Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[craven morehead]

Thank you for your reply Craven, I thought that you could use QFF points for a RWT ? Am I wrong.
Regards RJ

RTW flights are paid for - Oneworld Classic Award is the one you are wanting. This will utilise your stash of QFF points.

How to Fly Around the World with a Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Reward [Mega Guide]

Fly around the world with Qantas and other Oneworld airlines by redeeming points for a Oneworld Classic Flight Reward. Photo: Qantas. Did you know that

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Hope this helps

 

[Jacques Vert]

Thank you for your reply Craven, I thought that you could use QFF points for a RWT ? Am I wrong.
Regards RJ

Yes, you can use the Oneworld Classic Flight Reward (Oneworld Award) to fly around the world, but you don't have to. You can go half way and double back or whereever you wish, provided a Oneworld Airline flies there and you stick to the rules of the fare (e.g., max 35,000 miles, two airlines other than Qantas, etc.).

In relation to your trip:

What would be the best direction to go (we live in Melbourne Australia) following the warm weather around.
This is pretty much personal preference. However, as you are going early in the year, you may wish to consider Cherry Blossom time in Japan which is March/April (you would need to do some careful planning as the blossoms only last 7 to 10 days and bloom at diferent times in various parts of the country). It will be cool as the cheeries bloom at the beginning of spring but well worth a visit if that is your thing.

Does anyone have an itinerary that might provide some ideas of places to go and see?
Not sure anyone else's itinerary will help you; pick 5 places you would like to visit and an alternative 5, then see if you can link it together.

How do we ensure that we have full lay back beds/seats while travelling
Whilst you can always get a last minute substitution of a different aircraft, look at the airline and aircraft type for each leg. Be aware that short haul flights (especially in Europe) will mostly be an Economy seat with the middle seat blocked-out (the infamous Euro-Business).

What is the best and cheapest way to handle money / minimize transfer fees etc.
There are a small number of credit cards that have fee-free international purchases (e.g., the Coles Rewards Mastercard - the Black one not the cheaper ones, and you also earn Fly-Buys points). Also, the Citibank Plus Debit Mastercard has no fees. Many on this forum use this card.

What is the best value travel insurance
You'll need to do a lot of research on this one to see what suits your situation (including pre-existing medical conditions). There are a number of threads on this forum that will get you started.

 

[Guvner]

Below are some snippets/notes I have captured over the last 3-4 years of example routings and comments in this thread posted by various users. I kept a notepad file for ideas.
Might be some useful ideas for those pondering a OWA itinerary.
Note that the the old OWA points/taxes are sometimes quoted.

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MNL-SYD-CFS/CFS-SYD-ADL-DOH-ATH/ATH-LHR-GVA/ZRH-AMM-HKG-MNL

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SIN-NRT(JL)/HND-SYD-PER(QF)/PER-HKG-HND(tf)NRT-HEL(CX/JL/AY)/HEL-HKG-PER(AY/CX) comes to $1850 approx
SIN-NRT(JL)/HND-SYD-PER(QF)/PER-ADL-DOH-HEL(QF/QR)/HEL-HKG-PER(AY/CX) comes to $2100AUD approx
SIN-NRT(JL)/HND-SYD-PER(QF)/PER-ADL-DOH-HEL(QF/QR)/LGW-DOH-ADL (QR) comes to $2K AUD approx

MNL-NRT/NRT-MEL-SYD-PER/PER-SYD-DOH-HEL/HEL-HKG-PER with the SYD-DOH-HEL on QR was the 42858PHP

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SIN-NRT/NRT-SYD-PER/PER-SYD-DOH-HEL/HEL-HKG-PER with one less QF leg, same otherwise, $2063SGD.

----------------------------------------------

Edit: fun fact, a similar run ex DPS comes to about $2700 AUD for 2pax:
DPS-HKG-NRT/HND-SYD-PER/PER-SYD-DOH-HEL/HEL-HKG-PER at 28323400IDR.

------------------------------------------

SYD - DUB CX stop
DUB - LON BA stop
LON - INNS BA stop
INNS - VCE land sector
VCE - MAD IB stop
MAD - SIN QR stop
SIN - SYD QF this flight is yet to be added because as a lowly silver no J options available to me yet. But I have been looking at flight availability on QF 297 days out and there are many options, if not direct to Sydney via Brisbane or Melbourne.

Total fees for 2 people in J $2542 - 560,000 points.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PER xHKG YVR (stop) CX (both A350)
YVR - JFK (stop) CX (777)
**ground segment to Chicago**
ORD xLHR BRU (stop) BA (A380 + A320)
**ground segment to Rome**
FCO xLHR BER (stop) BA (A320)
**ground segment to Frankfurt**
FRA - NRT (stop) JL (787)
NRT xHKG PER CX (A330 + A350)



When calling just say you want to 'make changes to an existing award booking' and reel off your flights you want to add. Don't mention Oneworld Award etc, Round the World (definitely don't), or you'll likely trigger much confusion. They don't need to know what sort of award it is, as long as you keep within the rules it'll max out at 280k

If you’re booking in J (business) you should only have to pay two things when adding the extra sectors:
1. The change fee. It’s 5,000 points per person. IIRC
2. Any additional taxes that apply for the sectors you add. This is paid in cash.

If they try to charge you the telephone booking fee, you can point them to their own terms which say this doesn’t apply for awards in J.

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FRA-MAD-GRU (stop 1 - São Paulo)
GRU-SCL-SYD-CBR (stop 2 - Canberra)
CBR-SYD-JNB (stop 3 - Johannesburg with surface sector to Windhoek)
WDH-DOH-DEL (stop 4 - Delhi)
DEL-HEL (stop 5 - Helsinki)
HEL-VIE
280k points for business class and around $1,750 in taxes

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One other trick you should consider. I noticed that your trip is just to Europe. You could consider having 2 holidays in Europe instead of just one. We have done this before and will be doing it next year as well (one trip in summer and one over Christmas). You just need to stop the first trip in Asia and start the second trip from Asia. In our case, Singapore is our "6 month stopover" and we will just pay for the SIN-BNE & BNE-SIN flights (we used Scoot last time for this). Keeping within the 35,000 miles can be a slight problem but it is do-able. Here is the itinerary I am current half way through booking for 2 in J and 1 in Y:
BNE-HKG(Stop)-LHR(Stop, surface)-BGO-HEL-SIN(6 month Stop)-HEL(Stop)-DUS(Stop, surface)-FRA-HEL-PVG-HKG-BNE (34,849 mi)

So we will have a month in the UK and Norway in Summer and spend Xmas/New Year in Germany and Austria. Hopefully. I've still got to book the flights home from Europe which could be a problem in January.
Including 6 flights on Finnair seems to be another good trick to keep the fees and taxes down. It requires a stopover in Helsinki and 2 transits. I have been booking these Finnair flights exactly 361 days before I want to fly, soon after they appear at 10am Brisbane time.

Can always start in AKL or DPS - whatever's cheapest for you to position to

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QF MEL-SIN, QR SIN-DOH, QR DOH-FCO, STOP IB FCO-MAD, IB MAD-EAS, STOP (train to NICE, PARIS or BORDEAUX to fly to Helsinki) AY HEL-NRT, QF NRT-MEL

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MEL-SIN (QF) ~22 hour stopover
SIN-HKG-LHR-FCO (CX/BA)
FCO-MAD-RAK (IB)
CMN-MAD (IB)
MAD-SCL (IB)
SCL-SYD-MEL (QF)

I was very worried what the surcharges were going to come out to when on the phone to the operator as i was too tired of going through the process to reject anything. To my surprise it came out at circa $780 per person. Needless to say we booked. Not the ideal routing or airlines, but hey, we got to redeem some points at excellent value so we won't be complaining.

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BNE-HKG-xDOH-FRA-overland-MAN-xHKG-DPS-xHKG-NRT-BKK-SYD

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PER-HKG-KIX (CX)
NRT-YVR (JAL)
YVR-JFK (CX)
LGA-MIA-GYE (AA)
GRU-MAD (LATAM)
PSA-LHR-HKG (BA)
HKG-PER (CX)
$600 tax

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SYD-HKG-CTU (Cathay)
CKG-HEL (Finnair)
VIE-MAD-JFK (Iberia)
LGA-MIA-UIO (American Airlines)
UIO-LIM-SCL (Latam)
SCL-SYD( QF)

Total surcharges + taxes ~$1200 per person. The last QF leg makes up most of it unfortunately so will keep an eye out any Latam seats that pop up.

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MEL-PER-LHR (QF)
LHR-MAD (Surface sector)
MAD-JFK-YYZ (IB, AA)
YYZ-ORD-YYC (AA)
YYC-LAX (Surface sector)
LAX-SCL-PNT (LAN)
PNT-SCL-MEL (LAN)

My only issue at this point is that PNT (Puerto Natales) doesn't exist in the Qantas system, so the LAN flights aren't visible via the multi-city tool. I assume this means I'll need to do the booking over the phone? It'd be nice if they waive the 6000 points seeing as it's not actually possible to book online.

____________________________________________________


CX: PER-JFK
BA: JFK-FCO & FCO-PRG
QR: CDG-SIN
CS: SIN-PER

(PER-JFK (via HKG), JFK - FCO (via LGW), FCO - PRG (via LHR), CDG-SIN (via DIA) and SIN-PER (via HKG) and surcharges came to $1750pp)
$1750
___________________________________________________


PER - ADL QF ADL - DOH - HEL QR. Over night in HEL but less than 24 hours.
HEL - BGO AY 12 nights. 11 on the cruise and one in Bergen.
BGO - HEL - LHR AY Managed to score a throne seat on the A330 from HEL to LHR. 7 nights in London
LHR - DOH - MLE QR Scored the Q-suites to DOH.
MLE - CMB UL in Y (90 minutes) then CMB - HKG - PER CX.

Fuel fines were high at just over $2k per pax. This was expected given the flights and cities. We will likely add on a side trip from London to Germany towards the end of our time in London. This would mean leaving Germany back to LHR and on to DOH. This should knock off a good few hundred dollars in terms of the UK APD.
Only comes in at 25,606. I could add a side trip to the US east coast from LHR and still be ok

__________________________________________________


SYD-ADL-DOH-SKPx-DOHx-ADDx-DOH-HKGx-SYD (J)

All on QR except for the last sector.

$2500 in taxes for 2 pax

__________________________________________________

MEL-SYD-xSIN-LHR (QF)
LHR-BCN (surface sector around Europe)
BCN-MAD-JFK (IB)
JFK-YYZ (AA)
YYZ-YYC, YYC-YVR (WS - not on OWA)
YVR-SFO (surface sector down the US west coast)
SFO-DFW-SCL (AA)
SCL-PNT, PNT-SCL (LA - not on OWA)
SCL-SYD-MEL (QF)
Taxes in Y - $1500
________________________________________________


HKG-DUB. DUB-LHR-AUS. AUS-PHX-SLC. SFO-SYD (8 week stop) SYD-HND. NRT-SYD

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AKL-SCL // MVD-MIA // SJO-MAD-RAK // CMN-DOH-WDH // JNB-SYD-MEL // AKL
Total taxes/levies/carrier charges for the itinerary were $1,634 pp

______________________________________________________

SYD-HKG-JFK (CP)
PHL- LIS (AA)
LIS-MAD-BRU (IB)
BRU-LHR-NRT (BA)
NRT-MEL (JAL)
MEL-CBR (QF)

- taxes were $1670, got roughly the exact dates I needed for my scheduled appts.

________________________________________________________________

PER-DOH-AMM-ATH // JTR-HEL // ARN-DOH-KUL - trip 1
KUL-HKG-YVR-HKG-PER - trip 2

Europe and Canada, 2 trips 9 months apart. Just had to pay for KUL-PER-KUL (cheap Y) as well as ATH-JTR & HEL-ARN

_________________________________________________________________

SYD-HKG-JFK-LHR-LGW-VCE-FCO-SIN-SYD

I ended up paying just under $1600

___________________________________________________________________________________
Hello - would someone please check over my J OWR meets conditions? thanks in advance

MEl-HKG-ICN CX STOP
ICN-HEL AY STOP
HEL-FCO AY STOP
surface FCO-NCE
NCE-MAD-EAS IB STOP (NOT YET BOOKED)
surface EAS-BOD
BOD-HEL-NRT AY STOP
NRT-MEL JL (NOT YET BOOKED)
The mileage looks like well under 35k so I'd be looking at routing back via North America, just because you can. Something like HEL-xJFK/ORD-NRT. Also maybe MEL-xSYD-xHKG-ICN. Hell, you can even throw DOH in the mix. The upside too is that it gives you plenty of room to add in extra flights if you can't get the routing you want. Also make sure the flight between MAD and EAS is marketed and operated by Iberia and not Vueling.

____________________________________________________________________________________
2 trips!

SIN-HEL AY
HEL-TXL AY
AMS-DOH-PER QR
- 6 months- stop
PER-HKG CX
HKG-BCN CX
CDG-DOH-SIN QR
_____________________________________________________________________________________

MEL-ADL-DOH-ZRH (14.5 hours in Q Suites!)
ZRH-MAD-LIM
LIM-MIA (Surface for now - waiting for AA to release seats)
MIA-LHR-BCN
BCN-DOH-KUL
KUL-MEL

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/attachments/1564830206964-png.179961/

_____________________________________________________________________________________

BNE-SYD-SFO (Qantas)
SFO-CHG-LGD (AA)
JFK-LHR (BA)
LHR-FCO (BA)
FCO-DOH-HKG (QR)
HKG-MEL-BNE (Qantas

$2100 taxes

_____________________________________________________________________________________

1, SYD-MEL-SIN
2, SIN-HND-LHR
3, LHR-DFW-LAX
4, LAX-LAS
5, LAS-JFK
6, JFK-HKG, within 8 hours after arriving HKG,
7, HKG-SYD

Airlines: QF,BA,JL,AA,CX.
Total miles for all 10 segments, 34566miles.
5 stopovers: SIN, LHR, LAX, LAS, JFK
4 transit: MEL,HND,DFW,HKG

____________________________________________________________________________________

MEL-ADL QF
ADL-DOH-ZRH QR
ZRH-LHR-MIA BA
MIA-LIM LA
LIM-MAD-BCN IB
BCN-DOH-KUL QR
KUL-ADL MH
ADL-MEL QF

... for the bargain price of $2,133.26 per person.

____________________________________________________________________________________
PER - SYD QF (overnight but only a transit)
SYD - DOH - HEL QR (stop)
HEL - ARN - BGO SK Y (seperate booking, will explain later)
BGO - LHR - HEL AY (stop)
LHR - MUC BA (stop)
MUC - LHR BA - DOH - MLE QR (stop)
MLE - CMB UL (Y) - HKG - PER CX
___________________________________________________________________

Stopover 1: DEL
DBO-SYD-HKG-DEL

Stopover 2: AMM
DEL-DOH-AMM

Stopover 3: CAI
AMM-CAI

Stopover 4: FCO
CAI-AMM-FCO

Stopover 5: CUN
FCO-DOH-JFK-DFW-CUN

Return home to startpoint: DBO
CUN-PHX-LAX-SYD-DBO

____________________________________________________________________________

MEL-SIN-DOH-VCE-LHR-AMS-DOH-HND-KIX-MEL
Two Open Jaws. LHR-AMS & HND-KIX. LHR to AMS on Eurostar via Paris & Paris to AMS on the High Speed Train. Tokyo to Osaka via Kyoto on the Shinkasen.
With the SIN-DOH & the AMS-DOH/DOH-HND being in Q Suites
______________________________________________________________________________
BNE-SIN (stop)
SIN-DOH-VIE (stop)
MAD-LHR-JFK (stop)
SFO-HKG-BKK (stop)
BKK-NRT (stop)
HND-SYD-BNE
_______________________________________________________________________________

 

[Jacques Vert]

Below are some snippets/notes I have captured over the last 3-4 years of example routings and comments in this thread posted by various users. I kept a notepad file for ideas.
Might be some useful ideas for those pondering a OWA itinerary.
Note that the the old OWA points/taxes are sometimes quoted.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MNL-SYD-CFS/CFS-SYD-ADL-DOH-ATH/ATH-LHR-GVA/ZRH-AMM-HKG-MNL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first of those itineraries was one of mine. What an Honour!!!

 

[RooFlyer]

• What would be the best direction to go (we live in Melbourne Australia) following the warm weather around.
• Does anyone have an itinerary that might provide some ideas of places to go and see?
• How do we ensure that we have full lay back beds/seats while travelling
• What is the best and cheapest way to handle money / minimize transfer fees etc.
• What is the best value travel insurance
• What would the best way to book flights / accommodation etc.
• Do you have any contacts that could help with planning / Ideas etc.

My 2 bobs worth:

• What would be the best direction to go (we live in Melbourne Australia) following the warm weather around.
  • My preference after many RTW trips is to fo eastwards, not so much for the weather but I survive the jet lag better
• Does anyone have an itinerary that might provide some ideas of places to go and see?
  • Ones above are a good start
• How do we ensure that we have full lay back beds/seats while travelling
  • Very difficult to 'ensure', as airlines can substitute planes differently configured to the one you booked, but most of the major airlines all have flat beds in Business, some exceptions with shorter routes (ie "within Asia") where they aren't configured for long haul and you'll get recliner.
• What is the best and cheapest way to handle money / minimize transfer fees etc.
  • The Latitude Mastercard has long been my go-to for a credit card for overseas. No fees and very good exchange rates. Citi debit card for cash withdrawals overeas. Again, very good FX rates and no fees.
• What is the best value travel insurance
  • Entirely depends on your situation. Shop around.
• What would the best way to book flights / accommodation etc.
  • For points, you'll have to book yourself, usually via the airline web site, but see the tip above re Frequent Flyer Solutions / Award Flight Assist. Will be perfect for you; they won't do suggestions and you'll need to specify your itinerary. They will find an itinerary that suits you, but be careful to tell them what you like, and don't like in the way of airlines (ie "No airlines from xx_ country or area...".). Many people try to avoid Chinese airlines as they generally aren't as good an experience as others.
  • I book accommodation direct, via the hotel web sites. In any event AVOID 'aggregators' who appear to be cheap, but usually have terms & coditions that will be awful if anything goes wrong or you need to change itineraty - that goes for flights and accommodation.
• Do you have any contacts that could help with planning / Ideas etc.
  • Note that 'planning' takes time, so professionals may either charge or give you limited free time. Once you get the skeleton of an itinerary, start a thread for it and ask specific questions there. Between us, we've been there, done that. Also good tips for guides, tours etc just about anywhere.

General tip - go with QR (Qatar Airways) where you can and try to get their QSuites in business - absolutely the best in the sky.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Agree with RooFlyer except on the direction! I find way less jetlag going westbound. YMMV

 

[paul66]

Hi. I know I must include 2 Oneworld Airlines, but must I also include Qantas or call all flights be with other Oneworld airlines.

 

[DC3]

Hi. I know I must include 2 Oneworld Airlines, but must I also include Qantas or call all flights be with other Oneworld airlines.

At least two oneworld airlines, other than QF. QF flights are not required but may be part of the itinerary if you wish.

 

[Spacetravel]

Are changes supposed to cost 5k points? I've made multiple calls to update my booking for free, currently on the phone to cape town who want 5k points for changes I'm making. I've refused and they are going to check with someone and call me back about it.

 

[11sjw]

Are changes supposed to cost 5k points? I've made multiple calls to update my booking for free, currently on the phone to cape town who want 5k points for changes I'm making. I've refused and they are going to check with someone and call me back about it.

In normal circumstances I believe so (eg. when adding a flight to your itnerary they charge a 5k fee).

 

[DC3]

Are changes supposed to cost 5k points? I've made multiple calls to update my booking for free, currently on the phone to cape town who want 5k points for changes I'm making. I've refused and they are going to check with someone and call me back about it.

No fee at the moment, certainly until 28 Feb, but this may have been extended yet again. Anyway, it’s on the QF website somewhere.

 

[flyingfun]

Soooo I used to consider myself a FF gun (at least compared to my circle of friends!). But to my surprise, I only recently came across the Oneworld award flights!

Unfortunately, this was after I bought classic award flights to and from Europe (ex. Melb).

I was quite happy with my classic award flight finds (as I've never flown to Europe on points, or on any class other than economy). However, now that I am aware of the Oneworld award flights, I'm wondering if I would have been better off trying to secure this?

My current flights are:

• Melb > London: Qantas Business Class (144,600 pts)
• Amsterdam > Melb: Emirates First Class (227,500 pts) (quite excited about this one).

So this comes to 372,100 points that I've burnt through.

As I plan to be in Europe for a few months, would or could it be possible for me to instead try to get a Oneworld award (maybe just business class for 318K), but add a few Oneworld flights in my Europe itinerary? Or am I missing some other criteria that would be required to get the Oneworld award booking?

 

[Spacetravel]

Soooo I used to consider myself a FF gun (at least compared to my circle of friends!). But to my surprise, I only recently came across the Oneworld award flights!

Unfortunately, this was after I bought classic award flights to and from Europe (ex. Melb).

I was quite happy with my classic award flight finds (as I've never flown to Europe on points, or on any class other than economy). However, now that I am aware of the Oneworld award flights, I'm wondering if I would have been better off trying to secure this?

My current flights are:

• Melb > London: Qantas Business Class (144,600 pts)
• Amsterdam > Melb: Emirates First Class (227,500 pts) (quite excited about this one).

So this comes to 372,100 points that I've burnt through.

As I plan to be in Europe for a few months, would or could it be possible for me to instead try to get a Oneworld award (maybe just business class for 318K), but add a few Oneworld flights in my Europe itinerary? Or am I missing some other criteria that would be required to get the Oneworld award booking?

You should be able to call up and add the flights you want to turn it into a oneworld award, assuming you meet the rules. However as you have a first class flight you will be charged the first class rate for the entire itinerary regardless of class of travel (445k points). As painful as it would be, if you changed your first class flight to business class and all your other flights are business or lower you would be charged the lower 318k rate. Alternatively you can attempt to secure first class for all or many of your flights to get maximum value.

 

[flyingfun]

You should be able to call up and add the flights you want to turn it into a oneworld award, assuming you meet the rules. However as you have a first class flight you will be charged the first class rate for the entire itinerary regardless of class of travel (445k points). As painful as it would be, if you changed your first class flight to business class and all your other flights are business or lower you would be charged the lower 318k rate. Alternatively you can attempt to secure first class for all or many of your flights to get maximum value.

Thanks so much for that quick tip! I have to laugh at "how painful" it would be going from first to business haha. I've never flown anything other than coughpy cheap international airlines in economy on a students budget, but I'll have to suck it up

I'm assuming there aren't many other first-class flights, particularly within Europe, so down to business would be best.

 

[Daver6]

Soooo I used to consider myself a FF gun (at least compared to my circle of friends!). But to my surprise, I only recently came across the Oneworld award flights!

Unfortunately, this was after I bought classic award flights to and from Europe (ex. Melb).

I was quite happy with my classic award flight finds (as I've never flown to Europe on points, or on any class other than economy). However, now that I am aware of the Oneworld award flights, I'm wondering if I would have been better off trying to secure this?

My current flights are:

• Melb > London: Qantas Business Class (144,600 pts)
• Amsterdam > Melb: Emirates First Class (227,500 pts) (quite excited about this one).

So this comes to 372,100 points that I've burnt through.

As I plan to be in Europe for a few months, would or could it be possible for me to instead try to get a Oneworld award (maybe just business class for 318K), but add a few Oneworld flights in my Europe itinerary? Or am I missing some other criteria that would be required to get the Oneworld award booking?

You can't use EK in a OneWorld Award booking as they're not a OW member.

You could take on more flights to your MEL - LHR flight, but that will obviously cost you more points. Depending on how much flying you plan on doing, it could be worthwhile and as would make out at the J OWA limit. You'd need to stay within all other rules too.

 

[vetrade]

Flyingfun, your starting point should be to read the link in post 10,441 higher up this page, to get the lowdown on the OWA rules. You really do need to familiarise yourself with these before anything else because they are significantly different to most classic award bookings

 

[11sjw]

Soooo I used to consider myself a FF gun (at least compared to my circle of friends!). But to my surprise, I only recently came across the Oneworld award flights!

Unfortunately, this was after I bought classic award flights to and from Europe (ex. Melb).

I was quite happy with my classic award flight finds (as I've never flown to Europe on points, or on any class other than economy). However, now that I am aware of the Oneworld award flights, I'm wondering if I would have been better off trying to secure this?

My current flights are:

• Melb > London: Qantas Business Class (144,600 pts)
• Amsterdam > Melb: Emirates First Class (227,500 pts) (quite excited about this one).

So this comes to 372,100 points that I've burnt through.

As I plan to be in Europe for a few months, would or could it be possible for me to instead try to get a Oneworld award (maybe just business class for 318K), but add a few Oneworld flights in my Europe itinerary? Or am I missing some other criteria that would be required to get the Oneworld award booking?

You can't use Emirates in a OWA itinerary.

 

[cambriamarsh]

You should be able to call up and add the flights you want to turn it into a oneworld award, assuming you meet the rules. However as you have a first class flight you will be charged the first class rate for the entire itinerary regardless of class of travel (445k points). As painful as it would be, if you changed your first class flight to business class and all your other flights are business or lower you would be charged the lower 318k rate. Alternatively you can attempt to secure first class for all or many of your flights to get maximum value.

And note you can't use Emirates in a Oneworld award
Edit. Beaten to it

 

[Matt_01]

Asking the brains trust as I am thinking about trying to book a double banger in 2023 but would like to understand if my thinking is correct. I have booked a few of these trips but they were pretty standard trips, a quick check on great circle mapper suggests this one will get close to the milage cap. I will be looking for x3 in J and travelling separately (x1 and x2) is not out of the question. What I am not sure of is the transit city's are they country based and once I go over the points cap do I actually need to book go back to the starting country. The initial thoughts are:
Apr 23
ADL-AKL (positioning flight)
AKL-BNE-HND (we will also head over to Korea on a seperate flight)
HND-SYD.

Sep 23
SYD/MEL/ADL-CDG on any carrier with availability.
CDG-AU, (this is the preferred endpoint) otherwise CDG-NZ
NZ-AU (return leg of the positioning flight)

I think it should work as I will have stops in HND, SYD, CDG it is the transits in AU from and back to NZ that I am not sure about.

Edit. After not getting many options from the QF website which seems to be playing up I ended up calling QF and the agent went through the process of creating a dummy booking on my behalf. In the end it would not ticket and was advised that it had something to do with the QF system treating NZ (as the exit country) as the same as leaving from AU, the error message mentioned was about flying out of the departure city city more than once is not allowed. For the purposes of booking OW classic rewards is leaving from NZ treated as if leaving from AU. The agent raised a case within QF and suggested I call back in a couple of weeks.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Asking the brains trust as I am thinking about trying to book a double banger in 2023 but would like to understand if my thinking is correct. I have booked a few of these trips but they were pretty standard trips, a quick check on great circle mapper suggests this one will get close to the milage cap. I will be looking for x3 in J and travelling separately (x1 and x2) is not out of the question. What I am not sure of is the transit city's are they country based and once I go over the points cap do I actually need to book go back to the starting country. The initial thoughts are:
Apr 23
ADL-AKL (positioning flight)
AKL-BNE-HND (we will also head over to Korea on a seperate flight)
HND-SYD.

Sep 23
SYD/MEL/ADL-CDG on any carrier with availability.
CDG-AU, (this is the preferred endpoint) otherwise CDG-NZ
NZ-AU (return leg of the positioning flight)

I think it should work as I will have stops in HND, SYD, CDG it is the transits in AU from and back to NZ that I am not sure about.

Edit. After not getting many options from the QF website which seems to be playing up I ended up calling QF and the agent went through the process of creating a dummy booking on my behalf. In the end it would not ticket and was advised that it had something to do with the QF system treating NZ (as the exit country) as the same as leaving from AU, the error message mentioned was about flying out of the departure city city more than once is not allowed. For the purposes of booking OW classic rewards is leaving from NZ treated as if leaving from AU. The agent raised a case within QF and suggested I call back in a couple of weeks.

I assume by “positioning flight” you mean separate PNR (either revenue or points) to get to AKL.

If so, the rest looks good to me.

As you’ve identified, you’ll be very tight for miles depending on exact routing and city choices in EU.

And they’ve been giving the “NZ is the same country as AU” excuse for some months now. Total nonsense IMO. If HUACA doesn’t work, consider SIN, CGK or DPS or KUL for your positioning flights. Might give you slightly more scope on the mileage too.