Using FF points to book business class flights

[smack01]

So i have over 200,000 FF points that I want to use up.

My partner and I are looking at going overseas in May next year. So I thought why not book a nice business class flight to somewhere like LA.

After going through the calculation process and then through to the booking process I found myself looking at nothing but exclamation marks telling me that if I book in business class with just my points, my flight from say Sydney to LA would be in economy. Unless I want to fly with Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong which is roughly a 29-30 hour flight.

Is there something I am missing or is Qantas just telling me that they don't want me to use my FF points to book flights, especially in anything above economy class.

Any help or tips would be appreciated.

 

[Mwenenzi]

SYD-LAX one way classic award
Economy QF 48,000
P Ecxx_x QF 72,000
Bus xx_x QF 96,000
First xx_ QF 144,000
Plus a lot of $$$ in fees / surcharges to QF
These have been in place for a long time

At times JASA awards can be good value (points & pay) but earn points & SC's

What type of ticket were you looking at and on what date ?
Classic awards & low cost JASA get sold out quickly. Awards are available from from 353 days out

 

[smack01]

The points costs I know. But when you go through to the book option, pick a random day (even 1 year ahead) (1) there is hardly ever a direct flight option and (2) there is an exclamation mark above the class selection dot that when hovered over say that "Your flight between xx_ and LA will be in Economy".

 

[Mwenenzi]

Supply & demand in action
Look at different airports SYD BNE MEL / LAX DFW

 

[Gogo65]

Flights for May won't be loaded yet. I have just booked three flights in J syd-lax, for April school holidays next year. I was on at 10am in the morning when the flights were loaded. May shouldn't be to much of a problem and as long as you are flexible, you should be able to book J flights to LAX.

 

[Kangol]

Is there something I am missing or is Qantas just telling me that they don't want me to use my FF points to book flights, especially in anything above economy class.

They only release a very limited number of award seats in premium cabins, not necessarily on all routes on all days. The details regarding why yield management releases what it does will probably never be made known to any outsiders.

Tips would be to be flexible and book early.

The exclamation mark issue is a well known one here - even though it is sneaky, they are in their rights as outlined in the T&Cs to do so.

 

[Kangol]

Flights for May won't be loaded yet. I have just booked three flights in J syd-lax, for April school holidays next year. I was on at 10am in the morning when the flights were loaded. May shouldn't be to much of a problem and as long as you are flexible, you should be able to book J flights to LAX.

When you say "three flights", do you mean 3x J award tickets on the same route on the same day?

 

[whughes3]

I must agree with the OP's basic problem; international Business Classic award seats seem to have become very few and far between in the last 6 months. Previously, if you were prepared to be flexible on date and day of week, and particularly if you anted just a single seat, it was usually not too hard to find "U" bucket seats even a few months out; not any more that I can see! There are are very long stretches with no "U" availability at all.

 

[cjd600]

When you say "three flights", do you mean 3x J award tickets on the same route on the same day?

on a 'good' day there will be 3 x J released for both QF11 + QF107 flights SYD-LAX same day (generally on a tue/wed flight)
they disappear quite smartly after 10am though

 

[lovestotravel]

Welcome to the forums smack01

With 200,000 points that is only a one way flight in J, so not sure how you are getting home ?

Also as others have said award seats for May are not even released yet, you can only book out until the 27th of April

You are right though, there has been a big increase in seats in Cathay recently

Also keep in mind that April is school holidays so award seats will be very limited/non-existent during that time.

Just keep checking the QF website DAILY over the next 4 weeks and I am sure you'll get something

I must agree with the OP's basic problem; international Business Classic award seats seem to have become very few and far between in the last 6 months. Previously, if you were prepared to be flexible on date and day of week, and particularly if you anted just a single seat, it was usually not too hard to find "U" bucket seats even a few months out; not any more that I can see! There are are very long stretches with no "U" availability at all.

Definitely not correct, I have found J and F award seats at the classic level easier than ever to get for 2014 onwards

on a 'good' day there will be 3 x J released for both QF11 + QF107 flights SYD-LAX same day (generally on a tue/wed flight)
they disappear quite smartly after 10am though

Correct and there are also 2 x F seats usually released for QF93/94 but only on selected days

 

[grussellt]

So i have over 200,000 FF points that I want to use up.

My partner and I are looking at going overseas in May next year. So I thought why not book a nice business class flight to somewhere like LA.

After going through the calculation process and then through to the booking process I found myself looking at nothing but exclamation marks telling me that if I book in business class with just my points, my flight from say Sydney to LA would be in economy. Unless I want to fly with Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong which is roughly a 29-30 hour flight.

Is there something I am missing or is Qantas just telling me that they don't want me to use my FF points to book flights, especially in anything above economy class.

Any help or tips would be appreciated.

You may have to be a bit more imaginative with your itinerary. For example, try a multi-city award as SYD-NAN-LAX. It may give you 10h in the Fijian sun but it will get you there in J (and on the new A330). It's not QF but the taxes/etc will only be a little over $100. If you're really adventurous, and willing, you could also look at SYD-NAN-HNL-LAX.
Of course, once you have used up your QFF points you can look at the delights of buying AA miles (with bonuses) and using those for transpac J (see threads under American AAdvantage).

 

[smack01]

Welcome to the forums smack01

With 200,000 points that is only a one way flight in J, so not sure how you are getting home ?

Thanks for the welcome.

We are only looking for a one way flight to LA in J. From there we will be going onto NY and then Europe.

I will check back every day to see what gets released, luckily we are flexable with the days we fly so that wont be an issue. I just want to get something direct or with a transfer in Sydney (We fly from Brisbane).

I just found it kind of surprising that even the April 2014 J availabilities were already snapped up.

Does anyone know if the classic award seats get updated daily/weekly/fortnightly?

 

[cjd600]

Thanks for the welcome.

We are only looking for a one way flight to LA in J. From there we will be going onto NY and then Europe.

I will check back every day to see what gets released, luckily we are flexable with the days we fly so that wont be an issue. I just want to get something direct or with a transfer in Sydney (We fly from Brisbane).

I just found it kind of surprising that even the April 2014 J availabilities were already snapped up.

Does anyone know if the classic award seats get updated daily/weekly/fortnightly?

award seats released daily for flight date +353 days.....

 

[Paddy55]

on a 'good' day there will be 3 x J released for both QF11 + QF107 flights SYD-LAX same day (generally on a tue/wed flight)
they disappear quite smartly after 10am though

... and QF12 & QF108. THey're there if you look, even in Dec/Jan which surprised me.

 

[lovestotravel]

I just found it kind of surprising that even the April 2014 J availabilities were already snapped up.

Does anyone know if the classic award seats get updated daily/weekly/fortnightly?

Again, being school holidays I doubt there was many/any J seats available

They get released daily as others have said and at 353 days out, so check daily for the flights you want and if you see them BOOK

There is also the option of booking a JASA award which earns you FF points and Status Credits for the flight.

There is a long thread which details this on here too

 

[Limewood]

This has been a problem on the QFF site for yonks, its annoying to say the least, if travel class like J not available don't show anything.

 

[cjd600]

... and QF12 & QF108. THey're there if you look, even in Dec/Jan which surprised me.

indeed.
i grabbed 2 x JASA SYD-DFW 31 Mar 14 (5 u class were actually released for that date, a saturday),
and 2 x J classic LAX-SYD (QF12) 22 Apr 14 - slimish pickings during school hols, and no ASA availability,but happy with 2 J classics for the trip home

 

[legroom]

I just did a dummy booking for SYD LHR return in J

QF9 (7th April)
QF2 (14th April)

256K in points

For F, it is something like 384K (all on QF metal).

If only I had the spare time.... not points..... to enjoy this !

 

[NoName]

Are award bookings released at the same time as payed bookings become available? IE Today you can pay for flights up to 28 April 2014. Are all award seats released up to this date as well?

 

[drewbles]

Are award bookings released at the same time as payed bookings become available? IE Today you can pay for flights up to 28 April 2014. Are all award seats released up to this date as well?

As far as I know, yes. Each morning around 10am the T-353 Day seats are released.

Remember that higher tier elites get better availability too than a Bronze member.