Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[sap1l]

1. BA city flyer counts as oneworld for the purposes of 318k/455k points limit?

Yes.

2. I booked all legs of my flight except return to Australia. What is the chance that, when I call to add a flight back to Australia, Manila call centre will nuke the whole booking and leave me selling sob stories to reward ticketing escalations?

As long as you're careful and check your booking at every step of the way, you should be fine. Be specific about adding flights to an existing booking. If you keep your bookings (not the actual booking, but the list of all your bookings) up on the Qantas website and constantly refresh, you can catch any weirdness with booking changes before the operator hangs up.

IME the bigger issue is slow re-ticketing causing some carriers to drop you. I've never had an issue with an agent actually deleting my booking. What carriers are you on?

 

[pyramidforce]

Yes.

As long as you're careful and check your booking at every step of the way, you should be fine. Be specific about adding flights to an existing booking. If you keep your bookings (not the actual booking, but the list of all your bookings) up on the Qantas website and constantly refresh, you can catch any weirdness with booking changes before the operator hangs up.

IME the bigger issue is slow re-ticketing causing some carriers to drop you. I've never had an issue with an agent actually deleting my booking. What carriers are you on?

When I call, will make sure I say "adding" flights. Hopefully that works.

On BA and JL at the moment, including BA cityflyer.

Will probably get JL or QF back from Japan, will route anyway I can. If I'm lucky I'll somehow get JL first to SIN followed by some MH flights from SIN-MEL or SIN-SYD, but I know MH will drop flights if Qantas doesn't ticket.

EDIT: The itinerary actually starts in Ireland so I I have the first world problem of needing to call again at the end of the year to add a "free" flight back to Europe.

 

[sap1l]

On BA and JL at the moment, including BA cityflyer.

You should be fine - I haven't had a BA or JL flight drop yet...

I know MH will drop flights if Qantas doesn't ticket.

Officially, agents should immediately re-ticket if MH is on the ticket. In practice, I've found that the overseas ones usually don't. And yes, MH is pretty aggressive with dropping flights. In recent times I've had fairly good success with the rewards ticketing team reinstating dropped MH flights, but I wouldn't bank on it.

I have the first world problem of needing to call again at the end of the year to add a "free" flight back to Europe.

I'm guessing your itinerary starts next year, but noting in case that you can't add flights once you've taken the first leg.

 

[ffhound]

Question please: Would the following itinerary be possible using the Qantas 35k Oneworld award?

1. Mel-Sin (paid positioning flight)

One world award segments

2. Sin-LHR (first stopover in London)

3. Land segment LHR to AMS

4. AMS to SIN (second stopover in Singapore)

5. Sin to Mel ( third, very lengthy stopover in Melbourne)

6. Mel - NRT (Tokyo) (fourth stopover in Japan)

7. NRT (Tokyo) to Melbourne (end destination)

8. Notional land segment Mel-Sin

Adding up the miles = 6738 + 6738 + 3769 + 5089 + 5089 + 3769 = 31,192 miles. Also am I correct in having used 4 stopovers or is it in fact 5?

Thanks Peter

 

[Amanad78]

Question please: Would the following itinerary be possible using the Qantas 35k Oneworld award?

1. Mel-Sin (paid positioning flight)

One world award segments

2. Sin-LHR (first stopover in London)

3. Land segment LHR to AMS

4. AMS to SIN (second stopover in Singapore)

5. Sin to Mel ( third, very lengthy stopover in Melbourne)

6. Mel - NRT (Tokyo) (fourth stopover in Japan)

7. NRT (Tokyo) to Melbourne (end destination)

8. Notional land segment Mel-Sin

Adding up the miles = 6738 + 6738 + 3769 + 5089 + 5089 + 3769 = 31,192 miles. Also am I correct in having used 4 stopovers or is it in fact 5?

Thanks Peter

You won't be able to go back to Singapore if you start there, try Bankok or Kuala Lumpur as alternatives

 

[Mr H]

Not allowed. You cannot return to your country of origin and then leave again.

 

[ffhound]

Thanks for pointing out that I can''t return back to Singapore as it is my country of origin.

Tweaking the plan a little how about this?

1. Mel-Sin (paid positioning flight)

One world award segments

2. Sin-LHR (first stopover in London)

3. Land segment LHR to AMS

4. AMS to HKG (second stopover in Singapore)

5. HKG to Mel ( third, very lengthy stopover in Melbourne)

6. Mel - NRT (Tokyo) (fourth stopover in Japan)

7. NRT (Tokyo) to Melbourne (end destination)

8. Notional land segment Mel-Sin

Adding up the miles = 6738 + 217 (land segment) + 5761 + 4608 + 5089 + 5089 + 3769 = 31,271 miles. Also am I correct in having used 4 stopovers or is it in fact 5?

cheers Peter
ps I corrected for the missing land segment

 

[Mr H]

That should be ok and it looks like 4 stops. You will need to make sure the agent understands the second MEL is the end destination and doesn’t count as a second stop there.

If any of your legs uses connecting flights that will add to the mileage.

I should say how refreshing it is to see an itinerary set out so clearly. It makes it easy to check.

 

[KingHuang]

Would you be able to book a surface sector (return e.g. FCO >ATH) outside of the itinerary also using reward tickets?

Also: anyone have any feedback good or bad on BA/AF/IB intra Europe J flights? (Understanding AF is not part of oneworld, but would like to try the product if it is good)

 

[jase05]

Also: anyone have any feedback good or bad on BA/AF/IB intra Europe J flights? (Understanding AF is not part of oneworld, but would like

Run of the mill Euro business seating that has all Y seats with just the middle seat blocked for J. Food and beverages can be hit or miss and find most staff are pretty good. Had some really good BA and AF flights last trip to Europe but QF and VA domestic flights here are better IMO

 

[Mr H]

Run of the mill Euro business seating that has all Y seats with just the middle seat blocked for J. Food and beverages can be hit or miss and find most staff are pretty good. Had some really good BA and AF flights last trip to Europe but QF and VA domestic flights here are better IMO

Also be aware that the BA Embraer flights are all 2-2 and have no free seat next to J passengers - but they are quite comfortable seats and I’d take this over the standard Euro-biz A320s.

 

[DC3]

Run of the mill Euro business seating that has all Y seats with just the middle seat blocked for J. Food and beverages can be hit or miss

And for anyone who hasn’t experienced this, keep expectations low.

 

[KingHuang]

And for anyone who hasn’t experienced this, keep expectations low.

Would this be for all airlines, or are there any that is actually decent?

 

[jase05]

Would this be for all airlines, or are there any that is actually decent?

Euro business seating is pretty much the norm.
ITA often have cheap fares and some aircraft have lie flat seats which is a rarity in Europe

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Would this be for all airlines, or are there any that is actually decent?

I have a different view in eurobusiness. The majors like BA/LH/AF/LX do excellent food and drink in that cabin, superior to just about anything in the USA, Asia or Australia. Yes, it’s economy seating, but with a spare middle seat there’s plenty of legroom and shoulder room. I find it very comfortable. And plenty of overhead and under-seat space.

BA and a few other carriers like TP don’t block the side seat on regional jets… which is primarily the Embraers in europe these days. SAS I think is introducing business class,but their previous ‘premium economy’ when they were part of *A was dreadful!

Other eurobusiness classes aren’t necessarily so good on the food and drink front, but the four above are usually outstanding.

Yes, you can book any number of separate tickets outside your main one.

 

[gfraser]

I am starting to plan a
OWA for later in the year, unfortunately in Economy. Can I book a Classic Plus ( with higher points ) and it counts towards the 132,000?
TIA

 

[levelnine]

Can I book a Classic Plus ( with higher points ) and it counts towards the 132,000?

No. Classic awards only.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I am starting to plan a
OWA for later in the year, unfortunately in Economy. Can I book a Classic Plus ( with higher points ) and it counts towards the 132,000?
TIA

further to the response above, you don’t tally up the sectors to reach 132k. That’s the cap on the number of points you’ll spend provided you meet the rules. The sum of the individual sectors and trips could far exceed 132k points.

 

[MelbFlyer]

Also: anyone have any feedback good or bad on BA/AF/IB intra Europe J flights? (Understanding AF is not part of oneworld, but would like to try the product if it is good)

Most of Euro business class is basically a regular economy seat, with just the middle seat blocked off / not sold.

You'll get priority check-in, lounge access and food onboard but that's pretty much it.

If you're expecting even QF style narrowbody domestic business class seats (ie. the 2-2 layout on the 737s), prepare to be disappointed.

 

[gfraser]

The sum of the individual sectors and trips could far exceed 132k points.

I understand that but was wanting to know if I could use Classic Plus points within the 132,000.
According to Levelnine, this is not allowed.