Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[rock86]

Quick question about the following T&Cs:

"Classic Flight Rewards are not available on Codeshare Flights unless otherwise specified by Qantas Loyalty. Classic Flight Rewards must be booked using the airline code (eg QF for Qantas) of the Operating Carrier unless otherwise specified by Qantas Loyalty."

Does this mean I won't be able to select a Qantas flight in my OWA itinerary if it's operated by Emirates (e.g. QF8409 MEL-DXB)?

EK is not part of the OW Alliance, as such not eligible as part of a OWE Award.

 

[markyb]

After many years (I tried to do this before kids), I've finally booked 4 in J (mostly) and have thrown in my learnings below:

SYD-SFO (QF)
LAX-DAL-WAS (AA in Y)
WAS-JFK-LHR-SPU (AA/BA)
SPU-LHR (BA)
AMS-HKG-MNL-HND-NRT-SYD (CX/JAL/QF)

Taxes/fees/surcharges: $935pp

Some things I learnt:
1/ I searched for single legs on Qantas' site, BA executive and aa.com and found one better than the other at different times
2/ Qantas call centre is painful (nothing new here) and no time of the day or night made wait times better. The South African rep gave confident but wrong advice, so best to end call and try again (and wait whilst doing other tasks). NZ call centre rep helped me most in the end
3/ I'd booked BA from USA to LONDON and didnt realise the massive fees (USD2000 or so) until too late. Finally found an AA flight across the Atlantic and fees were about 1/3rd
4/ Flexibility is obviously key. I'd booked the first 3 stops 3 months ago, so finding 4 J seats for the final legs was tough (as will our flight home from AMS - check that for an adventure!)

Thanks again to this thread for advice

 

[wentworthmeister]

EK is not part of the OW Alliance, as such not eligible as part of a OWE Award.

Not even if it's a QF flight?

The T&C's above imply that you can't even access Classic Rewards seats on a code-share flight, but when I searched on the Qantas site it shows Classic Rewards availability for that example flight (QF8409)?

 

[JohnM]

Anything to do with OneWorld fares is not allowed on EK as they are not a member.

So xONEx, OW Award are no-go on EK - irrespective of QF codeshare.

The arrangement between QF and EK is a directly-negotiated partnership; nothing to do with OW Alliance.

 

[Quickstatus]

Not even if it's a QF flight?

The T&C's above imply that you can't even access Classic Rewards seats on a code-share flight, but when I searched on the Qantas site it shows Classic Rewards availability for that example flight (QF8409)?

Classic rewards are available on some EK flights. Usually with QF flight numbers.
But beware it can be a double edged sword. You are now dealing with 2 airlines - EK and QF. Which airline can you rely on to carry the can if there are issues with the flight.

 

[JohnM]

Usually with QF flight numbers.

Is that really the case? I think every QF Classic Award on EK that I have had has had an EK flight number (even if the flight has carried QF codeshare number).

 

[wentworthmeister]

So xONEx, OW Award are no-go on EK - irrespective of QF codeshare.

Understood, thanks for clarifying. So if I want to get from MEL-ATH as part of my OWA, it looks like my only other options are:

MEL-LHR-ATH (QF, BA), or
MEL-DOH-ATH (QR)

Except neither of these show on the Qantas multi-city tool - does that mean I'll have to use the call center to include them in the booking (assuming they have Awards availability on those dates)?

 

[JohnM]

You have a few direct flight options to/from ATH: oneworld Online Timetable

(Hopefully that will show as I see it.)

HEL & MAD could perhaps come into play as well?

 

[JohnM]

Dang - link I posted doesn't show what I was looking at. Anyway, click on ATH and sort the direct flights from/to there.

 

[wentworthmeister]

You have a few direct flight options to/from ATH: oneworld Online Timetable

Yeah that shows the same two options I posted earlier. Looks like a very useful tool though - thanks for sharing!

 

[Jacques Vert]

Is that really the case? I think every QF Classic Award on EK that I have had has had an EK flight number (even if the flight has carried QF codeshare number).

Correct; you can book EK flights with QF points and mix and match with other QF partners. HOWEVER, as EK are not in the Oneworld alliance, it will not "max-out" at 140/280/420k. The required points will just keep on adding up.

So for simple, short itineraries EK may be fine. Once you add in a couple of extra flights on a long haul itinerary the points tally quickly becomes eye-watering

 

[Warren Mason]

Hi, Still attempting to find a way home from Europe. I keep finding the perfect flights into Australia but they disappear before the availability to fly from Perth for example back to Sydney appears. I can find flights via Doh but they don't seem to be available on the Qantas engine. Is this normal and would they be available if I called Qantas? The other option I guess is to book flights back as soon as I can find more and then sacrifice another 10k points and book the return to Sydney flight later. Any advice? This all started out as a lot of fun that is now becoming very frustrating.

 

[jaseb]

I've been planning on booking a OWA 280K fare in J for some time now... however, reading these posts, it seems like a *lot* of work and has potential to shave years off of ones life to align everything.

I'm wondering - are the OWA 420K F fares easier to book? Is there more availability? Is it worth spending the extra 140k points for the added convenience and *some* legs in F - assuming not all routes would have F carriage available.... and thus would be relegated to J for those anyway?

 

[cjd600]

The other option I guess is to book flights back as soon as I can find more and then sacrifice another 10k points and book the return to Sydney flight later. Any advice? This all started out as a lot of fun that is now becoming very frustrating.

Yeah, best to lock in asap the flight to Aust, then cop the 10K once the domestic connection is released.....

 

[flychrisfly]

MEL-LHR-ATH (QF, BA), or
MEL-DOH-ATH (QR)

Except neither of these show on the Qantas multi-city tool - does that mean I'll have to use the call center to include them in the booking (assuming they have Awards availability on those dates)?

They showed up for me when I started a dummy booking with points on a Tuesday in Nov '19

 

[wentworthmeister]

They showed up for me when I started a dummy booking with points on a Tuesday in Nov '19

Interesting, maybe it's a dates issue. Thanks for checking. We've canned the idea of doing Greece first up, so our draft itinerary is looking a bit different:

MEL-PER-LHR (QF)
LHR-MAD (Surface sector encompassing UK, Iceland, Scandinavia, Greece, Italy, France and Spain)
MAD-JFK-YYZ (IB, AA) or MAD-LHR-YYZ (BA)
YYZ-YVR (No OW routes as far as I can tell, might have to make it YYZ-ORD-SEA)
YVR-LAX (Surface sector down the US west coast)
LAX-SCL-PUQ (LAN)
PUQ-SCL-MEL (LAN)

To the best of my knowledge that's 4 stopovers and 33,893 statute miles.

 

[JohnM]

Don't forget to try another browser if things down't seem to be behaving.

I seem to be having quite a few issue with Firefox recently that Chrome sails across.

 

[Danger]

I've been planning on booking a OWA 280K fare in J for some time now... however, reading these posts, it seems like a *lot* of work and has potential to shave years off of ones life to align everything.

I'm wondering - are the OWA 420K F fares easier to book? Is there more availability? Is it worth spending the extra 140k points for the added convenience and *some* legs in F - assuming not all routes would have F carriage available.... and thus would be relegated to J for those anyway?

I think you'll end up with the same loss of years in life, possibly more loss given far fewer rates with F which means, as you noted, you'll end up in J and therefore the problem of finding seats remains the same. If you do for the F option I would be looking to maximise that as much as possible by focusing your cities where F is served. Remember a number of oneworld airlines don't even have F. Even Qatar only offers true F on its A380s and the only upside of F on its short-haul is access to Al Safwa. I'd be aiming to make it a true round the world itinerary (which, just to be clear again, this award does not require) to get the most value.

 

[flychrisfly]

Interesting, maybe it's a dates issue. Thanks for checking. We've canned the idea of doing Greece first up, so our draft itinerary is looking a bit different:

MEL-PER-LHR (QF)
LHR-MAD (Surface sector encompassing UK, Iceland, Scandinavia, Greece, Italy, France and Spain)
MAD-JFK-YYZ (IB, AA) or MAD-LHR-YYZ (BA)
YYZ-YVR (No OW routes as far as I can tell, might have to make it YYZ-ORD-SEA)
YVR-LAX (Surface sector down the US west coast)
LAX-SCL-PUQ (LAN)
PUQ-SCL-MEL (LAN)

To the best of my knowledge that's 4 stopovers and 33,893 statute miles.

This is the dream - it'll be interesting to see how the reality pans out!
I count 4 stops including the last stop at home - that is, 3 stopovers, so you have a couple to play with. Using them to get to/from Iceland might be an option...
Also, years ago I flew YVR-YYZ on points and ended up going via DFW... Like I said - it'll be interesting to see what how the reality turns out.

 

[wentworthmeister]

I count 4 stops including the last stop at home - that is, 3 stopovers, so you have a couple to play with.

I'm pretty sure it's 4 stopovers (5 if the flight home counts as one)?

MEL-PER-LHR (QF) #1 - London, UK & Europe
LHR-MAD (Surface sector encompassing UK, Iceland, Scandinavia, Greece, Italy, France and Spain)
MAD-JFK-YYZ (IB, AA) or MAD-LHR-YYZ (BA) #2 - Toronto & NE USA
YYZ-YVR #3 - Vancouver, BC and PNW USA
YVR-LAX (Surface sector down the US west coast)
LAX-SCL-PUQ (LAN) #4 - Patagonia
PUQ-SCL-MEL (LAN) #5(?) - Home