Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[DC3]

… Qantas have said there is seats and can make the switch but it would cost 6x5000pts to change! ….

Currently, there are no change fees for classic awards. The 5,000 point change fee is currently waived.

 

[adenda]

Hi Brains Trust. I've put together an itinerary for J (318k points) about 7 days ago and now when i look to go to book, the outbound flight from SYD-DOH is no longer available (both when searching normally and via multi-city). Interestingly however, when I search on British Airways (Book a flight with Avios), it shows 3 J class seats available for that flight. Also, I found a routing of MEL-BNE-SYD-DOH for the same day on Qantas which does allow the booking of the SYD-DOH flight as part of that routing. Can anyone provide insight as to why this may be happening. What are the chances that they can book me on the flight when i call the call-center?

Qatar Airways has essentially boycotted QFF members access to any more than 1 J seat on their flights out of Australian cities. I've frequently found the same as you have - multiple J seats on BA/AA/JL websites but at most 1 seat via QF.
Intrigued how you found the availability through multiple cities - was that just trial and error? were you searching for more than 1 seat?

BTW, there's a whole separate thread on this issue here:

Different award availability between OneWorld ff programmes: QF gets less!

I'm trying use my Qantas points get two, one-way business seats with Qatar from LHR-BNE. The QF site only shows one available each day whereas BA and AA both show two. I called Qantas Premium to try and see if they can see different but they see the same as me. My question is: is it normal for...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[repete]

Currently, there are no change fees for classic awards. The 5,000 point change fee is currently waived.

Thanks DC3. Qantas have just agreed on Twitter, so that's good news

 

[repete]

repete, I suggest you familiarise yourself with this Classic Awards rule:
14.3.5 A Classic Award Itinerary must contain no more than one departure from the city or country of first departure on that Itinerary.

I suspect your booking is not what you think it is. You can't fly into BNE and then fly out of Oz again to NZ unless you start your trip in NZ.

Suggest you check your ticket and how many points you have been charged carefully

Thanks heaps for the heads up. Now some nerves have set in. I've double checked - all looks good, not sure if saying nothing is best approach or checking it out?! Will wait and see for now.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks heaps for the heads up. Now some nerves have set in. I've double checked - all looks good, not sure if saying nothing is best approach or checking it out?! Will wait and see for now.

Charged at 132.5K points per person?

 

[repete]

Yep (well, 132.4), but yes, no other surprises (yet!)

 

[vetrade]

repete, it's probably a good idea to start working out now how to change your itinerary to bring it within the rules.
If you have a non-compliant itinerary your trip plans can be thrown into chaos at any time because eventually the QF system is almost certain to realise the error and, at the very least, cancel the BNE-ZQN leg.
The longer you delay finding a fix, the harder it will be to find award seats for your group. Better to be proactive than risk it.

 

[11sjw]

When cancelling bookings what has been the overall experience with points being refunded? Has it happened immediately or has it taken a few days?

 

[Mr H]

When cancelling bookings what has been the overall experience with points being refunded? Has it happened immediately or has it taken a few days?

Points are refunded quickly; money is refunded slooooowly.

 

[flapper]

When cancelling bookings what has been the overall experience with points being refunded? Has it happened immediately or has it taken a few days?

Tell the CC that you want the points refunded immediately. They can do it while you wait on the phone. You must ask or they may not do it immediately and it may take weeks. The refund of taxes takes 60 days.

 

[tooten69]

Hi all, I have been reading some of the back catalogue of the post and just had a few questions.

I am a while away from booking (4 people J in Sep 2023) however trying to do my research to ensure I'm ready. Some of you really have a wealth of knowledge!

1st question:
Below shows a flight from MEL to DOH which is available on the BA site but not the Qantas search. Would I be able to book this via calling the call center or could this be award seats not available to QANTAS

2nd Question:
I am trying to work out the best way to get out to WAW via MEL (4 People in J), a few ways I have tried is

MEL-DOH-LHR-WAW
MEL-NRT-HND-HEL-WAW

What are the best ways to get out of Aus in Business for 4 people (seems to be the hardest flights to find).

3rd Question:
Do any of you use expertflyer.com and is there a form or wiki for this? I cant seem to find it sorry (I am sure it exists) or any feedback.

Thank you all in advance

 

[motef]

Hi all, I have been reading some of the back catalogue of the post and just had a few questions.

I am a while away from booking (4 people J in Sep 2023) however trying to do my research to ensure I'm ready. Some of you really have a wealth of knowledge!

1st question:
Below shows a flight from MEL to DOH which is available on the BA site but not the Qantas search. Would I be able to book this via calling the call center or could this be award seats not available to QANTAS

2nd Question:
I am trying to work out the best way to get out to WAW via MEL (4 People in J), a few ways I have tried is

MEL-DOH-LHR-WAW
MEL-NRT-HND-HEL-WAW

What are the best ways to get out of Aus in Business for 4 people (seems to be the hardest flights to find).

3rd Question:
Do any of you use expertflyer.com and is there a form or wiki for this? I cant seem to find it sorry (I am sure it exists) or any feedback.

Thank you all in advance

Question 1 - the availability of flights on other carriers' websites is irrelevant. Carriers release different availability to other carriers. There is anecdotal evidence that Qantas either doesn't get the same availability released from Qatar or Qantas only releases very limited if not none from Qatar. The reasoning is all conjecture at this stage

Question2 - I find the easiest and most available route out of Australia is on JAL to HND or NRT. There is usually good availability then onwards to Europe. Same for CX to HKG

 

[DC3]

… Below shows a flight from MEL to DOH which is available on the BA site but not the Qantas search. Would I be able to book this via calling the call center or could this be award seats not available to QANTAS …

If using QF points, the seats need to be available through QF. I would forget about what you can see on the BA website.

If the QF Call Centre can’t see availability, then that’s it.

 

[GaryLG]

Question2 - I find the easiest and most available route out of Australia is on JAL to HND or NRT. There is usually good availability then onwards to Europe. Same for CX to HKG

I also found QF had good availability if you want another alternative tooten69.

 

[11sjw]

Tell the CC that you want the points refunded immediately. They can do it while you wait on the phone. You must ask or they may not do it immediately and it may take weeks. The refund of taxes takes 60 days.

So cancelling online is not recommended?

 

[Matt_01]

3rd Question:
Do any of you use expertflyer.com and is there a form or wiki for this? I cant seem to find it sorry (I am sure it exists) or any feedback.

I use EF and not sure if there is a wiki. Depending who you want to travel with not all carriers are covered for rewards searching. In my case 3 carriers that I use are not available on EF, 2 being CX and JL and relevant to this thread. The other is EK which is on EF however the rewards search is broken and has been for a while.

After looking at EF BA maybe BA is displaying phantom availability, these are the search results from EF for your MEL-DOH trip. EF is showing nothing is available.

 

[Must...Fly!]

What are the best ways to get out of Aus in Business for 4 people (seems to be the hardest flights to find).

Honest answer is to split your traveling party in to two groups of two. It will make things much easier.

 

[jase05]

What are the best ways to get out of Aus in Business for 4 people (seems to be the hardest flights to find).

As was posted elsewhere you could split the group or I find when we travel with others is that the best way is to use points from Australia to Asia and then pay for flights to Europe. It’s not for everyone I know but often some really cheap J fares

 

[Danger]

Hi all, I have been reading some of the back catalogue of the post and just had a few questions.

...

3rd Question:
Do any of you use expertflyer.com and is there a form or wiki for this? I cant seem to find it sorry (I am sure it exists) or any feedback.

Thank you all in advance

The forum software doesn't support wikis, unfortunately. There is this thread for ExpertFlyer fundamentals: Understanding [Fare Buckets] Expert Flyer

 

[tooten69]

Thank you all for the tips.