Very few Reward seats to Europe in 2023

[Withnail & I]

Recently nearly all rewards flights in all classes from Australia to Europe in 2023 seem to have disappeared. I’ve been using the interactive map but I’ve tried a number of specific searches too. Is this because I only have bronze status?

 

[Scr77]

For me, Qantas has points have fallen in desirability because they are challenging to redeem internationally.

I presume you tried multi city search? Ie search AU to HGK, the HGK to EU. Or via Japan, Doha, Sirlanka, Fiji, Duba, Singapore.

 

[levelnine]

Is this because I only have bronze status?

No. Qantas has basically stopped releasing reward seats on its own flights, especially in premium cabins, on its flagship international routes to Europe, US, Africa and South America, at least on a regular schedule. They sporadically release batches of reward seats, but you need to be checking the website (or websites that will advertise this new availability) every day.

Seats on partner airlines are also very hard to come by. Many airlines are not releasing seats to Qantas and others seem to have stopped releasing seats altogether for the time being.

 

[Anna]

And the risk with using points to book flights on partner airlines right now is that if there is a time change by the partner airline, QF will probably not reticket in time and the seats can be lost. There are multiple threads about this happening to people.

 

[LondonAussie]

I'm not far off being a Qantas points millionaire, the points are easy to collect but almost impossible to use (at least for international Business or First anyway).

 

[am0985]

One decent hack is doing multi city QF MEL - DEL / SYD - BLR then a BA flight to LHR from there. Doesn't show up in the searches without doing it manually and will cost a few more points given different airlines but worth a look. QF release a lot more seats on this route than others.

Also Sri Lankan via Colombo is another one which doesn't show up but can be booked with multi city. Check via SYD and MEL, think availability from MEL is better.

Decent availability for this route even as a Bronze if you're not overly fussy with dates. BA from BLR - LHR is with their new club suite.

Otherwise Bronze status doesn't affect you that much here - QF are very bad at releasing seats even to Gold members and for other airlines it makes 0 difference.

 

[offshore171]

If you're open to a paid "staging flight" to Asia, that usually gives a lot more options.

Basically search for return flights from various asian ports to Europe (TYO, BKK, SIN etc).

If you find something, then book that using points. Then you buy a return ticket from AU to that Asian port.

How many seats are you chasing and what time of year?

 

[sudoer]

If you find something, then book that using points. Then you buy a return ticket from AU to that Asian port.

I would suggest doing this the opposite way - use points to get out of Australia to CGK, KUL, SIN, MNL, BKK etc, then hop onto a cheap ex-Asia J fare.

This tends to yield better SC and you have additional protection of your partner flights being on a revenue fare - if the airline cancels your flight, they're more likely reaccommodate you with a direct revenue booking. With a partner award booking, Qantas will usually just give you a refund.

Some recent examples of these cheap fares below (prices in USD):

AFotD -Business- SQ CGK to AMS from $2,284

Today’s AFotD: Singapore Airlines basic season business class excursion fares departing from Jakarta (CGK), Indonesia to Amsterdam (AMS), Netherlands

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD [Business] SQ BKK to CPH from $1,802

Today’s AFotD: Singapore Airlines business class excursion fares from Bangkok (BKK), Thailand and destination Copenhagen (CPH), Denmark

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD -Business- AY BKK to MAD from $2,235

Today’s AFotD: Finnair 2nd level business class excursion fares valid for round trip travel departing from Bangkok (BKK), Thailand to Madrid (MAD), Spain.

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD -Business- AF BKK to BER from $2,255

Today’s AFotD: Air France business class promotional fares departing from Bangkok (BKK), Thailand and destination Berlin (BER), Germany.

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD [QSuites] QR CGK to AMS from $2,214

Today’s AFotD: Qatar Airways midweek business class restricted round trip fares between Jakarta (CGK), Indonesia and Amsterdam (AMS), Netherlands.

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD [Business] SQ BKK to FRA from $2,037

Today’s AFotD: Singapore Airlines business class excursion fares for round trip travel from Bangkok (BKK), Thailand to Frankfurt (FRA), Germany .

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD [Business] SQ CGK to CDG from $2,207

Today’s AFotD: Singapore Airlines basic season business class excursion fares for round trip travel from Jakarta (CGK), Indonesia to Paris (CDG), France.

loyaltylobby.com

 

[Withnail & I]

No. Qantas has basically stopped releasing reward seats on its own flights, especially in premium cabins, on its flagship international routes to Europe, US, Africa and South America, at least on a regular schedule. They sporadically release batches of reward seats, but you need to be checking the website (or websites that will advertise this new availability) every day.

Seats on partner airlines are also very hard to come by. Many airlines are not releasing seats to Qantas and others seem to have stopped releasing seats altogether for the time being.

Thanks. I feared that we bronze peasants were being shunned. Much like the way Qantas releases premium seats to gold status people first.

 

[Withnail & I]

And the risk with using points to book flights on partner airlines right now is that if there is a time change by the partner airline, QF will probably not reticket in time and the seats can be lost. There are multiple threads about this happening to people.

Wow, I didn’t know that! i have some QR and JAL flights booked so I think when the departure dates approach I’ll start checking their websites to make sure all is on track instead of relying on Qantas.

 

[Withnail & I]

For me, Qantas has points have fallen in desirability because they are challenging to redeem internationally.

I presume you tried multi city search? Ie search AU to HGK, the HGK to EU. Or via Japan, Doha, Sirlanka, Fiji, Duba, Singapore.

Yes, mostly Doha as it has the best connections but all the flights there suddenly disappeared (Qantas and Qatar Air are not playing nice as has been shown in AFF articles and another thread).

It’s just odd that until recently you could still easily fly to London and then back to Europe on rewards in one booking and now nothing.

 

[Withnail & I]

I'm not far off being a Qantas points millionaire, the points are easy to collect but almost impossible to use (at least for international Business or First anyway).

I think that may be part of the problem. So many people have accumulated many points during the pandemic and are now itching to spend them. Meanwhile, the airlines have less staff from the pandemic layoffs and downsizing. As every economist knows, demand exceeding supply places upward pressure on prices. So my theory was, Qantas anticipate selling tons of seats in 2023 so why offer rewards ones? Improve their revenue (with the unfortunate side effect of tarnishing the FF side of the business). Then, once things return to normal they can go back to releasing more rewards seats and hope consumers forget or forgive. And if they are wrong and demand drops they can always release more rewards seats closer to the time.

I’d love to be a fly in the wall in the meeting where they decided to take the rewards flights offline!

 

[The Flying Schwartz]

I’d love to be a fly in the wall in the meeting where they decided to take the rewards flights offline!

 

[Withnail & I]

If you're open to a paid "staging flight" to Asia, that usually gives a lot more options.

Basically search for return flights from various asian ports to Europe (TYO, BKK, SIN etc).

If you find something, then book that using points. Then you buy a return ticket from AU to that Asian port.

How many seats are you chasing and what time of year?

I’m actually very lucky insofar as I booked all my family’s flights from CDG SYD ADL (JAL premium economy) when Qantas did a big rewards release months ago. Then, only days before QR flights recently disappeared I booked ADL DOH ATH (QR economy). So although I booked the trip in reverse it all worked out.

But I’m currently looking for flights for a friend who wants to fly ADL CDG return in August 2023. Somehow I’ve become a travel agent for family and friends, a bit like being the only family member who’s semi tech literate and has to set up everyone’s home tech gadgets or work a defacto IT help-desk

 

[Withnail & I]

If you're open to a paid "staging flight" to Asia, that usually gives a lot more options.

Basically search for return flights from various asian ports to Europe (TYO, BKK, SIN etc).

If you find something, then book that using points. Then you buy a return ticket from AU to that Asian port.

How many seats are you chasing and what time of year?

Only one, August 2023 so you’d think that wouldn’t be too hard. I’m hoping for more to come online closer to then when Qantas works out what they’re doing. It was just annoying that there were tons of flights only a few weeks ago and now nada

 

[Withnail & I]

I would suggest doing this the opposite way - use points to get out of Australia to CGK, KUL, SIN, MNL, BKK etc, then hop onto a cheap ex-Asia J fare.

This tends to yield better SC and you have additional protection of your partner flights being on a revenue fare - if the airline cancels your flight, they're more likely reaccommodate you with a direct revenue booking. With a partner award booking, Qantas will usually just give you a refund.

Some recent examples of these cheap fares below (prices in USD):

AFotD -Business- SQ CGK to AMS from $2,284

Today’s AFotD: Singapore Airlines basic season business class excursion fares departing from Jakarta (CGK), Indonesia to Amsterdam (AMS), Netherlands

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD [Business] SQ BKK to CPH from $1,802

Today’s AFotD: Singapore Airlines business class excursion fares from Bangkok (BKK), Thailand and destination Copenhagen (CPH), Denmark

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD -Business- AY BKK to MAD from $2,235

Today’s AFotD: Finnair 2nd level business class excursion fares valid for round trip travel departing from Bangkok (BKK), Thailand to Madrid (MAD), Spain.

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD -Business- AF BKK to BER from $2,255

Today’s AFotD: Air France business class promotional fares departing from Bangkok (BKK), Thailand and destination Berlin (BER), Germany.

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD [QSuites] QR CGK to AMS from $2,214

Today’s AFotD: Qatar Airways midweek business class restricted round trip fares between Jakarta (CGK), Indonesia and Amsterdam (AMS), Netherlands.

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD [Business] SQ BKK to FRA from $2,037

Today’s AFotD: Singapore Airlines business class excursion fares for round trip travel from Bangkok (BKK), Thailand to Frankfurt (FRA), Germany .

loyaltylobby.com

AFotD [Business] SQ CGK to CDG from $2,207

Today’s AFotD: Singapore Airlines basic season business class excursion fares for round trip travel from Jakarta (CGK), Indonesia to Paris (CDG), France.

loyaltylobby.com

That‘s a bit concerning. We booked a trip flying partner airlines to and from Europe via the Qantas website as rewards seats. Our next move is to book accommodation and internal European short flights etc but from what you’re saying it’s possible (even without covid risk) that Qantas could just cancel the flights at the last minute leaving us with a small number of rewards points but no other option other than to pay a large amount of cash for whatever is available

Post automatically merged: Nov 7, 2022

View attachment 306674

Ok, that’s hilarious!

 

[sudoer]

I’m hoping for more to come online closer to then when Qantas works out what they’re doing.

Highly unlikely that you will see many more award seats released to Europe in Aug 2023, unless airlines launch new routes. The only other plausible scenarios I can think of would be ex HKG as Cathay ramps up capacity, and possibly ex TYO if the Ukraine war ends and JL can resume normal frequencies over Russian airspace.

That‘s a bit concerning. We booked a trip flying partner airlines to and from Europe via the Qantas website as rewards seats. Our next move is to book accompany internal European flights etc but it’s possible (even without covid risk) that Qantas could just cancel the flights at the last minute leaving us with points and no other option but to pay a large amount of cash for whatever is available

It wouldn't be Qantas cancelling the flights but rather the partner airline. Qantas cannot force the partner airline to open seats on other flights or otherwise re-accommodate you. You may wish to read this thread for discussion on the applicable Qantas T&C.

cancelled CX award booking made with QF points

Hi All, I had a 3 pax QF award booking with CX for SYD-HKG-LHR, CX sent me an email to say they have cancelled the HKG-LHR sector (no mention of the other flight) I can't see any rebooking options on CX manage my booking. what's the best angle with this, should I try to call QF or CX?

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Booking a cheap revenue fare from Asia to Europe, and booking a QF classic award to meet it, will avoid this issue entirely.

 

[Happy Dude]

I'm not far off being a Qantas points millionaire, the points are easy to collect but almost impossible to use (at least for international Business or First anyway).

That has been the case for a long time, especially for non-elites. It's also now very risky and very expensive to use the points on partner airlines.

 

[Withnail & I]

Highly unlikely that you will see many more award seats released to Europe in Aug 2023, unless airlines launch new routes. The only other plausible scenarios I can think of would be ex HKG as Cathay ramps up capacity, and possibly ex TYO if the Ukraine war ends and JL can resume normal frequencies over Russian airspace.



It wouldn't be Qantas cancelling the flights but rather the partner airline. Qantas cannot force the partner airline to open seats on other flights or otherwise re-accommodate you. You may wish to read this thread for discussion on the applicable Qantas T&C.

cancelled CX award booking made with QF points

Hi All, I had a 3 pax QF award booking with CX for SYD-HKG-LHR, CX sent me an email to say they have cancelled the HKG-LHR sector (no mention of the other flight) I can't see any rebooking options on CX manage my booking. what's the best angle with this, should I try to call QF or CX?

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Booking a cheap revenue fare from Asia to Europe, and booking a QF classic award to meet it, will avoid this issue entirely.

Thanks. That’s an informative thread, although the outcome is grim. It‘s just a chance you take when booking a non-QF flight through QF I suppose ie fingers crossed they Don’t cancel late and be prepared to pay through the nose if they do

 

[encryptededdy]

I'm not far off being a Qantas points millionaire, the points are easy to collect but almost impossible to use (at least for international Business or First anyway).

As a WP have you tried requesting seat releases on QF flights? QFF Platinum requesting release of extra Classic award seats?

I've had reasonable luck with this perk (SYD-LAX-SYD early Dec Business and First release OK, as long as I had some date flexibility).