Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[MelbFlyer]

agents being able/not able to see availability for ‘new’ vs ‘existing’ bookings.

This x100.

Back last year before my Business OWA, I called many, many times in an attempt to change some flights to ones that had availability online.

I got the above quote 95% of the time in that, seats showing online are for "new" bookings only.

 

[N860CR]

This x100.

Back last year before my Business OWA, I called many, many times in an attempt to change some flights to ones that had availability online.

I got the above quote 95% of the time in that, seats showing online are for "new" bookings only.

Do we have any clarification as to the validity of this claim?

I had a similar issue with a HND-JFK which had J showing but wasn’t bookable as part of a OWA. Tried after the fact to “change” to the J seat (that was still showing available) and given the “only for new bookings” like. Did escalate it to the rewards email but they got their back up and sent some pretty rude emails that started to claim it was “a market based seat” and “some seats are only available from some markets” (ie: gotta book ex Japan which I know is a lie).

 

[DC3]

I got the above quote 95% of the time in that, seats showing online are for "new" bookings only.

So, was the other 5% successful, or did they just offer another reason, or no reason at all?

 

[MelbFlyer]

So, was the other 5% successful, or did they just offer another reason, or no reason at all?

The other 5% was successful in which I had already HUACA multiple times and luckily got through to Hobart or a consultant who knew what they were doing / what kind of booking I had.

It was incredibly frustrating calling up and being told that the reward seats I was looking at online at the time of calling was either :

- Not available on their end / they had no visibility on it / there were no reward seats on the dates I was looking at
or
- Was only available for new bookings and can't be used towards existing bookings

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Once we get a solution to the above, can we post it on a wiki? (I thought someone has posted an explanation or workaround previously, but I can’t find it now)

 

[ChrisMars]

Once we get a solution to the above, can we post it on a wiki? (I thought someone has posted an explanation or workaround previously, but I can’t find it now)

Yea I remember seeing someone posting some rough guidelines. Ideally someone should just ask to a qualified agent what did they do to find the seat where most agent fails, and how to help them find the seats in the future. I feel that those "only available for new bookings" excuse hard to believe.

 

[WilsonM]

While I'm certainly not convinced that the agents are saying the correct things the vast majority of the time (I highly doubt most flights are 'only available to new bookings'), I believe there are POS restrictions applied to some reward flights, which make them not available if you're attempting to book from a different POS i.e. I was looking at a reward booking for HEL-NRT-CGK-SYD, but CGK-SYD was only available with a POS in Indonesia or Australia, and wouldn't appear if I searched as a multi-city from Helsinki. Not sure if JL applies the same logic though.

Again, I don't believe for a second that the agents are correct in what they're saying the vast majority of time. But always worth checking if you're adding on flights, that the flights do appear when searching from your ticket's POS - adding on a SYD-MEL leg departing prior to the search you're actually doing (if your first flight is exAUS) will do the trick.

It's also why adding flights on which depart prior to the first flight can create issues - changing POS = changed taxes, but also in theory it can change award availability.

 

[N860CR]

While I'm certainly not convinced that the agents are saying the correct things the vast majority of the time (I highly doubt most flights are 'only available to new bookings'), I believe there are POS restrictions applied to some reward flights, which make them not available if you're attempting to book from a different POS i.e. I was looking at a reward booking for HEL-NRT-CGK-SYD, but CGK-SYD was only available with a POS in Indonesia or Australia, and wouldn't appear if I searched as a multi-city from Helsinki. Not sure if JL applies the same logic though.

Again, I don't believe for a second that the agents are correct in what they're saying the vast majority of time. But always worth checking if you're adding on flights, that the flights do appear when searching from your ticket's POS - adding on a SYD-MEL leg departing prior to the search you're actually doing (if your first flight is exAUS) will do the trick.

It's also why adding flights on which depart prior to the first flight can create issues - changing POS = changed taxes, but also in theory it can change award availability.

For a married segment, yes. But I’d like a definitive answer on the “point of sale” claim that’s been made from a little higher up. My understanding is that award seats won’t have that restriction… but I could be wrong.

 

[WilsonM]

For a married segment, yes. But I’d like a definitive answer on the “point of sale” claim that’s been made from a little higher up. My understanding is that award seats won’t have that restriction… but I could be wrong.

Award seats definitely carry POS restrictions in some cases.

Just as an example, you can see the difference in availability in the two screenshots - one is just a SYD-BKK search, the next is HEL-ARN first (setting the POS to Finland), then SYD-BKK. In this case, it looks like PE + J on QF295 is POS locked. Clicking through on a couple of dates shows no PE or J on QF295 when set to HEL - the J that does appear is MH or JQ via MEL/BNE, while if starting from SYD there's PE or J on QF295.

 

[BrettVale1]

I have been adding flights to my Oneworld Classic Reward booking for business class over the past 4 weeks (travel in September 2025) and have just found out they have overcharged me around $1000. After many calls found out that they charged me for the full taxes again, rather than the difference. They have advised that they can't do anything until I have travelled. Has anybody else experienced this issue? My concern is if I push it to get refunded the incorrect charge, they may cancel the whole booking.

 

[sudoer]

My concern is if I push it to get refunded the incorrect charge, they may cancel the whole booking.

In some ways I agree, you don't want an offshore call centre staff member tinkering with your booking for the sake of getting the refund at this stage.

Have you tried emailing the classic award escalations inbox?

 

[BrettVale1]

In some ways I agree, you don't want an offshore call centre staff member tinkering with your booking for the sake of getting the refund at this stage.

Have you tried emailing the classic award escalations inbox?

Will email them today. Thanks

 

[fastferret]

Has anybody else experienced this issue?

I'm not sure if it is the same issue, but I was adding flights to a OWA in September and there were times when the fees and charges on my credit card doubled up.

I planned to call Qantas about this, but after a few weeks the duplicates were cancelled and all was good. During this time, the charges that were duplicated were shown as 'Pending' on my credit card account.

 

[BrettVale1]

I'm not sure if it is the same issue, but I was adding flights to a OWA in September and there were times when the fees and charges on my credit card doubled up.

I planned to call Qantas about this, but after a few weeks the duplicates were cancelled and all was good. During this time, the charges that were duplicated were shown as 'Pending' on my credit card account.

I did have a lot of pending transactions which have now all gone. There was a pending transaction for the correct amount in tax difference, but that one dropped off and the incorrect one was charged to my card.

 

[sap1l]

Hey guys,

I’m starting to book a new OWA, and I’ve hit the “cannot stop in Australia twice” problem when I tried to add a flight.

My current itinerary is as follows (all in J):
KUL-SIN, SIN-SYD
SYD-HND, HND-OKA
ITM-NRT, NRT-BNE

I’m trying to add this new set of segments:
SYD-MEL, MEL-HKG

The agent struggled to price the new ticket, and after chatting to a senior colleague they said that the computer is complaining that I cannot stop in Australia more than once.

I know that this should be allowed by the rules, but am I right in thinking that it’s probably some other problem? And if so, it’s not worth chasing this with another agent?

I was on a call with Hobart, and the agent definitely agreed with me that it should price.

 

[Kerrodt]

Hey guys,

I’m starting to book a new OWA, and I’ve hit the “cannot stop in Australia twice” problem when I tried to add a flight.

My current itinerary is as follows (all in J):
KUL-SIN, SIN-SYD
SYD-HND, HND-OKA
ITM-NRT, NRT-BNE

I’m trying to add this new set of segments:
SYD-MEL, MEL-HKG

The agent struggled to price the new ticket, and after chatting to a senior colleague they said that the computer is complaining that I cannot stop in Australia more than once.

I know that this should be allowed by the rules, but am I right in thinking that it’s probably some other problem? And if so, it’s not worth chasing this with another agent?

I was on a call with Hobart, and the agent definitely agreed with me that it should price.

Which airlines are you flying with?
What are your travel dates and timelines?

 

[MelbFlyer]

My current itinerary is as follows (all in J):
KUL-SIN, SIN-SYD
SYD-HND, HND-OKA
ITM-NRT, NRT-BNE

I’m trying to add this new set of segments:
SYD-MEL, MEL-HKG

I think it's clear why it isn't allowing you to see the taxes and you've already answered your own question - you can't stop in Australia twice, the first being Sydney after Singapore and the 2nd after returning from Tokyo.

I tried to do a 2-part OWA once - one to Europe and the other to the US, using a positioning flight to/from NZ, but the system still treated NZ as "Australia".

 

[Mr H]

I think it's clear why it isn't allowing you to see the taxes and you've already answered your own question - you can't stop in Australia twice, the first being Sydney after Singapore and the 2nd after returning from Tokyo.

I tried to do a 2-part OWA once - one to Europe and the other to the US, using a positioning flight to/from NZ, but the system still treated NZ as "Australia".

But this one starts in KUL, so you should be able to go in and out of Australia to your heart’s delight, so long as you don’t transit again in Malaysia.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Hey guys,

I’m starting to book a new OWA, and I’ve hit the “cannot stop in Australia twice” problem when I tried to add a flight.

My current itinerary is as follows (all in J):
KUL-SIN, SIN-SYD
SYD-HND, HND-OKA
ITM-NRT, NRT-BNE

I’m trying to add this new set of segments:
SYD-MEL, MEL-HKG

The agent struggled to price the new ticket, and after chatting to a senior colleague they said that the computer is complaining that I cannot stop in Australia more than once.

I know that this should be allowed by the rules, but am I right in thinking that it’s probably some other problem? And if so, it’s not worth chasing this with another agent?

I was on a call with Hobart, and the agent definitely agreed with me that it should price.

Works for me online...

 

[sap1l]

Thanks for the responses!

I tried to do a 2-part OWA once - one to Europe and the other to the US, using a positioning flight to/from NZ, but the system still treated NZ as "Australia".

Yeah, I’m aware of the NZ problem, but I shouldn’t have issues with continents as I’m starting in KUL.

But this one starts in KUL, so you should be able to go in and out of Australia to your heart’s delight, so long as you don’t transit again in Malaysia.

Yep, as far as I’m aware I’m not breaking any OWA rules…

Works for me online...

Unfortunately it does for me too on random dates (in Y though), but there’s no more availability for my specific dates so I can’t do a cancel + rebook.

Which airlines are you flying with?
What are your travel dates and timelines?

KUL-SIN MH618 30/4/2025 J
SIN-SYD QF2 30/4/2025 J
SYD-HND QF25 30/5/2025 J
HND-OKA JL915 31/5/2025 Y
ITM-NRT JL3006 8/6/2025 Y
NRT-BNE QF62 8/6/2025 J

And I’m trying to add:
SYD-MEL QF479 2/10/2025 J
MEL-HKG CX134 3/10/2025 J

I wonder if it’s because CX just loaded award inventory into the system, and it hasn’t updated yet.