Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[MEL_Traveller]

You should also be able to select preferences on JAL's own MMB.

Yes. But IIRC ‘no fish’ isn’t an option. They *might* be able to send a message direct to catering to accommodate it as a special meal.

 

[Mr H]

Yes. But IIRC ‘no fish’ isn’t an option. They *might* be able to send a message direct to catering to accommodate it as a special meal.

I doubt they could ever be sure that a meal didn't have any fish product unless it was vegetarian.

 

[Familyman1]

I am planning an itinerary for next year for my wife and I in Business. I began booking flights a couple of weeks ago with:

BNE-HKG(S)-HEL-GVA(S,surface). This was one CX & two AY flights. The fees & taxes came to $366.11 each.

Yesterday, I added MAD-HEL-KIX (two AY flights). This involved a wasted hour on the phone to the Manila call centre (I think) but my second call (sounded like Fiji) was successful and the new tickets were emailed within 24 hours.

My issue relates to the new taxes and charges. When I looked on the Qantas multicity booking site at the taxes & charges for the two AY flights, MAD-HEL-KIX, it shows 165.24 Euro for each person (which would convert to about A$272). However, I was charged A$437.10 each to add the new AY flights to my existing booking.

Can someone please explain why the fees and charges are different? Could there be a mistake here?

 

[Captain Halliday]

I am planning an itinerary for next year for my wife and I in Business. I began booking flights a couple of weeks ago with:

BNE-HKG(S)-HEL-GVA(S,surface). This was one CX & two AY flights. The fees & taxes came to $366.11 each.

Yesterday, I added MAD-HEL-KIX (two AY flights). This involved a wasted hour on the phone to the Manila call centre (I think) but my second call (sounded like Fiji) was successful and the new tickets were emailed within 24 hours.

My issue relates to the new taxes and charges. When I looked on the Qantas multicity booking site at the taxes & charges for the two AY flights, MAD-HEL-KIX, it shows 165.24 Euro for each person (which would convert to about A$272). However, I was charged A$437.10 each to add the new AY flights to my existing booking.

Can someone please explain why the fees and charges are different? Could there be a mistake here?

Without seeing a full breakdown it’s hard to be sure.

A mistake is possible, but more likely is that when you makes changes the entire itinerary is repriced.

Since your original booking, CX or AY may have increased fees and carrier charges.

Plus the currency movements may not have been in your favour.

AUD150pp difference does seem high though.

Perhaps put the itinerary into ITA and see how it breaks down.

 

[Familyman1]

Without seeing a full breakdown it’s hard to be sure.

A mistake is possible, but more likely is that when you makes changes the entire itinerary is repriced.

Since your original booking, CX or AY may have increased fees and carrier charges.

Plus the currency movements may not have been in your favour.

AUD150pp difference does seem high though.

Perhaps put the itinerary into ITA and see how it breaks down.

Thanks Captain Halliday. I did put the itinerary into ITA and it seems the Qantas multicity booking site had an incorrect figure for Carrier Charges for the two AY flights, MAD-HEL-KIX. It was showing Carrier Charges as 125 Euro, while ITA is showing it as 219 Euro. Qantas have charged me the ITA price so it is good to know I was not overcharged (although annoying the Qantas multicity booking site got it wrong).

 

[Jacques Vert]

Man, Qantas trying to tell me an open jaw counts as 2 stops for a One World Award

That's ot the first time that's happened.

Some agents have told me the same on a number of occasions going back at least 8 years.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Without seeing a full breakdown it’s hard to be sure.

A mistake is possible, but more likely is that when you makes changes the entire itinerary is repriced.

Since your original booking, CX or AY may have increased fees and carrier charges.

Plus the currency movements may not have been in your favour.

AUD150pp difference does seem high though.

Perhaps put the itinerary into ITA and see how it breaks down.

This.

I had wanted to upgrade one sector of a OWA last year as they changed the aircraft and it now had a domestic F cabin (this was in the USA).

To do so would have repriced the entire ticket… and since purchase the aussie dollar had dropped, fuel prices had gone up, and the 45 minute upgrade was going to cost me around AUD400.

I sucked it up in coach! (Which, as it turns out, was just fine. There was no suer ice in any cabin due to ‘turbulence’, which equated to one minor bump around 20 mins into the flight.)

 

[goosewacker]

Hi all,
Have done a bit of googling on this which has failed me so turning to the brains trust;

Looking at booking a Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Reward for the business RTW, as have many others. Have done it before so understand the booking rules etc etc. One thing I can't find an answer on and is new to this itinerary - if you transit through a city with multiple airports and have to do a self-transfer (ie into Tokyo Haneda and out of Tokyo Narita, or into New York LGA and out of New York JFK) does it count this as a stop and ground sector due to different "ports" or does it treat this as the same "city"?

These are the applicable rules;

14.4.4 The following Stopover conditions apply to oneworld Classic Flight Rewards:

(a) up to five free Stopovers are permitted;
(b) more than five Stopovers are not permitted;
(c) only one Stopover is permitted in any one city in the Itinerary; and
(d) only two Transfers may be taken at any one city in the Itinerary.

14.4.5 Surface Segments are permitted as part of oneworld Classic Flight Reward Itineraries, but the distance between the disembarkation point and the next embarkation point will be included in the Reward Point zone calculation for that Itinerary.

From this, I read it that it will be counted as a Transfer under 14.4.4 "any one city", however it will ping me the miles between the two airports?

Any assistance from those who have done this before would be appreciated!

 

[MelbFlyer]

I haven't done this before, but as long as when you select your legs, if it still caps out at 318k pts, it'll be fine.

Best to still arrive / depart at the same airport (if the same day / a connection) if possible, if anything it'll just make your life easier.

 

[FlyingFiona]

It's been 10 years since I last booked a OWA and the playing field nowadays is not at all the same, so I am going to build one in stages which I haven't ever done before. I'm looking for some confirmation from the more experienced out there that I'm on the right track.

My current situation:
QFF points: #350K
Route: MEL-CDG-MEL
Dates: April 2025
Class: J

I've found flights over on MH and AY for 179,500 points. MEL-KUL-SIN-HEL-CDG with 12 hours in SIN. Not perfect, but not horrendous either. (Those 12 hours are during the day local time so I'd probably go and look at the gardens or something I've never done before.)

My thoughts are...
Pros of booking now: flights secured, can add on return legs when they become available in a few weeks, if by some miracle direct flights open up I'd have the points to cover booking both and cancelling the first booking, very low carrier fees, if I can't find return tickets on OW to make it a OWA the points over aren't so terrible as to make it prohibitive and I should be fine booking a return with Velocity
Cons of booking now: trusting QF not to lose my seats by not reticketing in time, not direct, risk there not being return flights in my period of travel, adding extra legs will cost me points

Pros seem to outweight the cons. Would you agree?

Is there anything I'm not considering here? Any red flags?

Basically...would you book now and anticipate building a OWA from this point?

 

[elanshin]

It's been 10 years since I last booked a OWA and the playing field nowadays is not at all the same, so I am going to build one in stages which I haven't ever done before. I'm looking for some confirmation from the more experienced out there that I'm on the right track.

My current situation:
QFF points: #350K
Route: MEL-CDG-MEL
Dates: April 2025

I've found flights over on MH and AY for 179,500 points. MEL-KUL-SIN-HEL-CDG with 12 hours in SIN. Not perfect, but not horrendous either. (Those 12 hours are during the day local time so I'd probably go and look at the gardens or something I've never done before.)

My thoughts are...
Pros of booking now: flights secured, can add on return legs when they become available in a few weeks, if by some miracle direct flights open up I'd have the points to cover booking both and cancelling the first booking, very low carrier fees, if I can't find return tickets on OW to make it a OWA the points over aren't so terrible as to make it prohibitive and I should be fine booking a return with Velocity
Cons of booking now: trusting QF not to lose my seats by not reticketing in time, not direct, risk there not being return flights in my period of travel, adding extra legs will cost me points

Pros seem to outweight the cons. Would you agree?

Is there anything I'm not considering here? Any red flags?

Basically...would you book now and anticipate building a OWA from this point?

Perhaps consider using JL on the way back if you want more certainty and book it all soon. It seems they're still releasing CR like clockwork. Downside is that their carrier fees have gone up so that might sting a bit more.

(Eg lots of flights from say FRA - NRT in early Apr 2025 right now, I can also see J for NRT - MEL on Apr 8 2025). You could even gamble that JL will have their new a35K on LHR route by Apr next year.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

trusting QF not to lose my seats by not reticketing in time

Although I agree with you that the pros outweigh the cons…
As you have MH in your itinerary, be extra vigilant on the reticketing issue when you make any itinerary changes - MH can be dynamite on recalling seats if they’re left in ticketing purgatory for long (said the voice of bitter experience…)

 

[FlyingFiona]

Thanks for the thoughts @elanshin and @There'sOnlyOneJimmy - especially re MH dropping unticketed seats lickety split. I think I'll wait for the return dates to drop and see what my options are then.

One option to avoid MH on my preferred dates is to use CI to get to Tokyo and then take an AY flight. I'm pretty anti-China on a business level, but am I cutting my nose off to spite my face here?

 

[puchu]

You are especially when CI is based in Taipei

 

[ellen10]

We fly out Tuesday to Singapore for an over night stay, to then start our OWE on a separate ticket.
We haven't flown an OWE since 2019, which was wonderful and ran so smoothly. This is our first venture since then and I have been stressed chasing up changes to flights and new etickets being sent etc. It has been all quiet for the last 2 months. I regularly check my Qantas account that flights are still there.

But now I can't even remember about checking in and confirming ongoing flights and connections with other airlines. Our starting reward flights from Singapore are on JAL (never flown them before). To check in for these flights do I just check in on the Qantas app? or JAL website, we will only have our phones (no ipad etc) We are staying overnight at a transit hotel in Changi should I try and use a computer at the hotel to print boarding passes.
I would like to check in as close to 24hours before. The first flights are 3 components until we arrive at our first destination. Can I get printed boarding passes from JAL at the airport when we check our bags? I like to have printed ones.

I know that I sound like a newbie but the angst is keeping me awake at night. I have read too many horror stories!

 

[Captain Halliday]

One option to avoid MH on my preferred dates is to use CI to get to Tokyo and then take an AY flight. I'm pretty anti-China on a business level, but am I cutting my nose off to spite my face here?

CI is not a OneWorld member and is ineligible for inclusion in a Oneworld Classic Flight Award.

 

[DC3]

… now I can't even remember about checking in and confirming ongoing flights and connections with other airlines. Our starting reward flights from Singapore are on JAL (never flown them before). To check in for these flights do I just check in on the Qantas app? or JAL website …

Check-in is done through the Carrier, by app/ website/ or at the airport (e.g., kiosk or desk). If all else fails, just go to a JAL kiosk at the airport and print the boarding passes for that day. Your bookings would all be confirmed already, if you have an e-ticket.

 

[adenda]

Thanks for the thoughts @elanshin and @There'sOnlyOneJimmy - especially re MH dropping unticketed seats lickety split. I think I'll wait for the return dates to drop and see what my options are then.

One option to avoid MH on my preferred dates is to use CI to get to Tokyo and then take an AY flight. I'm pretty anti-China on a business level, but am I cutting my nose off to spite my face here?

From my experience of booking (and cancelling) a OWA over the last few years I would say there is one factor that trumps all others in assessing pros and cons - availability. Definitely book now in my view.
And, as others have suggested, jump onto any changes requiring reticketing. MH is as merciless as everyone says.
Also factor in burning say 20K points on making changes/adding flights from the outset.

 

[MelbFlyer]

Pros of booking now: flights secured, can add on return legs when they become available in a few weeks

In theory this is easy - you search and see your desired award seats online, you then call up to add them to your existing booking. Sounds simple.

In practice however, it is much more difficult if my now done business OWA experience is anything to go by.

I had well over 100+ calls with Qantas for this very thing - adding/modifying flights on an existing rewards booking - most consultants gave me the below reasons:

- "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)
- "You are unable to change to this seat"

among other BS responses.

On some days I HUACA around 15-20 times, mostly without much success so I gave up a lot of the time trying to amend my booking.

Eventually in the end (talking about up to 6 months of continually searching online for seats and calling Qantas when new ones popped up) I got lucky and got Hobart or Auckland as a lowly Bronze member a handful of times and was finally able to get my desired seats / flights added. It took a lot of hard work, hours and much frustration though.

It honestly shouldn't be that hard - It should be consistent across the board - either you can or you can't amend / change - it shouldn't vary because of the agent you get.

If only Qantas implemented a system where you can amend reward bookings online - that would be a godsend.

 

[ellen10]

Check-in is done through the Carrier, by app/ website/ or at the airport (e.g., kiosk or desk). If all else fails, just go to a JAL kiosk at the airport and print the boarding passes for that day. Your bookings would all be confirmed already, if you have an e-ticket.

Thanks @DC3 I just had a look at the JAL website and my bookings and selected seats are there, (I could not previously select the seats on JAL, I did it through royal Jordan, as suggested on this thread), so when I'm in Singapore I will try and checkin early on JAL website.