Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[MelbFlyer]

I can confirm… friend who selected seats on an AY award via QFFF… AY site showed long-haul seat ‘pending’ or on request or whatever. But on day of travel the seat held and was confirmed on the boarding pass.

So it seems some sort of glitch, but the seats are actually good to go.

That's good news, as I have 2 AY flights in a few months time.

I've logged into the QF, AY, BA and RJ portals:

AY - The selected seats are "Waiting in my (your) cart" - and there's no way to "Confirm" them
QF - The selected seats in the AY portal come up as the seat number that's been selected
BA - As per above in the QF portal
RJ - As per above in the QF and BA portals

So, it seems that on QFs / BAs / RJs portal it comes up with no issues, but on AYs, it's still "not confirmed".

 

[GDale]

Successfully booked a OWA in J on AY/JL/QF/MH (10 flights, 2 surface sectors, 33K miles inc the surface sectors). Ticketing happened within 3 hours - I was amazed!

By contrast, a separate one way flight in J on AY booked using QFF the same day still has not ticketed 4 days later, and a prompt to the ticketing escalations email address has not done anything it seems. Does anyone know how long the AY reservation will survive for without ticketing?

I had no issues selecting seats for the AY flights on the AY website. The lack of a checkout/confirmation button was confusing, but I can see in MMB on the AY site that the seat is confirmed.

 

[Des1801]

Starting to piece together my OWA for July-august next year. Travelling with 3 pax, so this obviously makes things somewhat more difficult. I have locked in first flight, BA HKG-LHR in J (on the A350 flight), now just waiting for either QF or CX seats to become available so I can get from MEL to HKG. Am I looking for a unicorn hoping for 3 J seats on that route ?

Also, taxes for the HKG-LHR leg were only ~$70 per pax, which I thought was awesome, given the other BA flight options that I looked at (from either Japan, China or singapore) I was looking at taxes north of $400 per pax (even higher for some routes)

 

[cjd600]

Starting to piece together my OWA for July-august next year. Travelling with 3 pax, so this obviously makes things somewhat more difficult. I have locked in first flight, BA HKG-LHR in J (on the A350 flight), now just waiting for either QF or CX seats to become available so I can get from MEL to HKG. Am I looking for a unicorn hoping for 3 J seats on that route ?

Also, taxes for the HKG-LHR leg were only ~$70 per pax, which I thought was awesome, given the other BA flight options that I looked at (from either Japan, China or singapore) I was looking at taxes north of $400 per pax (even higher for some routes)

Don't be surprised if those surcharges jump quite bit when you tack on the AU departure at the start, it will recalculate

 

[Melka]

Removed on advice

 

[Mr H]

Just checking here…

315,000 doesn't appear anywhere on the OWA table.

 

[Melka]

315,000 doesn't appear anywhere on the OWA table.

Quite right, now corrected to 318,000. Thanks!

 

[Mr H]

Quite right, now corrected to 318,000. Thanks!

Then it is possible you have discovered a loophole. If your trip has been ticketed then you should be good to go.

But it is seldom a wise strategy to post about a loophole you have discovered on a public forum asking whether it can possibly be true.

 

[Familyman1]

I need to cancel some sectors of a multi-sector One-world booking. Can I do that on-line or do I need to ring the call centre? Also, is the call centre as bad as it was last year? I haven't rung them for a while and I have some very bad memories of the experience.

 

[DC3]

I need to cancel some sectors of a multi-sector One-world booking. Can I do that on-line or do I need to ring the call centre?

All changes are still done by phone

 

[DC3]

Also, is the call centre as bad as it was last year?

YMMV

 

[Mr H]

Also, is the call centre as bad as it was last year? I haven't rung them for a while and I have some very bad memories of the experience.

The waiting times have been fixed. Some agents seem to be able to sort things out but there's still plenty who can't - but usually they seem to take less time to disappoint you than they did last year.

 

[MelbFlyer]

All changes are still done by phone

And this is part of the problem with Qantas - they really need to implement a system online within Manage My Booking where you can change reward itineraries.

Would save them and us so much time and frustration.

It took months and over a hundred phone calls (literally), for me to change my economy reward seats to business reward seats, when a few times during those months, new business reward seats popped up online, but the agent wasn't able to see it / claimed there was nothing when calling to attempt to grab those seats.

ie.

March - I can see new business reward seats online (which I want to book to replace my existing economy seats), I call up to attempt to change it, the agent(s) say they can't see it / there's nothing available / they're only for new bookings

May - New seats appear online again as per above, and the same responses from multiple Qantas consultants

June - Same thing as above

July - All of a sudden, it can be seen and changed (end result)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Oh dear. Rang a couple days ago to accept a minor schedule change. Can’t do it online because of previous changes to the ticket.

Agent said they’d process it manually, which they did, and the booking updated.

Today, noticed my account balance is high… the ticket has been ‘cancelled’ and refunded all 318k Call centre says it is all ok. But I dunno..l

 

[Mr H]

Oh dear. Rang a couple days ago to accept a minor schedule change. Can’t do it online because of previous changes to the ticket.

Agent said they’d process it manually, which they did, and the booking updated.

Today, noticed my account balance is high… the ticket has been ‘cancelled’ and refunded all 318k Call centre says it is all ok. But I dunno..l

This is normal in the case of reticketing. 99.999% of the time, the points will be taken back out of your account just when you have convinced yourself they have forgotten and you have scored a freebie!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This is normal in the case of reticketing. 99.999% of the time, the points will be taken back out of your account just when you have convinced yourself they have forgotten and you have scored a freebie!

Thanks. I’m surprised this needed reticketing for a 6 minute schedule change. I thought this would just be revalidated like the last one (yes, USA schedule change season! Seem to have a flight adjustment every few days)

 

[melbkate]

All changes are still done by phone

Actually I have made changes to OWA on both Twitter and Messenger with private messaging to Qantas. It often takes a while for them to reply but I found it easier than trying to do it verbally due to language and knowledge issues. The online team seem a bit more switched on and they will seek advice if they don't know something. The messages also stay there so you can come and go while they take time to reply.

 

[MelbFlyer]

Actually I have made changes to OWA on both Twitter and Messenger with private messaging to Qantas. It often takes a while for them to reply but I found it easier than trying to do it verbally due to language and knowledge issues. The online team seem a bit more switched on and they will seek advice if they don't know something. The messages also stay there so you can come and go while they take time to reply.

I also tried to use this method as well especially when I was getting nowhere with phone consultants telling me that there's no business reward seats on the flight / day I wanted (when I could see them online at that very moment!), but when there's limited reward seats available, often when they get back to you, the seat(s) are gone / sold out.

I guess for a leg cancellation it's okay, but if adding, it will take a while.

 

[The Bison]

Hi Team
Looking for some advice regarding a booking.
Travelling from Brisbane to Malaga next May. The only possible way has been to book two separate flights so they aren't in the same flight segment of the ticket. Both flights occur on the same day

Flight 1 - QF BNE - NRT - dep 0935 arr 1755
Flight 2 - AY NRT - HEL - dep 23:05 (then on to Malaga from Helsinki)

Would I have to collect bags and clear customs because they aren't the same flight or is the OWA considered the same ticket and interline baggage rules would apply and I can check through all the way?

Any other issues with this, outside the risk of a massive delay screwing the second flight?

I've working at it for a solid 48 hours and only looking for Y seats. Feels like I've been throwing mud at the wall and hoping anything sticks. Well done to all you veterans getting the premium seats. It has certainly been a lesson in patience

 

[Mr H]

Hi Team
Looking for some advice regarding a booking.
Travelling from Brisbane to Malaga next May. The only possible way has been to book two separate flights so they aren't in the same flight segment of the ticket. Both flights occur on the same day

Flight 1 - QF BNE - NRT - dep 0935 arr 1755
Flight 2 - AY NRT - HEL - dep 23:05 (then on to Malaga from Helsinki)

Would I have to collect bags and clear customs because they aren't the same flight or is the OWA considered the same ticket and interline baggage rules would apply and I can check through all the way?

Any other issues with this, outside the risk of a massive delay screwing the second flight?

I've working at it for a solid 48 hours and only looking for Y seats. Feels like I've been throwing mud at the wall and hoping anything sticks. Well done to all you veterans getting the premium seats. It has certainly been a lesson in patience

Why can't you get them on the same ticket?