QF/BA RTW fares on Best Flights

[N860CR]

Has anyone tried booking one of these QF/BA fares listed on Best Flights?

British Airways & Qantas Round WorldEARLYBIRD SALE via Asia & North America Apr-Oct 10

I'm going to NY next year and looks like I'll have to duck over to London for a few days so it seems like a good option (I'd dare say a SYD-JFK-SYD would be pretty close to ~$2200 anyway.

Obviously Best Flights aren't the answer... but if its a good fare, can I book it directly with Qantas?

Any better options? I'll requalify for SG with this anyway but I dare say I'll be well short of WP (probably by ~600) so I'm not desperate for a status run, $$$'s are important!

 

[drewbles]

Has anyone tried booking one of these QF/BA fares listed on Best Flights?

British Airways & Qantas Round WorldEARLYBIRD SALE via Asia & North America Apr-Oct 10

I'm going to NY next year and looks like I'll have to duck over to London for a few days so it seems like a good option (I'd dare say a SYD-JFK-SYD would be pretty close to ~$2200 anyway.

Obviously Best Flights aren't the answer... but if its a good fare, can I book it directly with Qantas?

Any better options? I'll requalify for SG with this anyway but I dare say I'll be well short of WP (probably by ~600) so I'm not desperate for a status run, $$$'s are important!

I dropped a line to my travel agent and confirmed they can do it. There is also a T fare (Y+) that allows you to do this for around the $4942 mark (base fare excluding taxes etc and only available on BA/QF flights with T availability). Not the best value.

You are allowed one stop over in the USA and one in Asia (in addition to the Europe stop). Flights are on BA/QF only and selected QF codeshares on AA metal (including SFO-JFK in the low QF3000 range). Specifically excluded are 3950-3951, 3954-3955 or the 5000 series of codeshares.

Valid European cities include ABZ / AMS / BCN / BHX / BRU / CPH / DUB / DUS / EDI / FRA / GLA / HEL / JER / LON / MAN / MIL / MUC / NCE / NCL / ORK / PAR / ROM / SNN / VIE / ZRH (LON covers LCY/LGW/LHR with land based transfers permitted not counting as a stop over).

An additional stopover in Asia or the USA can be added for $100.

I threw together a sample route of MEL-SYD-SFO-JFK-LHR-AMS-LHR-HKG-MEL and that's perfectly valid.

Unfortunately the fare basis don't seem to appear in EF, but Travel Agents should be able to find them. If you want to call a TA, Y Basis is OKEB10 and T basis is TKPX1Y.

No limit on miles, and fares vary based on time of the year you're travelling.

I already have my plans well under way for this one. Great deal. They all book into O (obviously) so are not upgradeable. SC earn not the best, but for the money it's a great way of getting around and adding in some YUP/KUP fares whilst in the USA

 

[Travel Guru]

There is also a T fare (Y+) that allows you to do this for around the $4942 mark (base fare excluding taxes etc and only available on BA/QF flights with T availability). Not the best value.

How is $4942 for a basic RTW fare in Y+ not good value?

TG

 

[N860CR]

I think given 4 of the 5 sectors could be on QF over BA then the Y+ isn't too bad a deal - if it were all WTP then it wouldn't be so good.

Would this fare be available from Qantas directly? I'm yet to have things go smoothly with a TA and I don't really see the need to risk it.

 

[drewbles]

How is $4942 for a basic RTW fare in Y+ not good value?

TG

It's *not* a rtw fare. It's only available on *very* select routes, and you can only book on flights that sell T (no downgrade to Y). So, you're restricted to routes that QF and BA fly their metal with T. That's pretty limited.

It's better value than a return, but seeing as you can only really either fly into west coast USA and then out to Europe on BA, or QF108 to JFK then BA out, and back via Asia, it's not all that flexible. The O class option lets you take some code shares across the US and has more euro options on BA.

If it was RTW in T, I'd be booking it now

 

[drewbles]

I think given 4 of the 5 sectors could be on QF over BA then the Y+ isn't too bad a deal - if it were all WTP then it wouldn't be so good.

Would this fare be available from Qantas directly? I'm yet to have things go smoothly with a TA and I don't really see the need to risk it.

Not sure if it's directly available from QF, but if you're after a *very* good TA, let me know. My best friend is my TA (And has been for the past 10 years now). They also don't charge any fees for this kinda thing. Just drop me a line if you want contact details (they're happy to work on phone or email and are very responsive - small agency not affiliated with anyone but themselves, they specialise in corporate stuff usually).

 

[Travel Guru]

It's *not* a rtw fare. It's only available on *very* select routes, and you can only book on flights that sell T (no downgrade to Y). So, you're restricted to routes that QF and BA fly their metal with T. That's pretty limited.

It's better value than a return, but seeing as you can only really either fly into west coast USA and then out to Europe on BA, or QF108 to JFK then BA out, and back via Asia, it's not all that flexible. The O class option lets you take some code shares across the US and has more euro options on BA.

If it was RTW in T, I'd be booking it now

Thanks for the explanation, having been a TA for almost a decade I definitely needed the difference explained to me

I realise it's not a standard RTW, but when dealing with the public its far easier to refer to it as a basic RTW than to get into explaining what the fare really is.

TG

 

[drewbles]

Thanks for the explanation, having been a TA for almost a decade I definitely needed the difference explained to me

I realise it's not a standard RTW, but when dealing with the public its far easier to refer to it as a basic RTW than to get into explaining what the fare really is.

TG

Sorry TG I didn't mean to sound (or indeed be) condescending

Agreed it's a basic RTW. I was merely stating that it wasn't necessarily that great value considering how restrictive it is (for a T fare).

I'll be booking the O fare though that's for sure. $2200 odd for it sounds good to me

 

[Travel Guru]

Sorry TG I didn't mean to sound (or indeed be) condescending

Agreed it's a basic RTW. I was merely stating that it wasn't necessarily that great value considering how restrictive it is (for a T fare).

I'll be booking the O fare though that's for sure. $2200 odd for it sounds good to me

It's all good, I was just stirring you.

Agreed, $2200 to get you "Around the World" is great value, especially given standard RTW fares run into 3.5k++

I guess if all you wanted to do was LA, NY, LON and perhaps a stop in Asia you'd be on Y+ the whole way potentially.

TG

 

[Craigie]

I guess if all you wanted to do was LA, NY, LON and perhaps a stop in Asia you'd be on Y+ the whole way potentially.

TG

Hi TG,

Lurked for a while but this brought me out of the shadows

I actually just want to do the above route, well SYD-LA-LON-SYD to be precise, but happy to add in extra if need be to get the fair(which i imagine would be a stop in NY and maybe asia somewhere)

Are you just talking about the T fare, or were you referring to the O fare above?

And is booking this through a TA the only way realistically?

Cheers!

 

[drewbles]

It's all good, I was just stirring you.

Agreed, $2200 to get you "Around the World" is great value, especially given standard RTW fares run into 3.5k++

I guess if all you wanted to do was LA, NY, LON and perhaps a stop in Asia you'd be on Y+ the whole way potentially.

TG

As a TA you'll have access to the fare basis rules better than I do, so the question I pose is re LAX-JFK. Are you able to fly into LA on QF108, stopover, then pick it up again to JFK several days later? I know cabotage prohibits sale of 108 LAX-JFK as a one-off segment, but can it be ticketed as above? If not, I'm guessing the T fare would need to either go all the way through to JFK, or terminate in LAX and pickup a BA flight to Europe, and if you wanted to head to JFK you'd need to find your own way there separately to this ticket.

Just curious

 

[ChrisBNE]

Traffic Restrictions On Flights Within North America 06 January 2006


A reminder that there are traffic restrictions on Qantas flights, QF107 and QF108, which operate within North America. These flights can only be used if a Qantas flight number is used on the inbound or outbound to/ from the North American gateway (eg. LAX)

 

[Travel Guru]

As a TA you'll have access to the fare basis rules better than I do, so the question I pose is re LAX-JFK. Are you able to fly into LA on QF108, stopover, then pick it up again to JFK several days later? I know cabotage prohibits sale of 108 LAX-JFK as a one-off segment, but can it be ticketed as above? If not, I'm guessing the T fare would need to either go all the way through to JFK, or terminate in LAX and pickup a BA flight to Europe, and if you wanted to head to JFK you'd need to find your own way there separately to this ticket.

Just curious

Well sort of, if you did 108 you'd be flying backwards, but you can with 107 :mrgreen::mrgreen:

The fares essentially their earlybird fare which allows travel via the US in one direction.

I plugged in the following itinerary based on 20 Apr departure:
SYD-LAX QF107 (stop) LAX-JFK QF107 (stop) EWR-LHR BA184 (stop) LHR-SYD QF32

All sectors in Y+, the fare quotes at $4542 plus $696.40 taxes.

TG

 

[drewbles]

Well sort of, if you did 108 you'd be flying backwards, but you can with 107 :mrgreen::mrgreen:

The fares essentially their earlybird fare which allows travel via the US in one direction.

I plugged in the following itinerary based on 20 Apr departure:
SYD-LAX QF107 (stop) LAX-JFK QF107 (stop) EWR-LHR BA184 (stop) LHR-SYD QF32

All sectors in Y+, the fare quotes at $4542 plus $696.40 taxes.

TG

God I'm looking like a d!*k thanks TG Yes. 107 not 108

OK well that's not so bad. I may look at doing that then rather than the QF codeshare on AA from SFO to JFK, just as it's nicer to fly on a 747 than probably end up on an MD80 via ORD or DFW

Not sure I can justify the T fare though seeing as I'll be doing a WP Requal run whilst there, but it's not so bad if you can do it that way.

 

[Craigie]

So getting this ticketed through a TA is really the only way to get this fare correct?

 

[drewbles]

So getting this ticketed through a TA is really the only way to get this fare correct?

It's probably the best way. There are plenty of good TA's out there. If you need the name of one give me a yell.

There are lots of non-chain TA's out there and they tend to give you a better service (ie they have to. their businesses depend on people going back to them with all the competition and internet fares around).

Anything like this i'd rather do through a TA myself. When things go pear shaped (and they do) having a TA makes your life a lot easier

 

[NM]

Well sort of, if you did 108 you'd be flying backwards, but you can with 107 :mrgreen::mrgreen:

How about taking QF SYD-LHR, then BA LHR-LAX, then QF107 LAX-JFK, then QF108 JFK-SYD. Probably won't allow a second stopover in LAX, but ticketing JFK-SYD is not technically hitting LAX again as far as ticketing is concerned, and of course meets the requirement for QF LAX-JFK since using QF flight number to depart USA on the same itinerary.

 

[Travel Guru]

How about taking QF SYD-LHR, then BA LHR-LAX, then QF107 LAX-JFK, then QF108 JFK-SYD. Probably won't allow a second stopover in LAX, but ticketing JFK-SYD is not technically hitting LAX again as far as ticketing is concerned, and of course meets the requirement for QF LAX-JFK since using QF flight number to depart USA on the same itinerary.

No luck NM, it wont quote, I dare say it contravenes the allowed routing.\

TG

 

[ChrisBNE]

okeb10
fqr2
1 * bne-mel/syd-akl-lax/sfo-lax/sfo/nyc-qf/ba-lon
2 * bne-mel/syd-akl-lax/sfo-lax/sfo/nyc-qf/ba-man-qf/ba/
ib/ei/ay-lon
3 * bne-mel/syd-akl-bue-qf/ba-lon
4 * bne-mel/syd-akl-bue-qf/ba-man-qf/ba/ib/ei/ay-lon
5 * bne-akl-lax/sfo-lax/sfo/nyc-qf/ba-lon
6 * bne-akl-lax/sfo-lax/sfo/nyc-qf/ba-man-qf/ba/ib/ei/ay-
lon
7 * bne-akl-bue-qf/ba-lon
8 * bne-akl-bue-qf/ba-man-qf/ba/ib/ei/ay-lon

 

[serfty]

Traffic Restrictions On Flights Within North America 06 January 2006 ...

A reminder that there are traffic restrictions on Qantas flights, QF107 and QF108, which operate within North America. These flights can only be used if a Qantas flight number is used on the inbound or outbound to/ from the North American gateway (eg. LAX)

Note that these traffic restrictions are of Qantas' own making.

Cabotage laws would not prohibit the use of QF107/QF108 as long as the itinerary is international, irrespective of the carrier conveying a passenger to/from the USA.

i.e. JFK(QF)-xLAX(CX)-HKG does not breach laws pertaining to cabotage, but does breach Qantas' own traffic restriction.