QAward Booking best practice

[empressjo]

I've been reading thru forum & I'm still unsure about booking my award flights. Flying 1 PAX MEL to PHX or LAX earliest 11 Nov 2016 & flexible to return from late January to late February 2017. I am going to apply for a 6-month USA visa as I have the flexibility to change or extend my stay if I need.

I can get a PE within 3 days of when I want to fly [13 Nov], so I'm sure I will choose this option, but returning any time from late January to late Feb 2017 only shows E flights.

Do I book only the flight outbound & wait for the return PE award [with alerts]?
Or do I book outbound & a return, knowing it will cost me to change/upgrade later?

Couple of notes - 1st time travelling alone since head injury & will require assistance. I have improved over last 3 years & can look after myself, just get confused & forget [everything]!
Friend can meet me at LAX or PHX
Will be staying & having treatment in PHX
Also have broken arm/wrist from my balance issues, but cast should be off in 6 weeks [fingers (on 1 hand) crossed]
Would love the service of J but currently only hold 150,000 qff & money spent on tix means less treatment when I'm there.

Any help, suggestions or words of wisdom - all greatly accepted

 

[RooFlyer]

Can't help with the booking strategy, sorry, but I would think that better award classes are unlikely to appear as time goes forward. However as you are flexible for the return , and there are plenty of economy available, you can probably afford to hold off booking one of those until you see availability getting tight, just in case a PE pops up in the meantime.

I hear what you are saying about $ budget, and that's sensible, but you might also be able to wait and see if there is a Y sale on for the time you want to fly, and then see if you can upgrade using points (NOTE: make sure the sale fare is in an upgradable fare class. The absolute cheapest ones frequently aren't). Taxes etc on a Y award ticket are often close to the cost of a sale paid ticket.

Also: Be circumspect about telling the airline about your injury. If it doesn't affect your ability to fly, then its not their business, but if informed, they may make life difficult for you.

Also may I ask why you intend to apply for a US Visa? If you haven't been there for a while, you may not know about the access to the US Visa waiver / ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) program for Australian (and many other) citizens. You get it online HERE for a small fee and it lasts 2 years. If this is possibly suitable for you, come back and we'll give a bit more info. Beware of site offering estas - you need to use the official site, linked here. If you are going to declare your travel to the USA is for medical treatment, then maybe that's why you are going for a Visa, although I think an ESTA is still OK.

 

[Quickstatus]

I've been reading thru forum & I'm still unsure about booking my award flights. Flying 1 PAX MEL to PHX or LAX earliest 11 Nov 2016 & flexible to return from late January to late February 2017. I am going to apply for a 6-month USA visa as I have the flexibility to change or extend my stay if I need.

I can get a PE within 3 days of when I want to fly [13 Nov], so I'm sure I will choose this option, but returning any time from late January to late Feb 2017 only shows E flights.

Do I book only the flight outbound & wait for the return PE award [with alerts]?
Or do I book outbound & a return, knowing it will cost me to change/upgrade later?

Couple of notes - 1st time travelling alone since head injury & will require assistance. I have improved over last 3 years & can look after myself, just get confused & forget [everything]!
Friend can meet me at LAX or PHX
Will be staying & having treatment in PHX
Also have broken arm/wrist from my balance issues, but cast should be off in 6 weeks [fingers (on 1 hand) crossed]
Would love the service of J but currently only hold 150,000 qff & money spent on tix means less treatment when I'm there.

Any help, suggestions or words of wisdom - all greatly accepted

Empressjo:
For the period you are looking to fly, most of the premium seats such as PE, J (business) have already been snapped up by now and the sales have just finished.

You can book a 2x one ways or a return and the risks are as you state

If you apply for a visa to USA for medical reasons, it may be possible that the airline may pick up on it at the airport??? and query it??? and may complicate your travel. A letter from your doctor attesting to your fitness to travel is not enough. You may then be required to see a Qantas appointed medico. However if you do not appear disabled then you should be OK.

 

[empressjo]

I didn't even think about my medical issues giving anyone reason to stop me flying! I flew 2 years ago, with family, & i know I'm better, but I couldn't walk the distances without a possible few mishaps.

The US electronic visa waver I had just expired & as my best friend lives in US I'm lucky enough to be able to stay as long as I want which may be longer than the 3 month waver. The treatment is secondary to the quality time relaxing & recovering without stress [& 2 little grandkids I can't keep my hands off] so I can return to as normal life as possible when I do decide to return.

 

[Mattg]

I would book this as 2x one-way awards. There is no real penalty in terms of the points required for doing so, and you don't risk losing the outbound award flights.