Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[algae]

This is a long and turbulent post. I have tried to make it interesting but for those with a short attention span, it ends OK.

Well done, outstanding itinerary, hope it's a wonderful trip! How far in advance have you booked the journey? Any concerns with changes as the dates approach?

Glad i got lucky earlier this week when the agent ticketed my changes with no questions asked. Seems thats certainly not the norm! (I called on a weekday at 5pm AWST if that helps anyone)

 

[Mr H]

Well done, outstanding itinerary, hope it's a wonderful trip! How far in advance have you booked the journey? Any concerns with changes as the dates approach?

Glad i got lucky earlier this week when the agent ticketed my changes with no questions asked. Seems thats certainly not the norm! (I called on a weekday at 5pm AWST if that helps anyone)

First booked in late October 2021, travel in August to October. Flight schedules have changed and routes been cancelled and I have generally had to come up with the solutions myself.

 

[Mr H]

All that and 14(?) segments too!

I know. And 34,910 miles according to GC Map.

 

[leer30]

Looking into a second OWA booking - first one was quite successful - this one looking to start outside of Australia and attempt two seperate holidays from one 318k itinerary (with a positioning flight), possibly Singapore - just wondering if anyone has a list or idea as to some of the better countries close ish to Australia that have reasonable surcharges - Singapore seems high (might just be the QR flights), but also easiest to get to from Perth.

Any experience muchly appreciated.

 

[Wolf creek]

I believe Manila to be the cheapest starting point

 

[aikman]

I believe Manila to be the cheapest starting point

Only works on some airlines. It doesn't work on QF for example.

 

[jase05]

Only works on some airlines. It doesn't work on QF for example.

Jakarta is often good aswell for some

 

[Aceskywalker]

Im trying to figure out why this booking is pricing higher then 318,000 pts for RTW J, is it because of airfrance leg?

 

[BriarFlyer]

Yes. Air France is not a OneWorld airline, hence can't be used in a OneWorld Award.

 

[Mr H]

Yes. Air France is not a OneWorld airline, hence can't be used in a OneWorld Award.

Yep - that short sector is costing you deep in the purse. You could do it as a land sector and get the train.

 

[sqrt()]

View attachment 282038Im trying to figure out why this booking is pricing higher then 318,000 pts for RTW J, is it because of airfrance leg?

Maybe route via LHR? Otherwise get the train, probably faster anyways!

Edit: train is 4h...

 

[Mr H]

Maybe route via LHR? Otherwise get the train, probably faster anyways!

Edit: train is 4h...

On the way from Paris to New York, a ticket CDG-LHR on BA within 24 hours of the LGW-JFK would save a heap on UK air passenger duty too. But the transfer LHR-LGW adds a complication.

 

[sqrt()]

View attachment 282038Im trying to figure out why this booking is pricing higher then 318,000 pts for RTW J, is it because of airfrance leg?

Also note that BA2273 LGW-JFK is scheduled to be on one of the LGW-based 777s, which have not been upgraded to BA club suites (1-2-1). Their current config is the 2-4-2 J layout from 2006. Even 7/6/23 flight a year away appears to be this old layout according to Expertflyer.

All of BA scheduled flights LHR-JFK are on the newly formatted 777s, where the 1-2-1 J layout is reportedly a lot better.

 

[kctt]

I manage to book some tickets for OWA. On the way back currently booked Miami - Paris - Tokyto - Sydney
I want to change to travel via Bangkok. Change route of the last 3 flights.
What is the risk of this change affecting prior flights in the ticket which are already locked? Is there any wording i should emphasise so agent does not mess up prior flights?
I am on the call now which could be Philippines call centre. She does not know what/where Copenhagen is. Need to spell a few times for her to find.
She told me no fare is available and i should try calling again in 2 months. She told me no fare is available so if i try make change on website, i should get error. I told her i cannot make change to the ticket online after ticket is booked and she still thinks I get error because fare is not available for the flights.
I can find all 3 flights i want via Bangkok with a new search using multi tool

 

[Matt_01]

Plus PlatOne helps with unlocking seats

Glad you mentioned this as I am also P1

That is a crucial piece of context (not sure if you mentioned before?). I doubt a 4x J OWA would be achievable for anyone short of P1, especially in the current award environment, but happy to be proved wrong.

I am sure P1 helped us get x3 J seats to JP.

Makes sense. The agents I spoke to were very good! I did find the availability myself for the majority of the legs but there were a few tricky ones and particularly the return to AU which they did a lot of searching for me.

I am doing a split trip first half is booked and I think I may be relying on QF to find x3 J seats to EU when I need to start booking in a few months.

 

[algae]

She does not know what/where Copenhagen

They will appreciate it if you give them the airport code instead. I know I had a same issue with Osaka and I could feel the silence of confusion on the other end until I said "India Tango Mike" (ITM).

I can find all 3 flights i want via Bangkok with a new search using multi tool

I also had some flights I wanted to add that showed on the multi tool. 3 different phone agents couldn't find it. And couldn't even find my second preference (also available online). So instead of a nice relaxed 5pm departure from Osaka back to Perth. I took the phone agents 6am offer (which I couldn't even see online). But at least I got something. Complicated OWAs are all about compromise (and HUACA).

I'd call again at different times in the day.
Also doesn't hurt to ask them what other options they can see. I know that's worked out positively in the past where they proposed a much nicer and direct CX flight which I couldn't see at all online.

 

[algae]

What is the risk of this change affecting prior flights in the ticket which are already locked? Is there any wording i should emphasise so agent does not mess up prior flights?

There is some risk I believe.
They will end the call saying your changes are in a queue and will be ticketed in 24h. This is rarely the case.
If you've called within business hours kindly ask them to speak to the ticketing team and request it be ticketed now as it's a reward booking on JAL/MH/etc and there can be issues if it's not ticketed quickly. If they don't or that team isn't available. Call back the next day

 

[kctt]

Second call: i talked to someone more competent. It does not look like Philippines. Agent's English is not mother language but i cannot guess which call centre, sound like European accent.
While searching for flights, she told me to hang up and she will call me back for some reason. She did call back immediately and we continue finding flights. The flight that was available a few hours earlier now not available anymore. I move a day earlier to get an available flight. She is able to add new flights to my booking but could not generate re-price / tax calculation.
1st part of call 1.5 hour including about 1 hour waiting in queue. 2nd part of call 1 hour 40 minutes including about 1 hour on hold waiting for support then she hang up waiting for reply from support team and supposedly she will call me when she gets reply.
Now when i check booking in account, old set of flights that would be replaced with new flights are still there. New flights are added with Confirmed status.

 

[Mr H]

Second call: i talked to someone more competent. It does not look like Philippines. Agent's English is not mother language but i cannot guess which call centre, sound like European accent.
While searching for flights, she told me to hang up and she will call me back for some reason. She did call back immediately and we continue finding flights. The flight that was available a few hours earlier now not available anymore. I move a day earlier to get an available flight. She is able to add new flights to my booking but could not generate re-price / tax calculation.
1st part of call 1.5 hour including about 1 hour waiting in queue. 2nd part of call 1 hour 40 minutes including about 1 hour on hold waiting for support then she hang up waiting for reply from support team and supposedly she will call me when she gets reply.
Now when i check booking in account, old set of flights that would be replaced with new flights are still there. New flights are added with Confirmed status.

You can ask the agents where they are and they will tell you

You can view your booking in real time on Check My Trip, the Qantas website does not show real time updates. In a good scenario your old flights will remain ticketed until the new flights are ticketed. You do not want the old flights removed until then. The worst case scenario is that old flights are removed, the ones you are keeping become unticketed and the new flights time out before ticketing.

Be aware that some agents will genuinely go away and get the tickets costed, call you back to have them paid for and will then get them issued. Other agents say they will do this to get rid of you and the booking is never processed. Unfortunately you can’t tell which you are dealing with. Just keep phoning until it gets sorted. This can take multiple calls over several days.

 

[isaacskh]

hi guys, since things are getting back to somewhat normal I think it's about time to pull the trigger.

SIN-NRT-MIA-BOG-GIG-MAD-HEL-DOH-SIN

I just came up with the plan below with a cost of $900. Did any guru here managed to do South America + South Africa + Asia + Europe all together in one?

Or in this one, do you know if we can get access to AA's flight via QF? or we need to ring the call center and see if they can find the flights for me?