ORY stop
JL CDG - HND stop - $834.20

Seems high. I’d call up and have the calculations checked. Looks like the rep didn’t deduct the taxes already paid.

 

[Matt_01]

Obviously people should be prepared to do their own "leg work" but it can be confusing - so it would be helpful if there was some general info about what rules apply or how QF do their calculations

Agreed however the last part of your sentence (my bold) is the dark art which most likely QF do not know the answer to

 

[Captain Halliday]

From what I understand the bot would have automatically knock back the request for a seat to be released based on 0 I inventory. For releasing seats for a WP it will normally be successful if I is available, if a WP1 requests seats the inventory can come from I or D. At the moment QF are not doing manual assessments.

Being rejected by the bot was not a surprise.

It’s more a case that my flight has been cancelled by QF’s partner. It’s a QF ticket, but they’ve made no effort to reaccommodate me on the Next available flight.

 

[madrooster]

Yes that started out looking very promising but he stopped replying after only a short time. It sounded like an overly generous offer right from the start so maybe he soon realised it was just too time consuming
Obviously people should be prepared to do their own "leg work" but it can be confusing - so it would be helpful if there was some general info about what rules apply or how QF do their calculations

I was mostly not in Australia from September 2019 until March 2020 which made it difficult to do these calculations as the system I use for these is locked down to only being accessible in Australia. Then covid happened so there was no point doing them anymore. Once international travel is back to mostly normal I intend to resume it and it is on a voluntary basis only / spare time permitting.

 

[Matt_01]

It’s more a case that my flight has been cancelled by QF’s partner. It’s a QF ticket, but they’ve made no effort to reaccommodate me on the Next available flight.

I understand where you are coming from, as a P1 QF pre covid were often not helpful in rebooking cancelled or changed flights sighting that the rewards seats were at the the carriers discressition and there was nothing they could do. That been said if it was a route that QF flew e.g. HND-SYD they often came through with the goods but it was not easy. SST normally sorted it out through what I presume was internal QF channels.

 

[GaryLG]

This is OT though trying to help top up my daughter's points balance but does Qantas ever do points sales or other types of discounting on purchasing them?

Only thing I could think of was the bonus points on Qantas Wine purchases - not quite the thing but possibly better than buying directly.

 

[Chesty]

Managed to select all my flights and get through to the payment page and then this happened…does this mean it’s a phone call booking now?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Managed to select all my flights and get through to the payment page and then this happened…does this mean it’s a phone call booking now?

Yeah... this seems like the problem from the last couple of weeks that has come back. They had fixed it for a few days.

 

[vetrade]

Managed to select all my flights and get through to the payment page and then this happened…does this mean it’s a phone call booking now?

This is an excerpt from an article written by David Boyd in 2018 titled "How to get around Qantas.com error codes". Can't remember where I got it from but I think it answers your question:

Error code: #15079-421 — Unable to confirm selected flights​

This happens every single day with Qantas. Customers have gone through the whole process of making a booking—searched, selected seats, punched in your passenger information and payment details and hit submit–but been held up at the final stage with an error that reads:

“We are unable to confirm your selected flights. Select ‘Start over’ and choose alternative flights.”

The frustration with the 15079-421 error is that those flights are available, even though the website says differently. Or if you're booking a Classic Rewards seat in any travel class, the points seat is not actually available to book even the website says the seat is available.

It tends to happen a lot on international flights when a user wants to spend their Qantas points with a partner airline. One Qantas customer tried this on a flight to Germany with Emirates and was met with the same error code. But it will happen on QF flights too. Credit Card Compare team members have hit this error many times when making bookings.

Solution​

There’s no online fix for this one. Instead, jump on the phone and walk the service agent through the steps you took when you made the booking. One customer did just that and had the agent reproduce the same booking error. The result was a booked flight using their reward points over the phone without incurring any extra charge for the phone booking. Negative outcomes also happen where no points can be made.

 

[Daver6]

This is OT though trying to help top up my daughter's points balance but does Qantas ever do points sales or other types of discounting on purchasing them?

Only thing I could think of was the bonus points on Qantas Wine purchases - not quite the thing but possibly better than buying directly.

This should be in a different thread. But what about credit card sign up bonuses?

 

[Captain Halliday]

Managed to select all my flights and get through to the payment page and then this happened…does this mean it’s a phone call booking now?

I’ve been getting this tonight also.

Called and waited on hold for a while, but it’s bedtime in HBA so I’ll try again tomorrow.

 

[GaryLG]

This should be in a different thread. But what about credit card sign up bonuses?

Sorry, I searched and couldn't find one. And yes fair enough though my current situation means I wouldn't qualify unfortunately.

 

[Daver6]

Sorry, I searched and couldn't find one. And yes fair enough though my current situation means I wouldn't qualify unfortunately.

You can always start a new thread You don't state if it's an adult daughter or not. IF yes, then perhaps she can apply in her own name.

 

[GaryLG]

You can always start a new thread You don't state if it's an adult daughter or not. IF yes, then perhaps she can apply in her own name.

True, and she is. Anyway, let's stop there, and anything more can be done in a new topic or a PM. Thanks again.