QFF Points Calculator a little out of whack?

[Jenelle]

I've been looking at using my points for a trip in Feb this year.

At first I was looking at -

MEL - JFK STOP
JFK - LAX STOP
LAX - MEL STOP

This was going to cost me 137,000 points.

(Pay a whole lot for a darn stop over in LA...)

Anyway I just put in

MEL - DUB STOP
DUB - JFK STOP
JFK - LAX STOP
LAX - MEL STOP

And it comes up at 140,000 points

When I went to create an itinerary it was already up to 140,000 at LAX.

Has anyone else been having any hassles with the calculator?

BTW awesome forums... been lurking for a while now.. ace stuff.

 

[JohnK]

....Anyway I just put in

MEL - DUB STOP
DUB - JFK STOP
JFK - LAX STOP
LAX - MEL STOP

And it comes up at 140,000 points

When I went to create an itinerary it was already up to 140,000 at LAX.

Welcome to AFF Jenelle.

A OneWorld RTW with up to 5 stopovers, a maximum of 35,000 miles and including at least 2 OneWorld airlines other than Qantas is 142,500 points (including 2,500 for assisted booking fee). What you have chosen so far is 24,257 miles so you can possibly sneak in one more stopover somewhere and remain under 35,000 miles and still only be quoted 140,000 points by the award booking engine.

I may be wrong but I have a weird feeling that you cannot avoid the extra 2,500 points so it will total up to 142,500 for your chosen itinerary.

 

[Skyring]

Welcome to AFF Jenelle.

A OneWorld RTW with up to 5 stopovers, a maximum of 35,000 miles and including at least 2 OneWorld airlines other than Qantas is 142,500 points (including 2,500 for assisted booking fee). What you have chosen so far is 24,257 miles so you can possibly sneak in one more stopover somewhere and remain under 35,000 miles and still only be quoted 140,000 points by the award booking engine.

I may be wrong but I have a weird feeling that you cannot avoid the extra 2,500 points so it will total up to 142,500 for your chosen itinerary.

Yes, welcome aboard!

If you book online (like I did) you don't pay the 2 500 points.

The calculator winds up to 140 000 and sticks there. I had to do a lot of "suck and see" to get an itinerary worked out on relatively short notice, but being able to book AA flights fills in the gap nicely.

 

[Jenelle]

The site is awesome - so thank you both for your welcomes!

I decided to push it a bit further... it seems too good to be true??!!

Online -

MEL- BARCELONA STOP
BARCELONA - DUBLIN - STOP
DUBLIN - NYC - STOP
NYC - VEGAS STOP
LAX - MEL

All for 140,000!!

I will probably be booking it in the next couple of days as I am not going to do this until February anyway so all flights are there etc.

And on another note ... my Qantas Club membership arrived today as well. Happy days! LOL Fun times ahead!!

 

[Mal]

Still looks fine to me, unless there is some gotcha that I havn't noticed.

I assume 3 OneWOrld airlines are involved - American Airlines, Iberia, and Qantas.

Your "miles" for the Las Vegas (LAS) - Los Angeles (LAX) segment will still go towards the 35000 limit (as surface sectors are still counted), but you're still well under the max allowable ( ~ 25000 vs the 35000 allowed).

There is one big gotcha with Award RTW tickets though that you need to be aware of:

"13.3.9 Any failure to board the first or any subsequent booked Segment of an Award Flight Itinerary will result in the cancellation of any remaining Segments. Reinstatement of those Segments is subject to the availability of Award Flight seats, payment of the Reinstatement Fee (see the Fee Schedule) and recalculation of the number of Points required for the entire itinerary from the point of origin."

This could really be painful if you miss a flight while on your RTW trip. Some Insurance policies may help mitigate this risk, but make sure you read the conditions of them to see if Award trips are covered, and to what extent.

 

[JohnK]

The site is awesome - so thank you both for your welcomes!

I decided to push it a bit further... it seems too good to be true??!!

Enjoy your trip and the QC visits!

 

[Jenelle]

There is one big gotcha with Award RTW tickets though that you need to be aware of:

"13.3.9 Any failure to board the first or any subsequent booked Segment of an Award Flight Itinerary will result in the cancellation of any remaining Segments. Reinstatement of those Segments is subject to the availability of Award Flight seats, payment of the Reinstatement Fee (see the Fee Schedule) and recalculation of the number of Points required for the entire itinerary from the point of origin."

This could really be painful if you miss a flight while on your RTW trip. Some Insurance policies may help mitigate this risk, but make sure you read the conditions of them to see if Award trips are covered, and to what extent.

Wow thanks for pointing this out!! :shock: :shock::shock::shock:

Do you know if this 'failure to board' also is counted for example, if a flight is delayed due to weather or something?

For example my NYC - VEGAS leg, I have to change at Dallas, which I have done heaps of times before and I have given myself 2 hours as sometimes 1 hour isn't enough there. But just say the NY plane is delayed taking off (which could happen as I am travelling in winter) and therefore, still take that flight but miss the connecting DFW flight - I wonder if this clause still stands as I can understand it otherwise.. like if I slept in and missed a flight but for reasons beyond the passengers control it seems a bit... excessive?

 

[NM]

Do you know if this 'failure to board' also is counted for example, if a flight is delayed due to weather or something?

If you have a misconnection due to a delayed flight that is all part of the same award ticket, then you will be protected by the airlines operating the delayed and misses segments.

However, if you miss an award segment because of a delay to a flight that is not part of the same award ticket (i.e. you purchased a separate side-trip) then you are not protected and had better make sure your travel insurance is suitable for that situation.