Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[flapper]

I am booking my first RTW and so am at a basic level so I need help. Have booked Syd-HKG-MAD-OPO. I will eventually add MAD-SFO-SYD-CNS when bookings open up. Do I need to do anything to activate the RTW ticket or does it happen automatically ? Also you will see I am backtracking through Madrid. . Is this allowed.?

The most important thing is not to call it RTW, some people on here will have a fit, lol. Its OWA no need to RTW. You can stop over once in a city and transfer twice. The points should max out if you meet all the rules. You can do a dummy booking to try it out. I have had the Cape Town CC tell me the points only max when you fly back to Oz. I can't find that rule and it has never been applied to me HOB & AKL will calculate points as a OWA if you meet all the rules even before you book the flight back to Oz.

 

[JohnM]

Fit averted.

 

[Sydney BE]

So excited. Finally locked in our latest attempt. I've never flown business before and this is our delayed honeymoon from 2020. Wedding was delayed til this year so now it'll be our delayed honeymoon and 1 year anniversary trip. Can't believe we first started planning this trip in 2018. Now fingers are crossed everything works out with covid and borders reopening

We are booked in for mid next year
Syd-hkg-tpe
Tpe-hkg-cmb
Cmb-doh-hel-kef
Ams-lhr-jfk
Jfk-hnd
Hnd-syd

We were trying to add hnd to gmp return and have Seoul as our last stop instead of Tokyo but they were having difficulty because it counted amsterdam as an additional stop because we are doing a land segment. It didn't really make sense as its still under the miles and segment limit. I wasn't really in the mood to argue about it so just asked to leave it off and we will stop in Tokyo.

 

[vetrade]

paul66
Agree that the points will max out with or without a return flight/s to Aus. The reason for that is likely because the flight back to Aus will be at the end of your trip and therefore likely to be booked last, if that wasn't the case, the points needed to cover all the other flights could go well above what you have available in your account before the points cap kicked in.
Final validating of the OW award ticket does require a return flight to the country of origin (Aus), though.

 

[vetrade]

We were trying to add hnd to gmp return and have Seoul as our last stop instead of Tokyo but they were having difficulty because it counted amsterdam as an additional stop because we are doing a land segment. It didn't really make sense as its still under the miles and segment limit. I wasn't really in the mood to argue about it so just asked to leave it off and we will stop in Tokyo.

Looks like a great trip. From what you wrote it looks like your 5 stops are TPE, CMB, KEF, JFK and HND.
The distance from KEF - AMS would be included in the mileage total and it would be counted as one of your sectors with a transit, but it wouldn't be counted as a stopover.

The return trip HND - GMP - HND would have been the 6th stopover which would have fallen foul of the OW rules but there's an easy fix for that if you bought a separate return cash fare for GMP. That way only your stop in HND would count

 

[vetrade]

That is correct... as well as mileage and segment limits you are also limited in the number of stopovers allowed, which is five. Amsterdam is a stopover on this itinerary even though you have made your own way from KEF to AMS.

I know you're well versed on the "ins and outs" of these awards, MEL-Traveller, but I beg to differ. I've seen this point debated in this thread previously. I know some agents will run the line that it's a stopover but others don't. Having completed several OW J award trips and used land legs or cash flight fares extensively as part of them, my personal experience is that the stopover city is the last one arrived at on a OW flight and the city you depart from after the following land leg counts as one sector (transit) but not as a separate stopover.

I have exactly that scenario in a booking I have just completed for next year with 5 stops in JNB, LHR, KEF, (BGO+TOS+OSL+ARN+CPH) and (NCE+PMI). If a stopover was counted for each city where the OWA was re-commenced after a land leg then my itinerary would also count stops in CPH and PMI - taking my total to 7, which is clearly not the case.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I know you're well versed on the "ins and outs" of these awards, MEL-Traveller, but I beg to differ. I've seen this point debated in this thread previously. I know some agents will run the line that it's a stopover but others don't. Having completed several OW J award trips and used land legs or cash flight fares extensively as part of them, my personal experience is that the stopover city is the last one arrived at on a OW flight and the city you depart from after the following land leg counts as one sector (transit) but not as a separate stopover.

I have exactly that scenario in a booking I have just completed for next year with 5 stops in JNB, LHR, KEF, (BGO+TOS+OSL+ARN+CPH) and (NCE+PMI). If a stopover was counted for each city where the OWA was re-commenced after a land leg then my itinerary would also count stops in CPH and PMI - taking my total to 7, which is clearly not the case.

Agree. having realised the error I deleted the post almost immediately

 

[DC3]

I agree with what vetrade had to say, above. AMS is not a stop-over, it’s KEF.

Perhaps you will get a better agent next time.

 

[Captain Halliday]

I’d appreciate some advice please on how I approach next steps with QF in this scenario.

I have a ticketed OWA which includes JL HND-SYD.

JL have deleted this route for the month and I’ve been advised of the cancellation as expected.

QF26 is operating HND-SYD the following day and at last check was showing J9 D6 I0 and U0.

Given its QF ticket stock, and a cancelled flight, I expected moving to QF26 the following day would be straightforward.

However, I’ve had two agents tell me it can’t be one (one HBA, one AKL). In both instances the agents requested seat release because I’m WP, and had it declined by the droid. An outcome I expected given the loads.

However, I would have thought this would be handled more like an involuntary reroute and they could force a seat (or in this case 3) to be released.

Experience/advice appreciated.

 

[vetrade]

Can't help with your conundrum, Capt, but interested to know what month that applies to.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Can't help with your conundrum, Capt, but interested to know what month that applies to.

Jan. Low probability JPN will be an option, but I don’t want to drop that part of the trip just yet.

 

[Danger]

So excited. Finally locked in our latest attempt. I've never flown business before and this is our delayed honeymoon from 2020. Wedding was delayed til this year so now it'll be our delayed honeymoon and 1 year anniversary trip. Can't believe we first started planning this trip in 2018. Now fingers are crossed everything works out with covid and borders reopening

We are booked in for mid next year
Syd-hkg-tpe
Tpe-hkg-cmb
Cmb-doh-hel-kef
Ams-lhr-jfk
Jfk-hnd
Hnd-syd

We were trying to add hnd to gmp return and have Seoul as our last stop instead of Tokyo but they were having difficulty because it counted amsterdam as an additional stop because we are doing a land segment. It didn't really make sense as its still under the miles and segment limit. I wasn't really in the mood to argue about it so just asked to leave it off and we will stop in Tokyo.

American flies AMS-PHL. It's then a quick flight to JFK. Going that route may save you some taxes, although AA is very stingy at releasing premium seats on their international services.

I know you're well versed on the "ins and outs" of these awards, MEL-Traveller, but I beg to differ. I've seen this point debated in this thread previously. I know some agents will run the line that it's a stopover but others don't. Having completed several OW J award trips and used land legs or cash flight fares extensively as part of them, my personal experience is that the stopover city is the last one arrived at on a OW flight and the city you depart from after the following land leg counts as one sector (transit) but not as a separate stopover.

I have exactly that scenario in a booking I have just completed for next year with 5 stops in JNB, LHR, KEF, (BGO+TOS+OSL+ARN+CPH) and (NCE+PMI). If a stopover was counted for each city where the OWA was re-commenced after a land leg then my itinerary would also count stops in CPH and PMI - taking my total to 7, which is clearly not the case.

I agree. Amsterdam isn't a stop.

I’d appreciate some advice please on how I approach next steps with QF in this scenario.

I have a ticketed OWA which includes JL HND-SYD.

JL have deleted this route for the month and I’ve been advised of the cancellation as expected.

QF26 is operating HND-SYD the following day and at last check was showing J9 D6 I0 and U0.

Given its QF ticket stock, and a cancelled flight, I expected moving to QF26 the following day would be straightforward.

However, I’ve had two agents tell me it can’t be one (one HBA, one AKL). In both instances the agents requested seat release because I’m WP, and had it declined by the droid. An outcome I expected given the loads.

However, I would have thought this would be handled more like an involuntary reroute and they could force a seat (or in this case 3) to be released.

Experience/advice appreciated.

I'd be pushing back. It's not your fault the flight is cancelled. Others may disagree but my feeling is up to Qantas, as your travel agent, to sort it out. If that means re-routing you via LHR and DOH, so be it (provided you're flying premium, of course)

 

[Sydney BE]

Thanks I'll keep an eye out to see if availability opens up for a direct flight. I haven't seem a lot come up for AA

 

[knightfall88]

I’d appreciate some advice please on how I approach next steps with QF in this scenario.

I have a ticketed OWA which includes JL HND-SYD.

JL have deleted this route for the month and I’ve been advised of the cancellation as expected.

QF26 is operating HND-SYD the following day and at last check was showing J9 D6 I0 and U0.

Given its QF ticket stock, and a cancelled flight, I expected moving to QF26 the following day would be straightforward.

However, I’ve had two agents tell me it can’t be one (one HBA, one AKL). In both instances the agents requested seat release because I’m WP, and had it declined by the droid. An outcome I expected given the loads.

However, I would have thought this would be handled more like an involuntary reroute and they could force a seat (or in this case 3) to be released.

Experience/advice appreciated.

Which month was the HND-SYD cancelled? I don't have an explanation but it also happened to me for February.

 

[paul66]

Hi Does Fiji Airways count for OWA

 

[DC3]

Hi Does Fiji Airways count for OWA

It is not yet a oneworld member.

 

[Inuniform]

I added the below flights to a OW Award J itinerary this morning over the phone. I was charged $834.20 in taxes and surcharges. I questioned the Qantas CSR believing the taxes seemed high but they said they were right. Following the phone call, I checked the taxes for the last 3 flights individually on QF and it came to $410 aud (I could not check all the segments together as I didn't have enough points). Should one expect to pay the same taxes and surcharges for individual flights as a combination? Is it possible to dispute the charges?

IB FCO - MAD stop
IB MAD - ORY stop
JL CDG - HND stop - $834.20

 

[DC3]

… Should one expect to pay the same taxes and surcharges for individual flights as a combination? ….

The taxes will usually be coughulative, but there can be exceptions. For example, I found that the USD5.60 tax for an AA flight did not increase when I added anther leg (scheduled within 24 hours). Then again, AA domestic taxes are so low anyway.

Maybe just do some more dummy bookings, individually, to check.

You could always confirm your taxes with another agent at the Call Centre.

My experience with Cape Town on calculation of taxes has been rather sub-par.

 

[vetrade]

I added the below flights to a OW Award J itinerary this morning over the phone. I was charged $834.20 in taxes and surcharges. I questioned the Qantas CSR believing the taxes seemed high but they said they were right. Following the phone call, I checked the taxes for the last 3 flights individually on QF and it came to $410 aud (I could not check all the segments together as I didn't have enough points). Should one expect to pay the same taxes and surcharges for individual flights as a combination? Is it possible to dispute the charges?

IB FCO - MAD stop
IB MAD - ORY stop
JL CDG - HND stop - $834.20

I assume you were charged an extra $834 to add those flights? When you make changes to a booking the taxes for all flights, not just the added ones, are recalculated at today's exchange rates, but usually that doesn't make a lot of difference overall IME.

You have a stop after each flight so I would have expected the taxes would be calculated for each flight separately, then added together. So, I would think your figure of about $400 should have been pretty close. Connecting flights can be different - the best example of that being the UK's higher airport departure taxes you have to pay unless you are transiting. Also, the taxes can vary depending on what direction you take a flight in.

I got figures of 41 & 29 Euros for your 2 IB flights individually (total of 70E) but when I did them as a multi-city the total taxes were 95E i.e. about a third more. The CDG-HND flight came in at 190E. Not sure why there would be that difference for the IB flights but I'm not up with all the nuances of how QF does their calculations. It would be good if someone more knowledgeable could post some info.

 

[Inuniform]

I assume you were charged an extra $834 to add those flights? When you make changes to a booking the taxes for all flights, not just the added ones, are recalculated at today's exchange rates, but usually that doesn't make a lot of difference overall IME.

You have a stop after each flight so I would have expected the taxes would be calculated for each flight separately, then added together. So, I would think your figure of about $400 should have been pretty close. Connecting flights can be different - the best example of that being the UK's higher airport departure taxes you have to pay unless you are transiting. Also, the taxes can vary depending on what direction you take a flight in.

I got figures of 41 & 29 Euros for your 2 IB flights individually (total of 70E) but when I did them as a multi-city the total taxes were 95E i.e. about a third more. The CDG-HND flight came in at 190E. Not sure why there would be that difference for the IB flights but I'm not up with all the nuances of how QF does their calculations. It would be good if someone more knowledgeable could post some info.

Yes, it was $834 extra. Thanks for the reply.