Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[nat000]

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

hi. is anyone able to help with this one.
I need two business class seats from gye to mia, but avios(ba) and Qantas advised me it looks like there is only 1 seat released on AA902 everyday (various dates show just one business seat). If I get one seat, is it likely AA will release another seat shortly after? I may just have to do it over two days and pay two booking fees.

 

[Jacques Vert]

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

I was thinking of Paris as that is one of the must visit places for my wife (first time in Europe and all) - we're both keen on visiting the historical sites etc. A stopover in Singapore for a week before or after Europe was on the cards as we have friends there. Is that the best strategy? Book the major parts first with points so it's all locked in and then work around that?

Paris is indeed one of the must visit cities but in my experience it is also one of the more difficult to get to with OneWorld (because it is not a one world hub and seats therefore tend to be limited). It is however, quite easy to get to by train from many cities in France and surrounding countries. So be flexible with your date and routing.

As the OP said, you could look at SIN-DOH-CDG (Paris). Other options would include SIN-HKG-CDG on CX, SIN-HEL-CDG on AY, SIN-LHR-CDG (last leg could be by train direct to the CBD or BA to the airport), etc., etc. Note there is no direct oneworld flight from DXB to PAR.

May I suggest that the final route (given you are heading for Paris) may depend as much or more on what award seats are available than anything else. Think about where else you would like to go and try picking some dates; bit by bit you will narrow down the options. Good luck, JV

 

[dalereardon]

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

Hi,

Also you have asked this question in a OW thread. You have a lot of Amex MR points - you may be more easily able to get to at least SIN by transferring some of those points to Singapore Kris Flyer. Perhaps ask your question more generally by creating a new thread. You may not be limited to Qantas. Or your points may be good transferred to Asia Miles or somewhere else as well.

If you are happy flying on Malaysian (I'm not) then they have very good availability in business class. You can get to Sin via KUL and they fly from KUL to CDG every day as well.

Dale.

 

[burnt]

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

I would like to put together a 35,000 miles OW redemption in F, does anyone have some ideas that will gain the most F experience, not fussed about the routing?

 

[Danger]

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

Can I confirm, please, that airport changes in the same city are not debited against the five stops (eg. arrive LHR, depart LGW does not count as a stop (unless of course it's over 24 hours))?

I would like to put together a 35,000 miles OW redemption in F, does anyone have some ideas that will gain the most F experience, not fussed about the routing?

Ideally you're looking at long-hauls. For example, SYD-HKG on QF, HKG-JNB on CX, JNB-LHR on BA would be a good start. From there I'd be looking at something like LHR-DOH and then seeing if QR offers F to any of its US destinations (presumably it does). You'd definitely want to include a super long CX flight from the US to HKG (from either JFK, EWR or ORD or even from Canada) as their product is excellent.

 

[burnt]

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

Thank you Danger, just plugged into GCM the following KUL-HKG-JNB-LHR-DOH-FRA-LAX-HKG-KUL @ 34,579, any improvements?

 

[Danger]

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

Thank you Danger, just plugged into GCM the following KUL-HKG-JNB-LHR-DOH-FRA-LAX-HKG-KUL @ 34,579, any improvements?

A couple of problems I foresee. First, there is no oneworld service between FRA and LAX. However, you can easily go FRA-xLHR (transit)-LAX with minimal impact on your total miles. Second, I don't believe QR operates a F cabin on DOH-FRA. You may need to check that.

 

[mrdctau]

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

I just managed to secure a nice OW RTW for February next year of MEL-DOH-CMN(stop 1)-MAD(stop 2)-DFW(stop 3)-NRT(o/night <24hours)-DEL(stop 4)-HKG-MNL(stop 5)-HKG-MEL. Managed to get it all in J, albeit having to stretch the trip out by a few days, and Mileage Monkey calculates it as being 34,959 miles! I did it as a phone booking though QF as the website doesn't show JAL flights, although I noticed a new feature that you can book up to 12 sectors on a multi-sector redemption (up from the previous 6) so if you stick to QF, CX, QR and AA you might be able to work something out online and save the 6,000 per pax booking fee. I carefully avoided a transit through LHR with the associated heavy taxes on Premium Cabin passengers and found that CX tended to have the easiest availability of redemption seats and it looks like most of the equipment on the flights I've got with them will have the 1-2-1 mini-suite configuration in J. I would've liked to have included South America somehow, but there were virtually no redemption seat available in J. So I'm a happy camper nonetheless at 286,000 QFF points and $1,550 each in tax/surcharges. At 1 cent per point, a pretty full-on round-world trip in business class for <$4,500. Now I just have to sit back and wait for 10 months until my holiday.

 

[JP-SA-876]

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

Hi all, first post so forgive me if I've posted in the wrong thread for this.... I have 260K points and flying to Europe with partner on honeymoon May 2015. I want to book ADL-SYD-Dubai-Barcelona over and Athens-Dubai-Singapore-ADL back for us if possible. I want to get us a business leg one way for a treat if possible but Qantas tell me you can't book one part of the leg on points (e.g. SYD-Dubai) and the rest using cash?? (Economy/premium economy)
Confused as to how to get the best value out of the points on this trip. Any help much appreciated!

 

[Formal Hall]

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

A 'oneworld' award will not help you as Dubai-Barcelona and Athens-Dubai are on Emirates, which is not part of the oneworld alliance. You could replace the Emirates legs with going via London with BA, but I would not recommend this as the fees and taxes are high on BA and in any case 260K points would still be 20K short of two economy RTW tickets.

Emirates flies direct from ADL so you could see if there any classic availability ADL-DXB-BCN or ATH-DXB-ADL? This would save you time and it may be that there is some business class reward availability out of Adelaide. Or you could try to get economy reward availability for everything except DXB-BCN, which you could get as Business, this would allow you to use the business class lounges in DXB and get a taste of business without too many extra points.

 

[mrdctau]

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

Hi all, first post so forgive me if I've posted in the wrong thread for this.... I have 260K points and flying to Europe with partner on honeymoon May 2015. I want to book ADL-SYD-Dubai-Barcelona over and Athens-Dubai-Singapore-ADL back for us if possible. I want to get us a business leg one way for a treat if possible but Qantas tell me you can't book one part of the leg on points (e.g. SYD-Dubai) and the rest using cash?? (Economy/premium economy)
Confused as to how to get the best value out of the points on this trip. Any help much appreciated!

Which of those places do you actually want to have stop-overs in? 260K is going to be short by at least 20K for 2 x RTW, even economy, so you might need to clock a few more points through.

 

[Jacques Vert]

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

Hi all, first post so forgive me if I've posted in the wrong thread for this.... I have 260K points and flying to Europe with partner on honeymoon May 2015. I want to book ADL-SYD-Dubai-Barcelona over and Athens-Dubai-Singapore-ADL back for us if possible. I want to get us a business leg one way for a treat if possible but Qantas tell me you can't book one part of the leg on points (e.g. SYD-Dubai) and the rest using cash?? (Economy/premium economy)
Confused as to how to get the best value out of the points on this trip. Any help much appreciated!

As others have said you need at least another 20k points just for economy. Have you considered applying for a credit card to get the sign on bonus points? Not aware of your financial situation so can't make any recommendations but C.C. offers come and go and you still have time to accumulate some more points.

An example would be the DJ Amex: 22,500 points for annual fee of $99 provided you meet the conditions. Not saying that this is the best deal for you and from time to time there will be offers where the first year's fee is waived. JV

 

[mrdctau]

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

Another option might be to purchase an economy fare to Europe and back and then use your points to upgrade on one of the long-haul sectors.

 

[Formal Hall]

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

Another option might be to purchase an economy fare to Europe and back and then use your points to upgrade on one of the long-haul sectors.

Yes, but keep in mind not all economy fares are upgradeable (except during occasional promotions).

 

[JP-SA-876]

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

A 'oneworld' award will not help you as Dubai-Barcelona and Athens-Dubai are on Emirates, which is not part of the oneworld alliance. You could replace the Emirates legs with going via London with BA, but I would not recommend this as the fees and taxes are high on BA and in any case 260K points would still be 20K short of two economy RTW tickets.

Emirates flies direct from ADL so you could see if there any classic availability ADL-DXB-BCN or ATH-DXB-ADL? This would save you time and it may be that there is some business class reward availability out of Adelaide. Or you could try to get economy reward availability for everything except DXB-BCN, which you could get as Business, this would allow you to use the business class lounges in DXB and get a taste of business without too many extra points.

Thanks Formal Hall, that's good advice. I'll look into economy reward and business from DXB-BCN. I'll also look into flying in to other ports that are in the oneworld alliance. Cheers!

 

[JP-SA-876]

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

Which of those places do you actually want to have stop-overs in? 260K is going to be short by at least 20K for 2 x RTW, even economy, so you might need to clock a few more points through.

We are happy to fly the whole way to Barcelona in one go on the way over (unless flying economy the whole way) and on the way back the only required stopover would be Singapore to stay with friends for a couple of nights. Will look into how to get more points through CC options too, thanks for your help

 

[JP-SA-876]

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

As others have said you need at least another 20k points just for economy. Have you considered applying for a credit card to get the sign on bonus points? Not aware of your financial situation so can't make any recommendations but C.C. offers come and go and you still have time to accumulate some more points.

An example would be the DJ Amex: 22,500 points for annual fee of $99 provided you meet the conditions. Not saying that this is the best deal for you and from time to time there will be offers where the first year's fee is waived. JV

Will look into DJ Amex thanks JV

 

[JP-SA-876]

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

Yes, but keep in mind not all economy fares are upgradeable (except during occasional promotions).

Yep looked into this only Flexi Ecnomy fares are upgradeable at the moment, unless they run a promotion, cheers

 

[Jacques Vert]

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

Will look into DJ Amex thanks JV

Make sure you look at what other offers are around as well; plenty of discussion here on AFF.

 

[JohnK]

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

Hello! Can anyone tell me if there is an easy way to do the planning for a 280K trip - i.e. other than continuously having to go round and round through the whole thing on the disfunctional Qantas website every time you want to change just a single date?

I miss the old award booking engine where you could change a single sector and it would recalculate the whole itinerary. Not sure how Qantas thought this new version was an enhancement.

Another thing you can try is check each segment separately until you find the dates you want and then put them together into a multi-city itinerary.

Predictions on the status of these QF awards?

I guess that would depend on how popular they are.

It is not a good sign that AA have removed their version of the Oneworld award.