Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[pyramidforce]

Both consultants seemed reasonably knowledgeable. They said exactly the same thing. There are award seats but they can't be added to existing bookings. They can only be booked as a new booking. Even trying random dates weeks later it was the same thing - there are classic awards available but to access them I would have to create a new booking thereby losing the benefit of the capped OWR.

At the end of the day, it is up to you how much you want to fight it. At some stage, if it costs you 300 hours to get a good agent and you make federal minimum wage of 22 per hour, you have spend 6600 aud to save 20k QFF points. Thats one way of looking at it.

But unless you have (inadvertently) misrepresented something about your booking, the agent is just wrong. There shouldnt be any reason why syd-hnl doesnt work (unless it is on Hawaiian Air or Fiji air or something). I had an agent tell me she couldnt book me on DUB-LCY because she the moon was in the wrong phase of alignment with uranus. Good luck, understand though why u want to call it quits.

 

[pyramidforce]

Thank you for the suggestion. I've been looking at Japan as an option but unsurprisingly I can't get 5x reward seats from Japan to anywhere in Australia.

Yeah...that's not going to happen ever. Its a popular route even in off season. I think this idea is too ambitious to ever work.

 

[bobeaumontswife]

I'm hoping that someone may be able to help.

I have nearly completed a OneWorld Reward itinerary for 5pax in economy.
So far I have booked BNE-DRW-SIN-HEL, HEL-LHR, LHR-JFK, EWK-DFW-HNL, SYD-BNE.
The flights all the way through to New York were booked online first, and the remainder of the flights were added via a phone call with a very helpful consultant.
The only leg missing is HNL-SYD.
The Qantas website shows 5 classic reward seats as being available for this leg.
The telephone consultant said she is unable to book this segment as the HNL-SYD reward seats are available for a new booking but the correct fare class is not available to add them to an existing booking. Does anyone know why this is the case, and is there a way around it? It's a long swim from HNL to SYD

Thanks in advance for any assistance. I have learned much from AFF over many years and always managed to find the answer to my question by searching threads, but this has left me stumped, hence my first post!

Update: We decided to change our travel plans rather than keep pushing to access the HNL-SYD flights. Going to spend a few days in Miami instead. Husband and three teenage sons are happy, plenty of boats and fast cars. Also means we are flying home non-stop from DFW-BNE which is a long flight but less mucking around. OWR is now complete, everything booked and only $3,600 total in taxes for 5 people which I think is pretty good considering we have a flight out of LHR.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my query.

 

[Nfrequentflyer]

Hi all

It has been a while since I last booked flights using QFF points so thought Id join up here with a few questions. (Yes I know there is a search function, however hoping more experienced people can give me a quick rundown beforehand).

Query 1. I was trying to book a oneworld rewards ticket (the 132400 pnts capped round the world ticket) for around mid september this year, starting in Perth The multicity booking all seemed to indicate reward flights were available for each leg (as it had the little reward symbol on the flights), however, each time I tried to book the "somewhere in asia" to dubai to europe leg, error kept coming up saying no reward flights available for your requested dates... tried the business oneworld reward ticket and the same thing happens.
1. Is something dodgy going on?
2. Do I need to call Qantas to try and make the bookings?
3. Is there anyway you can be exempt from the 7700 pnts cost for making a booking over the phone?

Query 2. Checking the classic rewards qff points cost to fly from Perth to say Lisbon or Madrid return (or oneway), indicates a specific points cost (e.g per-sin-london 51200, lon-mad 14000) however when you try to "search for available flights, the points cost is always higher... same occurs for business flights.
4. Shouldnt the points cost be the same as what the points calculator indicates when flights are availlable?
5. Ive tried to extend travel dates into next year to try and secure flights using points, however it only goes to february 2026... So you cant try and search/book reward flights more than 11months in advance?

Regards

 

[Mr H]

Hi all

It has been a while since I last booked flights using QFF points so thought Id join up here with a few questions. (Yes I know there is a search function, however hoping more experienced people can give me a quick rundown beforehand).

Query 1. I was trying to book a oneworld rewards ticket (the 132400 pnts capped round the world ticket) for around mid september this year, starting in Perth The multicity booking all seemed to indicate reward flights were available for each leg (as it had the little reward symbol on the flights), however, each time I tried to book the "somewhere in asia" to dubai to europe leg, error kept coming up saying no reward flights available for your requested dates... tried the business oneworld reward ticket and the same thing happens.
1. Is something dodgy going on?
2. Do I need to call Qantas to try and make the bookings?
3. Is there anyway you can be exempt from the 7700 pnts cost for making a booking over the phone?

Query 2. Checking the classic rewards qff points cost to fly from Perth to say Lisbon or Madrid return (or oneway), indicates a specific points cost (e.g per-sin-london 51200, lon-mad 14000) however when you try to "search for available flights, the points cost is always higher... same occurs for business flights.
4. Shouldnt the points cost be the same as what the points calculator indicates when flights are availlable?
5. Ive tried to extend travel dates into next year to try and secure flights using points, however it only goes to february 2026... So you cant try and search/book reward flights more than 11months in advance?

Regards

You may be trying to include EK which is not OW. The telephone assistance fee is waived for J. Miles seem to be charged for each connecting flight in an itinerary until they call out if the OWA rules are met. You cannot book flights before they are released, either when paying with points or cash. The search function is your friend.

 

[Nfrequentflyer]

You may be trying to include EK which is not OW. The telephone assistance fee is waived for J. Miles seem to be charged for each connecting flight in an itinerary until they call out if the OWA rules are met. You cannot book flights before they are released, either when paying with points or cash. The search function is your friend.

Thanks for your response.

Hmmm, you're correct it was an Emirates flight, weird that they showed up with the Rewards Flight symbol on that leg AND I did click Rewards slider option.

Queries for all again:
1. Post-covid, how early should you be looking to try and book Classic Reward tickets to Europe in general? (The last time I managed to book a Oneworld Reward Classic ticket I did around 6months in advance with no issues, doing the PER-aus east coast-usa-europe travel direction)

2. Seeing as Emirates is not part of the OW alliance, what would be the airlines/routes leg to try if you want to go to Europe from Perth via the middle east region using Classic Rewards ticketing (I dont really want to have to go via longer London route then "backwards" slightly into europe)? Or is it better just to travel via the USA?

Regards

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for your response.

Hmmm, you're correct it was an Emirates flight, weird that they showed up with the Rewards Flight symbol on that leg AND I did click Rewards slider option.

Queries for all again:
1. Post-covid, how early should you be looking to try and book Classic Reward tickets to Europe in general? (The last time I managed to book a Oneworld Reward Classic ticket I did around 6months in advance with no issues, doing the PER-aus east coast-usa-europe travel direction)

2. Seeing as Emirates is not part of the OW alliance, what would be the airlines/routes leg to try if you want to go to Europe from Perth via the middle east region using Classic Rewards ticketing (I dont really want to have to go via longer London route then "backwards" slightly into europe)? Or is it better just to travel via the USA?

Regards

The system doesn’t know you are booking a OWA, so it will show you all award availability, from any airline. It will show KLM and Air France for example as well.

You could look at options such as Sri Lankan Airlines if you want to get to the ME. And BA onwards from the ME. You could fly Cathay Pacific, or Royal Jordanian.

 

[Nfrequentflyer]

The system doesn’t know you are booking a OWA, so it will show you all award availability, from any airline. It will show KLM and Air France for example as well.

You could look at options such as Sri Lankan Airlines if you want to get to the ME. And BA onwards from the ME. You could fly Cathay Pacific, or Royal Jordanian.

Thanks for your response. Hmmm they need/should provide a function for specific ticketing like OW Classic Rewards when booking, simple programming nowadays...

Ah ok, shall look into Sri Lanka routing. I don't specifically want to go to the ME, just prefer the mid-way break in Dubai etc. over the extra long haul of like a SIN-LON leg... Cathay I did try as dont mind a HK stop as part of a long trip, however didnt seem to be available at all for a HK-euro leg... Guess Ill have to keep looking and hoping!

 

[jase05]

Thanks for your response. Hmmm they need/should provide a function for specific ticketing like OW Classic Rewards when booking, simple programming nowadays...

Ah ok, shall look into Sri Lanka routing. I don't specifically want to go to the ME, just prefer the mid-way break in Dubai etc. over the extra long haul of like a SIN-LON leg... Cathay I did try as dont mind a HK stop as part of a long trip, however didnt seem to be available at all for a HK-euro leg... Guess Ill have to keep looking and hoping!

Don’t rule out India as a stopover. Often decent award availability on BA and AY to Europe and India is a great place to stop for a couple of days

 

[Mr H]

Thanks for your response. Hmmm they need/should provide a function for specific ticketing like OW Classic Rewards when booking, simple programming nowadays...

The harder it is, the more it advantages those who put in the time to figure out how the system works.

 

[Nfrequentflyer]

Don’t rule out India as a stopover. Often decent award availability on BA and AY to Europe and India is a great place to stop for a couple of days

Ah that's a great suggestion, Ive never thought of stopping over through India, but it makes sense as the flight break-up would/should be similar to a Dubai/ME stop, thanks!

 

[shankoz]

Thanks for your response.

Hmmm, you're correct it was an Emirates flight, weird that they showed up with the Rewards Flight symbol on that leg AND I did click Rewards slider option.

Queries for all again:
1. Post-covid, how early should you be looking to try and book Classic Reward tickets to Europe in general? (The last time I managed to book a Oneworld Reward Classic ticket I did around 6months in advance with no issues, doing the PER-aus east coast-usa-europe travel direction)

2. Seeing as Emirates is not part of the OW alliance, what would be the airlines/routes leg to try if you want to go to Europe from Perth via the middle east region using Classic Rewards ticketing (I dont really want to have to go via longer London route then "backwards" slightly into europe)? Or is it better just to travel via the USA?

Regards

As a fellow Perth based flyer, the route I took early last yer was PER-HKG (stop) then HKG-HEL-OSL. You'll find award availability hardest to get on the PER-HKG leg but they are definitely there. Hong Kong to Helsinki is usually much easier, and from there, Finnair flies to a lot of destinations within Europe. I think finding a direct Cathay flight from HKG to somewhere in Europe will be very challenging.

Yes it is quite circuitous but with Qatar no longer providing QF any reward seats (at least ones that allow you to book with any sort of decent advance notice), going via the Middle East is next to impossible.