My OWA commences in June 2020. I've called QF twice now and on both occasions I was told I couldn't extend my booking past 12 months from the original first departure date and was advised to cancel my booking instead.
As both myself and @kleoline have had success in verifying that our new OWA departure dates for next year mean we have 12 months from the new departure date to complete our itinerary at the original 280k mile cost, I would persist until you get an agent who knows what they're doing. Rebook your itinerary at a new departure date next year with dummy dates for those flights not available, then ask for confirmation that when you change those dates that you do have 12 months from the new departure date to do that. If you're still worried, do what I did and ring back to verify again with a new agent. I was actually advised by two of the agents I spoke with that the grace period of not charging for changes will be extended after the end of May as the situation will still be somewhat unknown for quite a while yet.
Well I didn't have any success in being able to get the ticket extended beyond the 12 months from the original flight as stated in the rules. The agent was very nice and spent a long time on the phone with me. I could have booked dummy dates for 2021 but as I don't want to travel before 12 months from my original flight I had no choice but to cancel. The good news is my points were refunded the same day but the taxes will take some time.
Going by what has been reported recently with a 12 month validity from the new first flight date, and assuming that this is all kosher, I would say that you are talking with the wrong agents.
Yes. I’m keen to see someone report ticketing of new dates that are 12 months beyond the original flight dates.
Would you be able to provide any details about the first flight for your cancelled OWA, please? Was it on QF? Was it international or domestic?
It appears those of us who have managed to have our Qantas Classic OWA's deferred at the old 280K cost have been lucky. In my case, the agent wanted to cancel my whole booking but when I insisted that I didn't want to cancel and that it was Qantas who could not supply my previously booked flights for an indefinite period, she spoke at length with a supervisor and that was when I was able to get my dates deferred to next year and have the tickets for the whole itinerary reissued on the same PNR. On ringing back to check that I did indeed have a full 12 months from the deferred start date, to finish my itinerary, there was no hesitation on the part of the different agent who checked my flights. I would keep calling until you get someone who can give you a deferred start date at no extra cost AND a full twelve months from that date to finish your itinerary. Good luck!
Where can I find this info? Sorry,can't seem to find it anywhere. I assumed it was a year from first flight.
I booked a 2021 flight for the start date and then dummy dates for each of the flights thereafter about two or three days apart given the flights I want for the end of next year are clearly not available. I discussed with the agent my plan to ring back when the flights I do want become available (somewhere around December this year) and change the dates then. She clearly understood what I was after and actually came up with a couple of flights to fill in a leg of the itinerary I didn't think I would be able to book again.
Ditto to the advice of @pye1201. I've concluded my second call to Qantas for the day. First agent (who wouldn't tell me if she was call centre or check-in staff taking overflow calls) had to revert to a supervisor regarding my query about the validity. Then returns after lengthy exchange trying to push me very hard to cancel. Had a list of reasons (um, N-O!). Was even trying to tell me the validity wouldn't extend to these new changes resulting in new flights in March 21 in addition to existing flights in Dec 20. Transfers me through to supervisor to hash it out and one hour later the call disconnects. Turns out to be a blessing in disguise .....
) who made the necessary changes the first agent hadn't apparently done. Then I posed the million dollar question .... and he didn't hesitate and said the validity is 12 months from the new departure date (which in my case is now Dec 20). I requested he make a note of that 'rule' 
in my booking for what it's worth. This will likely mean nothing when it comes to ticketing a booking that's past 12 months from original departure date..... but we can only hope!!
