Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[ozflier]

Royal Air Maroc (ROM) has joined OW as of 31 March.
Just a few tips from my limited experiences in booking award seats with them.
They are not yet appearing on the British Air Avios award availability site.
Some flights do appear on the QFF booking page - economy but business class availability is listed as a "?".
I was unable to book them online .
However , if you ring and get thru to QFF, the agent can see a good number of seats available even when they appear as a "?" in the business class column on the online site.
One problem is that it is currently not possible to calculate taxes for ROM - i was told this would be fixed by later this month.
I was interested in using them to get from LHR to Casablanca and return - I did not look forward to travelling on BA's abysmal eurobusiness class seating - ROM appears to be like Turkish for similar length flights.
And I know that this will not affect anyone's decision on a carrier , but both ROM and TK provide alcohol service.
Hope that helps.

 

[k_sheep]

That is handy, thank you. I shall be calling to check availability; JAL website has some functionality with them but seems spotty.

I'm hoping to hop on the GRU-CMN route

 

[GaryLG]

I'm coming back to doing some planning and I have some questions (hopefully haven't missed some obvious places for answers) to help narrow down the plans.

1. Thinking of planning leaving around June/July 2021 with the hope things will have settled enough by then. Any thoughts on that or what happens if not?

2. Still playing around with the idea of doing a split trip though realising the mileage doesn't go far when one would be to the UK, but if I did am I correct in thinking that purchasing a separate flight out of MEL, say to MNL, and using that as my starting point, means I can return to MEL in the middle and do the second half which can end in MEL?

3. Someone previously suggested MNL as a cheaper starting point than say AKL though at the moment it looks like it twice the price for earlier dates ($700 vs $350). Just wondering if MNL is really that much cheaper for surcharges? Also does the initial flight (MEL-MNL or to AKL) factor into mileage at all?

4. Can surcharges be paid in points rather than cash?

5. And on a related note, typically how many "extra" points are you likely to need above the fair, eg over 318,000 for the Business fare?

Thanks
Gary

 

[ozflier]

I'm coming back to doing some planning and I have some questions (hopefully haven't missed some obvious places for answers) to help narrow down the plans.

1. Thinking of planning leaving around June/July 2021 with the hope things will have settled enough by then. Any thoughts on that or what happens if not? Hope so - I am hoping for a trip this september coming off.

2. Still playing around with the idea of doing a split trip though realising the mileage doesn't go far when one would be to the UK, but if I did am I correct in thinking that purchasing a separate flight out of MEL, say to MNL, and using that as my starting point, means I can return to MEL in the middle and do the second half which can end in MEL? You'd be surprised how far you can get on 35,000 miles ( not km) . I have used my middle point as Singapore. The middle point of course counts as a stopover.

3. Someone previously suggested MNL as a cheaper starting point than say AKL though at the moment it looks like it twice the price for earlier dates ($700 vs $350). Just wondering if MNL is really that much cheaper for surcharges? Also does the initial flight (MEL-MNL or to AKL) factor into mileage at all? AKL is too far south for most itineraries except to the Americas.

4. Can surcharges be paid in points rather than cash? Not that I know of.

5. And on a related note, typically how many "extra" points are you likely to need above the fair, eg over 318,000 for the Business fare? if you are going on a split booking as above , I suggest you will need at least 15,000 extra points per person.

Thanks
Gary

 

[pottsy]

I have just received the attached email from Qantas. It asks if I wish to get a refund, minus canx fees OR get a credit until Dec 2021. It quotes my OWA booking number which I was part way into prior to cancellation. My dilemma is that it is impossible for me to contact customer service as I am in England (yes, escaped Jordan re: my previous posts)! I have already received taxes refund (when flights were originally canx).
Be very grateful for any thoughts on which I should opt for, refund or credit please, to try and salvage any points?

 

[jeza]

I have just received the attached email from Qantas. It asks if I wish to get a refund, minus canx fees OR get a credit until Dec 2021. It quotes my OWA booking number which I was part way into prior to cancellation. My dilemma is that it is impossible for me to contact customer service as I am in England (yes, escaped Jordan re: my previous posts)! I have already received taxes refund (when flights were originally canx).
Be very grateful for any thoughts on which I should opt for, refund or credit please, to try and salvage any points?

Have you seen the post quoted below?

It appears you may be able to get some points back depending on how far you were into the OWA.

While this is normally the case, you'll find given the circumstances, Qantas are adopting a more lenient take over everything in the moment. A couple pages back I queried the partly-flown OWA situation, as I had only gone 7k miles into my itinerary. I followed it up with Qantas a few days ago, and without hesitation, they (NZ centre) straight up quickly offered a refund of taxes/points for unflown segments. And that's with the next segment not even due til August. On hold for 5 minutes while it was all calculated in the background and based on a reduction of the flown segment(s), as if it were based on it being individual flights. So depending how far into your journey you are (because normally points cap at the various thresholds), that will influence things, but in my case I'm getting back 80% taxes and 60% of points. As happy as I could be given circumstances.

 

[pottsy]

Have you seen the post quoted below?

It appears you may be able to get some points back depending on how far you were into the OWA.

Thanks for reply. Problem is I don't know whether to opt for refund or credit in order to do this?

 

[onetonnerodeo]

Thanks for reply. Problem is I don't know whether to opt for refund or credit in order to do this?

Can't guarantee it is still the same, but in my case it was processed as a 'refund' to give me back partial (re-ticketed) points. In fact, they told me on the phone that credit wasn't even an option for this specific type of partly-flown fare. The agent even stopped herself short of offering it. However, that was a few weeks ago, so policy could have changed - it's a very fluid scenario - and I've certainly had no email after the fact about it all.

As alluded to though, points part of it might all depend how far into the trip you were. Don't think your original post mentioned? There might not even be a point 'refund' if you've already flown 3 flights, in which case, travel insurance would be your go. Claim back (better) pro-rata rates there at retail cash value.

Try add credit to Viber or Skype or something to call them. Or perhaps even using a VoIP landline number.

 

[GaryLG]

Thanks for your reply.

You'd be surprised how far you can get on 35,000 miles ( not km) . I have used my middle point as Singapore. The middle point of course counts as a stopover.

So firstly, did this mean you bought or used points for a return flight to Singapore, or just one way?
And it (or Melbourne) counts as a stopover? Any time limit other than the ticket validity?

AKL is too far south for most itineraries except to the Americas.

Fair enough though I was thinking one half of the split could be the Americas if I could work out the mileage.
Any other suggested start points?

Also does anyone know what's happened to the interactive world map for OneWorld flights? The site seems to be down.

 

[ozflier]

Thanks for your reply.


So firstly, did this mean you bought or used points for a return flight to Singapore, or just one way?
And it (or Melbourne) counts as a stopover? Any time limit other than the ticket validity?

My OWA flight started BNE to Asia to Singapore
SIN back to BNE paid cheap economy fare
BNE to SIN paid cheap economy fare
Continue OWA SIN to Europe and finish off at SIN.


Fair enough though I was thinking one half of the split could be the Americas if I could work out the mileage.
Any other suggested start points?

SIN,BKK and MNL would be the best options for me.

Also does anyone know what's happened to the interactive world map for OneWorld flights? The site seems to be down.

Big loss - gone for at least 4 weeks .

 

[jeza]

Also does anyone know what's happened to the interactive world map for OneWorld flights? The site seems to be down.

Perhaps as there has been so many routes affected there is no point in having the interactive map until the current situation moderates somewhat. Who knows which airlines will be left or where they will be flying in 12 months

 

[pottsy]

Can't guarantee it is still the same, but in my case it was processed as a 'refund' to give me back partial (re-ticketed) points. In fact, they told me on the phone that credit wasn't even an option for this specific type of partly-flown fare. The agent even stopped herself short of offering it. However, that was a few weeks ago, so policy could have changed - it's a very fluid scenario - and I've certainly had no email after the fact about it all.

As alluded to though, points part of it might all depend how far into the trip you were. Don't think your original post mentioned? There might not even be a point 'refund' if you've already flown 3 flights, in which case, travel insurance would be your go. Claim back (better) pro-rata rates there at retail cash value.

Try add credit to Viber or Skype or something to call them. Or perhaps even using a VoIP landline number.

Thanks very much greatly appreciated. Perhaps I'll just choose refund and see what happens? Have read telephone waiting times are up to 5hrs? Unfortunately my travel insurance is with credit card which means Allianz. From what I can see on their website they are using 'pandemic' to NOT cover any claims no matter how 'remotely' connected!

 

[GaryLG]

My OWA flight started BNE to Asia to Singapore
SIN back to BNE paid cheap economy fare
BNE to SIN paid cheap economy fare
Continue OWA SIN to Europe and finish off at SIN.

Okay that makes sense. And so did you then fly back from SIN to BNE economy? Which made it 3 extra flights?

SIN,BKK and MNL would be the best options for me.

Possibly for me too though being Melbourne based that makes them a little longer which is why I wondered about alternatives?

Big loss - gone for at least 4 weeks .

That's a shame. Anyone found an alternative resource?

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2020

Perhaps as there has been so many routes affected there is no point in having the interactive map until the current situation moderates somewhat. Who knows which airlines will be left or where they will be flying in 12 months

You may be right but it still would have been really useful for planning and checking what is there now.

 

[knightfall88]

Hi guys I would appreciate some advise on what is the best way to cancel my itinerary which gives me the most options later down the track.

My itinerary on my oneworld classic is:
SYD - LHR (F) - this trip is in May
LHR - HND (F) - this trip is in May
HND - CDG (F) - this trip is in December
CDG - SYD (F) - this trip is in December

At first I was going cancel it all.

Now I am wondering if it is better to just cancel the May flights and leave the December flights and perhaps might be able to add more flights after December (basically making December my 1st half of the oneworld rather than the second half). Thoughts?

 

[ozflier]

My 2 BOBS worth
I have cancelled my MAY flights on one OWA booking .
I have a split OWA september / march which i am hoping will still go ahead.
I cannot believe your May flights will go ahead.

 

[ozflier]

Okay that makes sense. And so did you then fly back from SIN to BNE economy? Which made it 3 extra flights?

Worse comes to worse, I'd buy cheap economy flights SIN-BNE-SIN - currently $312 each way.
I do have some United Mileage Plus miles and fly Singapore .
Its a bit hard going back to economy seats once you spent a month flying in the front of the plane!

 

[Danger]

That's a shame. Anyone found an alternative resource?

Try this: ✈ FlightConnections - All flights worldwide on a flight map!.

 

[knightfall88]

Hi guys, are you allowed to transit through your home city?

 

[DC3]

.. are you allowed to transit through your home city?

You cannot transit back through the origin. Is that what your question is about?

Edit: If/when you return to the origin, then the trip is over

 

[knightfall88]

You cannot transit back through the origin. Is that what your question is about?

yep that's right. Thanks