US Dividend Miles - Oneworld Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm currently assigned 1E on the BA flight, so would welcome any advice noting that the last row - row 4 - is pretty much still available for selection.

1E is ok... but... I would move to 4A or K if you can. 1E is closer to the bulkhead and the further you move back the greater the sense of space. Also less disturbance in 4A/K. If you ar in row 1 the cabin crew need to walk past you for every passenger request. in row 4 you'll on;y be disturbed if you call them.

 

[lmere12]

Want to book parents who will be near birmingham to SIN for a stop then either BNE / SYD .. do i or can i only aim for BA ? Looks to be availability for Cns-HKG-ZRH in J on the way over. Tks

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Want to book parents who will be near birmingham to SIN for a stop then either BNE / SYD .. do i or can i only aim for BA ? Looks to be availability for Cns-HKG-ZRH in J on the way over. Tks

You could fly them on Qatar to SIN and then QF to BNE/SYD. Or BA. Or CX (don't they have a new route to Birmingham or Manchester?). That would route via HKG. BA will attract a healthy BA surcharge for fuel.

 

[hummel]

Might be a silly question however.. If i did MEL-PER-DOH-LHR-CDG would I have to pay LHR taxes? Or because I'm actually finishing my journey in CDG would I be ok?

Obviously trying to avoid the bigger taxes in LH.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Might be a silly question however.. If i did MEL-PER-DOH-LHR-CDG would I have to pay LHR taxes? Or because I'm actually finishing my journey in CDG would I be ok?

Obviously trying to avoid the bigger taxes in LH.

transit through LHR does not attract the luxury tax.

 

[lmere12]

Want to book parents who will be near birmingham to SIN for a stop then either BNE / SYD .. do i or can i only aim for BA ? Looks to be availability for Cns-HKG-ZRH in J on the way over. Tks

Decided to ditch SIN and just try to 'get back' have on hold the following but is too short. Having trouble getting other dates either side.
04/07 CNS-HKG-ZRH // 21/07 MAN-HKG-CNS All CX J. Can switch the destinations around and work a week either way but still we couldn't find any. Think i'll go to bed and try again tomorrow

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Decided to ditch SIN and just try to 'get back' have on hold the following but is too short. Having trouble getting other dates either side.
04/07 CNS-HKG-ZRH // 21/07 MAN-HKG-CNS All CX J. Can switch the destinations around and work a week either way but still we couldn't find any. Think i'll go to bed and try again tomorrow

You could consider buying a connection out of BHX to CDG/AMS/FRA and trying from there?

 

[lmere12]

You could consider buying a connection out of BHX to CDG/AMS/FRA and trying from there?

Thank you was nil out of CDG/FRA with CX, haven't tried AMS. getting back in to Oz almost nil (with QF/CX) Parents are 70 and not travelled on their own before so I'm trying to make it not complicated or too adventurous for them.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thank you was nil out of CDG/FRA with CX, haven't tried AMS. getting back in to Oz almost nil (with QF/CX) Parents are 70 and not travelled on their own before so I'm trying to make it not complicated or too adventurous for them.

and qatar is nothing? even DOH-PER?

 

[lmere12]

and qatar is nothing? even DOH-PER?

Qatar was an overniter but couldn't get back into Oz, can't remember if Perth was an entry. Will ring again this arv. Thanks

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Just wanted to confirm if people are finding they can book CX flights if they are showing as available via QF rewards?

Thinking of using them to get me to the USA and back next October / Nov and there seems to be loads of availability on QF using CX.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just wanted to confirm if people are finding they can book CX flights if they are showing as available via QF rewards?

Thinking of using them to get me to the USA and back next October / Nov and there seems to be loads of availability on QF using CX.

Not necessarily.

The QF site sometimes shows phantom availability for CX. You need to call USDM to ask if they can see the flights you can. Out of a recent trip USDM saw only 3 out of 4 sectors QF was showing.

The same applies when actually booking through QFFF (using QFFF points)... one result returned on the calendar was unable to be booked (returning an error message when it went through to the payment screen).

 

[bcworld]

Just wanted to confirm if people are finding they can book CX flights if they are showing as available via QF rewards?

Thinking of using them to get me to the USA and back next October / Nov and there seems to be loads of availability on QF using CX.

The ones I just booked were showing available on both JL and QF...there were some days that JL showed availability and QF didn't...in the end I decided to ask for the ones they both showed which meant extending the holiday by a day...oh well!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

the JL tool is not always accurate either... USDM was able to see far more than the JL site returned (based on Oceania JL tool, not the US one)

 

[Jeffrey O'Neill]

Will just have to hope the flights are still reasonably plentiful for when I go to book in a few weeks.

I have enough QFF for F to LAX and Velocity to get me home in J, but the burn rate with USDM is just so much better so thinking I might as well try to use them up and try out CX J and F. Fingers crossed.

 

[Limewood]

JAL site makes QFF look good, I'm using BA mostly to search keeping in mind possible phantom ward seats. I wonder though if Award Nexus gives a more accurate picture?.

 

[Swan]

BA used to be easier to use than JAL and has been my starting point with award bookings. It appears recently to be more in agreement with JAL but it now constantly requesting validation every few minutes. Are others finding this? It is total frustration.

 

[Swan]

Might be a silly question however.. If i did MEL-PER-DOH-LHR-CDG would I have to pay LHR taxes? Or because I'm actually finishing my journey in CDG would I be ok?

Obviously trying to avoid the bigger taxes in LH.

As stated if you transit through the UK the luxury tax does not apply. My understanding if you use an open jaw such as arriving in the UK but having a return commencing outside UK ie CDG will not incur the luxury tax as it is base on departures commencing from the UK

 

[baggyred]

Do USDM agents see your award/correspondence history when you call up?

I am rapidly approaching the 335 day window for my outbound next year and quite keen on securing the outbound leg.

One option I thought of was to call up and reserve an outbound for 3 days, let it expire and then call up again - and effectively have it on hold for a couple of weeks.

The other solutions seem to be - sweettalk the USDM rep and see if you can extend longer (as per flyer talk) or alternatively just book a dummy return and pay the $150 fee (each)

 

[lmere12]

You could consider buying a connection out of BHX to CDG/AMS/FRA and trying from there?

Rang this arv and the agent was able to see seats avail for earlier departure into ZRH so all problems solved JAL / BA weren't showing the availability for these so I was surprised when the agent found them. Will ring back tomorrow and ticket.
thank you