Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[MEL_Traveller]

I am trying to add a leg to my trip, Sydney to Perth which shows rewards seats online. I'm told on the phone the rewards seats are only available for "new bookings" and cannot be added to existing bookings. I was not aware there is a difference.

Hi… unfortunately this issue has had quite a bit of discussion on AFF… basically unless you can get the domestic connection offered at the time of your initial booking, you WON’T be able to add it later up unless you are a platinum member or higher and able to access the hobart call centre.

there is a hard block in QF’s systems that won’t allow you to add this sector, even if it shows available. They don’t want you to maximise your award! The block goes back to last year and nothing can be done unless you have sufficiently high status. Calls to the call centre tell you you can’t book it, or they can’t see it. Emails to customer service go unanswered.

If you book the international sector first, the add-on domestic flights don’t show. If you book the domestic add-on first, the international flights don’t show. There is no easily accessible work-around unfortunately.

You can however add the sector if it doesn’t immediately connect… so I completed my OWA by adding SYD-MEL a few days later… for a flight I needed anyway. But you need to have one stopover left.

 

[saddy]

Hi… unfortunately this issue has had quite a bit of discussion on AFF… basically unless you can get the domestic connection offered at the time of your initial booking, you WON’T be able to add it later up unless you are a platinum member or higher and able to access the hobart call centre.

there is a hard block in QF’s systems that won’t allow you to add this sector, even if it shows available. They don’t want you to maximise your award! The block goes back to last year and nothing can be done unless you have sufficiently high status. Calls to the call centre tell you you can’t book it, or they can’t see it. Emails to customer service go unanswered.

If you book the international sector first, the add-on domestic flights don’t show. If you book the domestic add-on first, the international flights don’t show. There is no easily accessible work-around unfortunately.

You can however add the sector if it doesn’t immediately connect… so I completed my OWA by adding SYD-MEL a few days later… for a flight I needed anyway. But you need to have one stopover left.

This is my exact situation! It was all initially booked on one trip but for whatever reason the tickets were not processed in time by Qantas so I needed to rebook the whole trip. Did the first six flights online and went to do the last via phone. Now here I am, so close to the perfect booking!

 

[Vrz]

Hi everyone,
I am booking a RTW Business trip with Qantas points (318k)

I have gone through the rules, but im wanting to clarify a few points.

Currently my plans are

PLAN A
Stop 1: BKK-> HND -> HIJ
(Land sector HIJ->HND)
Stop 2: HND->MEL
Stop 3: MEL->HND
Stop 4: HND-> HEL
Stop 5: HEL-> DEL
Returning flight: DEL -> MEL -> HBA (return to different city)

Would this work? I am transiting through HND in the first stop, but I will return to HND for a proper stop later on.

Im guessing PLAN A should work, but would it work if I went to Tokyo as a stop twice but through the 2 different airports?

PLAN B
Stop 1: BKK-> HND
Stop 2: HND->MEL
Stop 3: MEL->NRT
Stop 4: NRT-> HEL
Stop 5: HEL-> DEL
Returning flight: DEL -> MEL -> HBA (return to different city)

Would this work, or is it that I cant go through the same city twice as a stopover?

Would anyone be able to shed some light as to if this is a possibility?

 

[Phoenix-1]

Did you have any issues with the flights or did they eventually charge you?

Unfortunately I ended up cancelling the flights.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This is my exact situation! It was all initially booked on one trip but for whatever reason the tickets were not processed in time by Qantas so I needed to rebook the whole trip. Did the first six flights online and went to do the last via phone. Now here I am, so close to the perfect booking!

In that case you should have gone to their special help desk which has been set up exactly for this scenario… tickets that have been cancelled because not ticketed in time.

They would have recreated your original itinerary.

Unfortunately I doubt you’ll be able to get the domestic flight added… even if you argue your original booking was cancelled though no fault of your own. You’d need to get to the right person… and that’s almost impossible.

You could try the special desk… you’d need your old booking details and proof of departure city etc. They might add on the domestic for you.

 

[melbkate]

Hi all I am really in need of advice. I have successfully booked 4 x OWAs in J for 2 people over the past 5 years spending a lot of time etc as you all know. Setting alarms to wake up at 12 when seats are released etc.

However now it seems near impossible to get to Europe via Asia. No QR options show I get an error. There are no CX flights and hardly any JL and only economy. From HKG I can get to Helsinki and then Rome in J but no way to get to HKG except via China Air

What I am trying to do is go to Italy / France / Spain (via Helsinki if necessary) from Melbourne next year in June so seats are starting to open. Want to avoid London and MH.

I had planned to use the Award Flight Assist service as I am having no luck and they are not taking requests for travel until after October now.

I then thought I will just go on Emirates to one key city say Rome and back and do land travel in Europe but even that doesn't seem an option.

Any advice welcome thanks Kate

 

[Warragul]

Would anyone be able to shed some light as to if this is a possibility?

Plan B won't work - multiple stopovers in Tokyo. Only one stopover per city is allowed. The wording in the conditions regarding stopovers says city not airport.

 

[pjm99au]

Hi all I am really in need of advice. I have successfully booked 4 x OWAs in J for 2 people over the past 5 years spending a lot of time etc as you all know. Setting alarms to wake up at 12 when seats are released etc.

However now it seems near impossible to get to Europe via Asia. No QR options show I get an error. There are no CX flights and hardly any JL and only economy. From HKG I can get to Helsinki and then Rome in J but no way to get to HKG except via China Air

What I am trying to do is go to Italy / France / Spain (via Helsinki if necessary) from Melbourne next year in June so seats are starting to open. Want to avoid London and MH.

I had planned to use the Award Flight Assist service as I am having no luck and they are not taking requests for travel until after October now.

I then thought I will just go on Emirates to one key city say Rome and back and do land travel in Europe but even that doesn't seem an option.

Any advice welcome thanks Kate

Have you tried QF to BLR or DEL or UL via CMB? Not great options admittedly but with QR out of the mix limited options

 

[melbkate]

Have you tried QF to BLR or DEL or UL via CMB? Not great options admittedly but with QR out of the mix limited options

thanks India would be good and I hadn't thought of that but I took a look and the only flights to India in june 2024 are with MH via KL or UL via CMB nothing at all on QF that I can find leaving Australia to Asia. Not keen on MH or UL. And UL then goes to europe via London on BA which I also wanted to avoid. Hmmmmmmmm I am quietly freaking out as I have so many points to use and had my flights for this year drop off booking - they were with QR and I could not get them back on my itinerary.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

thanks India would be good and I hadn't thought of that but I took a look and the only flights to India in june 2024 are with MH via KL or UL via CMB nothing at all on QF that I can find leaving Australia to Asia. Not keen on MH or UL. And UL then goes to europe via London on BA which I also wanted to avoid. Hmmmmmmmm I am quietly freaking out as I have so many points to use and had my flights for this year drop off booking - they were with QR and I could not get them back on my itinerary.

At a pinch I think you should consider UL.

MH i totally agree with you.

UL isn’t too bad… flat beds, tasty food, good service.

Try searching using AA.com for awards, see if there’s anything that comes up and then try and replicate on the QF system.

 

[ellen10]

Ok so I know this is not a Oneworld reward yet and it may not turn into one but I am excited!!

After reading many suggestions and lack of any J options from Sydney, I decided to start my flights from SIN.
I managed to get two J JL reward flights from SIN to Helsinki in late April. The month map showed only economy flights every day except this one date, which had J options. (I was thinking too good to be true and probably phantom flights), or maybe just lucky and someone had cancelled a reward and it went back into inventory.
So I have booked the following flights so far:

SIN to Helsinki via Haneda JL
HEL to Budapest AY
AMS to Bordeaux KLM
LHR to SIN via HAN to SIN

Hoping to fill in a couple of internal Europe flights but not sure of all our plans yet.

My only concern, is my transit time in Helsinki is 50mins. I googled Schengen transit times and it says min 40mins. And it did allow me to book this flight and it was the only direct flight. Of course that is if our arrival is on time. So if my flight is delayed will I be protected?

My delight in getting these flights is peppered with some doubt now, but I have already received the ticket 5 minutes after booking and I am loathe to change anything at this time. Should I be concerned?

 

[k_sheep]

Well I have now finished my 318k award, I feel safe to post here.

Had huge numbers of issues, along with most people. The worst was the loss of my WAW-xDOH-DEL QR flights (along with multiple others). Unfortunately, this happened after I had already commenced my journey so according to the rules I could not make any changes to the route. Given QR refused to release any seats, I thought that I was done for - and best case scenario, thought I'd have to make them surface sectors and pay through the nose to get those as one way seats.

I talked to what seemed like a fairly clueless Fiji agent, who I managed to convince to change the routing to WAW-xLHR-DEL. She did, but it never ticketed of course. I phoned again, and they said would ticket within 24 hours, didn't of course. Fortuitously this was when QF started their email to fix stuffed reward flight bookings. It ticketed very soon after that, no questions asked.

My final routing was syd-dfw-eze-mad-prg-hel-waw-lhr-del-mel-syd-mcy with stops only in EZE and PRG as it turns out. I was meant to have further stops in WAW, DOH and DEL but all the flight changed put a stop to that. I had <24 hour stops in WAW, LHR and DEL which at least allowed some sightseeing.
A map from the Great Circle Mapper .. which at 34996 miles is perilously close! I suspect since the QF calculators often go over gcmap, I reckon I might have fallen foul of that rule too!

Did I get the best value out of this? Definitely not, too many compromises. Will I do it again? Not until they fix the difficulties in booking and changing.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Ok so I know this is not a Oneworld reward yet and it may not turn into one but I am excited!!

After reading many suggestions and lack of any J options from Sydney, I decided to start my flights from SIN.
I managed to get two J JL reward flights from SIN to Helsinki in late April. The month map showed only economy flights every day except this one date, which had J options. (I was thinking too good to be true and probably phantom flights), or maybe just lucky and someone had cancelled a reward and it went back into inventory.
So I have booked the following flights so far:

SIN to Helsinki via Haneda JL
HEL to Budapest AY
AMS to Bordeaux KLM
LHR to SIN via HAN to SIN

Hoping to fill in a couple of internal Europe flights but not sure of all our plans yet.

My only concern, is my transit time in Helsinki is 50mins. I googled Schengen transit times and it says min 40mins. And it did allow me to book this flight and it was the only direct flight. Of course that is if our arrival is on time. So if my flight is delayed will I be protected?

My delight in getting these flights is peppered with some doubt now, but I have already received the ticket 5 minutes after booking and I am loathe to change anything at this time. Should I be concerned?

With KLM in the booking you won’t be able to turn it into an OWA because KLM is not a OneWorld member.

On your transit question: Yes if it’s all on the one PNR you should be protected if the flight to HEL is delayed.

 

[ellen10]

Thanks for your reply @Captain Halliday , my bad in adding the KLM flight, it was a last minute thought and I wanted to get to the payment page to see if the flights would actually stick and get ticketed. If I decide to turn it into a OWA I can change that flight.

 

[melbkate]

At a pinch I think you should consider UL.

MH i totally agree with you.

UL isn’t too bad… flat beds, tasty food, good service.

Try searching using AA.com for awards, see if there’s anything that comes up and then try and replicate on the QF system.

Thanks I did look on AA which showed a good QR leg and as the QF online search using Doha on always comes back with http 400 ERROR I called the call centre and suprise and was told there was nothing. Also I am concerned with UL's state atm as they seem to having a lot of financial issues and am worried that will flow on to safety and cancellations.

 

[Mr H]

Thanks I did look on AA which showed a good QR leg and as the QF online search using Doha on always comes back with http 400 ERROR I called the call centre and suprise and was told there was nothing. Also I am concerned with UL's state atm as they seem to having a lot of financial issues and am worried that will flow on to safety and cancellations.

Hi Kate - QR is [effectively] not available using Qantas points. I do feel like you maybe need to broaden your criteria to include airlines that may not have been your first preference, or routes that may not have been your first preference.

 

[melbkate]

Hi Kate - QR is [effectively] not available using Qantas points. I do feel like you maybe need to broaden your criteria to include airlines that may not have been your first preference, or routes that may not have been your first preference.

Thanks I am happy to broaden criteria could you suggest other routes to try at all? The only options I can see is MH or UL or China Air with extra stops and not appealing. Qantas and Cathay and JL don't show up in my searches at all for say MEL-HKG or MEL-ICN or MEL-NRT or even via SYD it is definitely a different playing field and I really don't know how people are managing to book.

 

[levelnine]

The only options I can see is MH or UL or China Air with extra stops and not appealing.

That's probably all you're going to get if you're not Qantas Platinum (and therefore able to request the release of award seats on Qantas flights).

Note: China Air is not part of oneworld, so cannot be used on a OWA.

If you're prepared to pay change fees, you could book a non-ideal route to have something locked in then keep an eye out for better options as they open up.

One other suggestion is to look at BA SYD-SIN-LHR. They reliably open up 2 seats in business on every flight, but they are usually snapped up in seconds by British people trying to use their 2-for-1 vouchers, so you have to be super quick and grab them the second they're released.

May need to split up search into individual sectors:

 

[pjm99au]

Thanks I am happy to broaden criteria could you suggest other routes to try at all? The only options I can see is MH or UL or China Air with extra stops and not appealing. Qantas and Cathay and JL don't show up in my searches at all for say MEL-HKG or MEL-ICN or MEL-NRT or even via SYD it is definitely a different playing field and I really don't know how people are managing to book.

Hi. Do you have any status with Qantas? This affects the timing of visibility for awards on Qantas.

 

[Mr H]

Thanks I am happy to broaden criteria could you suggest other routes to try at all? The only options I can see is MH or UL or China Air with extra stops and not appealing. Qantas and Cathay and JL don't show up in my searches at all for say MEL-HKG or MEL-ICN or MEL-NRT or even via SYD it is definitely a different playing field and I really don't know how people are managing to book.

People have suggested some routes but you came back with problems with all of them. Basically, you look at the routes flown by One World airlines and search on them. You seem to want everything served on a plate.