"oneworld" award (132.4K/249.6K/318K/455K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Interestingly I'm able to do a dummy award booking for SCL-EZE in November, after LA leaves oneworld. Wonder if that means it can still be booked up til October? Mind you, if there are issues with the flight then I'm sure you'd be up the creek without a paddle.
 
Ah yes well picked up.

I actually have a trip ending in MNL which I need to get home from. So any tax savings are a bonus :) I'll have to book the SYD-SCL tickets as soon as they come out I believe, so I'll only be booking the first 2 legs first up. So presumably I'll lose the tax savings when I call to add on the other legs.
I mean hopefully it won't happen to you as well, my experience with the taxes was not pleasant.
 
Interestingly I'm able to do a dummy award booking for SCL-EZE in November, after LA leaves oneworld. Wonder if that means it can still be booked up til October? Mind you, if there are issues with the flight then I'm sure you'd be up the creek without a paddle.

Latham is retaining a partnership with Qantas, but once it exits Oneworld you won't be able to include in a OWA.
 
Hi Friends; I will be shortly cancelling 2 U (business award) seats on the following flights, which includes some legs during peak/holiday times. Of course, I can't guarantee that these will go back to availability but if you are looking for anything around these dates let me know and I can message you when I'm about to contact the call centre to give you the best chance. Planning to do so at some stage this week.

2019
2/12 MNL-SYD QF20
6/12 HND-HKG CX649
6/12 HKG-PER CX143

2020
7/4 PER-SIN QF71
8/4 SIN-NRT JL712
11/4 NRT-SEA JL68
27/4 SFO-MEL QF50
Another datapoint for there being a QF error in recalculating tax/surcharge differences when making changes to award bookings that commence in Manlia:

This morning I booked a return ticket MNL to Japan; and booked the wrong date on the return ticket. I contacted QF via SMS wanting to change the date of the return leg by one day: Same carrier, flight number, class, everything except the date. I even contacted QF center within 1 hour of making the original booking - (meaning it's very unlikely there was a change in the official fee/surcharge rate between my original booking and the contact).

Yet QF wanted another PHP3000 (give or take AU$100) to change the date on the booking (they'd waive the change and assistance fee because it was within 24hrs of the original booking).

The SMS agent claimed they "calculated the taxes four times" yet every time the system wanted more payment.

So reinforcing my earlier experience (a few pages back) of trying to make changes to an existing booking that commenced in MNL: Something furry happens when the contact centre recalculates taxes. My suspicion is it shifts to an AU (or other) POS. If you want to start a booking in MNL to save on taxes; get it right the first time - changing your booking will increase your surcharge. For a return MNL to Japan this meant $100 - for my earlier complicated itinerary, it was hundreds more per passenger.
I am very dissatisfied with advice from Qantas that it will take 4-6 weeks to refund two itineraries I have just cancelled.

In one case it's 580k worth of points and around 1K AUD (but priced in Philippines peso).

I can't see any good reason for it to take so long, but all I get told is "that's the way it is".

Something to be aware of if you plan to book spare itineraries to allow for cancelling.
Update on the cancellations. One of the cancelled itineraries has had points credited but no refund to card (yet) - 12 days from request to cancel.

Finally at the end of this saga. Some learnings for anyone looking to book, change and/or cancel itineraries ex-MNL.

1. As mentioned - when changing an itinerary ex-MNL - and whether via SMS or phone - when it goes to be re-ticketed, the cost jumps significantly. My suspicion is the ticket is repriced to an AU or US point of sale (I was given the option of USD to pay the second set of fees).

2. If you eventually refund that ticket, it may not convert back to the original itinerary's currency. My original fees were 42980PHP (2pax) which converted to 1232.15AUD; the refund ended up being in USD and I lost about $5 in forex differences (could be worse).

3. Refunds are quoted at 4-6 weeks but in practice, when working, seem to take two weeks. As mentioned above, one of the itineraries was cancelled on Nov 14, points and cancel fee hit me on 26th, and money was back on the card on Nov 28.

4. The story of the complex refund:
- requested the cancellation (while there was an outstanding flight change, so asked not to be charged a cancel fee) and was advised the refund would be in USD.
- two weeks after requesting the cancel, I was first refunded two amounts in USD that added up to about $900, 280k points, but charged 6k fee. So was still out the other 280k points and about $300
- I contacted at this point (SMS) and was told to wait another week. As expected, nothing happened
- I contacted after that week of waiting via the app this time, and an agent figured out the difference and advised it would be sorted. The other 280k points were credited quickly, and the outstanding dollars (in USD again) came through a few days later.

TL;DR: as mentioned earlier, booking multiple itineraries with the plan of cancelling some and modifying others ended up being a bit of a nightmare. There are pros and cons to booking ex-MNL, but I probably won't plan to start a redemption overseas again unless I plan on booking it all in one go, online. I am not confident that any of the call centres are correctly pricing from an MNL POS and applying lower taxes.

Edit: the one thing I didn't do was try to contact directly via the Philippines phone number. Perhaps next time, if there is one.
 
I am about to book our first OW Classic Reward for next Nov/Dec.
When calling the Call Centre to make an addition, do they charge 5000 points per booking or per sector?
e.g. From A - B then B - C on different days, which of the above applies if booked on the same call?
 
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I am about to book our first OW Classic Reward for next Nov/Dec.
When calling the Call Centre to make an addition, do they charge 5000 points per booking or per sector?
e.g. From A - B then B - C on different days, which of the above applies if booked on the same call?
Once per pax per call. Can make multiple changes for one fee per pax.
 
I am about to book our first OW Classic Reward for next Nov/Dec.
When calling the Call Centre to make an addition, do they charge 5000 points per booking or per sector?
e.g. From A - B then B - C on different days, which of the above applies if booked on the same call?
There’s a lot of very useful information already posted. You have only about 8,000 posts to read. 😀

It’s never too early to start reading them and it may save some unfortunate mistakes.
 
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Just working out the exact flight details of my OWA. Searching for flights from LAX to Mexico City (end of March 2020 in Economy) and get the below result. Is this 38minute connection in Phoenix even possible?

Also is it worrying if I only find this availability on Qantas, it doesn't come up on JAL or BA searches. I have found the opposite for every other flight I search, Qantas has the least (more inaccurate) results?

Is there ever a chance that if I can't see the flight I want on a given day on either Qantas, JAL or BA sites then there could be availability if I ring up? Or no chance if it isn't on at least one of the sites?
 

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Just working out the exact flight details of my OWA. Searching for flights from LAX to Mexico City (end of March 2020 in Economy) and get the below result. Is this 38minute connection in Phoenix even possible? ..
You may make the connection, but your checked luggage may well not. Are you travelling HLO?

Some don’t care too much about missed connections, but I like to give it a bit more time in between flights. Really depends on what you are comfortable with.

Regarding availability, are you also being presented with LAX-DFW-MEX options on the QF site? Are you reasonably flexible with travel dates and looking at up to a few days either side?
 
You may make the connection, but your checked luggage may well not. Are you travelling HLO?

Some don’t care too much about missed connections, but I like to give it a bit more time in between flights. Really depends on what you are comfortable with.

Regarding availability, are you also being presented with LAX-DFW-MEX options on the QF site? Are you reasonably flexible with travel dates and looking at up to a few days either side?
Is say an hour and a half adequate?

Yes I believe there is also via DFW flights. Would work best if it was departing LAX on the 29th or 30th.

i can see a direct flight on the 1st of April on Qantas site but doesn’t show up on JAL or BA.

what do you mean by ‘HLO’?
 
Is say an hour and a half adequate?

Yes I believe there is also via DFW flights. Would work best if it was departing LAX on the 29th or 30th.

i can see a direct flight on the 1st of April on Qantas site but doesn’t show up on JAL or BA.

what do you mean by ‘HLO’?
Hand Luggage Only. Meaning that you will not have checked luggage in the aircraft hold. 38 minutes with checked luggage: If flights are on time, checked luggage may not make that connection, but it will follow on another flight.
 
Is say an hour and a half adequate?

Yes I believe there is also via DFW flights. Would work best if it was departing LAX on the 29th or 30th ...
Yes, I can see that the QF site is not looking good for those dates. 31st has much better options, while 28th is very limited.

No harm phoning the Call Centre to enquire. Not much to lose other than massive time-wasting and potentially wrong information being provided. At some point you will be phoning them anyway. If you are lucky, Oz or NZ may answer (this sometimes works at around 6.30am or earlier, but no guarantees), but SA and Manila never sleep. 😡

The trouble is that the CSO will only work from what they can see as being available. Can be frustrating. Never any point getting into an argument though.

Personally, when I see something that will work, even if not perfect, I book it. I can always change later if I become aware of something better, at 5,000 points cost per person, per phone call of course. Hesitation can lose the seats, and then what? Only you can decide when to book of course.

Edit: As for connection times, I am happy with 90 minutes to (ideally) two hours). But all that goes out the window when the unforeseen cancellations/late arrivals come along. Some prefer very short connections (easier with HLO), but we are all different.
 
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Yes, I can see that the QF site is not looking good for those dates. 31st has much better options, while 28th is very limited.

No harm phoning the Call Centre to enquire. Not much to lose other than massive time-wasting and potentially wrong information being provided. At some point you will be phoning them anyway. If you are lucky, Oz or NZ may answer (this sometimes works at around 6.30am or earlier, but no guarantees), but SA and Manila never sleep. 😡

The trouble is that the CSO will only work from what they can see as being available. Can be frustrating. Never any point getting into an argument though.

Personally, when I see something that will work, even if not perfect, I book it. I can always change later if I become aware of something better, at 5,000 points cost per person, per phone call of course. Hesitation can lose the seats, and then what? Only you can decide when to book of course.

Edit: As for connection times, I am happy with 90 minutes to (ideally) two hours). But all that goes out the window when the unforeseen cancellations/late arrivals come along. Some prefer very short connections (easier with HLO), but we are all different.
Thank you for the advice!

Yes will have checked luggage. With this short connections, if the first leg is cancelled and I miss the second leg will that have any bearing on the rest of my OWA trip? I assume AA would just put me on the next flight, and it wouldn’t effect any of my other legs on the OWA? Might be different if it wasn’t booked as a through flight though (ie- I had booked two individual segments myself)?

Here’s another curve ball, in booking the OWA and paying the taxes, does Qantas accept Qantas gift vouchers as payment (over the phone)? I have a couple which will easily cover the taxes.
 
.... With this short connections, if the first leg is cancelled and I miss the second leg ... I assume AA would just put me on the next flight, and it wouldn’t effect any of my other legs on the OWA ...

.... does Qantas accept Qantas gift vouchers as payment (over the phone)? I have a couple which will easily cover the taxes.
Flight cancellations by AA will be rebooked for onward connections. I have only redeemed vouchers on the QF website, and have no experience with redemptions by phone.
 
Has anyone else has issues with a difference in availability between only and with SMS agents?

I've been trying to add an AA flight to my booking but I've had two seperate SMS agents tell me there is no reward availability on the flight. However, searching through the Qantas flight shows business reward availability, it's been like that for at least a week and is still there now.

I had the same issue when initially booking the trip and trying to add QF9. SMS agents told me there was no availability so I eventually gave up and booked what I could online and had no issue.
 
.. I've been trying to add an AA flight to my booking but I've had two seperate SMS agents tell me there is no reward availability on the flight.....
Very frustrating. However, the CSO can only book what they see as being available.

Phantom availability exists, at times.
 

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