The Qantas Newbie Questions Thread

[SYD]

Yes: as avios is the ff currency need to book via BAEC.
But QF may/may not have the awards. Unsure if BA will offer offer avios and cash. Only earn SC from cash flights

Avios are also used as the ff currency by IB, QR Qatar and others. Avios can be moved to/from these ffp's, subject to the t&c's .

VA is a ffp of QR Qatar.
Virgin, Qatar Partnership Teething Issues

Virgin Australia Launches Partnership with Qatar Airways

In some exciting news for Australian frequent flyers, Virgin Australia's unlikely new partnership with Qatar Airways is taking off from 6 September 2022.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Are ways to keep avios alive with various flying and non flying activities.

Fiji Airways finally went live for BA redemptions (4 years in the coming).

British Airways & Fiji Airways Frequent Flier Partnership Now Live

British Airways and Fiji Airways frequent flier partnership has gone live

loyaltylobby.com

 

[sqrt()]

I can't seem to book a classic rewards flight for JAL domestic.

There are 0 taxes and I keep getting this error when I try to pay with points
And if I don't play around with the numbers and just click Next

Try and use the multi-city booking tool? I can get this far:

 

[acinod]

Try and use the multi-city booking tool? I can get this far:

View attachment 309171

Yeah I've tried and when you click next it won't work if you have more than 1 seat. But you also can't book individually because it assumes you're the only person so will book it under your name and I'm hoping to book for multiple people (who don't have a QFF account).

 

[bgh]

I have a question regarding earning status credits on reward flights. I have had a look through the QF website on this and am somewhat confused.

The flights I have recently (last 4-6 months) been on and have not earned any status credits are as follows.
SYD-SGN JQ Business Class
SGN-SYD JQ Economy Class
LHR-FCO BA Economy Class
CPH-AMS KL Economy Class (I earned points on this, just no status credits)

I did earn status credits on the following
AMS-LHR BA Business Class
LHR-SYD BA Business Class
SYD-LHR QF Premium Economy
Also various domestic QF Business Class flights

The only patterns I can see is that perhaps Classic Reward Economy flights don't earn status credits? But that doesn't explain why the Business Class JQ flight to SGN didn't earn any credits.


Any ideas?

Cheers

 

[OATEK]

I have a question regarding earning status credits on reward flights. I have had a look through the QF website on this and am somewhat confused.

The flights I have recently (last 4-6 months) been on and have not earned any status credits are as follows.
SYD-SGN JQ Business Class
SGN-SYD JQ Economy Class
LHR-FCO BA Economy Class
CPH-AMS KL Economy Class (I earned points on this, just no status credits)

I did earn status credits on the following
AMS-LHR BA Business Class
LHR-SYD BA Business Class
SYD-LHR QF Premium Economy
Also various domestic QF Business Class flights

The only patterns I can see is that perhaps Classic Reward Economy flights don't earn status credits? But that doesn't explain why the Business Class JQ flight to SGN didn't earn any credits.


Any ideas?

Cheers

A couple of things. Generally no SCs for reward flights only for points+pay.

The other I might mention is that the QFF earning tables for other one world carriers (eg BA) includes a subset. So while every QF booking gets the minimum SC and points, some discount fares say on BA do not. To work this out you need to know the fare bucket you are booking in. I have had flights with BA and CX where the outbound and return legs were in different buckets, some got points and SCs the others did not.

 

[bgh]

A couple of things. Generally no SCs for reward flights only for points+pay.

The other I might mention is that the QFF earning tables for other one world carriers (eg BA) includes a subset. So while every QF booking gets the minimum SC and points, some discount fares say on BA do not. To work this out you need to know the fare bucket you are booking in. I have had flights with BA and CX where the outbound and return legs were in different buckets, some got points and SCs the others did not.

Thanks. To be clear, I am talking about the 'classic rewards' only, not points + pay. And I have earned SCs on classic reward flights on partner airlines, but only in Business Class, it would seem. Hence my surprise that Business Class on JQ to Vietnam didn't earn some SCs.

 

[NM]

Thanks. To be clear, I am talking about the 'classic rewards' only, not points + pay. And I have earned SCs on classic reward flights on partner airlines, but only in Business Class, it would seem. Hence my surprise that Business Class on JQ to Vietnam didn't earn some SCs.

SC's are only paid for classic rewards flights to QFF members who have achieved Points Club qualification. Its a benefit of Points Club, not a general benefit of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.

The details for which Qantas Classic Rewards flight qualify for Status Credits for Points Club members are show at this link: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/freque...ne-earning-tables/classic-flight-rewards.html

Outside of those conditions, no Status Credits should be received for Qantas Classic rewards. If you have received them, then the SC's were crediting as an error in your favour.

 

[bgh]

SC's are only paid for classic rewards flights to QFF members who have achieved Points Club qualification. Its a benefit of Points Club, not a general benefit of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.

The details for which Qantas Classic Rewards flight qualify for Status Credits for Points Club members are show at this link: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/freque...ne-earning-tables/classic-flight-rewards.html

Outside of those conditions, no Status Credits should be received for Qantas Classic rewards. If you have received them, then the SC's were crediting as an error in your favour.

Thank you. I do have that Points Club Plus membership you mentioned, so that explains why I have earned the SCs for Classic Reward flights. I'm still at a loss why they have refused me points for the flights to/from SGN in that case...

 

[Stargazer]

There is a very interesting thread describing how FF structure their itineraries to ensure they can use their points for business or first. This often means that flying from say Sydney to London might be via - Melbourne/Denpasar/Singapore/Istanbul/Amsterdam. What happens to their luggage. Do they claim it at each intermediate point and checkin or does the luggage follow the passenger on each flight with no interim checkin. Just curious how this works. I assume this is all booked through Qantas so one PNR. Also wonder how often baggage gets lost compared to flying direct.

 

[NM]

Thank you. I do have that Points Club Plus membership you mentioned, so that explains why I have earned the SCs for Classic Reward flights. I'm still at a loss why they have refused me points for the flights to/from SGN in that case...

What was the flight number for that flight booking?

If it was ticketed as JQ61, then it is not eligible for earning Status Credits for Points Club members

If it was ticketed as QF5578 (the QF codeshare on the Jetstar operated flight) then it would be eligible for Status Credit earning for Points Club members.

The difference is that the QF codeshare flight number meets the criteria where "Status Credits will only be earned on Classic Flight Rewards if the flight is marketed or ticketed as ‘QF’", while the JQ flight number does not meet that criteria.

 

[SYD]

There is a very interesting thread describing how FF structure their itineraries to ensure they can use their points for business or first. This often means that flying from say Sydney to London might be via - Melbourne/Denpasar/Singapore/Istanbul/Amsterdam. What happens to their luggage. Do they claim it at each intermediate point and checkin or does the luggage follow the passenger on each flight with no interim checkin. Just curious how this works. I assume this is all booked through Qantas so one PNR. Also wonder how often baggage gets lost compared to flying direct.

Those itineraries are often on seperate bookings (PNRs) so Hand Luggage Only (HLO) avoids the problem of collecting/rechecking luggage but doesn’t protect your from missed connections - which is the main risk of seperate bookings (no protection if you inbound flight is delayed or cancelled and you miss your onward flight).

Staying overnight in the connection point can reduce the risk.

If you do have checked luggage, most airlines will no longer check through. There are some exceptions eg QR will to other Oneworld airlines. QF is supposed to if you heading out in a reward flight.

 

[Stargazer]

So if you do have one or two suitcases (with exceptions noted in your post), the passenger needs to collect their luggage and check in for the next flight and this is done for EACH sector. So this is a rather tiring process. Walking through a large airport to the carousels, waiting for the luggage to arrive, walking back some distance to the check in desk. And excuse my ignorance, don’t you have to go through Immigration before picking up your bags and then the possibility that border officials might select you for a bag search. I am not too sure of the process. Haven’t flown internationally and it shows.

 

[JessicaTam]

There is a very interesting thread describing how FF structure their itineraries to ensure they can use their points for business or first. This often means that flying from say Sydney to London might be via - Melbourne/Denpasar/Singapore/Istanbul/Amsterdam. What happens to their luggage. Do they claim it at each intermediate point and checkin or does the luggage follow the passenger on each flight with no interim checkin. Just curious how this works. I assume this is all booked through Qantas so one PNR. Also wonder how often baggage gets lost compared to flying direct.

If you can manage to book multiple flights on one booking/PNR then the luggage would be checked through for those flights. That would probably be through a multi-city booking which would be difficult with points.

 

[SYD]

So if you do have one or two suitcases (with exceptions noted in your post), the passenger needs to collect their luggage and check in for the next flight and this is done for EACH sector. So this is a rather tiring process. Walking through a large airport to the carousels, waiting for the luggage to arrive, walking back some distance to the check in desk. And excuse my ignorance, don’t you have to go through Immigration before picking up your bags and then the possibility that border officials might select you for a bag search. I am not too sure of the process. Haven’t flown internationally and it shows.

Not necessarily each sector. As per @JessicaTam comment, if you can redeem points on a multi city booking (all one PNR), you can check through *and* be protected if there’s a disruption.

If, as I interpreted your question (correct me if I’m wrong?), you were referring to positioning yourself in a city for better points or paid fare availability eg I could use QF points to fly Sydney to Jarkarta (return) and then fly onto Europe using one of the many super cheap paid Business fares (eg Qatar) - that would be seperate PNRs and depending on the airlines, yes I might have to “enter” Indonesia, collect my luggage and recheck. But in my scenario, QF should check through reward to paid Oneworld and in the case of QR a single PNR for onward flights to say London via Doha, your bags would similarly be checked all the way through to LHR. On the return, QR has a published benefit of checking through to another Oneworld carrier.

 

[encryptededdy]

Any ideas?

You only earn Classic Reward SCs with Points Club on QF flight numbers (also called "Qantas Marketed")... is how it's supposed to work. You can verify this by checking the wording on Qantas' website, for instance here: https://www.qantas.com/us/en/freque...ne-earning-tables/classic-flight-rewards.html

Status Credits will only be earned on Classic Flight Rewards if the flight is marketed or ticketed as ‘QF’, if the member is a Points Club or Points Club Plus member at the time of flying, and if the member’s Qantas Frequent Flyer number is added to the booking.

In practice this generally means Qantas operated flights, since you cannot book codeshares as Classic Rewards (generally...)

However, in mine and others past experience, the system will sometimes glitch and give you status credits in cases where you are not entitled them when it comes to reward flights. This will be the case with two of your BA flights. Best to keep quiet about it and enjoy the SCs

You are not entitled to SCs on your Jetstar flights, unless they had a QF flight number on your ticket (not possible with classic rewards).

Your KLM flight credited as a paid flight as per the above-mentioned glitch. It's just that you don't earn Qantas Status Credits, only Points on even paid KLM tickets unless ticketed as a codeshare.

 

[sqrt()]

Yeah I've tried and when you click next it won't work if you have more than 1 seat. But you also can't book individually because it assumes you're the only person so will book it under your name and I'm hoping to book for multiple people (who don't have a QFF account).

Damn, looks like you'll have to call up. You should be able to get the booking fee waived if you tell them you can't book online.

 

[bgh]

What was the flight number for that flight booking?

If it was ticketed as JQ61, then it is not eligible for earning Status Credits for Points Club members

If it was ticketed as QF5578 (the QF codeshare on the Jetstar operated flight) then it would be eligible for Status Credit earning for Points Club members.

The difference is that the QF codeshare flight number meets the criteria where "Status Credits will only be earned on Classic Flight Rewards if the flight is marketed or ticketed as ‘QF’", while the JQ flight number does not meet that criteria.

Cheers - that explains it as it was a JQ61 flight booking. Thank you.

 

[Stargazer]

Not necessarily each sector. As per @JessicaTam comment, if you can redeem points on a multi city booking (all one PNR), you can check through *and* be protected if there’s a disruption.

If, as I interpreted your question (correct me if I’m wrong?), you were referring to positioning yourself in a city for better points or paid fare availability eg I could use QF points to fly Sydney to Jarkarta (return) and then fly onto Europe using one of the many super cheap paid Business fares (eg Qatar) - that would be seperate PNRs and depending on the airlines, yes I might have to “enter” Indonesia, collect my luggage and recheck. But in my scenario, QF should check through reward to paid Oneworld and in the case of QR a single PNR for onward flights to say London via Doha, your bags would similarly be checked all the way through to LHR. On the return, QR has a published benefit of checking through to another Oneworld carrier.

So the PNR dictates when you have to collect your bags and check in again. As long as each flight is on the same PNR you can be assured that you don’t have to recheck your bags. But I am not sure when you have separate PNRs. I just assumed that if you are a Qantas FF, then you would do your entire booking through the Qantas booking system. There would be one PNR for the entire trip outbound and inbound. When would you have separate PNRs.

 

[BriarFlyer]

So the PNR dictates when you have to collect your bags and check in again. As long as each flight is on the same PNR you can be assured that you don’t have to recheck your bags. But I am not sure when you have separate PNRs. I just assumed that if you are a Qantas FF, then you would do your entire booking through the Qantas booking system. There would be one PNR for the entire trip outbound and inbound. When would you have separate PNRs.

You would have separate PNRs if you couldn't book all the flights in the one multi-city booking. This can happen when married/divorced-segment issues prevent you combining 2 flights on the one ticket so you decide to book each leg separately, i.e. with separate PNRs, with an overnight or longer stop between flights as risk mitigation.

 

[RooFlyer]

So the PNR dictates when you have to collect your bags and check in again. As long as each flight is on the same PNR you can be assured that you don’t have to recheck your bags. But I am not sure when you have separate PNRs. I just assumed that if you are a Qantas FF, then you would do your entire booking through the Qantas booking system. There would be one PNR for the entire trip outbound and inbound. When would you have separate PNRs.

PNR does not dictate whether you need to collect bags, or checked through.

For instance, I don't fly JetStar, but I know that on a multi-leg journey with them, you have to pick up and recheck your bags every sector, same PNR or not.

If you have a stopover (ie >24hrs) en route, you must collect your bags with any airline, then re-check them for the next leg.

A Qantas FF need not book through the Qantas booking system. In fact, I avoided it where possible and used a TA.

Separate PNRs if you have nested bookings - that is, a separate journey during a stop in the first journey.