Award bookings QF

Status
Not open for further replies.

maia200

Active Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2011
Posts
563
Qantas
Platinum
Virgin
Platinum
I was intending to make an award booking with QF from Brisbane to JNB in Feb. Last night I got onto the website to book however the business seat selection had a pop up that stated the trip from Johannesburg to Sydney was in Premium Economy. There was PE available so thought about it overnight and decided to book PE and save the points. I have just gone onto website and PE has gone, only J available, however the pop up states that the flight from JNB to SYD is in Y. What is the point of buying J then and using all my points, if it is only Y?. Am I reading it wrong? Can someone guide me please. I might as well just book Y for the return. Thanks in advance
 
It's a well known issue on the QF awards site.

Trying to find award seats in QF premium cabins a month out is fairly rare as well.
 
I was intending to make an award booking with QF from Brisbane to JNB in Feb. Last night I got onto the website to book however the business seat selection had a pop up that stated the trip from Johannesburg to Sydney was in Premium Economy. There was PE available so thought about it overnight and decided to book PE and save the points. I have just gone onto website and PE has gone, only J available, however the pop up states that the flight from JNB to SYD is in Y. What is the point of buying J then and using all my points, if it is only Y?. Am I reading it wrong? Can someone guide me please. I might as well just book Y for the return. Thanks in advance
Hi maia200,

This is common on the QF web site and a trap for inexperienced travellers.

My personal opinion is that it is quite misleading though some others see it as a way for QF to offer extra options.

Good luck with your search.
 
The issue is that you will travel in business - from Brisbane to Sydney and then economy. So instead of paying for economy all the way (48k) you pay 58k for business (BNE-SYD -16 k) plus economy SYD to JNB (42k).

Whilst this is annoying, the flip side of this approach is that if (in the rare instance) that J wasn't available on the domestic connection but was available on the long haul, it still brings it up as a J option. On some carriers (eg SQ) people find this lack of functionality annoying as it means you can't combine short Y and long J flights in the one itinerary without calling up.
 
Thank you for this feedback. The cost of points for J/E on the award flights is 1540000 plus $735 (it was about $640 last night) or J/J (flying economy) 1440000. Do you think if I book J and accept that I will be flying economy back (which is when I would really like to be flying in comfort~) there may be a J seat available on the flight or am I blowing my points and should just book the economy and shut up be happy for the reward seat? The domestic flights are not the problem, just the comfort for long haul.
 
On a return basis, it seems you have the choice of:

1) BNE-SYD-JNB (business) + JNB-SYD-BNE (economy) = 96,000 pts+ 48,000 pts + taxes = 144,000 pts + taxes, or
2) BNE-SYD-JNB (business) + JNB-SYD (economy) + SYD-BNE(business) = 96,000 + 42,000 + 16,000 pts + taxes = 154,000 pts + taxes.

NOTE: You will not be in business on the return long sector (JNB-SYD) under either choice (regardless of whether you choose the supposed "business" option when returning) unless it specifically indicates so, so if you want to travel in business or premium economy on that sector you need to find a different date with availablity. The only reason is that it is suggesting "business" at all when you look at JNB-SYD-BNE is that there is business available on the domestic sector.

A true "business" journey (including business on the JNB-SYD sector) will cost 2 x 96000 pts = 192, 000 pts + taxes.

I suggest you just choose the economy option on the way back or find another date. Unless of course you want to pay an extra 10,000 pts to sit in business between Sydney and Brisbane, in which case choose the business option for the way back.
 
Thank you again, you have been most helplful. I will be flying back economy. Decision made.
 
Since the OP has locked in, allow me to veer O/T a bit (but related).

I was looking for some award seats MEL-DOH and it brought up a number QF, EK (to DXB and onto DOH) and QR options, some going via PER. For a couple of options, it brought up J award where ! the PER-DOH or DXB (I can't remember) leg was in PE. And for a PE award seat, on the exact same flight, the ! PER-DOH or DXB leg would be in Economy!

[Edit/deletion re points required in light of dajop's post above and below - but I still wonder why a PE seat was available with a J booking, but not with a PE booking!]

I'm sure some-one here will have a perfectly reasonable explanation :)
 
Last edited:
The issue is that you will travel in business - from Brisbane to Sydney and then economy. So instead of paying for economy all the way (48k) you pay 58k for business (BNE-SYD -16 k) plus economy SYD to JNB (42k).

When did this change? They used to charge full business for the entire journey even when traveling in economy.
 
When did this change? They used to charge full business for the entire journey even when traveling in economy.

Don't know when it changed but if you try some dummy bookings that is now what happens. Certainly better than old approach.
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

I also recall discussing it previously on AFF which I only joined less than 10 years ago.

I am fairly sure that there are threads on here maybe about 3-4 years old that would suggest that QF would charge you the higher rate.
If I get the chance I'll have a look.
 
I am fairly sure that there are threads on here maybe about 3-4 years old that would suggest that QF would charge you the higher rate.
If I get the chance I'll have a look.

Matches my recollection. Strange that they haven't announced it as the cheaper pricing is a real enhancement.
 
It's also worth using the multi city tool for journeys eg JNB/PER & PER/BNE or JNB/SYD & SYD/BNE as you then select the exact flights you want in the matching class.

We did a booking last night BCN/BNE & although it showed several EK options it didn't have any for QF2 DXB/SYD which was available when we looked separately & the flight we wanted.

Tried the multi city tool BCN/DXB & DXB/BNE which gave us exactly what we wanted ie EK186, QF2, QF508 for 64K points in whY which was the same amount as BCN/DXB/BNE on EK.

We were happy with a longer transit in DXB as we'll book the transit hotel there.
 
The issue is that you will travel in business - from Brisbane to Sydney and then economy. So instead of paying for economy all the way (48k) you pay 58k for business (BNE-SYD -16 k) plus economy SYD to JNB (42k).

Whilst this is annoying, the flip side of this approach is that if (in the rare instance) that J wasn't available on the domestic connection but was available on the long haul, it still brings it up as a J option. On some carriers (eg SQ) people find this lack of functionality annoying as it means you can't combine short Y and long J flights in the one itinerary without calling up.

Except that with QF the exclamation mark always, IME, indicates that the much longer, international leg is in whY. I have never seen a domestic connection in whY and the international leg in J when there is an exclamation mark in the results.

The cynic in me says that is deliberate and designed to catch the unsuspecting out and fleece them of their points and expectations.
 
Except that with QF the exclamation mark always, IME, indicates that the much longer, international leg is in whY. I have never seen a domestic connection in whY and the international leg in J when there is an exclamation mark in the results.

The cynic in me says that is deliberate and designed to catch the unsuspecting out and fleece them of their points and expectations.


I think that just reflects the difficulty in getting long haul premium class awards and ease of getting them on domestic sectors.
 
Except that with QF the exclamation mark always, IME, indicates that the much longer, international leg is in whY. I have never seen a domestic connection in whY and the international leg in J when there is an exclamation mark in the results....
FWIW, I have recently seen such an indicator (e.g. Y MEL-SYD and J SYD-LAX) when (re)searching for a 2015 Christmas Transpacific Business booking over the last few weeks.
 
Except that with QF the exclamation mark always, IME, indicates that the much longer, international leg is in whY. I have never seen a domestic connection in whY and the international leg in J when there is an exclamation mark in the results.

The cynic in me says that is deliberate and designed to catch the unsuspecting out and fleece them of their points and expectations.

On the flip side, I have seen occasions (and it has been documented on here) where the person is after a J award, but the exclamation indicates one leg will be in F.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top