Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Daver6]

Please be kind…first timer & it’s doing my head in! ◦ only one Stopover is permitted in any one city in the Itinerary; and ◦ only two Transfers may be taken at any one city in the ItineraryQuestion 1: Can you do one Stopover and two Transfers in the same city?Question 2: If Great Circle Mapper gives me 34,950 miles is Qantas going to tell me that’s not right Sunny Jim we calculate 36,125 miles?Many thanks in advance for your sage advice.

1. You sure can.
2. Who knows? Only one way to find out...

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Please be kind…first timer & it’s doing my head in! ◦ only one Stopover is permitted in any one city in the Itinerary; and ◦ only two Transfers may be taken at any one city in the ItineraryQuestion 1: Can you do one Stopover and two Transfers in the same city?Question 2: If Great Circle Mapper gives me 34,950 miles is Qantas going to tell me that’s not right Sunny Jim we calculate 36,125 miles?Many thanks in advance for your sage advice.

Q1. Yes, I have done it myself.
Q2. Yes, it can happen. It has happened to me. I suggest that you leave a margin of error of about 100 miles for safety.
Happy planning.
J

 

[Eija]

I have 2 preferred options on the limit. One at 34,950 the other at 35,125 miles. Will be interesting to see which way the margin of error falls

 

[madrooster]

I have 2 preferred options on the limit. One at 34,950 the other at 35,125 miles. Will be interesting to see which way the margin of error falls

If you post the routing, someone with GDS access can calculate the exact mileage for you.

 

[geoffshaw]

Originally I was planning to get to Lima from the US, now we're thinking of going there direct from Brisbane and heading to LA afterwards. I've found flights from Brisbane (via AKL & SCL), but for some reason the Qantas site won't let me put in Lima as the origin when I try for departing flights? Is there some restriction on booking flights originating in Lima? I can do it through the multi-city tool as the second flight but that means I have to luck out on picking a date with seats or it just gives me an error.

 

[Mumanddad]

Originally I was planning to get to Lima from the US, now we're thinking of going there direct from Brisbane and heading to LA afterwards. I've found flights from Brisbane (via AKL & SCL), but for some reason the Qantas site won't let me put in Lima as the origin when I try for departing flights? Is there some restriction on booking flights originating in Lima? I can do it through the multi-city tool as the second flight but that means I have to luck out on picking a date with seats or it just gives me an error.

I'm in the very early stages a planning a RTW for next Sept-October, and yesterday had the same problem on the Qantas site when looking at possible Oneworld flights out of Lima. I've joined Avios to get access to the BA award site, so will check flights there and see what comes up.

Thinking that joining Expert Flyer might be a good move until flights are available and booked.

 

[geoffshaw]

I'm in the very early stages a planning a RTW for next Sept-October, and yesterday had the same problem on the Qantas site when looking at possible Oneworld flights out of Lima. I've joined Avios to get access to the BA award site, so will check flights there and see what comes up.

Thinking that joining Expert Flyer might be a good move until flights are available and booked.

I ended up calling Qantas last night and they confirmed that from some origins you can't book one-way fares. You have to use the multi-city search to find them.

 

[Kangol]

Anyone have trouble booking JL metal flights, despite award availability being present on JL and BA sites? This is despite me asking the premium agent to "search in another window", etc

 

[Captain Halliday]

Anyone have trouble booking JL metal flights, despite award availability being present on JL and BA sites? This is despite me asking the premium agent to "search in another window", etc

Not recently, but it has happened to me. I'd try the HUCA method and try for an Australian based operator.

 

[Kangol]

Not recently, but it has happened to me. I'd try the HUCA method and try for an Australian based operator.

Thanks, I thought the Premium desk was Australian...?

 

[Eija]

If you post the routing, someone with GDS access can calculate the exact mileage for you.

AKL-HKG-MEL-NRT-HEL-AMS-HEL-OSL-DOH-MEL-AKL (10 segments)

Average variance between GCM & Qantas over 9 segments is 6.5 miles.
S1+10, S2+23, S3+30, S4+351, S5-3, S6-3, S7-2, S8-1, S9 0, S10+5

GCM = 34,743 miles.
Qantas = 35,153 miles...153 makes a big difference!

The stand out is S4 NRT-HEL 4,878(GCM) - 5,229(Qantas) Have spoken to Qantas twice today pointing out that S4 seems out of whack with the other 9.

Anyone have an idea what to do next?

 

[madrooster]

AKL-HKG-MEL-NRT-HEL-AMS-HEL-OSL-DOH-MEL-AKL (10 segments)

Average variance between GCM & Qantas over 9 segments is 6.5 miles.
S1+10, S2+23, S3+30, S4+351, S5-3, S6-3, S7-2, S8-1, S9 0, S10+5

GCM = 34,743 miles.
Qantas = 35,153 miles...153 makes a big difference!

The stand out is S4 NRT-HEL 4,878(GCM) - 5,229(Qantas) Have spoken to Qantas twice today pointing out that S4 seems out of whack with the other 9.

Anyone have an idea what to do next?

The GDS says 35153 miles, with NRT-HEL being 5229 miles. This is the mileage that would be used for ticketing, so you are over by 153 miles.

 

[Guvner]

You could purchase a HEL-OSL-HEL rev ticket for $150 on Norwegian. That would drop 800 or so miles off.

 

[flychrisfly]

AKL-HKG-MEL-NRT-HEL-AMS-HEL-OSL-DOH-MEL-AKL (10 segments)
Anyone have an idea what to do next?

Hard to say without knowing where you're actually stopping vs transiting.

 

[Mumanddad]

I see it mentioned that we may get better availability if we can get someone with status to do the booking for us (we are bronze). Just wondering if we take that path whether those booked on the ticket are able to liaise with Qantas for flight adds/changes etc, or would it all have to be done by the person doing the booking?

 

[Danger]

I see it mentioned that we may get better availability if we can get someone with status to do the booking for us (we are bronze). Just wondering if we take that path whether those booked on the ticket are able to liaise with Qantas for flight adds/changes etc, or would it all have to be done by the person doing the booking?

The passenger won't have a problem liaising on the booking.

 

[MarcB]

I have 2 preferred options on the limit. One at 34,950 the other at 35,125 miles. Will be interesting to see which way the margin of error falls

You can use ITA Matrix to calculate the mileage. Just put in your origin and destination, and once it loads the results, click on "Price" and then toggle the "price per mile" check box. The price results will then show you the mileage. I assume - though can't confirm - that this is the "GDS" mileage...although it neither matches the Great Circle Mapper nor the mileage that shows up in EF in the Flight Details search.

 

[Mumanddad]

The passenger won't have a problem liaising on the booking.

Thanks for that. Daughter-in-law is Gold and is regularly out of the country, but is happy to do the initial booking for us. I was concerned that after that we would not be able initiate any changes etc by phone directly with Qantas without her involvement.

 

[Danger]

Thanks for that. Daughter-in-law is Gold and is regularly out of the country, but is happy to do the initial booking for us. I was concerned that after that we would not be able initiate any changes etc by phone directly with Qantas without her involvement.

Provided you're not going to be using her points to make the changes, it will be fine.

 

[glasszon]

I got a text message from Qantas about my RTW trip, apparently the ADL-DOH flight time has changed and now I am below the MCT for my transit at ADL for my MEL-ADL-DOH flight.

I was asked to call Qantas but just want to know what's the best I could get out of it? I originally wanted to go MEL-DXB, is there any chance they might release some reward seats for me on the QF MEL-DXB? Or is the best they would do is change my flights without a change fee?

Edit: One more question, I am thinking about adding a DOH-MCT and MCT-DOH leg into the flight (assuming Qantas won't let me go directly to DXB) to protect myself against the Qatar blockade, is it easy to drop a segment in the booking later on or do they have to reconfirm award availability for subsequent legs? For example, let's say I booked MEL-DOH-MCT with DOH as a transit point, can I drop the DOH-MCT easily or does it have to reconfirm there are award availability with just MEL-DOH?