Qantas: Booking from Abroad

[BOoyaMEdic]

G'day all!

Here's one for you all to ponder about...

looking to go to Buenos Aires in January next year flying Qantas.

Sydney>Buenos Aires Qantas direct services (QF17/18) $6400 for both myself and Partner in Y.
BUT, after digging around, check this out.
I could booked
Auckland>Sydney>Buenos Aires return for $6900NZ, or about $5200!, thats a decent 1200$AU saving!

I won't get into the rant about why is it cheaper this way blah blah blah, BUT what I do want to know is, If i book the latter, apparently starting off in NZ, COULD i just jump on my connecting flight the QF12 in Sydney, and again, should be able to jump on the QF18 in Buenos Aires to come back to sydney, forfeiting my Sydney>Auckland legs.

Does not boarding the first leg of the itinerary void the rest of the travel documents? I've looked through the conditions of carriage etc, and can't find anywhere where it says by not boarding the first leg, voids the remaining legs, or in actual fact any details that tells you ways which you will void your tickets!

Any help please? I wouldn't bother if I was saving $100, but we're talking about $1200 here!

I recently did this same trick flying from Singapore to Frankfurt, flying in Y+ return for the cost of Y ex Australia, but I live in Darwin, so it was easy to jump over to Singa's for this little trick. not so easy to fly to NZ to take advantage of this cheaper fare. You can't book Singapore>Syd>Buenos Aires either... I already tried that trick

Cheers in advance!
Ben.

 

[ozmille]

Does not boarding the first leg of the itinerary void the rest of the travel documents? I've looked through the conditions of carriage etc, and can't find anywhere where it says by not boarding the first leg, voids the remaining legs, or in actual fact any details that tells you ways which you will void your tickets!

Yes, no show on the first flight cancels the rest of the ticket... Seems like an expensive ticket :shock:

 

[casanovawa]

$3100 each seems very expensive... Even $2600 each seems quite a lot, plus whatever it would cost to get to Nz first...

 

[BOoyaMEdic]

Yes, no show on the first flight cancels the rest of the ticket... Seems like an expensive ticket :shock:

ah, but on the terms and conditions of Carrage:

4.6 If You Are Late or Do Not Show Up for Your Flight.
Refer to the fare rules of the fare you have purchased.If you notify us in advance, in accordance with any timeframes set out in your fare rules, that you will not show up for the flight, we will not cancel any subsequent flight reservations on your Ticket.

Conditions of Carriage

What do you make of that?

 

[Timba-Jet]

Time permitting spend the extra 200-400 to buy a oneway flight to position yourself in AKL and rack up more FF points . Or splurge on a J fare with Emirates A380.

On the return journey, ask to have your bags tagged to SYD only and do not take the connecting last leg to AKL. Ideally book a stopover in Syd so there will be no suspicions raised.

Looks like Jan is peak season and you pay for it big time. For a bit more $$$ look at a Oneworld RTW or circle pacific fare.

 

[JohnK]

What do you make of that?

I think the first part of the paragraph is important.

Refer to the fare rules of the fare you have purchased

Generally flights cannot be taken out of sequence unless there are exceptional circumstances. You should not/will not be able to book AKL-SYD-EZE return and then call the airline and tell them you will be a no show for the first flight but will take the second flight.

What they will do for you is change you ticket to a SYD-EZE return flight and you will

- pay change fees if you do not have a flexible ticket
- pay the difference between the fare class purchased and the fare class available now e.g you may have booked O, N class but only B, H, K class is available now. It will be an expensive fare difference.

Take a look at all sections of the conditions of carriage and more specifically 6. Tickets

[h=3]6.5 Coupon Sequence[/h](a) The fare paid for your Ticket has been calculated on the basis of the sequence of transportation shown in your Ticket.(b) Once travel has commenced, if you do not wish to continue the journey in that sequence, you must pay any applicable fees, taxes and fare adjustment. The Ticket will be reissued for the new fare which will be the full unrestricted fare that was applicable for the relevant class of travel on the date of original purchase for the revised itinerary.
(c) Alternatively, you may request a refund for the unused portion of your Ticket within 12 months after the original date of Ticket issue. The amount to be refunded (if any) will be the difference between the fare paid and the full unrestricted fare that would have been payable for the revised itinerary. Any applicable change fee and service fee will be deducted from that amount.
(d) If you wish to change to your sequence of transportation before travel has commenced, and your fare rules allow it, you may request a fare recalculation and ticket reissue, in which case payment of any applicable fees and fare difference will be required.