Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Captain Halliday]

Whacked very hard.

Large surcharge for departures from the UK ( with a few exceptions eg Inverness) .
Its a government levied fee and varies according to which class you are travelling and the distance your first sector travels . I think 2000 miles is the magic number .
It is more complicated than this - and it does not apply to arrivals only departures .
The cost can be substantial well over AUD 1100 for business seats plus all the other fees !
There are a few workarounds .
Air Passenger Duty - Wikipedia is a good reference but may not be totally up to date as some fee increases occurred this year.

And was announced yesterday (our time) that it’s increasing further.

Details in this thread: UK Air Passenger Duty increasing again and more in 2025

 

[Lynda2475]

No APD flying into London airports, or if connecting through from elsewhere.

So fly into LHR long haul have your stay in London; then fly out of LON to somewhere close in western Europe small APD, then if flying long haul out of LHR just make sure you connect from an Euro airport on same day to avoid APD.

Or fly home from HEL.

 

[Mr H]

Its a government levied fee and varies according to which class you are travelling and the distance your first sector travels . I think 2000 miles is the magic number .

Sector can mean different things to different people. In this case, it means the total distance of the next series of flights until you next have a break of more than 24 hours or switch to a new ticket. So LHR-CDG-BGF in Y/J will count the mileage from LHR-BGF and charge at the highest class of travel you use on the journey.

 

[gaz0303]

I’ve been able to select 5 Y award seats to Europe and onto the UK, but I can’t find a way home travelling east ~8-10 Oct 25. Tried getting seats released as a WP but told only F class available. Do I book the available westerly flights and hope something opens up and then make changes?

Also, I note that when searching from different countries, teenagers can be classed as a child. Are taxes based on 1st origin or do they get recalculated somehow? Might need to do some dummy bookings and work out differences from having seperate tickets and lower tax, or point savings but more cash outlay.

 

[elanshin]

I’ve been able to select 5 Y award seats to Europe and onto the UK, but I can’t find a way home travelling east ~8-10 Oct 25. Tried getting seats released as a WP but told only F class available. Do I book the available westerly flights and hope something opens up and then make changes?

Also, I note that when searching from different countries, teenagers can be classed as a child. Are taxes based on 1st origin or do they get recalculated somehow? Might need to do some dummy bookings and work out differences from having seperate tickets and lower tax, or point savings but more cash outlay.

IF you dont mind non QF, Look at HEL departures on AY to HKG,KIX,HND,SIN,BKK Etc and then connecting from there.

You can also from JL flights from LHR to HND or FRA - HND. CX would also have a bunch of flights from places like LHR -HKG.

Alternatively going through US is an option too.

 

[jbmemories]

IF you dont mind non QF, Look at HEL departures on AY to HKG,KIX,HND,SIN,BKK Etc and then connecting from there.

You can also from JL flights from LHR to HND or FRA - HND. CX would also have a bunch of flights from places like LHR -HKG.

Alternatively going through US is an option too.

If you have any Avios - try searching AY through their website (select FINLAND for the country), and it will show up some award flights, whereas other regions may not show. They've apparently guaranteed an X amount of seats as award seats on each flight, but the current implementation is only visible if the region is set to Finland. Searching when its not set to that region will not show those flights (even though they do exist)!

 

[elanshin]

If you have any Avios - try searching AY through their website (select FINLAND for the country), and it will show up some award flights, whereas other regions may not show. They've apparently guaranteed an X amount of seats as award seats on each flight, but the current implementation is only visible if the region is set to Finland. Searching when its not set to that region will not show those flights (even though they do exist)!

The problem with that is that if its not available to QF then even if itd available to Avios users, if QF can't see it then it won't matter. QF needs to be able to book the tickets for OWA.

 

[jbmemories]

The problem with that is that if its not available to QF then even if itd available to Avios users, if QF can't see it then it won't matter. QF needs to be able to book the tickets for OWA.

ah okay you want to use QFF points, yeah sorry its only AY and Avios trick for now

 

[elanshin]

ah okay you want to use QFF points, yeah sorry its only AY and Avios trick for now

This thread is OWA which is a Qantas product. It has to be Qantas availability on QFF points using OW.

 

[hnyb]

This thread is OWA which is a Qantas product. It has to be Qantas availability on QFF points using OW.

ah okay you want to use QFF points, yeah sorry its only AY and Avios trick for now

Hi all, I have made a booking using online multi-city tool:

CNS-HKG stopover 1
HKG-SFO stopover 2
ABQ-DFW-MEX stopover 3
MEX-MAD stopover 4
MAD-HEL-KIX stopover 5
HKG-SYD-LST


and I wanted to add a leg HBA-BNE-CNS before fist leg the stay in CNS will be less than 24 hours, but the Qantas call centre staff said cannot find flight for existing book, then I ask them to trial put through everything as new booking, then they said cannot get quote got error message #60091\18 not sure if you have any experience in this and do you think my itinerary has breaks any rules?

 

[sap1l]

Hi @hnyb

do you think my itinerary has breaks any rules?

Your routing looks fine. What airlines are you flying on each leg?

Also, it looks like it’s under 35000 miles, but just making sure that you’ve checked this?

I wanted to add a leg HBA-BNE-CNS before fist leg the stay in CNS will be less than 24 hours

I believe sometimes QF does not let you add a domestic transit leg to connect to an international leg. You would have to see if there was availability HBA-HKG instead (and QF will tell you what available transits there are).

trial put through everything as new booking

Usually your award seats don’t keep if they get “transferred” to a new booking. So I would be careful about asking staff to do this, as you may lose your entire booking!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all, I have made a booking using online multi-city tool:

CNS-HKG stopover 1
HKG-SFO stopover 2
ABQ-DFW-MEX stopover 3
MEX-MAD stopover 4
MAD-HEL-KIX stopover 5
HKG-SYD-LST


and I wanted to add a leg HBA-BNE-CNS before fist leg the stay in CNS will be less than 24 hours, but the Qantas call centre staff said cannot find flight for existing book, then I ask them to trial put through everything as new booking, then they said cannot get quote got error message #60091\18 not sure if you have any experience in this and do you think my itinerary has breaks any rules?

Almost impossible to add a domestic leg if it doesnt appear in an initial search result.

If you search MEL-LAX and it gives you the option MEL-SYD-LAX, you’re fine.

But if you book SYD-LAX and try to add MEL, the system won’t allow it.

Conversely, if you start by booking MEL-SYD, all of a sudden the availability SYD-LAX will disappear. It’s a ‘hard block’ put into the system.

 

[gaz0303]

IF you dont mind non QF, Look at HEL departures on AY to HKG,KIX,HND,SIN,BKK Etc and then connecting from there.

You can also from JL flights from LHR to HND or FRA - HND. CX would also have a bunch of flights from places like LHR -HKG.

Alternatively going through US is an option too.

Found 5 seats back through the US but plan vetoed by the boss. Getting back in a group of 2 and 3 also works. AY are fantastic for reward availability.

 

[Mr H]

AY are fantastic for reward availability.

Is that because it’s the only way they can fill business class seats that don’t recline?

 

[hnyb]

Your routing looks fine. What airlines are you flying on each leg?

Also, it looks like it’s under 35000 miles, but just making sure that you’ve checked this?

My chosen airline itinerary:

• CNS-HKG (stopover 1) CX
• HKG-SFO (stopover 2) CX
• ABQ-DFW-MEX (stopover 3) AA
• MEX-MAD (stopover 4) IB
• MAD-HEL-KIX (stopover 5) AY
• HKG-SYD-LST QF

I believe sometimes QF does not let you add a domestic transit leg to connect to an international leg. You would have to see if there was availability HBA-HKG instead (and QF will tell you what available transits there are).

Usually your award seats don’t keep if they get “transferred” to a new booking. So I would be careful about asking staff to do this, as you may lose your entire booking!

Since there were no results for HBA-HKG, I created a workaround to connect in CNS with less than a 24-hour wait. I successfully booked the following itinerary but canceled it because it exceeded the two surface sectors, and I needed to adjust the route to ensure a way home. The canceled itinerary was:

• HBA-BNE-CNS
• CNS-HKG (stopover 1) CX
• HKG-SFO (stopover 2) CX
• LAX-ABQ
• ABQ-DFW-MEX (stopover 3)
• MEX-MAD (stopover 4) IB

The reason I asked to try a new booking (without touching my current one) was that they couldn’t find the HBA-BNE-CNS route if add to the existing booking, but can see that flight if make a new booking. I wanted to see if I fully canceled my current booking and started a new one, whether HBA-BNE-CNS could be included. If they still can’t provide a quote with HBA-BNE-CNS in a new booking, there would be no point in canceling my original booking and starting over.

I am not sure if in this case should I make a new booking with multi city tool:

• HBA-BNE-CNS
• CNS-HKG (stopover 1) CX
• HKG-SFO (stopover 2) CX
• ABQ-DFW-MEX (stopover 3) AA
• MEX-MAD (stopover 4) IB
• MAD-HEL-KIX AY

and call to add

• HKG-SYD-LST QF
  
  so frustrated to deal with the call centre staff.

 

[hnyb]

Also, it looks like it’s under 35000 miles, but just making sure that you’ve checked this?

Yes I did checked it is still within



this is the route they are trying to made in new booking:




I am guessing maybe the I if start from HBA but end in LST (making it more than 2 surface sectors?) not sure if that is the reason, but I also ask them to check this but they said sell cannot get quote.

 

[Lynda2475]

To book HBA-BNE-CNS + CNS-HKG there has to be availability HBA-HKG as no stop-over in CNS.

I would leave it and just book HBA-BNE-CNS as a separate CR preferably day before so you don't risk missing CNS-HKG.

Cancelling any leg there is no guarantee it will be returned to award availability.

 

[hnyb]

Almost impossible to add a domestic leg if it doesnt appear in an initial search result.

If you search MEL-LAX and it gives you the option MEL-SYD-LAX, you’re fine.

But if you book SYD-LAX and try to add MEL, the system won’t allow it.

Conversely, if you start by booking MEL-SYD, all of a sudden the availability SYD-LAX will disappear. It’s a ‘hard block’ put into the system.

The strange part is that using the multi-city tool, I successfully paid for an itinerary that included HBA-BNE-CNS, followed by CNS-HKG. However, it seems the call center system doesn’t allow adding domestic legs or even making it into a new booking. So, I’m considering canceling the booking and starting from HBA to KIX (with a maximum of 6 flights) and then calling to add HKG-SYD-LST afterward.

I’m just concerned that if they still can’t add it, I’ll end up having to redo everything again.

My chosen airline itinerary:

• CNS-HKG (stopover 1) CX
• HKG-SFO (stopover 2) CX
• ABQ-DFW-MEX (stopover 3) AA
• MEX-MAD (stopover 4) IB
• MAD-HEL-KIX (stopover 5) AY
• HKG-SYD-LST QF

Since there were no results for HBA-HKG, I created a workaround to connect in CNS with less than a 24-hour wait. I successfully booked the following itinerary but canceled it because it exceeded the two surface sectors, and I needed to adjust the route to ensure a way home. The canceled itinerary was:

• HBA-BNE-CNS
• CNS-HKG (stopover 1) CX
• HKG-SFO (stopover 2) CX
• LAX-ABQ
• ABQ-DFW-MEX (stopover 3)
• MEX-MAD (stopover 4) IB

The reason I asked to try a new booking (without touching my current one) was that they couldn’t find the HBA-BNE-CNS route if add to the existing booking, but can see that flight if make a new booking. I wanted to see if I fully canceled my current booking and started a new one, whether HBA-BNE-CNS could be included. If they still can’t provide a quote with HBA-BNE-CNS in a new booking, there would be no point in canceling my original booking and starting over.

I am not sure if in this case should I make a new booking with multi city tool:

• HBA-BNE-CNS
• CNS-HKG (stopover 1) CX
• HKG-SFO (stopover 2) CX
• ABQ-DFW-MEX (stopover 3) AA
• MEX-MAD (stopover 4) IB
• MAD-HEL-KIX AY

and call to add

• HKG-SYD-LST QF
  
  so frustrated to deal with the call centre staff.

 

[Mr H]

i am guessing maybe the I if start from HBA but end in LST (making it more than 2 surface sectors?) not sure if that is the reason, but I also ask them to check this but they said sell cannot get quote.

If you end in Launceston then they count the mileage back to Hobart (does it even reach double figures?) but it doesn’t count as a sector.

 

[hnyb]

If you end in Lunchtime then they count the mileage back to Hobart (does it even reach double figures?) but it doesn’t count as a sector.

sorry do you mean why new booking more mileage then the old one? if so, the new booking has more mileage than the old one because, in my original booking, I held a direct MEX-MAD route. For the new trial booking, they had to try routing via MEX-DFW-MAD instead, which increased the mileage.