Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[rock86]

I'm having a similar issue. Our OWA itinerary has a first leg that is from Melbourne to Adelaide – due to the unavailability of flights to Europe (via Doha) out of Melbourne. For similar reasons our return to Australia at the end of our jaunt is to Adelaide. I’ve been trying to add a final segment from Adelaide back to Melbourne to bring us home but a couple of Qantas agents now have told me it can’t be done despite it seemingly not breaking any rules (total miles, number of sectors, number of transits etc). The Qantas agents couldn’t advise any reason just that the booking system wouldn’t accept it. Now I'm thinking that the change from International to domestic (in the same terminal) is being classed as a stopover - which would be our 6th and so against the rules. Alternatively I've seen it somewhere suggested that once you are back in Australia your award is over - maybe that's our issue but it seems others haven done this sucessfully
Can anyone suggest why it can’t be done? It’s not a crisis as it’s easy (and not that expensive) to buy domestic fares home but it would be nice to maximise the benefit of our award booking.
(Also it doesn't seem to be at the agent's discretion - on both occasions they said the booking system wouldn't allow it)

I'm pretty sure it is because you can't transit through the city of departure fro your origin country.

If you arrived say back in SYD/BNE then you'd be able to continue to MEL, but since your coming back through ADL you can't then go onto MEL.

I could be wrong though.

 

[adenda]

Sounds like Sth Africa to me. Try the SMS I found them better than SA CC but they are not perfect. Also if you use call back you have a better chance of getting NZ CC I have found. I usually have call back and SMS on the go at the same time and use who ever gets back first and also have a back up in case of an operator who has no idea.

Is there a way to increase the odds of being offered a call-back (time of day?, day of week?) I've called many times but only twice been given the option of a call back

 

[adenda]

I'm pretty sure it is because you can't transit through the city of departure fro your origin country.

If you arrived say back in SYD/BNE then you'd be able to continue to MEL, but since your coming back through ADL you can't then go onto MEL.

I could be wrong though.

Ok - but we're starting in Melbourne:
MEL-ADL
ADL-DOH
DOH-ZRH (stop)
ZRH-LHR
LHR-MIA (stop)
MIA-LIM (stop)
LIM-MAD
MAD-BCN (stop)
BCN-DOH
DOH-KUL (stop)
KUL-ADL (finish - for now)

I can't seem to get ADL-MEL added even though it shouldn't break any rules (miles, sectors, stops, transits)

 

[motef]

Ok - but we're starting in Melbourne:
MEL-ADL
ADL-DOH
DOH-ZRH (stop)
ZRH-LHR
LHR-MIA (stop)
MIA-LIM (stop)
LIM-MAD
MAD-BCN (stop)
BCN-DOH
DOH-KUL (stop)
KUL-ADL (finish - for now)

I can't seem to get ADL-MEL added even though it shouldn't break any rules (miles, sectors, stops, transits)

Is it because you are transiting back through a country in Australia?

 

[rock86]

Ok - but we're starting in Melbourne:
MEL-ADL
ADL-DOH
DOH-ZRH (stop)
ZRH-LHR
LHR-MIA (stop)
MIA-LIM (stop)
LIM-MAD
MAD-BCN (stop)
BCN-DOH
DOH-KUL (stop)
KUL-ADL (finish - for now)

I can't seem to get ADL-MEL added even though it shouldn't break any rules (miles, sectors, stops, transits)

Understood, but you're departing Australia from ADL.

It's about the only thing I can think of why it isn't working.

 

[abby-line]

Is there a way to increase the odds of being offered a call-back (time of day?, day of week?) I've called many times but only twice been given the option of a call back

I've called twice between 7/7.30am and had option to select a callback.

 

[blu]

...Qantas agents now have told me it can’t be done despite it seemingly not breaking any rules (total miles ...

Just to confirm, did Qantas give you their mileage total?

 

[adenda]

Just to confirm, did Qantas give you their mileage total?

They gave total of all except the last segment (KUL-ADL) as being 30,685. KUL-ADL is 3524 from the Great Circle Mapper making a total of 34209 which leaves plenty for the 400 miles back to Melbourne.

 

[Danger]

They gave total of all except the last segment (KUL-ADL) as being 30,685. KUL-ADL is 3524 from the Great Circle Mapper making a total of 34209 which leaves plenty for the 400 miles back to Melbourne.

I'm not surprised Qantas can't give you a reason. The rules are convoluted.

I think you're falling foul of 14.3.15: "A Classic Flight Reward Itinerary must contain no more than one departure from the city or country of first departure on that Itinerary".

 

[cjd600]

I'm not surprised Qantas can't give you a reason. The rules are convoluted.

I think you're falling foul of 14.3.15: "A Classic Flight Reward Itinerary must contain no more than one departure from the city or country of first departure on that Itinerary".

Should still be able to book it, but will just blow the points out?

 

[Danger]

Should still be able to book it, but will just blow the points out?

Well no, actually. I don't think so. The term says "A classic flight reward . . ." It doesn't say anything about it being this particular fare product we're talking about. I take the term to apply to all award tickets.

 

[Kangol]

I'm not surprised Qantas can't give you a reason. The rules are convoluted.

I think you're falling foul of 14.3.15: "A Classic Flight Reward Itinerary must contain no more than one departure from the city or country of first departure on that Itinerary".

The last ADL-MEL is neither of those. I'd try and escalate it if I were you. Without status, you might not be able to do it so easily.

 

[footy99]

Hey guys

I recently organised a 420K award. The next sector is Singapore to Athens with transits in Hong Kong and Heathrow.

These are the flights:

2 Sep SIN-HKG 09:50-14:05 CX J
2 Sep HKG-LHR 23:45-05:30(+1) BA F
3 Sep LHR-ATH 06:55-12:40 BA J

It's likely the first 2 are going to cause problems with the planned protest at HKG airport and simultaneous general strikes that day (fortunately the BA pilot strikes didn't line up too!)

What happens to the remaining 10+ flights on the ticket if one or both of those flights are cancelled by the airline at the last minute? Do Qantas just reroute this sector and the rest remain unaffected? And if so, do they still keep you in F (or J where applicable) if there is space even though the only availability now is for cash?

Thanks

 

[motef]

Hey guys

I recently organised a 420K award. The next sector is Singapore to Athens with transits in Hong Kong and Heathrow.

These are the flights:

2 Sep SIN-HKG 09:50-14:05 CX J
2 Sep HKG-LHR 23:45-05:30(+1) BA F
3 Sep LHR-ATH 06:55-12:40 BA J

It's likely the first 2 are going to cause problems with the planned protest at HKG airport and simultaneous general strikes that day (fortunately the BA pilot strikes didn't line up too!)

What happens to the remaining 10+ flights on the ticket if one or both of those flights are cancelled by the airline at the last minute? Do Qantas just reroute this sector and the rest remain unaffected? And if so, do they still keep you in F (or J where applicable) if there is space even though the only availability now is for cash?

Thanks

Qantas will re-accomodate you on alternate flights. It doesn’t matter to you that there is no award space and the fares are cash only.
If I was you I would research some alternatives now so you can be fully prepared should the cancellations eventuate.

 

[Braymac]

Just tried to book my last flight in my itinerary, Qantas staff (Cape Town) told me it's "subject to government approval" and not bookable on their end, and to call Cathay. Called Cathay, they said flight is bookable immediately. Flight was released yesterday. Any ideas?

 

[cjd600]

Just tried to book my last flight in my itinerary, Qantas staff (Cape Town) told me it's "subject to government approval" and not bookable on their end, and to call Cathay. Called Cathay, they said flight is bookable immediately. Flight was released yesterday. Any ideas?

Call again, usually get a different answer each time, roll the dice

 

[cma_369]

Hi everyone, just thought I'd finally contribute to this forum after a long time lurking and just completing my 2nd business class redemption, this time J RTW!

Firstly, the call centre rep I spoke to early this morning (night shift had the added benefit of getting right through to someone) told me that if I was to modify my itinerary after 17 Sep that I would incurr the increased points cost after looking into it for me.

Started seriously looking into routes from Sydney-Germany-New York-Sydney for mid next year last Sunday and found the flights I liked around what I had in mind right away.

Just took a few days to fine tune the bookings and get around the never ending errors on the qantas website.

Ended up booking the following from 10/06/2020:

SYD-MUC via HKG & DOH: QF/QR (had to have a Q Suite leg in somewhere, happy to try the 787 business class too over CX)
FRA-NY: BA (hoping to fluke the new club suite)
SFO-HND: JAL
NRT-SYD: JAL (Booked as a place holder until better availability pops up ex west coast USA or Asia)

I did try add a couple of domestic US flights when booking the itinerary online but it wouldn't go through no matter what I tried.

So locked in the bulk of the flights midweek and called the call centre this morning to lock in the following for only $50 extra in taxes and the 10000 points fee:

JFK-Miami
Miami-Nashville
Nashville-Las Vegas

Just need to keep an eye out for some decent flights back to Sydney mid July as the place holder is mid August!

This thread/forum is an amazing resource, and can't wait to start the journey to my next redemption!

 

[Kangol]

Qantas will re-accomodate you on alternate flights. It doesn’t matter to you that there is no award space and the fares are cash only.
If I was you I would research some alternatives now so you can be fully prepared should the cancellations eventuate.

I think it's the operating carrier. At least I would first push them to rebook on an alternative.

 

[DC3]

… Firstly, the call centre rep I spoke to early this morning (night shift had the added benefit of getting right through to someone) told me that if I was to modify my itinerary after 17 Sep that I would incurr the increased points cost after looking into it for me …

And, conflicting with a couple of other reports that this is not the case. Interesting.

 

[stoodamire]

Hi All,

Just after some advice/clarification.

Here's my situation.

I called Qantas a few weeks ago thinking about canceling my LGW-VCE leg on my OWA.

I was quoted roughly $72 refund in taxes and 5,000 points change fee per passenger.

I called Qantas yesterday after deciding to go ahead and cancel that leg. I was then told i was only be receiving back $52 in taxes. I questioned the Qantas rep to ask why the amount changed and they advised that's what showing currently.

I then quickly went onto the Qantas website and did a dummy booking from LGW-VCE and it showed the charge of 40 pounds in taxes/fees/charges, which converted to AUD is roughly $72 (similar amount to what was quoted in my initial call).

The customer service rep was unable to explain why and said they could only refund me $52.

My question is, are these taxes subject to change? Eg if i call back in 1-2 weeks, could the refund amount go higher/lower again? I don't understand how i could be quoted $72 refund in the first call, then $52 in the second call.

Thanks!