Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Danger]

Fact check please!
I made some changes yesterday and the booking had been sent off for ticketing.

After hanging up I noticed a better flight was available that I hadn't previously spotted. I rang back but was informed that I couldn't make the change until the original booking was ticketed.

Is that actually correct? I am sure I have done it before but perhaps I am mistaken. It was a while ago.

Thanks!

Two CPT agents have told me that in the past month. On both occasions, I've pushed back and the changes have been made then and there.

Pardon me for asking because I am sure the answers are here in the 657 pages of this thread, but well, it is a lot to read and much will be out of date.
I am struggling to fully understand RTW on points. The only time I booked a RTW (on points) with QF was 16 years ago and I think it was one price for 3 continents and another for more continents, or something like that.
Why does the Qantas website site you can't book RTW when it appears that you can using multi-city? Playing around I find I can hit the 318k points (J) and it won't go over (unless I pick the wrong partner airlines or go over the maximum miles).
Are you limited to 6 segments? Looking on Expert Flyer at the most expensive cash RTW with QF you can have up to 16 segments.
Is it that you can have more, but you have to go through the lovely call centre?
Finally, what do people recommend is the best approach? Say I have a rough itinerary (but it is over a few months or more), should I book all legs as soon as they become available for awards and then modify them as seats are released for the actual dates I want, or just book flight by flight and build the trip up that way? Is there a points advantage to either? I am thinking both would incur a 5k hit each change so it wouldn't make a difference. I think 318k would probably end up being 338k, but I doubt I will have much choice (as a bronze) if I don't want to miss out.
Thanks!

First, this thread relates to the Qantas oneworld classic award. There's no requirement to travel around the world. If you're looking for a paid fare, that offers more flexibility, you need to turn your attention to the oneworld Explorer or Global Explorer fares (which are also limited to 16 segments, a downside, I believe, of moving away from paper tickets to e-tickets some years ago). They are the ones published in ExpertFlyer.

Second, for the product discussed in this thread, you're limited to 16 segments, including surface sectors and a maximum of 5 stops.

Third, yes, book as soon as seats become available. Do not wait. Note that you'll be slugged several thousand QFF points per person, per change, so factor that into your calculations.

Fourth, if you're booking is going to end up being 338K, it's not a oneworld classic flight reward, which means you'll have more flexibility (like, for example, not being limited to 5 stops and 16 segments).

 

[Rich]

Thanks for the quick response Danger. A couple of things:

First, this thread relates to the Qantas oneworld classic award. There's no requirement to travel around the world.

Point taken. I guess I have read a few other articles (e.g. Pointhacks) which essentially describes these fares as "round the world, although you don't have to travel round the world".

Second, for the product discussed in this thread, you're limited to 16 segments, including surface sectors and a maximum of 5 stops.

So my real question is, is there a award option that is the equivalent of the RTW tickets (the answer to that I think is a big no and that would explain why the QF site says you can't book RTW there).

If you're booking is going to end up being 338K, it's not a oneworld classic flight reward

Actually I was illustrating what would happen with my 318k award J booking when I do say 4 x 5000 point changes (added segments).

 

[PaulyB]

Time for another Fact Check.

Is an e-ticket the same (or better) than receiving the PDF version from Qantas of the full itinerary?

I'm on a call today regarding changes to a OWA booking made 2 days ago with multi airlines and a little worried that the operator tells me it has been ticketed, was able to send me e-tickets but that (he says) the ticketing department need to send the PDF version.

That seems odd to me that he would not have access to a PDF version if it had been ticketed and my mind is racing that maybe it isn't ticketed yet. I am sure I have had an operator send me a PDF on another occasion.

He is "checking" while I write...

Oops. no - the call just dropped out... sigh. For the thousanth time in the last 2 months. (slight exaggeration but it feels like that)

Thanks!

 

[cjd600]

Fact check please!
I made some changes yesterday and the booking had been sent off for ticketing.

After hanging up I noticed a better flight was available that I hadn't previously spotted. I rang back but was informed that I couldn't make the change until the original booking was ticketed.

Is that actually correct? I am sure I have done it before but perhaps I am mistaken. It was a while ago.

Thanks!

definitely used to be able to make such changes, when the previous change had yet to be ticketed. Was a bit of a bonus as you only got hit with one change fee. Back in the days before flights disappearing became an issue.
More recently I have been told as you, that a change cannot be made until a prior change had been ticketed, and had to wait on the call whilst this was done, and the subsequent change then made (during covid times where no points change fees were being applied on awards)

 

[Rich]

but that (he says) the ticketing department need to send the PDF version.

I don't know exactly, but have you tried 'resend my itinerary' on the QF website? It will send a PDF.
We changed a March 2023 trip MEL to SFO via NAN to via SYD and the PDF never updated. When they cancelled all the SFO flights they agreed to move us to MEL DFW direct and immediately the PDF changed

 

[PaulyB]

I don't know exactly, but have you tried 'resend my itinerary' on the QF website? It will send a PDF.

Oh - that's a bit scary. It has sent the old itinerary, despite the fact that I was sent updated e-tickets this morning.... Back to the phone........ I had to select 'resend tax invoice'...

 

[Rich]

Oh - that's a bit scary. It has sent the old itinerary, despite the fact that I was sent updated e-tickets this morning.... Back to the phone........ I had to select 'resend tax invoice'...

Like I said, I am not really sure, so I may be worrying you for nothing.
But QF tell me I have an AA booking ticketed (QF award) (2 legs) but the first leg is "On Request" rather than "Confirmed", so I am not convinced.

 

[Warragul]

Time for another Fact Check.

Is an e-ticket the same (or better) than receiving the PDF version from Qantas of the full itinerary?

An e-ticket is the number found the in pdf itinerary, which shouldhave 'eticket' in the file name in the form 081-23nnnnnnnn-nn.

081 is the issuing carrier (081 is QF), the two numbers after the hyphen are not always shown in apps like Check My Trip. If you have the number thats the important thing. However, on multi carrier/multi leg itineraries you can receive an eticket for some flights but not all and QF will send out the eticket email.

 

[PaulyB]

Like I said, I am not really sure, so I may be worrying you for nothing.
But QF tell me I have an AA booking ticketed (QF award) (2 legs) but the first leg is "On Request" rather than "Confirmed", so I am not convinced.

The good thing is that the basic text email that I have received has an updated ticket number so it is probably OK. I have someone checking as to why the PDF is so wrong....
But your AA booking? That's a whole other question. I'd chase THAT down....

and

An e-ticket is the number found the in pdf itinerary, which shouldhave 'eticket' in the file name in the form 081-23nnnnnnnn-nn.

Thanks. Yes - I have realized the new ticket number is also on the text-based e-ticket so I think all is good.

 

[Rich]

But your AA booking? That's a whole other question. I'd chase THAT down....

Don't worry, I have been trying, just not getting anywhere. It will be a topic for another thread.

 

[Kangol]

A PDF is just a method of sending the information to you, as opposed to text in an email.
You can have a booking reference (placeholder, PNR, unconfirmed) in both PDF and text formats, as well as an e-ticket (with ticket number, 081- or otherwise) in both formats.
The e-ticket contains the confirmed booking, but the booking does not necessarily contain the ticket number - if it has not been issued.

 

[Rich]

But your AA booking? That's a whole other question. I'd chase THAT down....

I tried that new thread Ongoing Requested status
but no one replied . I might have to bump it later, unless QF help in the meantime

 

[Wolf creek]

My recent experience with a very simple booking mirror's others on here. I wanted to book 2 x J BNE/LHR or SYD/LHR return for late next year. Started looking at availability about a month before flights are released to get an idea of what might be possible and it was VERY slim pickings. I was looking at any routing (eg SIN, HKG, Tokyo etc) so long as I could to LHR and home again. There was and still is almost no J availability on Qantas itself. Plenty of CX. JAL and some BA but simply no Qantas business class award seats. QF1/2 never appeared once in the multi-city tool.

Ended up booking BA15 on line as soon as they were released, and getting the return BA16 legs a month later by calling and booking over the phone at 10.02am on the day they were released. BA not my first preference due to outdated J cabin but third world problem; any layflat is better than the alternative. Was a bit surprised to say the least that after 'securing' the return seats the customer rep said she didn't need to take payment for the new flights (I asked) and that was it and hung up. The booking appeared in my FF app and online but of course, no E-ticket appeared so I rang again a couple of days later to be assured that it was all OK, the seats were booked, it would be ticketed in 3-4 business days, and I could pay the extra charges then (?) and was again hung up on. Quite how this was going to happen wasn't explained so, to my complete lack of surprise, the promised E-tickets again failed to turn up.
I rang again two days later and found a gem of a customer rep. She spent considerable time (45mins +) sorting it out, calculating correct points and charges (and taking payment this time) and double checking the booking allocation. This time I had my E-tickets within 5 hours.

In the end I have my 2 x J SYD/LHR return with BA, just over $3,000 in fees and charges (ouch) and on the days I wanted so it worked out pretty well. But ONLY because I spent a fair amount of time looking at what flights and routes might be available when seats opened up, and then followed up after the warnings on here. about ticket fails. 3 years ago I had no trouble booking 2 x J RTW, 5 airlines, 6 stopovers. This year I was relieved to get a booking using just one airline and one stopover. It's a lot harder than it use to be and less reliable, with a LOT less availability but still do-able. Double-check everything and ring every day until your tickets actually arrive.

Nice read….I was successful booking business BA flight for 2 passengers SYd -London on 8th Nov 23,taxes coming in at $1121.So the return taxes and surcharges coming back to SYD will be $1900 ?
Will try to come home from Helsinki(this is a Northern lights trip) via Japan or Singapore.
Any tips from anyone would be good,
Is BA business class that bad,any other alternatives to come home.

 

[Kerrodt]

Nice read….I was successful booking business BA flight for 2 passengers SYd -London on 8th Nov 23,taxes coming in at $1121.So the return taxes and surcharges coming back to SYD will be $1900 ?
Will try to come home from Helsinki(this is a Northern lights trip) via Japan or Singapore.
Any tips from anyone would be good,
Is BA business class that bad,any other alternatives to come home.

Are you coming home from/travelling to/from Helsinki? If so, look at Finnair. I think they are great and have excellent connections out of Helsinki that can easily get you back to Australia. Finnair is a OneWorld airline.

 

[PaulyB]

Are you coming home from/travelling to/from Helsinki? If so, look at Finnair. I think they are great and have excellent connections out of Helsinki that can easily get you back to Australia. Finnair is a OneWorld airline.

Doesn't the flight have to be showing up in the QANTAS multi booking interface to do it? The only flights I had out of Helsinki were Japan Airlines to Tokyo, although in J. That was towards the end of Oct next year.

 

[Wolf creek]

Are you coming home from/travelling to/from Helsinki? If so, look at Finnair. I think they are great and have excellent connections out of Helsinki that can easily get you back to Australia. Finnair is a OneWorld airline.

Done some experimental random flights with finnair they take me to London BA me home or Helsinki to Japan home,yet to see full business all the way.

 

[Wolf creek]

Just returned from a 13 sector Business Class OWA that used six airlines: UL, BA, QR, RJ, AY and QF.

To my greatest surprise, the stand-out best flight was QF70 DEL-MEL. The seat was the most spacious for bed mode, allowing me to sleep in the recovery position rather than forcing me into an approximation of a straight line. This was also the only flight to use a mattress topper or to give me PJs. The design of the seat cubicle was well thought out with convenient shelves and racks to put bits and bobs in. The catering ex DEL was stellar with some genuinely spicy, tasty Indian options. The cabin crew were fantastic, attentive and chatty when pax were up for it. The crew were responsive to pax preferences rather than just running to a set timetable/formula. They fixed beds, helped pax with luggage and applied rules sensibly. Some pax were disappointed, though, that there was no champagne.

Runner up was BA - where I did pay extra to select one of the few sardine can seats that had both a window and aisle access on my DEL-LHR flight. This seat was so comfortable - which most of the J seats on other airlines were not. The catering, too, ex DEL was fantastic. I also flew BA on the Embraer 190 LCY-MXP and although the seats were the same as economy, they had plenty of legroom and were actually comfortable to sit on.

The only other memorable feature was RJ's use of a trolley service for meals, serving straight out of large containers onto plates - and a gorgeous embroidered uniform for some female flight attendants.

The other airlines - UL, QR and AY - were forgettable at best and pretty uncomfortable at worst. UL redeemed itself a bit with some OK food out of CMB, but their offering ex-Australia was dismal.

In terms of airports, HEL was the clear winner - beautiful, spacious and a super-efficient security process that minimised queuing.

My journey did teach me that it takes more than a 'door' to make a good business class seat.

Hope some of these thoughts help others in planning their journeys. It is worth the effort.

Nice report…..can you tell me more about the business seat you purchased on your BA leg,how much?What seat number was it?I am travelling as a couple if that helps from Syd-LHR.

 

[Mr H]

Nice report…..can you tell me more about the business seat you purchased on your BA leg,how much?What seat number was it?I am travelling as a couple if that helps from Syd-LHR.

I can't remember how much I paid, but it was expensive. I chose 7K which was one of the very few window seats with direct aisle access - so no hopping over legs for me.

 

[Kerrodt]

Done some experimental random flights with finnair they take me to London BA me home or Helsinki to Japan home,yet to see full business all the way.

Finnair don’t fly their own metal into Australia but they codeshare with QF.
You should be able to fly Finnair HEL-SIN/BKK then connect into Australia with QF. I think the HEL-HKG route is currently suspended due to airspace restrictions from the Ukraine war.

Or have I misread your original question and you have a need to land in London? If so, Finnair don’t fly London-Australia or London-Asia.

 

[Wolf creek]

Finnair don’t fly their own metal into Australia but they codeshare with QF.
You should be able to fly Finnair HEL-SIN/BKK then connect into Australia with QF. I think the HEL-HKG route is currently suspended due to airspace restrictions from the Ukraine war.

Or have I misread your original question and you have a need to land in London? If so, Finnair don’t fly London-Australia or London-Asia.

I thought they flew HEL -SIN?