Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[FrankC]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi all
I'm planning a RTW 420k point trip in June next year. Here's the plan with dates tba - dependent on availability.

SYD-MEL QF Overnight stop < 24 hours
MEL-LAX QF93
LAX-LAS AA Stop 1
LAS-LAX AA Overnight stop < 24 hours
LAX-JFK AA Using AA's Trans-continental A321 service
JFK-BOS AA Stop 2, and make own way to JFK
JFK-LHR AA
LHR-CPH BA Stop 3
CPH-LHR BA
LHR-BCN BA Stop 4 and make own way to MAD (or vv)
MAD-LHR BA Stop 5
LHR-HKG BA
HKG-SYD QF A380 service

13 sectors in total, 7 stops of which 2 aren't counted.

One of the objectives, since I'm travelling in F, is to take advantage of 'home' airlines' full services where possible. For example, flying Qantas in and out of Oz to score chauffeurs and bookable spa treatments in the lounge

Wish me luck with the award availability fairies. I think the short-haul AA, QF and BA trips should be fine (even the AA LAX-JFK seems okay in F, less so in Y) - it's QFi that always seems to be the trouble. Not sure about AA across the pond or BA LHR-HKG. Time will tell!

Just wondering would it be cheaper to have the London stopover earlier as stop 3 or 4 - so to avoid the v expensive departure tax

 

[deka2]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi all,

Has anyone who's been on one of these QF OneWorld award trips ever had a missed connection out of your control (e.g. delayed inbound flight)? If so, what happened?

I understand that if one doesn't show for a segment then the rest of the ticket is cancelled. It would be very bad for this to happen due to a flight on the same ticket causing a disruption.

Any thoughts?

mrpooky.

In 2010 in the middle of a 140K trip we had a connection FCO-LHR-JFK, on BA.

Flight arrived late in LHR and there was no problem with the airline, they put us, and around another 10 people, up in an airport hotel and on the next mornings plane.

 

[mrpooky]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

In 2010 in the middle of a 140K trip we had a connection FCO-LHR-JFK, on BA.

Flight arrived late in LHR and there was no problem with the airline, they put us, and around another 10 people, up in an airport hotel and on the next mornings plane.

That sounds great, thank you.

I wonder if one would receive similar service when flying into, say, Hong Kong on QF with a three-hour connection out on CX, and missing the CX flight because QF was delayed.

Since it's all on one ticket, one would hope so, but I assume one would have to take it up with QF as the ticket issuer.

Oh, sorry, back on topic. I'm looking at booking the following:

BNE/xSYD/HKG (a week or two of shopping; via SYD so I can see the first lounge as WP and go on QF127 in one of its A380 guises)
HKG/xCMB/MLE (or just HKG/MLE - a week or two of relaxing, and a bucket list trip on MAT)
MLE/xDOH/EDI (visit some rellies, drive to the continent, spend a month schmoozing around)
MAD/YYZ (visit Niagara Falls and see Toronto, then drive down the coast for a couple of weeks; maybe inland to New Hampshire, or even get a side trip to Jamaica or something from MIA)
MIA/xUIO/SCY (Galapagos - a bucket list item for mrspooky, pay for a flight back to UIO and spend a week or so nearby)
UIO/xSCL/xSYD/BNE (Exhausted: home)

It looks like it should be under 35000 miles (32881 according to GC Mapper) and is 15 segments with five stops (HKG, MLE, EDI, BOS, SCY), with all airports and routes appearing on the OneWorld interactive planner. Assuming I can find the flights for the transits with less than 24 hours between them, and go on multiple OneWorld airlines, can anyone see anything wrong with it?

I've started looking at dates for booking it, but I suspect it's more of a fantasy trip than something mrspooky and I will be able to actually do, so it's more just an interesting exercise than anything else at the moment. I'm still ~100K points short for 2xJ, and I think it needs two months, at least, or three to do it in a more leisurely manner, so I don't think we can take the time.

Ah well, I can dream. ;-)

mrpooky.

 

[Jacques Vert]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Some of the other options for this don't have First class across the ditch - not too fussed for European flights since I don't think any airlines offer F in that context but long haul and especially overnight is when it becomes more important. Plus I'm keen to use a 'proper' F product not a business class + product

Sorry, I missed the point that you were looking at F. In that case look at keeping JFK-LHR-CPH but changing one of the later transits such as CPH-LHR-BCN to CPH-HEL-BCN or CPH-MAD-BCN. In my experience finding a decent J product within Europe short haul is difficult enough, let alone F. For example, CPH-MAD is only Y as far as I can see. About the only way you might get F out of CPH is to go via DOHA - a long, long way around.

If it were me, I would ring QF and ask what is available between CPH and BCN. If you get the right agent they can be very helpful. If not, ring back 10 minutes later and try again.

JV

 

[quackster]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

hey guys, is there a similar thread where everyone posts actual oneworld 140/280/420 flights they've booked/flown? It would come in handy to all who might want to one in the future.

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

hey guys, is there a similar thread where everyone posts actual oneworld 140/280/420 flights they've booked/flown? It would come in handy to all who might want to one in the future.

Sept - Oct, 2013, we did a OW RTW in J:
MEL - SYD - NRT QF - Stop-over
NRT - DFW - MIA - CUN AA - Stop-over
CUN - MIA - AA
MIA - MAD - BCN IB - Stop-over
BCN - LHR - ATH BA - Stop-over (with side trip to Santorini & Mykonos)
ATH - AMM - DXB RJ - Stop-over
DXB - HKG CX
HKG - BNE - MEL QF

 

[quackster]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

hey guys, is there a similar thread where everyone posts actual oneworld 140/280/420 flights they've booked/flown? It would come in handy to all who might want to one in the future.

In July 11-Oct 11 I flew (in economy)

SYD-BME
PER-HKG-PVG
PEK-HEL-BUD-TEL
TEL-MAD
HLR-ORD-YYZ
YYZ-HKG-SYD

 

[ellen10]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Sept - Oct, 2013, we did a OW RTW in J:
MEL - SYD - NRT QF - Stop-over
NRT - DFW - MIA - CUN AA - Stop-over
CUN - MIA - AA
MIA - MAD - BCN IB - Stop-over
BCN - LHR - ATH BA - Stop-over (with side trip to Santorini & Mykonos)
ATH - AMM - DXB RJ - Stop-over
DXB - HKG CX
HKG - BNE - MEL QF

Thats a nice trip!

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thats a nice trip!

FWIW this is our intended itinerary (another OW J RTW) for early 2015 (intending to visit #1 son in JNB then do road trips in Canada and USA)
Hope it gives other ppl ideas like the many I have picked up on this forum.

MEL - SYD - JNB Stop-over (including CPT)
CPT - LHR -JFK Stop-over (side trip to Niagara Falls)
JFK - YVR Stopover (2 week road trip through Canadian Rockies, Montana, Seattle -> YVR)
YVR - DFW - MIA Stop-over including road trip to Florida Keys
MIA - LAX - LAS Stopover (road trip to Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bryce & Zion Nat. Parks -> LAS)
LAS - LAX - MEL

That should be about 13-14 segments, 54000km (32000mls) and 5 stops (like to get our money's worth from the RTW tickets)

 

[ellen10]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

FWIW this is our intended itinerary (another OW J RTW) for early 2015 (intending to visit #1 son in JNB then do road trips in Canada and USA)
Hope it gives other ppl ideas like the many I have picked up on this forum.

MEL - SYD - JNB Stop-over (including CPT)
CPT - LHR -JFK Stop-over (side trip to Niagara Falls)
JFK - YVR Stopover (2 week road trip through Canadian Rockies, Montana, Seattle -> YVR)
YVR - DFW - MIA Stop-over including road trip to Florida Keys
MIA - LAX - LAS Stopover (road trip to Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bryce & Zion Nat. Parks -> LAS)
LAS - LAX - MEL

That should be about 13-14 segments, 54000km (32000mls) and 5 stops (like to get our money's worth from the RTW tickets)

This looks very nice.
Very similar to what I would like to do, other than the JNB stop.
Maybe add a side stop in Europe but would like to do very similar in the states but in Sep/Oct 2015.

How far ahead do will you book this.
We may not have enough points for J, might have to be Y.

Sounds great thanks for sharing.

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

How far ahead do will you book this.

Sounds great thanks for sharing.

Ellen10, as you probably already know booking the flights can be tricky because of variations in how many days in advance the different OW airlines release their award seats and because of the need to grab seats on the most in-demand sectors as soon as they become available. That means booking the early flights ASAP and adding other sectors to the itinerary as they become available. On popular routes such as MEL - LAX it’s easier to get J seats mid-week rather than Fri – Sun.
To help myself get on top of all the possible combinations and make things less confusing I have a spreadsheet as a ready reference which, for all the major cities (plus any smaller ones we might travel to), lists the OW routes (the direct ones), the distance, what airline/s fly that route, the range of departure and arrival times, flight duration and how many flights per day there are on that route. All this info is available on the OneWorld interactive planner. I also list any specific notes about the flight e.g. which ones have the A380. I always know I can leave the segments which have multiple flights per day till last to book - after I have the main ones locked in.

For example:
Sydney
Route Distance Airline Departs Arrives Duration Flight No. Frequency
SYD – DFW 13,800km QF 15.35. 14.00. 15hrs QF7 1 x Daily
SYD – HNL
SYD – JNB
SYD – NRT etc

If I need to book any part of the trip by phone I have the spreadsheet open and quickly scroll down for details so that I can ask the operator for availability on a particular flight number etc if what they have suggested doesn’t suit me. They seem to be much more helpful if they realise you know what you are talking about. It also means you can ask about availability on routes such as SYD – NRT – LAX if there’s no direct flight from MEL or SYD to LAX available etc.

 

[Jacques Vert]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Our trip in 2010:

CFS-SYD-HKG stop 1
HKG-LHR-GLA stop 2
[GLA-LHR] paid separately to allow extra stop
[LHR-AMS] paid separately also
(Thus, stop 2 was effectively a "land" sector from GLA to AMS via LHR)
AMS-CDG stop 3 and drive to BCN via Reims, Amiens, Brittany, Biarritz, Les Pyrenees and Andorra.
BCN-MAD-DUB stop 4
DUB-MAD-HAV stop 5
HAV-MEX-SCL-AKL-SYD-CFS home!
Most flights in J.

We have booked a more modest itinerary for later this year.

 

[ellen10]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

For example:
Sydney
Route Distance Airline Departs Arrives Duration Flight No. Frequency
SYD – DFW 13,800km QF 15.35. 14.00. 15hrs QF7 1 x Daily
SYD – HNL
SYD – JNB
SYD – NRT etc

If I need to book any part of the trip by phone I have the spreadsheet open and quickly scroll down for details so that I can ask the operator for availability on a particular flight number etc if what they have suggested doesn’t suit me. They seem to be much more helpful if they realise you know what you are talking about. It also means you can ask about availability on routes such as SYD – NRT – LAX if there’s no direct flight from MEL or SYD to LAX available etc.[/QUOTE]

Thanks vetrade for the spreadsheet suggestions

 

[ellen10]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

oops vetrade not sure what happened to quoting you and your suggested spreadsheet.

Thanks for the information and to the others for route suggestions.
I am trying to take it all in.

 

[Jacques Vert]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

oops vetrade not sure what happened to quoting you and your suggested spreadsheet.

Thanks for the information and to the others for route suggestions.
I am trying to take it all in.

Book early and be flexible (both dates and routes). Best advice I can give. JV

 

[nat000]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi. Can someone please tell me how I check award seat availability on a lan flight without having to call qantas and get them to check. I have a lanpass account, but not sure if it says yes on their site I can use my qantas ff points for it.

 

[Grooba]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi. Can someone please tell me how I check award seat availability on a lan flight without having to call qantas and get them to check. I have a lanpass account, but not sure if it says yes on their site I can use my qantas ff points for it.

Use ba.com after logging in with a free BA account.

 

[nat000]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Use ba.com after logging in with a free BA account.

Logged into my ba account, but it can't find the airport I want (galapagos islands - gps or scy).
Also I noticed it doesn't show the lan or aa direct daily flights from quito (uio) to mia. But I can see them using the qf multi city tool.

 

[Grooba]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi. Can someone please tell me how I check award seat availability on a lan flight without having to call qantas and get them to check.

I can see LAN availability for SCL-GRU on ba.com. Are you are looking for a specific sector on LAN? Can you see what you are looking for after logging into your LAN pass account? (I don't have one so can't check).

I have a lanpass account, but not sure if it says yes on their site I can use my qantas ff points for it.

So you can see the availability but are not sure if you can use QF points to book? Is this sector part of a 140/280/420 award you are trying to put together?

Logged into my ba account, but it can't find the airport I want (galapagos islands - gps or scy).

What sector are you looking for with award space exactly?

Also I noticed it doesn't show the lan or aa direct daily flights from quito (uio) to mia. But I can see them using the qf multi city tool.

So you can see the availability you you are after?

 

[nat000]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

i'm looking for uio to scy on lan ecuador as a return flight, not part of a 280k trip. qantas advised me i can use my ff points for those flights, 14000 qantas ff points each way. However they said they can't see any seats released yet in Jan 2015. I logged into my lan account and looked for award seats on uio-scy for Jan 2015 and i can see seats available and it is approx 25000 lan points. not sure why qantas can't see them.