Partner reward seat availability through QFF

[bussyboy]

I understand that traditionally Qantas makes award seats available from a set number of days out from departure, depending on your status - but how does this work for One World and partner airline flight redemptions booked using Qantas points?

E.g. if I need to book flights within USA on AA, or want to book Asia on CX or MH, Europe on Finnair, etc - when is the right time to be looking for redemptions?

I'm sure there's lots of combinations based on both the operating carrier and status?

 

[RealtimeY]

Only Qantas reward seats are based on your QFF status.

Some partner carriers (like CX) show their own members more seats, but other than that are not affected by your QFF status. This is the latest article I could find from AFF about it: Reward Seat Release Patterns Have Changed Fundamentally

There are still some airlines that make award seats available as soon as flights go on sale. This includes Malaysia Airlines, Japan Airlines, China Airlines and Fiji Airways – all of which are Qantas partner airlines.

 

[RichardMEL]

The partners determine the inventory they release to QFF and when. One's status has no effect.

 

[bussyboy]

The partners determine the inventory they release to QFF and when. One's status has no effect.

That's good to know!

But that still leaves the question: when do partners release seats to QFF?

 

[RichardMEL]

That's good to know!

But that still leaves the question: when do partners release seats to QFF?

Well, that's variable.....

 

[Mattg]

That's good to know!

But that still leaves the question: when do partners release seats to QFF?

I realise this doesn't really help you, but it depends on the partner, route, cabin class, etc. etc.

There's a list of initial release dates with different airlines here:

When is the Best Time to Book Award Flights?

The best time to redeem frequent flyer points for award flights is generally either 11-12 months before you want to travel, or close to departure. But this depends on the airline you wish to fly with.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

But that doesn't mean these partners routinely release seats on all routes at those times.

MH and JL often do, but CX releases more seats closer to departure, for example.

 

[djkelly69]

if I need to book flights within USA on AA,

IME 330 days for AA domestics (although last time was about 2 years ago).

 

[Mwenenzi]

That's good to know!
But that still leaves the question: when do partners release seats to QFF?

Even when a partner releases seat to QF ffp , QF can decide a when/if to release those seats to QF ffp members (if still available).
At the end frequent flyer miles/avois/points vs award seats/upgrades are cash transaction between the 2 parties. Both parties will be wanting to minimise liability - maximise profit. FFP's are a (big) profit centre for airlines

 

[bussyboy]

All seems to conspire against making it easy to find multi-stop international itineraries... thanks for the tips all