Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[MEL_Traveller]

So update today is I can now see another flight in my QF app (the flight 1.5 hours after the cancelled flight that I asked them to request). The cancelled flight is also still there however as well. BUT the new flight is not showing as confirmed as yet, so maybe they are still in the process of sorting it out

Qantas needs to ticket the new flight. You might need to give them a call to prompt this to happen.

 

[DC3]

So update today is I can now see another flight in my QF app (the flight 1.5 hours after the cancelled flight that I asked them to request). The cancelled flight is also still there however as well. BUT the new flight is not showing as confirmed as yet, so maybe they are still in the process of sorting it out

As long as you are happy with your new e-ticket.

 

[vast524]

We currently have x2 Business class Oneworld tickets departing Mel and returning Syd in Oct 24. We are based on the Sunshine Coast and wondering if it is worth adding flights to the start and end to fly from MCY. Is it worth the risk to add and reissue the tickets or just book new rewards flights for these sectors? Would prefer to not have to pay/use points and incorporate into the existing booking. Had completely forgotten at the time of initial booking, was just relieved to get the trip booked. Thanks again for your help

 

[ozflier]

We currently have x2 Business class Oneworld tickets departing Mel and returning Syd in Oct 24. We are based on the Sunshine Coast and wondering if it is worth adding flights to the start and end to fly from MCY. Is it worth the risk to add and reissue the tickets or just book new rewards flights for these sectors? Would prefer to not have to pay/use points and incorporate into the existing booking. Had completely at the time of initial booking. Thanks again for your help

I would have a go myself incorporating it into current booking - if done at same time , should cost 5 k each.Careful not to book JQ as that would void OWA reward.

 

[vast524]

I would have a go myself incorporating it into current booking - if done at same time , should cost 5 k each.Careful not to book JQ as that would void OWA reward.

Thank you. I had thought that making changes to the start and/or finish requires an agent to do, whereas changes within the booking can be done using the manage booking feature.

 

[Mr H]

Thank you. I had thought that making changes to the start and/or finish requires an agent to do, whereas changes within the booking can be done using the manage booking feature.

You can't do anything online apart from the initial booking.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

We currently have x2 Business class Oneworld tickets departing Mel and returning Syd in Oct 24. We are based on the Sunshine Coast and wondering if it is worth adding flights to the start and end to fly from MCY. Is it worth the risk to add and reissue the tickets or just book new rewards flights for these sectors? Would prefer to not have to pay/use points and incorporate into the existing booking. Had completely forgotten at the time of initial booking, was just relieved to get the trip booked. Thanks again for your help

It will be almost im0ssible to add domestic connections to international tickets. There’s a ‘hard block’ on this both in line and via the call centre. If you can reach hobart you might have some luck, but the system is hard-wired at the moment to only offer select domestic connections if available as a single search.

This means is you search MEL-LAX and it offers MEL-SYD-LAX you’re ok. But if you have to use the multi-city tool to sear MEL-SYD and SYD-LAX separately, you’re almost certain to not be able to ticket it.

Anecdotally there seems to be the occasional exception for regional connections. So you could try calling and see if you can get those sectors added, but you might find the answer is ‘no’. If it is, not much that can be done.

If you have carriers on your OWA that require instant ticketing (within 24 hours), I wouldn’t risk it!

 

[Mike65]

Trying to find award availability in North America as part of a OWA in J for June/July 2025. Really need YVR ald YUL, not fussed about visiting/transitting other ports. Have tried using the staging ports of LAX and JFK/BOS. At the moment, I just keep getting error messages unless I search for much earlier flights eg May 2025. Also, can only see seats in Y. Any tips or tricks greatly appreciated.

 

[Mr H]

Trying to find award availability in North America as part of a OWA in J for June/July 2025. Really need YVR ald YUL, not fussed about visiting/transitting other ports. Have tried using the staging ports of LAX and JFK/BOS. At the moment, I just keep getting error messages unless I search for much earlier flights eg May 2025. Also, can only see seats in Y. Any tips or tricks greatly appreciated.

Different airlines release their seats at different points. If you are seeing seats for May but not for June then you may need to wait a month to see seats released.

As for seeing only Y - airlines in America like to sell premium economy seats as "first class" which stuffs up redemption tables. You may need to slum it in Y.

Alternatively, go somewhere more interesting instead.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Different airlines release their seats at different points. If you are seeing seats for May but not for June then you may need to wait a month to see seats released.

As for seeing only Y - airlines in America like to sell premium economy seats as "first class" which stuffs up redemption tables. You may need to slum it in Y.

Alternatively, go somewhere more interesting instead.

I think this issue has now been resolved!

Domestic first class in the USA, which is the equivalent of our domestic business class here in Oz, is now sold as U class. Which is the business class award bucket.

There was a time when this wasn’t necessarily the case, most recently when Alaska Airlines joined one world, I believe. But I think they’ve made it standard as U class. (for trans con flights with three classes, U stays as U, but they add first class on top)

 

[DC3]

Trying to find award availability in North America as part of a OWA in J for June/July 2025 ….. I just keep getting error messages unless I search for much earlier flights eg May 2025.

AS and AA don’t release award seats before 330/331 days out, at best. Patience Grasshopper.

 

[ozflier]

AS and AA don’t release award seats before 330/331 days out, at best. Patience Grasshopper.

Some sectors would be covered by Westjet - Y rewards only and cannot be used as part of a OWA.
If you are looking at American Airlines , many of their flights eg from LAX, SFO, LGA to Canada are small aircraft - ie small number of first class seats in that cabin .
I have found Alaskan particularly mean in terms of what they award seat release to QFF .
You may have to as i have done in the past and used other frequent flier programs if you can - United Mileage Plus offers Air Canada J transborder rewards +++ as well as their own . Similarly Virgin offer Delta seats but usually in Y.
Good luck

 

[DC3]

Some sectors would be covered by Westjet - Y rewards only and cannot be used as part of a OWA.
If you are looking at American Airlines , many of their flights eg from LAX, SFO, LGA to Canada are small aircraft - ie small number of first class seats in that cabin .
I have found Alaskan particularly mean in terms of what they award seat release to QFF .
You may have to as i have done in the past and used other frequent flier programs if you can - United Mileage Plus offers Air Canada J transborder rewards +++ as well as their own . Similarly Virgin offer Delta seats but usually in Y.
Good luck

Did you intend your post to reply to mine?

I was merely advising Mike65 when AA and AS may release award seats.

 

[ozflier]

I was responding to Mike65.

 

[Des1801]

So update today is I can now see another flight in my QF app (the flight 1.5 hours after the cancelled flight that I asked them to request). The cancelled flight is also still there however as well. BUT the new flight is not showing as confirmed as yet, so maybe they are still in the process of sorting it out

Further update is that it’s now been 3 calls over the course of a week and still no new flight ticketed. Being told they have escalated to BA and waiting for them to confirm the seats. Why does it have to be so difficult….

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Further update is that it’s now been 3 calls over the course of a week and still no new flight ticketed. Being told they have escalated to BA and waiting for them to confirm the seats. Why does it have to be so difficult….

Painful, but you could also try ringing BA direct. Ask the, to look at the booking, and to add the new flight.

They will tell you they can’t change the booking or ticket, but you can acknowledge that, asking them to simply add the new flight, which you will then call qantas to ticket.

Painful because i know there can be very long wait times to get thorough to BA.

However… depending on the date of travel… there’s not too much risk here. It’s a BA flight, transferring to another BA flight. They can create award inventory anytime. So you should be protected. It’s very different to trying to get BA to change a partner flight.

 

[Mike65]

Gosh the award booking process is anything but simple.
Two interesting things I discovered today:
1. Seats can appear retrospectively. So if you see no seats avail in your desired routing, class and dates, when you think they should show up - don't give up! I've gone back a week or two and found J seat availibility that wasn't there on the original day of release.
2. Some advance dates are inactive (or not). For example today (July 12) we should be able to see 353 days in advance (ie to June 30 2025). Do a search for June 30 and you see some advance dates appear in the date scroll selector eg July 2 or July 5. Select these and nothing happens, so you think they are inactive, BUT if you go back a week and select eg June 24 first, then come back July 2 or 5 are suddenly active! (Disclaimer: I haven't taken this through to actually booking yet so not sure if this is just like a preview or actually enables you to book)
Hoping the observations are useful for others....

 

[elanshin]

Gosh the award booking process is anything but simple.
Two interesting things I discovered today:
1. Seats can appear retrospectively. So if you see no seats avail in your desired routing, class and dates, when you think they should show up - don't give up! I've gone back a week or two and found J seat availibility that wasn't there on the original day of release.
2. Some advance dates are inactive (or not). For example today (July 12) we should be able to see 353 days in advance (ie to June 30 2025). Do a search for June 30 and you see some advance dates appear in the date scroll selector eg July 2 or July 5. Select these and nothing happens, so you think they are inactive, BUT if you go back a week and select eg June 24 first, then come back July 2 or 5 are suddenly active! (Disclaimer: I haven't taken this through to actually booking yet so not sure if this is just like a preview or actually enables you to book)
Hoping the observations are useful for others....

Don't forget that some award spaces don't show up as U class (so U0) and thus some sites won't alert you to it.

Found that out the other day calling to release a ticket and then the agent said "oh you can just book online". (And no the J award wasn't there a week earlier).

 

[flapper]

Today I finished booking my 9th OWA for June/July 2025, heading off on no. 8 next month.
I wanted to share some learnings to help others to make a stressful experience slightly less so.

1. When calling to add flights always screen the operator first by asking if the know how to add a flight to an existing rewards booking, no point wasting time only to get told the all too common "you can't add a flight to an existing booking" or "you can't add a flight 12 months from 1st ticketing date."
2. Always check your mileage on CGM (don't forget surface segments) even if you are sure you are under. I thought I was well within the 35K but the lack of BA flights available to QF meant using AY and the long trek to HEL and back added '000s of miles and put me just over, when I checked just before ringing to add final flights. Had to delete some inter Euro flights.
3. Do a dummy run using QF multi city using dummy dates to check you end up with 318k if flying J.
4. Getting reticketed on the weekend is very difficult. After many calls over 1 Saturday most operators refused to contact ticketing but 2 did (this now only takes them about 15-20mins, used to be 1-2hrs). They both told me that told me that ticketing refused do it as the frequent flyer desk wasn't open on weekends and points couldn't be deducted.
5. Email rewards escalations for reticketing, even on weekends. Advise them the call centre has advised they can't do it and you are concerned that partner airlines will delete flights if not reticketed in 24hrs. I emailed on a Saturday night and they called me back Sunday lunchtime to advise it had been reticketed.

 

[DC3]

Today I finished booking my 9th OWA for June/July 2025, heading off on no. 8 next month.
I wanted to share some learnings to help others to make a stressful experience slightly less so.

Great post. You may need to re-post this every few days for the benefit of the newbies who haven’t the time to research.