Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Wondering - has anyone had any experience booking a <24hr layover as part of the 280 OWA but then had delays force them over a 24hr departure time?

Has anyone experienced this first hand? I can't much on it. If you are already part-way through a trip, you've already paid/booked right. So does that throw your whole trip out mid way through your travels?

A delay like that would not impact you; the rules apply to the scheduled flight times, not the actual times.

 

[flyingchicken]

A delay like that would not impact you; the rules apply to the scheduled flight times, not the actual times.

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[wentworthmeister]

My wife and I are in the early stages of planning a 4-5 month trip starting next July using the Qantas OneWorld Award; I've just ticked over 280k points (we'll be going in Economy) and are now starting to look at potential itineraries. I've read through the wiki and a few other key articles about how it works - think I've got my head around it.

We're based in Melbourne and are thinking we'll tackle the UK, Western Europe, USA, Canada and Patagonia on the way home. Possibly in that order but not set in stone - open to suggestions on what would work best with airports and stopovers etc. My initial thoughts were:

MEL-LHR (QF9 via Perth on the Dreamliner)
LHR-FRA(?) (surface sector after 3 weeks in the UK and then backpacking around Western Europe for 2 months. Could be any international airport really - next stop is the USA so open to suggestions)
FRA-JFK (assuming JFK makes the most sense when flying from Europe?)
JFK-SFO/LAX (surface sector after a 2-month USA road trip from east to west via Canada. Would you fly to Chile from SFO or LAX?)
SFO/LAX-SCL (couple of weeks hiking in Patagonia)
SCL-MEL

According to the Great Circle Mapper that's ~30,000 miles and 5 stopovers so all good I think. My biggest unknown at the moment is choosing which airports to fly in/out of. We're very flexible on dates and locations; the flights are mainly to get us across continents and we'll do a few surface sectors via train and car rental. I'm QFF Gold so thankfully we'll have access to lounges - let me know if that should influence my choice of airports in the list above?

 

[leer30]

According to the Great Circle Mapper that's ~30,000 miles and 5 stopovers so all good I think.

Just check whether that is nautical miles. 1 nautical mile = 1.15 miles. If so, think you would still be ok (just)

 

[JohnM]

I don’t think you’ll be able to go SFO-SCL on the OWA.

 

[wentworthmeister]

I don’t think you’ll be able to go SFO-SCL on the OWA.

What's the limitation?

 

[JohnM]

I don’t think that there are any direct flights.

 

[futaris]

LAX-SCL on LA

Since it's an award, if you're under MPM, then you can use:

DFW-SCL on AA
MIA-SCL on AA or LA
JFK-SCL on LA

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Just check whether that is nautical miles. 1 nautical mile = 1.15 miles. If so, think you would still be ok (just)

Bad luck, it’s Statute Miles not Nautical Miles.
From the Book of Rules:
14.5.2 Classic Flight Rewards using the oneworld Classic Flight Reward table must be no more than a distance of 56,315 kilometres (35,000 miles). Longer journeys must be broken into separate Itineraries.
For that conversion to be true, it must be Statute Miles...
If in doubt, do your measurements in kilometres.

Also, be aware that the distances used by the QF booking engine are sometimes slightly different from those given by Great Circle Mapper; sometimes more, sometimes less. Best to leave a little leeway for safety (say about 100 km or so).

 

[Warren Mason]

Hi, I only joined this site a short time ago and have been reading as much as I can to learn how these booking work. I am starting to get confused so it's time to ask a question that I hope isn't too dumb.
We want to take a Classic Flight Reward (j) and so far I have determined that the best way to get to Rome is

Seg 1
SYD - SIN
SIN - HKG
HK - FCO

From Rome we would then travel round and end up in London about 5 weeks later.

Seg 2 LHR-LIS

Seg 3 LIS-MAD

Seg 4 MAD-SCL

Seg 5 SCL-SYD

Given that the availablity for the Seg 1 flights is in about a month or so, am I better to book them as soon as they are available and then, if I am reading correctly, then call Qantas and then add to my itinerary and either pay a money or points fee?

Sorry if this has all been asked previously, however I am starting to get a bit of overload of information and very confused.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Deanwan]

Anyone tried the Award Flight Assist service? Hows the service and rate?

 

[leer30]

From Rome we would then travel round and end up in London about 5 weeks later.

Seg 2 LHR-LIS

I would avoid departing LHR after your euro stopover, as you will pay a UK departure tax (a few hundred per passenger, if I'm not mistaken)

 

[Warren Mason]

I would avoid departing LHR after your euro stopover, as you will pay a UK departure tax (a few hundred per passenger, if I'm not mistaken)

WOW that is something I wasn't aware of. Our last trip we flew home from Barcelona with a transit through London to get the flight we were exempt. (did some quick reading) Might be worth going to Paris on the train and pickup the next flight from there. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Radio8tiv]

WOW that is something I wasn't aware of. Our last trip we flew home from Barcelona with a transit through London to get the flight we were exempt. (did some quick reading) Might be worth going to Paris on the train and pickup the next flight from there. Thanks for the heads up.

The Eurostar now also goes direct to Amsterdam, I'm doing this in Feb to avoid the LHR fees

 

[Captain Halliday]

Anyone tried the Award Flight Assist service? Hows the service and rate?

It’s comprehensive. I received three or four possible combinations of flights for my desired itinerary. It’s essentially a travel agent for award bookings. Though you still have to book yourself.

I’d recommend it for people who are time poor, have limited experience redeeming premium awards, or who will only redeem infrequently and can’t justify the cost of tools like award nexus.

I was a trial user, so it was free to me, so I can’t comment on the rate.

 

[Kangol]

WOW that is something I wasn't aware of. Our last trip we flew home from Barcelona with a transit through London to get the flight we were exempt. (did some quick reading) Might be worth going to Paris on the train and pickup the next flight from there. Thanks for the heads up.

Rates for Air Passenger Duty
LHR-LIS is <2000 miles and APD is GBP26.
Half that if the seat pitch is less than 40".

 

[Warren Mason]

Rates for Air Passenger Duty
LHR-LIS is <2000 miles and APD is GBP26.
Half that if the seat pitch is less than 40".

Thanks for that. With the cost of the Eurostar ticket would be cheaper to pay the tax. Wouldn't fly back to Aust from London but to Lisbon it looks OK.

 

[azza_1992]

I've been on the look out for a while and finally - the stars have aligned - and award availability is there for a trip to Korea and Italy next year.

Couple of quick questions before I book:

- Can the call centre delete and change flights once initially booked, or only add additional segments?

- In June next year there's heaps of FCO to DOH availability on QR but no DOH to FCO availability showing on the website - it tries to route me through London on BA. Can this BA preference be worked around? Am I likely to have better luck with the call centre in getting a direct DOH to FCO award on QR?

 

[jaseb]

It’s comprehensive. I received three or four possible combinations of flights for my desired itinerary. It’s essentially a travel agent for award bookings. Though you still have to book yourself.

I’d recommend it for people who are time poor, have limited experience redeeming premium awards, or who will only redeem infrequently and can’t justify the cost of tools like award nexus.

I was a trial user, so it was free to me, so I can’t comment on the rate.

What is the platform called?

 

[wentworthmeister]

Question - if I book the overall OWA trip in Economy, am I able to use points to upgrade to Business on the Qantas flights at either end of the trip?