reward seat only showing as part of a connecting flight

[leseven]

Searching for Melbourne to Shanghai shows no availability for a given date. However if I searched for Melbourne to Shenzhen same date, I can see availability comprised of Melbourne to Shanghai and then Shanghai to Shenzhen, both flights with China Easter Airlines.

Does this mean there is availability (melbourne to shanghai) but I need to call in to book because it's not showing up on my search?

TIA

 

[serfty]

Searching for Melbourne to Shanghai shows no availability for a given date. However if I searched for Melbourne to Shenzhen same date, I can see availability comprised of Melbourne to Shanghai and then Shanghai to Shenzhen, both flights with China Easter Airlines.

Does this mean there is availability (melbourne to shanghai) but I need to call in to book because it's not showing up on my search?

TIA

It means Qantas are currently not willing to have members book awards from Melbourne to Shanghai but are willing for them to book Melbourne to Shenzhen, even if the routing may be by way of Shanghai.

They do this by having award availability in the fare buckets for the Shanghai flight when booking Melbourne to Shenzhen but not when booking for Shanghai only. This is referred to as "Married Segment Logic".

 

[opusman]

If you can do hand luggage only, you could always "feel ill" in Shanghai and fail for board for your final leg, provided you're booking a one-way itinerary.

 

[leseven]

Thanks @serfty , I learnt something new. I just did a quick search and read on "Married Segment Logic" and given that it's a revenue management tactic, would it be it be safe to assume that calling in to book won't help as call centre staff won't see any availability?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks @serfty , I learnt something new. I just did a quick search and read on "Married Segment Logic" and given that it's a revenue management tactic, would it be it be safe to assume that calling in to book won't help as call centre staff won't see any availability?

Correct. It’s a big ‘no no’ to break married segments. While it *can* be done, and some people report success in breaking married segments, it’s very rare. In most cases the system will block any attempt to break it.

 

[ronlon]

Searching for Melbourne to Shanghai shows no availability for a given date. However if I searched for Melbourne to Shenzhen same date, I can see availability comprised of Melbourne to Shanghai and then Shanghai to Shenzhen, both flights with China Easter Airlines.

Does this mean there is availability (melbourne to shanghai) but I need to call in to book because it's not showing up on my search?

TIA

That's odd. I did not have this issue when I was searching MEL to Shanghai just a few weeks ago for dates in early July 2025 and I booked China Eastern MEL direct to Shanghai. There was extensive availability almost every day in June and July in both econ and business class on both China Eastern' s daily flight to Shanghai. I just tried searching now for June and July 2025 and there no availability all. In fact even some other random dates I tried have no availability. Something is definitely going on in background between Qantas and China Eastern.

 

[leseven]

If you can do hand luggage only, you could always "feel ill" in Shanghai and fail for board for your final leg, provided you're booking a one-way itinerary.

Would I be able to request to pick up my checked in bags in Shanghai at the time of checking in?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Would I be able to request to pick up my checked in bags in Shanghai at the time of checking in?

Do you have to, anyway, with an international to domestic connection?

 

[leseven]

Oh yeah forgot about that thanks.

 

[leseven]

Ok did some more reading and there's mixed info on whether the checked in bags have to (or can in my case) be collected in Shanghai. What's the best way to ensure that my bags are released in Shanghai? Will I have any issue requesting this at the time of check in?