Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[fastferret]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi all,

I'm at the early stage of planning a J one world award for two for this time next year and trying to use the Qantas award booking facility. I'm pretty flexible, but the basic idea was start at Sydney and try to have stops at Houston, Barcelona, Athens, Prague/Berlin, London then back.

Getting flights to DFW or Houston seems difficult.

I'm also confused by the flights in Europe. I don't seem to be offered direct flights with, say IB or Air Berlin. The booking engine always wants to route ne through London with at leats one BA flight. Any hints on this?

 

[sergeyvzn]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi all,

I'm at the early stage of planning a J one world award for two for this time next year and trying to use the Qantas award booking facility. I'm pretty flexible, but the basic idea was start at Sydney and try to have stops at Houston, Barcelona, Athens, Prague/Berlin, London then back.

Getting flights to DFW or Houston seems difficult.

I'm also confused by the flights in Europe. I don't seem to be offered direct flights with, say IB or Air Berlin. The booking engine always wants to route ne through London with at leats one BA flight. Any hints on this?

Getting flights to the USA is very difficult if you are looking at direct Qantas flights. Most likely you'll get nothing. Think about making it via Asia and this will work

When working out your itinerary in Europe what you need to do is to piece it flight by flight searching for each individual segment separately. The QF booking engine won't let you do it so you might as well ditch it as it doesn't show lots of airlines anyway. Use British Airways, search for availability of each particular segment untra Europe and after you've worked it all out ring Qantas and have them book it for you over the phone

 

[fastferret]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thanks for that. I'll give the BA search a try.

I can see ways of getting to the US with CX, but I want to do this without making HK one of my 5 stopovers. Maybe the BA search will help here too.

 

[sergeyvzn]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thanks for that. I'll give the BA search a try.

I can see ways of getting to the US with CX, but I want to do this without making HK one of my 5 stopovers. Maybe the BA search will help here too.

Unlikely. CX normally does not allow connections of less than 24 hours on that type of award. You'd have to stop in HKG
Try JL, there's no restriction of that sort with them

Also, to be able to search for award space on BA you'll need to become a member of the FF scheme (Executive Club). You can't do it from Australia so you'll need to pretend you're from the UK and give them a dummy UK address when registering

 

[adelee]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Unlikely. CX normally does not allow connections of less than 24 hours on that type of award. You'd have to stop in HKG

Just my two cents again CX transits (connections of less than 24 hours) CAN be booked (I have two for Dec / Jan: MEL-HKG-JFK, AND FRA-HKG-AKL), just bear in mind that the CX multi segment awards ('married flights') are hard to find and you will need to persevere - to search / get your QF phone rep to search, you'll need to plug in the start to end of the multi-segment journey to find the award flights CX sell in multi segment blocks (i.e. if you want to go SYD - HKG - JFK with CX, you'll need to search SYD-JFK, otherwise the booking engine will bring up single segments that can't be booked as part of a transit through HKG).

Do NOT let your QF phone rep talk you into searching the CX segments one by one - this will just result in errors once they try to add the flights in to your greater itinerary.

 

[hopefulQFF]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thank you all for your posts and wisdom in this thread - I've been lurking a lot and learning all the tips and tricks you so helpfully provide. I booked my 280K RTW in J last week and couldn't be happier!

I'm doing BNE - LHR (short transit HKG) with CX. I'm having a month in Europe (UK, Switzerland, Austria and Italy) and then LHR - JFK on BA, 5 nights in New York and then JFK - HKG on CX, 3 nights in HKG to visit a mate and the home to BNE on CX again.

Got the flights I wanted and great seat choices! It's great to have a trip like this to look forward to after a lot of business flying and working hard (and it looks like the rest of this year will be more of the same).

Thanks again to everyone who contributes!

 

[fastferret]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi all,

Thanks to all the previous contributors I've advanced a bit with my 280k OW planning for two. I'm looking at departing early May 2016 and returning mid July.

I'm currently WP. I've got about 563k points, so on the edge and may not have the points for multiple re bookings to try and book stage by stage.

The options below seem to fit the rules, but any general comments or advice re likely availabilities, airline service, fees & charges etc appreciated.

Preferred Option - westward
SYD-DXB-DOH-ATH (QF/QR) or SYD-MEL-DOH-ATH (mostly QR)
ATH-MAD (IB), train to Berlin
TXL-DME (AB), train to St Petersburg
LED-LHR-EDI (BA), car to Aberdeen
ABZ-LHR-YUL (BA), car to Boston
BOS-HKG-SYD (CX) or (BOS-NRT-SYD (JL))
5 stops, 15 segments, max 31971 miles

Alt Option - eastward
SYD-HKG-BOS (CX) or (SYD-NRT-BOS(JL)), car to Montreal
YUL-LHR-ATH (BA)
ATH-MAD (IB) train to Berlin
TXL-DME (AB), train to St Petersburg
LED-LHR-ABZ (BA), car to Edinburgh
EDI-DOH-DXB-SYD (QR/QF) or EDI-DOH-MEL-SYD (mostly QR)
5 stops, 15 segments, max 34761 miles

 

[hutch]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

How easy is it to get Qatar J seats? Whenever I search I tend to be given Y options and F, but don't remember ever getting J?

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

How easy is it to get Qatar J seats? Whenever I search I tend to be given Y options and F, but don't remember ever getting J?

Some routes only sell as F/Y as there is no J cabin (basically F is J, but with F SCs)

Note: no SCs on awards

 

[Kangol]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Has anyone had experience with merging a few bookings into a single oneworld award?

ie. I have two F transpacs already booked (144k each). Long story short, some changes can now be made and there is the opportunity to add two more on.
420k vs 576k (144x4) is a no brainer.

 

[DaveO2076]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi,

I planning to do a bus class RTW trip in June/July 2016 for 2 adults and 2 children, and have more than the 4x280k points, which I understand is the required amount. I am happy to be flexible over the exact route to get tickets, but am a bit tied to roughly NSW school holidays. We're also happy to travel in pairs via different connecting airports if this improves our chances.

I would welcome a bit of guidance on how best to secure tickets for 3 week RTW trip. From speak to Qantas FF line, I understand that the OneWorld airlines have different lead times when tickets become available (e.g. 350 days Qantas, 364 Cathay etc) - however they've said that I need to wait until the length of my trip has elapsed from this lead time (i.e. 3 weeks after 350 days for Qantas) in order to be able to book the entire RTW fair - which I think carries the risk that in the time between the seats get booked.

If I've understood this correctly, does anyone have any clever tips for how to secure seats as soon as they become available on the RTW tickets, with the whole of my itinerary actually being available? I ideally want to ring up on exact time that I know new availability has been released to maximise our chances. I'm happy to pay a modest re-booking fee in $ or points to alter our trip as seats become available.

I welcome any constructive suggestions.

Cheers,

Dave

 

[hutch]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Some routes only sell as F/Y as there is no J cabin (basically F is J, but with F SCs)

Note: no SCs on awards

Thanks! Though I know Qatar sells business on some routes, but there is never J availability... just Y/F. DOH-LHR is one that comes to mind.

What I am looking for is DOH-JNB or CPT?

 

[hutch]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi,

I planning to do a bus class RTW trip in June/July 2016 for 2 adults and 2 children, and have more than the 4x280k points, which I understand is the required amount. I am happy to be flexible over the exact route to get tickets, but am a bit tied to roughly NSW school holidays. We're also happy to travel in pairs via different connecting airports if this improves our chances.

I would welcome a bit of guidance on how best to secure tickets for 3 week RTW trip. From speak to Qantas FF line, I understand that the OneWorld airlines have different lead times when tickets become available (e.g. 350 days Qantas, 364 Cathay etc) - however they've said that I need to wait until the length of my trip has elapsed from this lead time (i.e. 3 weeks after 350 days for Qantas) in order to be able to book the entire RTW fair - which I think carries the risk that in the time between the seats get booked.

If I've understood this correctly, does anyone have any clever tips for how to secure seats as soon as they become available on the RTW tickets, with the whole of my itinerary actually being available? I ideally want to ring up on exact time that I know new availability has been released to maximise our chances. I'm happy to pay a modest re-booking fee in $ or points to alter our trip as seats become available.

I welcome any constructive suggestions.

Cheers,

Dave

Having recently asked the same thing, it appears the best way will be to book the first leg online and then ring QFF to add each leg one by one. Will cost 3500pts pp per change. I somehow doubt you'll find 4x J seats on the same flight, so splitting up sounds like the way to go.

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Has anyone had experience with merging a few bookings into a single oneworld award?

ie. I have two F transpacs already booked (144k each). Long story short, some changes can now be made and there is the opportunity to add two more on.
420k vs 576k (144x4) is a no brainer.

Merging separate itineraries is not allowed. All flights on a OW award must have the same PNR.

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thanks! Though I know Qatar sells business on some routes, but there is never J availability... just Y/F. DOH-LHR is one that comes to mind.

What I am looking for is DOH-JNB or CPT?

I flew JNB - DOH 6 weeks ago on a J award so they are available (unless they have changed their policy recently - I booked ours 10-11 months ago and can recall I had the option of several dates). Pretty sure QR have flights from DOH - CPT via JNB only on alternate days (the 2 flights have the same flight number) but only DOH - JNB on the other days (where you would need to connect to CPT via BA)

 

[hutch]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thanks... was QR available online or via QF call centre?

 

[Kangol]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Merging separate itineraries is not allowed. All flights on a OW award must have the same PNR.

So if I wanted to merge separate ones, would I be up for the cancellation fee for each one? Then create a new OW award booking?

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Thanks... was QR available online or via QF call centre?

I found them online and added them via phone as I'd already booked the first part of our itinerary prior. FWIW I have noticed that there seems to be a shrinking award availability on OW airlines generally - saw a report a week or 2 ago where CX were restricing some of their award seats for their own Marco Polo members only and last year AA shrunk their award availability too.

 

[hutch]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

So if I wanted to merge separate ones, would I be up for the cancellation fee for each one? Then create a new OW award booking?

I'm no expert...but wouldn't you just cancel one, then add flights to your first? The drama of course, is whether there will be F availability?

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

So if I wanted to merge separate ones, would I be up for the cancellation fee for each one? Then create a new OW award booking?

Without knowing the logistics definitively (I'd suggest you check with QF before you start cancelling flights) I'd guess you would only need to cancel one itinerary and pay the fee for that, then add those flights to the remaining itinerary. I'd want to be sure that the award seats on the ticket you intend to cancel would definitely be available for you to re-book before I started to cancel though. To explain, my understanding is that when awards are cancelled they do not get immediately re-listed as available - in which case they won't be visible for the QF operator to hold or add to your other itinerary as soon as you cancel. I cancelled some J awards for LAX - SYD last year and it took several hours for them to appear as available on the QF website.

It's possible the operator might tell you you need to ring back later (how much later I don't know) when your cancelled flights re-appear, but if you were unlucky someone else could possible snatch them ahead of you. Hope that makes sense, Kangol