Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[elanshin]

can this be booked with flights more than 1 year in advance?

Generally no. Award flights have to exist and I don't think any airline releases awards over a year in advance.

 

[Amanad78]

I just recently finished my OWA, I had already taken 3 of 5 legs at the time of calling Qantas (2 were yet to be taken and I wanted to change Leg #4) - I was told that once the itinerary starts and you've flown some legs, that for the remaining unflown legs, only a change of dates is possible and not a change of route, even if it's to the same destination.

I called Qantas when I was in London in an attempt to change my direct BA flight from LHR to SIN in PE (Leg #4) to be via either Doha (QR) or Dubai (EK) instead.

Emirates aren't part of OneWorld so can't be used on a OWA.
Would be nice to try F in EK though!

 

[Warragul]

Generally no. Award flights have to exist and I don't think any airline releases awards over a year in advance.

Don't think any type of seat are available more than 365 days in advance on any airline.

 

[MelbFlyer]

Emirates aren't part of OneWorld so can't be used on a OWA.

Yep I'm aware of that and at the time, would have been willing to pay the points above 318k and taxes to upgrade from BA PE.

Alternatively it would have been nice to be able to take the QR business seat that was available online, as that would have been under the 318k cap.

It's a shame that Qatar don't release reward seats for QFF members until 3 days prior (therefore you can't plan in advance) and also a shame that not all Qantas consultants can see and amend reward bookings - you literally have to be lucky to get a consultant who is able to see what you see online.

 

[SydneySwan]

It's a shame that Qatar don't release reward seats for QFF members until 3 days prior (therefore you can't plan in advance) and also a shame that not all Qantas consultants can see and amend reward bookings - you literally have to be lucky to get a consultant who is able to see what you see online.

Shame is way too polite. Its b----y disgraceful.

 

[blu]

can this be booked with flights more than 1 year in advance?

Not more than a year. See:

When do new reward seats come out? - Point Hacks

The early bird gets the worm. Here's how to get first dibs at reward seats.

www.pointhacks.com.au

 

[flapper]

I had great difficulty adding an AS J flight to my OWA. Despite a number of flights showing on QF & BA with J seats the cc operators insisted there were none only Y. After 4 calls finally one could see J seats but then she couldn't add them to my booking, she said they mustn't exist. I was staring to believe they must be phantom availability. I made a few more call not expecting any luck. I thought I'd try one more time and finally she could see availability and could add the flight to my booking. Why is it so many operators can't see the available seats? Next will be the battle to try and get it reticketed. I wonder how many calls that will take? Last time it was 15.

 

[Phoenix-1]

Just want a sanity check on this OWCA J itinerary:

Stop 1: MEL-KUL-BKK MH
Stop 2: BKK-HEL AY
Stop 3: HEL-JFK AY
Stop 4: DFW-HEL-CDG AY
Stop 5: AMS-HEL-KIX
Return: NRT-KUL-ADL

Because there's 3 open jaws I can't book it online so just confirming it's within the rules. It IS 34,700 miles though, which is awfully close to the cap.

Planning to book everything except the last leg and then spend a few days HUACA'ing until I can get someone to add the last leg.

 

[Mr H]

Just want a sanity check on this OWCA J itinerary:

Stop 1: MEL-KUL-BKK MH
Stop 2: BKK-HEL AY
Stop 3: HEL-JFK AY
Stop 4: DFW-HEL-CDG AY
Stop 5: AMS-HEL-KIX
Return: NRT-KUL-ADL

Because there's 3 open jaws I can't book it online so just confirming it's within the rules. It IS 34,700 miles though, which is awfully close to the cap.

Planning to book everything except the last leg and then spend a few days HUACA'ing until I can get someone to add the last leg.

The route follows all the rules except one - alas GC Map says this comes in at 35,100 miles - so no dice...

 

[Phoenix-1]

The route follows all the rules except one - alas GC Map says this comes in at 35,100 miles - so no dice...

View attachment 352675

Thanks. Forgot about the extra leg to MEL. I'll see if I can find a flight to MEL instead of ADL. Alternatively:

Stop 1: MEL-KUL-BKK MH
Stop 2: BKK-HEL AY
Stop 3: HEL-JFK AY
Stop 4: DFW-HEL-CDG AY
Stop 5: AMS-HEL-HND
Return: NRT-KUL-ADL
Return to start: ADL-MEL

Comes in at 34,899

 

[Mr H]

Thanks. Forgot about the extra leg to MEL. I'll see if I can find a flight to MEL instead of ADL. Alternatively:

Stop 1: MEL-KUL-BKK MH
Stop 2: BKK-HEL AY
Stop 3: HEL-JFK AY
Stop 4: DFW-HEL-CDG AY
Stop 5: AMS-HEL-HND
Return: NRT-KUL-ADL
Return to start: ADL-MEL

Comes in at 34,899

Yes, that works.

 

[elanshin]

Thanks. Forgot about the extra leg to MEL. I'll see if I can find a flight to MEL instead of ADL. Alternatively:

Stop 1: MEL-KUL-BKK MH
Stop 2: BKK-HEL AY
Stop 3: HEL-JFK AY
Stop 4: DFW-HEL-CDG AY
Stop 5: AMS-HEL-HND
Return: NRT-KUL-ADL
Return to start: ADL-MEL

Comes in at 34,899

Whats your airline for stop 5 ? Given that it goes via HEL, AY again? And return via KUL again is MH? If that's the case, you'll need a 3rd airline which the ADL > MEL will solve if you get QF.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Whats your airline for stop 5 ? Given that it goes via HEL, AY again? And return via KUL again is MH? If that's the case, you'll need a 3rd airline which the ADL > MEL will solve if you get QF.

Why?

The itinerary already has two oneworld airlines other than Qantas.

There’s no requirement to have three.

 

[elanshin]

Why?

The itinerary already has two oneworld airlines other than Qantas.

There’s no requirement to have three.

Isn't the requirement to have 3 different OW airlines. Or have i just assumed that sentence to mean 3 airlines but it's actually just 2 non QF OW ?

 

[Captain Halliday]

Isn't the requirement to have 3 different OW airlines. Or have i just assumed that sentence to mean 3 airlines but it's actually just 2 non QF OW ?

From the terms:
13.5.1 A oneworld Award is an Award Flight Itinerary that includes travel on at least two oneworld Alliance Airlines other than Qantas and does not include any travel on any airline that is not a oneworld Alliance Airline.

 

[sarvowinner]

Just 2 non-QF OW carriers. I was under the impression there could only be a maximum of two surface legs, albeit an unwritten rule?

• Surface sectors are allowed, and count as one stopover, but the distance between the two airports counts towards your total limit. Although there is no published limit, Qantas seems to allow up to 2 surface sectors per itinerary.

 

[Aussiejosh]

can this be booked with flights more than 1 year in advance?

You can't book more than 1 year in advance

 

[MelbFlyer]

So after having finished my 5 leg business OWA just recently, I'm back to Qantas' website to look for my next trip, around this time next year.

This time it won't be a OWA, as I'm looking to use points to redeem on MU, CI and JL, so it won't be capped anyway.

With the recent saga I had in relation to trying to change flights / dates within a OWA, I wonder if it's the same as per any other reward booking?

ie. Is it "harder" for Qantas consultants to amend a OWA booking compared to a regular "awards" / non-OWA booking? Or, it's the same regardless (as they're both awards bookings)?

I'm a lowly Bronze and therefore don't have access to the Hobart team.

It'll probably be a (simpler) 3 leg business itinerary this time round - but of course this time round I'll try my best to get the itinerary as I want in one go - but of course as we all know, sometimes your perfect itinerary isn't available first time round - ie. new business seats may be released after your initial booking etc.

I suspect it'll be the same BS responses as per when attempting to change flights in my now flown OWA -
- "The flights / seats you see online are only for new bookings and can't be used for existing bookings"
- "There are no reward seats showing for the day you have requested" (even despite me looking at them online in the multi city booking at the time of calling)

amongst other responses.

Looking forward to a much easier booking experience this time round (if at all possible!)

 

[Phoenix-1]

Whats your airline for stop 5 ? Given that it goes via HEL, AY again? And return via KUL again is MH? If that's the case, you'll need a 3rd airline which the ADL > MEL will solve if you get QF.

Yes, AY and MH again.

 

[Mr H]

This time it won't be a OWA, as I'm looking to use points to redeem on MU, CI and JL, so it won't be capped anyway.

You may be better to create this as a series of one way trips point to point if it isn't going to be capped. Advantage is that each sector is more likely to be bookable online which avoids multiple change fees - disadvantage is you pay multiple cancellation fees if you change your mind.