Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[PointsTraveller!]

My OWA was surprisingly extremely affordable - possibly due to human error.

MEL - NRT - FRA (JL) - LCY (BA) in J
MAD - JFK (IB) in J
JFK - CUN (AA) in Y
CUN - AUS - LAS (AA) in J
LAX - KIX (JL) in J
NRT - MEL (JL) in J

Only $635 AUD pp for taxes. Somehow my last two legs were ticketed for no fee at all.

Taxes to get from FRA - LCY were close to the same as getting from MEL - FRA.

 

[grey fantail]

Hi,

I have a Qantas Oneworld Award booking in economy which I am trying to make changes to.

The existing booking is:

Mon 17th Apr, SIN-SYD, QF2. transit.
Tue 17th Apr, SYD-BNE, QF504. stop.
surface sector BNE-SYD
Mon 10th Jun, SYD-HNL, QF103. stop.
Sun 25th Jun, HNL-SYD, QF104. stop.
Sat 22nd Jul, SYD-KUL, MH140. stop.
Wed 26th Jul, KUL-CMB, UL316. transit.
Wed 26th Jul, CMB-BOM, UL141. stop.
surface sector BOM-DEL
Mon 14th Aug, DEL-MEL, QF70. transit.
Tue 15th Aug, MEL-NTL, QF1598


I want to remove the SYD-HNL flight on the 10th Jun and add SYD-DRW on the 15th Sep.

I have been told by two different agents now that this throws up an error on their end and they can't make the changes for me.

One advised to cancel and rebook and the other seemed to be saying that rebooking would not help.

There are also some other changes that I want to make, but these two are the most important.

If I could make the changes, the booking would be:

Mon 17th Apr, SIN-SYD, QF2. transit.
Tue 17th Apr, SYD-BNE, QF504. stop.
surface sector BNE-HNL
Sun 25th Jun, HNL-SYD, QF104. stop.
Sat 22nd Jul, SYD-KUL, MH140. stop.
Wed 26th Jul, KUL-CMB, UL316. transit.
Wed 26th Jul, CMB-BOM, UL141. stop.
surface sector BOM-DEL
Mon 14th Aug, DEL-MEL, QF70. transit.
Tue 15th Aug, MEL-NTL, QF1598. stop.
surface sector NTL-SYD
Fri 15th Sep, SYD-DRW, QF842


Are the three surface sectors the problem?

Or is there some other problem that I am not seeing?

Miles are OK - in great circle mapper I get 32,585 miles for: sin-mel, mel-bne, bne-hnl, hnl-syd, syd-kul, kul-cmb, cmb-bom, bom-del, del-mel, mel-ntl, ntl-syd, syd-drw, drw-sin

 

[Lynda2475]

Or is there some other problem that I am not seeing?

I could be wrong but it looks like on your original you have 2 stops in SYD due to your surface sector from bne-syd; and while you can transit the same city twice you cant stop there twice. If it was ticketed in error originally could be a problem to chnage now.

 

[Mr H]

I could be wrong but it looks like you have 2 stops in SYD due to your surface sectorfrom bne-syd; and while you can transit the same city twice you cant stop there twice.

I think - but I'm hazy on this - that a surface sector counts as a stop in the port where you land but not the port where you take off.

 

[melbkate]

Hello all. I had a great trip booked in J for 2023 MEL-DOH-FCO then CDG-HEL then HEL-NRT-MEL. After QR segments droped off I spent hours and hours trying to reinstate the seats I gave up and changed trip to Japan only.

Interesting that I only got my points refund 292k and $1000 CC credit after posting on Twitter as my last resort when I was told I wasn't due anything by call centre in Fiji.

Anyway I am back trying to book a Europe trip for 2024 and preparing by doing some dummy bookings and searches and I have questions.

First thing I noticed was Finnair seats HEL-NRT do not come up ever. All their European reward seats show up on BA site not HEL-NRT
Have Finnair changed their availabilties?

Secondly, I have been looking at QR in that case to get to Europe and return home. Qantas site does not show QR availability at all but seats show up on BA so that is where I am looking.

However BA has 354 days our limit to their search. QR has 361. So there would be seats on QR free but the BA site cannot show. Is there a better site to look for QR seats?

Finally once I find QR seats do I then have to call Qantas to make the booking?

Hope someone can assist.

 

[Mr H]

Hello all. I had a great trip booked in J for 2023 MEL-DOH-FCO then CDG-HEL then HEL-NRT-MEL. After QR segments droped off I spent hours and hours trying to reinstate the seats I gave up and changed trip to Japan only.

Interesting that I only got my points refund 292k and $1000 CC credit after posting on Twitter as my last resort when I was told I wasn't due anything by call centre in Fiji.

Anyway I am back trying to book a Europe trip for 2024 and preparing by doing some dummy bookings and searches and I have questions.

First thing I noticed was Finnair seats HEL-NRT do not come up ever. All their European reward seats show up on BA site not HEL-NRT
Have Finnair changed their availabilties?

Secondly, I have been looking at QR in that case to get to Europe and return home. Qantas site does not show QR availability at all but seats show up on BA so that is where I am looking.

However BA has 354 days our limit to their search. QR has 361. So there would be seats on QR free but the BA site cannot show. Is there a better site to look for QR seats?

Finally once I find QR seats do I then have to call Qantas to make the booking?

Hope someone can assist.

You can only book what you see on the Qantas website. Almost all QR flights are not available using Qantas points.

 

[Lynda2475]

I think - but I'm hazy on this - that a surface sector counts as a stop in the port where you land but not the port where you take off.

Interesting, I’ve always just included the surface sectors in my GCM calculations as if Id flown the route directly.

 

[melbkate]

You can only book what you see on the Qantas website. Almost all QR flights are not available using Qantas points.

Hi thanks Mr H but I have booked on the phone previously flights on JL that didn't show on the Qantas site so thought same thing may apply. Do you have any more information about this?

 

[Danger]

Interesting, I’ve always just included the surface sectors in my GCM calculations as if Id flow the route directly.

Including the mileage, as you seem to suggest, is a necessity. However, only one of the surface sector ports (i.e. the origin or destination) counts for rules like 'Only x number of stops allowed in the country of origin' and so forth.

Hi thanks Mr H but I have booked on the phone previously flights on JL that didn't show on the Qantas site so thought same thing may apply. Do you have any more information about this?

You're right, melbkate. There are times when Qantas agents may see award seats that aren't available online. Equally, the reverse is also true, where agents can't see what's apparently available on the website. Both situations are reported here (sadly, far more of the latter, though).

 

[Mr H]

Hi thanks Mr H but I have booked on the phone previously flights on JL that didn't show on the Qantas site so thought same thing may apply. Do you have any more information about this?

You're right, melbkate. There are times when Qantas agents may see award seats that aren't available online. Equally, the reverse is also true, where agents can't see what's apparently available on the website. Both situations are reported here (sadly, far more of the latter, though).

I was using shorthand. There may occasionally be discrepancies between what is visible online and what agents can see - although I have always found that agents can find flights that are visible on the website of they search under flight numbers - maybe I have been lucky.

What I wanted to caution @melbkate against was using a partner airline search engine in order to see additional availability - e.g. with QR. I think QR no longer releases any premium seats to QF (or maybe only very close to departure) and only releases economy seats a couple of moths out. To all useful purposes, QR is not available for QF redemptions.

 

[Lynda2475]

Including the mileage, as you seem to suggest, is a necessity. However, only one of the surface sector ports (i.e. the origin or destination) counts for rules like 'Only x number of stops allowed in the country of origin' and so forth.

So last year part of my OWA was:
SYD-SIN-LHR-EDI stop
EDI-GLA surface sector stop
GLA-LHR stop

When calculating mileage i entered the following for these legs:
SYD-SIN + SIN-LHR + LHR-EDI + EDI-GLA +GLA-LHR

Are you saying from QF's pov it would actually be treated as just two legs:
SYD-SIN-LHR-EDI
EDI-GLA-LHR
so no record of a stop in GLA?

And should I have just searched SYD- EDI + EDI-LHR?

 

[Mr H]

Are you saying from QF's pov it would actually be treated as just two legs:
SYD-SIN-LHR-EDI
EDI-GLA-LHR
so no record of a stop in GLA?

Yes-ish. Glasgow would not have counted as a stop or a transit but would have been needed in the mix when calculating mileage.

And should I have just searched SYD- EDI + EDI-LHR?

We all have our own search strategies.

 

[Easy Tiger]

To all useful purposes, QR is not available for QF redemptions.

agreed here 100%, you'll get them only by pure luck due to the new and diluted relationship between QF & QR (normally if someone has pulled the pin close to the date of flight) best bet for QR is to join avios (sadly, as its difficult to earn wads of points in Oz) but also great to diversify and help your chances and try new things ...see other threads re Avios. Not meaing to hijack this thread with a different direction

 

[Lynda2475]

We all have our own search strategies.

I meant for the purpose of calauclating mileage, not for finding the flights.

 

[Mr H]

I meant for the purpose of calauclating mileage, not for finding the flights.

No - you would need to count mileage for surface sectors and flights - plus any mileage from your final destination back to your point of origin.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So last year part of my OWA was:
SYD-SIN-LHR-EDI stop
EDI-GLA surface sector stop
GLA-LHR stop

When calculating mileage i entered the following for these legs:
SYD-SIN + SIN-LHR + LHR-EDI + EDI-GLA +GLA-LHR

Are you saying from QF's pov it would actually be treated as just two legs:
SYD-SIN-LHR-EDI
EDI-GLA-LHR
so no record of a stop in GLA?

And should I have just searched SYD- EDI + EDI-LHR?

If you change flight numbers, you count the mileage for each sector. Or of course if you have a stopover, you count each flight.

I’m assuming EDI-GLA and GLA-LHR were separate flight numbers, so you’d be right to count both.

If you were on QF1 SYD-LHR, the stop in SIN isn’t counted as it’s a through flight, SYD-LHR.

 

[melbkate]

I was using shorthand. There may occasionally be discrepancies between what is visible online and what agents can see - although I have always found that agents can find flights that are visible on the website of they search under flight numbers - maybe I have been lucky.

What I wanted to caution @melbkate against was using a partner airline search engine in order to see additional availability - e.g. with QR. I think QR no longer releases any premium seats to QF (or maybe only very close to departure) and only releases economy seats a couple of moths out. To all useful purposes, QR is not available for QF redemptions.

Oh well that is a shame. How to get to Europe from Melbourne (not on BA or via London) is the dilemma? Previously gone via Tokyo and Helsinki or HKG any tips welcoome on where to put my time investigating

 

[Mr H]

Oh well that is a shame. How to get to Europe from Melbourne (not on BA or via London) is the dilemma? Previously gone via Tokyo and Helsinki or HKG any tips welcoome on where to put my time investigating

Just look at the list of Oneworld airlines and their routes. Tokyo or Honkers should still work.

 

[flapper]

A surprising good service with a flight change on my OWA. Today I was notified on the QF app of a flight and time change of a connecting AS flight within a few minutes a new e-ticket arrived. I'm not sure is this is the efficency of AS or QF. Even 20 min time change can result in days on the phone trying to get it reticketed or even flights inexpectedly disappearing without warning.

 

[grey fantail]

Hi,

I have a Qantas Oneworld Award booking in economy which I am trying to make changes to.

The existing booking is:

,,,,,

Are the three surface sectors the problem?

Or is there some other problem that I am not seeing?

.....

Replying to my earlier post, apparently the three surface sectors was the problem.

I modified my booking to include only two surface sectors and the next agent I spoke with was (eventually) able to price it.
Though before that happened there was another problem - at least according to the agent, I can only have 10 flights in my booking - they weren't able to get it to price until they removed an 11th flight I had in my booking.
I got the agent to remove a different flight instead, and they were still able to get the booking to price.
I only had 9 flights in my original and version 1 modified bookings, so that wasn't the cause of the initial problem.
My ticket hasn't been issued yet, so I will have to see if any additional issues crop up.