Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[pye1201]

Given the devaluation of QF points in August, and the fact that I lose my QF platinum status in October, I've been looking at booking a oneworld classic itinerary in business class for myself and my husband. I had hoped to take a positioning flight to Tokyo, fly to the US west coast (YVR, SFO, even LAX) in September, and travel for 6 weeks (husband has Platinum Pro status so hoping to take advantage of that with domestic flights). Then return to Sydney for a long stopover, before flying to London and back in April 2026. Those miles come in at just under 35k. I cannot find ANY classic flight awards in business for either of those legs in August or September (was hoping to book dummy dates for the flights to London). In fact, the QF search tool just takes me back to the original search with an error message, no matter where I start from (HKG, SIN or HND). Has anyone had any luck requesting the release of two business class classic award tickets as a platinum flyer, for such an itinerary? I have had luck getting economy seats released on another flight but wasn't sure if I can apply that to business class tickets on such an itinerary? Is Qantas only releasing classic award business class tickets in random batches now?
Apologies in advance if my questions have been answered elsewhere - I've trawled back but can't find anything that helps me much.

 

[MelbFlyer]

I'd guess as a Platinum member, you should be able to request for CR seat releases for QF1 / QF2 and LAX to SYD, but not for the Japan to U.S. flights.

Is Qantas only releasing classic award business class tickets in random batches now?

I think this is now the case for all QF flights, even economy CR seats.

A simple MEL to SIN search in the multi-city search tool for October only yields JQ seats and in the "normal" booking view, some QF economy CR seats do come up but only as CR+.

I'd suspect that they are releasing CR seats in more frequent but small batches now, with CR+ now being the "default" option in-lieu of mass CR seat releases once or twice a year.

 

[elanshin]

Given the devaluation of QF points in August, and the fact that I lose my QF platinum status in October, I've been looking at booking a oneworld classic itinerary in business class for myself and my husband. I had hoped to take a positioning flight to Tokyo, fly to the US west coast (YVR, SFO, even LAX) in September, and travel for 6 weeks (husband has Platinum Pro status so hoping to take advantage of that with domestic flights). Then return to Sydney for a long stopover, before flying to London and back in April 2026. Those miles come in at just under 35k. I cannot find ANY classic flight awards in business for either of those legs in August or September (was hoping to book dummy dates for the flights to London). In fact, the QF search tool just takes me back to the original search with an error message, no matter where I start from (HKG, SIN or HND). Has anyone had any luck requesting the release of two business class classic award tickets as a platinum flyer, for such an itinerary? I have had luck getting economy seats released on another flight but wasn't sure if I can apply that to business class tickets on such an itinerary? Is Qantas only releasing classic award business class tickets in random batches now?
Apologies in advance if my questions have been answered elsewhere - I've trawled back but can't find anything that helps me much.

So in this case you're looking at

Japan > NA > Aus > Europe (april) > Japan if I'm understanding your itinerary correctly.

So firstly part one Japan > NA.

This will be possibly the hardest one. Japan is one of the hottest destinations for Americans right now so the JP - NA routes are exceptionally full. Your only option atm is also JL or AA atm on the route until HA/FJ becomes available as airlines. No releases possible as it's not a Qantas Route.

You might have better luck exHKG or doing JP > HKG > NA and trying Cathay Pacific.

NA > Australia - try to avoid the September school holidays and you might be able to get some flights released. LAX > SYD on the 380 possibly has the best chances although they're supposed to be switching to the 380 for DFW > SYD later this year too.

If your partner has Platinum 1 then use his account for the release and booking as that has different restrictions.

As for AUS > Europe, you'll find that if you search right now for January 2026, you'll see solid availability out of Hong Kong and Tokyo (Cathay, JAL and Finnair). Also some of the other ports finair flies to like BKK, ICN, PVG etc.

Your best bet is to try for Cathay via hong kong for both product and availability. Do note if you try hong kong of any previous routing rules (only 2 transits and 1 stopover and it can't be your start point).

Trying to rely on Qantas is a bit iffy, but if you do have Platinum 1, then it does open up some more options for routes to and off this rock.

 

[Mr H]

Given the devaluation of QF points in August, and the fact that I lose my QF platinum status in October, I've been looking at booking a oneworld classic itinerary in business class for myself and my husband. I had hoped to take a positioning flight to Tokyo, fly to the US west coast (YVR, SFO, even LAX) in September, and travel for 6 weeks (husband has Platinum Pro status so hoping to take advantage of that with domestic flights). Then return to Sydney for a long stopover, before flying to London and back in April 2026. Those miles come in at just under 35k. I cannot find ANY classic flight awards in business for either of those legs in August or September (was hoping to book dummy dates for the flights to London). In fact, the QF search tool just takes me back to the original search with an error message, no matter where I start from (HKG, SIN or HND). Has anyone had any luck requesting the release of two business class classic award tickets as a platinum flyer, for such an itinerary? I have had luck getting economy seats released on another flight but wasn't sure if I can apply that to business class tickets on such an itinerary? Is Qantas only releasing classic award business class tickets in random batches now?
Apologies in advance if my questions have been answered elsewhere - I've trawled back but can't find anything that helps me much.

That’s way more than 35k miles. Have you maybe forgotten to add in the miles from your finishing point back to your starting point?

 

[pye1201]

That’s way more than 35k miles. Have you maybe forgotten to add in the miles from your finishing point back to your starting point?

HND-SFO(or LAX)-SYD-HKG-HEL-LHR-SIN-HND - circle mapper comes in at 33,231? Positioning flight to and from HND. Looking at HEL with Finnair as advised by elanshin above as availability is better? And we've never been there so why not!!
The Oneworld Classic Award itineraries only allow 5 stopovers so making SFO (or anywhere on the west coast of USA really) one stop, SYD next stop, HEL third stop and LHR 4th. Maybe spend a few days in SIN on the way home.

 

[Mr H]

HND-SFO(or LAX)-SYD-HKG-HEL-LHR-SIN-HND - circle mapper comes in at 33,231? Positioning flight to and from HND. Looking at HEL with Finnair as advised by elanshin above as availability is better? And we've never been there so why not!!
The Oneworld Classic Award itineraries only allow 5 stopovers so making SFO (or anywhere on the west coast of USA really) one stop, SYD next stop, HEL third stop and LHR 4th. Maybe spend a few days in SIN on the way home.

Fair enough - your original post suggested you were flying SYD-LHR-SYD to end.

 

[pye1201]

Fair enough - your original post suggested you were flying SYD-LHR-SYD to end.

Sorry - should have been clearer.

 

[pye1201]

So in this case you're looking at

Japan > NA > Aus > Europe (april) > Japan if I'm understanding your itinerary correctly.

So firstly part one Japan > NA.

This will be possibly the hardest one. Japan is one of the hottest destinations for Americans right now so the JP - NA routes are exceptionally full. Your only option atm is also JL or AA atm on the route until HA/FJ becomes available as airlines. No releases possible as it's not a Qantas Route.

You might have better luck exHKG or doing JP > HKG > NA and trying Cathay Pacific.

NA > Australia - try to avoid the September school holidays and you might be able to get some flights released. LAX > SYD on the 380 possibly has the best chances although they're supposed to be switching to the 380 for DFW > SYD later this year too.

If your partner has Platinum 1 then use his account for the release and booking as that has different restrictions.

As for AUS > Europe, you'll find that if you search right now for January 2026, you'll see solid availability out of Hong Kong and Tokyo (Cathay, JAL and Finnair). Also some of the other ports finair flies to like BKK, ICN, PVG etc.

Your best bet is to try for Cathay via hong kong for both product and availability. Do note if you try hong kong of any previous routing rules (only 2 transits and 1 stopover and it can't be your start point).

Trying to rely on Qantas is a bit iffy, but if you do have Platinum 1, then it does open up some more options for routes to and off this rock.

Thanks so much for this - to clarify husband is Platinum Pro with AA so not much help with seeing Qantas availability. His Plat Pro status allows us automatic upgrades on domestic flights within North America and we were planning on doing a bit of travelling around the states (daughter in NY). Sorry - I rushed this post and it was a bit unclear.
Qantas search engine isn't showing any availability in business class for anything out of Tokyo or HKG to the west coast. I can try getting some business award seats released on QF12 back to Sydney and as you suggest, I do see award availability BKK to HEL on expert flyer - I'll keep looking. I'm only Platinum until October and was hoping to book the Asia-Nth America-Aus section now, then dummy dates for the Europe part and then book them in August when they become available for April May '26, before I lose status. Do you have any hints on how to see award availability on Cathay? Expert Flyer doesn't show CX or JL inventory...

 

[elanshin]

Thanks so much for this - to clarify husband is Platinum Pro with AA so not much help with seeing Qantas availability. His Plat Pro status allows us automatic upgrades on domestic flights within North America and we were planning on doing a bit of travelling around the states (daughter in NY). Sorry - I rushed this post and it was a bit unclear.
Qantas search engine isn't showing any availability in business class for anything out of Tokyo or HKG to the west coast. I can try getting some business award seats released on QF12 back to Sydney and as you suggest, I do see award availability BKK to HEL on expert flyer - I'll keep looking. I'm only Platinum until October and was hoping to book the Asia-Nth America-Aus section now, then dummy dates for the Europe part and then book them in August when they become available for April May '26, before I lose status. Do you have any hints on how to see award availability on Cathay? Expert Flyer doesn't show CX or JL inventory...

Theres no way currently to search JL/CX on EF as that uses class fares.
You need to use something like seat aero which searches the qantas availability. On the Qantas site, use the multicity tool - you'll need to confirm your flights exist on Qantas anyways.

As I mentioned Japan > US is going to actually be the hardest for your proposed itinerary. There is huge demand on that routing from the Americans.

For example the only ex JP flight (1 seat only) I can find in August in Business is this one. (And it has to be from Sapporo, you can't find just the HND - SFO flight). August is US summer holiday period.

 

[pye1201]

Theres no way currently to search JL/CX on EF as that uses class fares.
You need to use something like seat aero which searches the qantas availability. On the Qantas site, use the multicity tool - you'll need to confirm your flights exist on Qantas anyways.

As I mentioned Japan > US is going to actually be the hardest for your proposed itinerary. There is huge demand on that routing from the Americans.

For example the only ex JP flight (1 seat only) I can find in August in Business is this one. (And it has to be from Sapporo, you can't find just the HND - SFO flight). August is US summer holiday period.
View attachment 429148

Thanks very much! I have some more homework to do.... As you advise, I'll avoid late September and early October school holiday dates.
Appreciate your time!
Cheers

 

[ngocthuong]

We just came back from our second RTW trip and managed to almost maxxed out the distance. My first one was Dec 2019 to Jan 2020, just before COVID, and the second was similar timeframe Dec 2024 to Jan 2025. Each one was planned about a year in advance. The segments in 2019: gcmap2019 and 2024: gcmap2024 .

Highlight for 2019 was the Qatar Qsuite. I tracked down the route and managed to find DOH - SIN, and planned the later legs around it. I did aim for MH throne seat as well but the aircraft got swapped out in the end. Total tax was $1.9k per pax.

2024 was most interesting because the first flight segment I managed was HND - JFK on the new A350 JAL with sliding door and the agent on the phone asked me to create the SYD - HND booking, which was then joined. Because of that, subsequent changes was piced in Yen then converted to AUD. Our tax for 2024 was $750 per pax (maybe because of the yen pricing?). The stopover cities were: New York, London, (Paris), Amsterdam, Venice, Rome, and Bangkok. Somehow we managed more than 5 stopovers, I still can't work it out. Maybe because LHR-AMS and VCE-FCO were land segments? For 2024, Paris was the extra stop not shown on itinerary because I booked a separate LHR - CDG with BA and train from Paris to Amsterdam. LHR - AMS was the resulting land segment on the itinerary. VCE - FCO was also train. MNL - SYD was platinum release.

Both times I'm OW Emerald so hit all the first class lounges in the network. In 2024, we were in HEL platinum wing with the sauna right on christmas day!

 

[RB001]

We just came back from our second RTW trip and managed to almost maxxed out the distance. My first one was Dec 2019 to Jan 2020, just before COVID, and the second was similar timeframe Dec 2024 to Jan 2025. Each one was planned about a year in advance. The segments in 2019: gcmap2019 and 2024: gcmap2024 .

Highlight for 2019 was the Qatar Qsuite. I tracked down the route and managed to find DOH - SIN, and planned the later legs around it. I did aim for MH throne seat as well but the aircraft got swapped out in the end. Total tax was $1.9k per pax.

2024 was most interesting because the first flight segment I managed was HND - JFK on the new A350 JAL with sliding door and the agent on the phone asked me to create the SYD - HND booking, which was then joined. Because of that, subsequent changes was piced in Yen then converted to AUD. Our tax for 2024 was $750 per pax (maybe because of the yen pricing?). The stopover cities were: New York, London, (Paris), Amsterdam, Venice, Rome, and Bangkok. Somehow we managed more than 5 stopovers, I still can't work it out. Maybe because LHR-AMS and VCE-FCO were land segments? For 2024, Paris was the extra stop not shown on itinerary because I booked a separate LHR - CDG with BA and train from Paris to Amsterdam. LHR - AMS was the resulting land segment on the itinerary. VCE - FCO was also train. MNL - SYD was platinum release.

Both times I'm OW Emerald so hit all the first class lounges in the network. In 2024, we were in HEL platinum wing with the sauna right on christmas day!

Welcome to posting, @ngocthuong !
It's always good to see planning pay off.

 

[DC3]

Welcome to posting, @ngocthuong !

Wow. Yes, welcome to posting.

 

[TK7]

Hi @ngocthuong,

Sounds like you had a fantastic trip! I'm currently in the early stages of planning a RTW trip. Initially, I was hoping to take my family (4 of us) in business class, but based on what I’ve seen so far, that seems like an ambitious goal—so I’m settling back into the idea of flying economy. The trip won’t be until Dec/Jan 2026/27, but I’m trying to get organized ahead of time, aiming to start looking towards the end of this year.

From your comments, it sounds like you booked your trip leg by leg. Could you share more about how you found the process? Did you wait for award availability to appear for the next segment as they were released and then call an agent to add it? And when you first booked, did you start with just the first segment, or did you use "dummy" flights (as I’ve seen mentioned in past discussions) and then modify your itinerary later?

Thanks

 

[ngocthuong]

Hi @ngocthuong,

Sounds like you had a fantastic trip! I'm currently in the early stages of planning a RTW trip. Initially, I was hoping to take my family (4 of us) in business class, but based on what I’ve seen so far, that seems like an ambitious goal—so I’m settling back into the idea of flying economy. The trip won’t be until Dec/Jan 2026/27, but I’m trying to get organized ahead of time, aiming to start looking towards the end of this year.

From your comments, it sounds like you booked your trip leg by leg. Could you share more about how you found the process? Did you wait for award availability to appear for the next segment as they were released and then call an agent to add it? And when you first booked, did you start with just the first segment, or did you use "dummy" flights (as I’ve seen mentioned in past discussions) and then modify your itinerary later?

Thanks

Thank you. Before booking I did plan out the routes as much as I could using the Qantas rewards seat search website and putting in random dates. I kept a list of rewards seat release timeline for each OW airline. Though this time around that timeline wasn't as reliable. Both times I did plan to do as much in one go at possible but it ended up to be about 5-6 phone calls each after the first booking. My ideal scenario was that I waited until my last planned flight is released then called to book all the legs in. Though there was a risk of running out of award seats so I jumped early a few times, thus ended up with 5-6 calls overall. I didn't do dummy flights; I didn't know about that trick at the time,

For 2024 trip, my first target leg was HND to JFK with JAL which i heard was challenging to get so i jumped at that first. My first phone call I didn't manage many flights, so was charged the lower rate of points. Later in call #2 and #3, i got past the 19k miles and the initial charge was refunded and 318k points was charged. From then on, just the change fee everytime I called.

 

[TK7]

Thank you. Before booking I did plan out the routes as much as I could using the Qantas rewards seat search website and putting in random dates. I kept a list of rewards seat release timeline for each OW airline. Though this time around that timeline wasn't as reliable. Both times I did plan to do as much in one go at possible but it ended up to be about 5-6 phone calls each after the first booking. My ideal scenario was that I waited until my last planned flight is released then called to book all the legs in. Though there was a risk of running out of award seats so I jumped early a few times, thus ended up with 5-6 calls overall. I didn't do dummy flights; I didn't know about that trick at the time,

For 2024 trip, my first target leg was HND to JFK with JAL which i heard was challenging to get so i jumped at that first. My first phone call I didn't manage many flights, so was charged the lower rate of points. Later in call #2 and #3, i got past the 19k miles and the initial charge was refunded and 318k points was charged. From then on, just the change fee everytime I called.

Great. That is what I was thinking of doing so thank you for confirming. I agree, ideally it would be nice to do it all in one go but it does sounds risky, especially when you are looking for 4 reward seats at a time.

 

[TK7]

Building on the discussion above, I’ve come across mentions of booking dummy flights but don’t fully understand the benefits. Could someone summarize whether this is a good strategy and how it compares to booking segment by segment, as @ngocthuong has done? Does it make future planning easier? Additionally, is it generally cheaper to change an existing flight rather than adding a new segment?

 

[Jacques Vert]

Great. That is what I was thinking of doing so thank you for confirming. I agree, ideally it would be nice to do it all in one go but it does sounds risky, especially when you are looking for 4 reward seats at a time.

Over the past 15 years I've booked 8 Oneworld awards for myself & +1. I would have booked a lot more if it wasn't for Covid.

I've always tried to book the whole itinerary in one go as I hate paying the 5,000 points per person change fee. In practice, I've never been able to achieve my desired itinerary in one go. Either my preferred flights haven't been available at the first attempt or better options have come up closer to departure. So, I budget enough points to make two lots of changes and try to make as many changes/amendments as possible on each phone call.

Not sure if this helps @ngocthuong but I would suggest trying to get the first few flights on the original booking (unless they are on one of those difficult routes where availability is rare). and then add a bunch of flights when the next difficult route becomes available. This is particularly important if yours is a long trip over a few months as the initial flights are unlikely to be still available by the time your last flights are released.

I should add that I am usually only looking for 2 seats. I did manage 4 seats in J on a Oneworld Award once, and once only! But that was before Covid. I haven't looked for a 4-seat itinerary since Covid but I suspect it is even more difficult than before; and it was extremely difficult then (as I was looking for J). Even in Y, the most difficult part of any Oneworld Award is finding seats out of and into Australia so if you do manage to find 4 seats on the same flight departing Australia, grab them! If you are OK with travelling Y you may get lucky but if you are hoping for J It is more likely that you will need to split your group into 2 lots of 2.

Just accept that it is going to cost you at least 328,000 points per person for a Oneworld Award in J (318,000+ 2*5,000 change fees). Obviously if you are happy with Y then things will be a lot easier and require less points (but you should still budget for a change or two.

It's worked for me over a number of years but as many members have noted, it ain't getting any easier.

 

[TK7]

Over the past 15 years I've booked 8 Oneworld awards for myself & +1. I would have booked a lot more if it wasn't for Covid.

I've always tried to book the whole itinerary in one go as I hate paying the 5,000 points per person change fee. In practice, I've never been able to achieve my desired itinerary in one go. Either my preferred flights haven't been available at the first attempt or better options have come up closer to departure. So, I budget enough points to make two lots of changes and try to make as many changes/amendments as possible on each phone call.

Not sure if this helps @ngocthuong but I would suggest trying to get the first few flights on the original booking (unless they are on one of those difficult routes where availability is rare). and then add a bunch of flights when the next difficult route becomes available. This is particularly important if yours is a long trip over a few months as the initial flights are unlikely to be still available by the time your last flights are released.

I should add that I am usually only looking for 2 seats. I did manage 4 seats in J on a Oneworld Award once, and once only! But that was before Covid. I haven't looked for a 4-seat itinerary since Covid but I suspect it is even more difficult than before; and it was extremely difficult then (as I was looking for J). Even in Y, the most difficult part of any Oneworld Award is finding seats out of and into Australia so if you do manage to find 4 seats on the same flight departing Australia, grab them! If you are OK with travelling Y you may get lucky but if you are hoping for J It is more likely that you will need to split your group into 2 lots of 2.

Just accept that it is going to cost you at least 328,000 points per person for a Oneworld Award in J (318,000+ 2*5,000 change fees). Obviously if you are happy with Y then things will be a lot easier and require less points (but you should still budget for a change or two.

It's worked for me over a number of years but as many members have noted, it ain't getting any easier.

Thanks @Jacques Vert , it sounds like you also added flights sement by segment. I guess it is hard to book dummy flights up front when rewards seats havent been released for those later segments at the time of the first booking.

 

[Captain Halliday]

I haven't looked for a 4-seat itinerary since Covid but I suspect it is even more difficult than before; and it was extremely difficult then (as I was looking for J).

I’ve not been able to successfully make one work for 3 pax post covid.

Was able to put three together prior to covid.