Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[sydney]

From memory, there’s a quirk of the system that lumps NZ as being part of Australia. So, transiting/stop-over in Oz may be a problem, as that would be where “the trip ends” (i.e., returning to the ‘country of origin’). Sounds crazy, I know.

I suspected that so tried to change our itinierary to leave from Nadi to Singapore and do Asia first, but now it won't price for the 318k. Does the online system recognise FJ as One World yet?

So much pain. Been on multiple calls and 5hrs on one call. So many don't know the rules and keep telling me stuff that are wrong. Also told me I should not call as can book the One World award online.

 

[mt1552]

I suspected that so tried to change our itinierary to leave from Nadi to Singapore and do Asia first, but now it won't price for the 318k. Does the online system recognise FJ as One World yet?

So much pain. Been on multiple calls and 5hrs on one call. So many don't know the rules and keep telling me stuff that are wrong. Also told me I should not call as can book the One World award online.

Nope, system does not recognise FJ as a full oneworld member yet.

 

[nickfromeastryde]

From memory, there’s a quirk of the system that lumps NZ as being part of Australia. So, transiting/stop-over in Oz may be a problem, as that would be where “the trip ends” (i.e., returning to the ‘country of origin’). Sounds crazy, I know.

I think Auckland being regarded as part of Australia has been an issue in the past but there are posts on here that suggest competent call centre operators can get around that.

FJ are a full OneWorld member now so should be OK but who knows what updates have been made by Qantas and the wider OW network to ensure they can be included in these trips.

You do seem to have 6 stopovers with the last one SYD being a second stopover in the same city. You have not returned to Auckland so from a system perspective, you have not closed the booking.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I suspected that so tried to change our itinierary to leave from Nadi to Singapore and do Asia first, but now it won't price for the 318k. Does the online system recognise FJ as One World yet?

So much pain. Been on multiple calls and 5hrs on one call. So many don't know the rules and keep telling me stuff that are wrong. Also told me I should not call as can book the One World award online.

So the reason for the failed booking is very simple! Rightly or wrongly, the system considers NZ and AU as the same country for OWA purposes. You *may* be able to find an agent trained to fix that, but it might be a stretch.

So, given AU and NZ is the same, you can’t come back to your starting country and leave again. It’s as simple as that.

That’s why the agent told you to delete the last four flights… although it really only needed to be the last three, you could have still flown your SYD-MEL.

As for the Helsinki advice, the problem is that the agent probably didn’t know why your booking was failing. Probably not aware of the system limitation for AU/NZ. In those cases, agents are trying to be ‘helpful’ by coming up with reason why it isn’t working. So they focused on HEL, albeit incorrectly.

As mentioned, FJ is not fully integrated for OWA purposes at the moment, hence you can’t get it in the cap.

These booking are actually fairly simple… it’s just when trying to maximise the mileage you can end up in knots. And come up against some system anomalies.

Post automatically merged: May 17, 2025

You do seem to have 6 stopovers with the last one SYD being a second stopover in the same city. You have not returned to Auckland so from a system perspective, you have not closed the booking.

You don’t need to ‘close’ the booking with a return to AKL. You just need to include the mileage back to AKL.

 

[sydney]

I think Auckland being regarded as part of Australia has been an issue in the past but there are posts on here that suggest competent call centre operators can get around that.

FJ are a full OneWorld member now so should be OK but who knows what updates have been made by Qantas and the wider OW network to ensure they can be included in these trips.

You do seem to have 6 stopovers with the last one SYD being a second stopover in the same city. You have not returned to Auckland so from a system perspective, you have not closed the booking.

So the reason for the failed booking is very simple! Rightly or wrongly, the system considers NZ and AU as the same country for OWA purposes. You *may* be able to find an agent trained to fix that, but it might be a stretch.

So, given AU and NZ is the same, you can’t come back to your starting country and leave again. It’s as simple as that.

That’s why the agent told you to delete the last four flights… although it really only needed to be the last three, you could have still flown your SYD-MEL.

As for the Helsinki advice, the problem is that the agent probably didn’t know why your booking was failing. Probably not aware of the system limitation for AU/NZ. In those cases, agents are trying to be ‘helpful’ by coming up with reason why it isn’t working. So they focused on HEL, albeit incorrectly.

As mentioned, FJ is not fully integrated for OWA purposes at the moment, hence you can’t get it in the cap.

These booking are actually fairly simple… it’s just when trying to maximise the mileage you can end up in knots. And come up against some system anomalies.

Post automatically merged: May 17, 2025

You don’t need to ‘close’ the booking with a return to AKL. You just need to include the mileage back to AKL.

On phone again. We ticketed SIN-KUL instead and left out the last two flights and it tickected.
The agent is saying that if we return to SYD, then the 2nd SYD is a stopover. So then we have too many stopovers?? I know this is not true because our last e-ticket that was cancelled ended in SYD.

The agent was able to return our original AKL-KUL. So now, it is:
(DRATS! He can't get t ticketed. Says the ticketing team found an error in the booking.)
AKL-KUL - Transit
KUL-NRT - Stopover 1
NRT-HEL - Transit
HEL-LHR - Stopover 2
CDG-HEL - Transit
HEL-HKT - Stopover 3
BKK-KUL - Transit
KUL-SYD - Stopover 4
SYD-MEL - Transit
MEL-DPS - Stopover 5

Last 2 flights that were removed still not able to be re-added:
DPS-MEL
MEL-SYD

Any suggestions please?

Latest: So after removing the SIN-KUL and inserting AKL-KUL, it won't re-ticket.
Had an E-ticket this morning for the SIN-KUL, but that's now gone.

 

[sydney]

On phone again. We ticketed SIN-KUL instead and left out the last two flights and it tickected.
The agent is saying that if we return to SYD, then the 2nd SYD is a stopover. So then we have too many stopovers?? I know this is not true because our last e-ticket that was cancelled ended in SYD.

The agent was able to return our original AKL-KUL. So now, it is:
(DRATS! He can't get t ticketed. Says the ticketing team found an error in the booking.)
---
Latest: So after removing the SIN-KUL and inserting AKL-KUL, it won't re-ticket.
Had an E-ticket this morning for the SIN-KUL, but that's now gone.

**Called again and found out that the orginal ticket was ticketet as a Classic Reward NOT a One World reward ... So the only way is to cancel this ticket and start again as a One World reward because they cannot convert this to a One World reward.
Does this sound right?

 

[elanshin]

**Called again and found out that the orginal ticket was ticketet as a Classic Reward NOT a One World reward ... So the only way is to cancel this ticket and start again as a One World reward because they cannot convert this to a One World reward.
Does this sound right?

No, it doesn't matter. OWA is just a special subset of CR. If it matches the criteria it auto caps.

As for your AKL from, its the start in NZ/AUS. Thats why SIN - KUL would be able to go through but not AKL-KUL.

 

[sydney]

No, it doesn't matter. OWA is just a special subset of CR. If it matches the criteria it auto caps.

As for your AKL from, its the start in NZ/AUS. Thats why SIN - KUL would be able to go through but not AKL-KUL.

So despite what the agent in the Complex bookings says, we should NOT cancel the whole booking? Maybe in the backend, the orginal booking agent failed to choose the correct subset as One World? (Or is there no such reward identification in their system and I've been given incorrect information?)

My last ticketed booking (that was cancelled by an agent earlier this week to try to get around the Thai Baht currecy exchange issue) DID allow us to start in AKL, then stopover in SYD, and then return to end in SYD, so whoever booked the cancelled one knew how to get around that AKL glitch.

She also said that the last two flights are failing because I'm not allowed to repeat an identical route, i.e. SYD-MEL-DPS then DPS-MEL-SYD.

She said she will call me back after listening to the last call.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So despite what the agent in the Complex bookings says, we should NOT cancel the whole booking? Maybe in the backend, the orginal booking agent failed to choose the correct subset as One World? (Or is there no such reward identification in their system and I've been given incorrect information?)

My last ticketed booking (that was cancelled by an agent earlier this week) DID allow us to start in AKL, then stopover in SYD, and then return to end in SYD, so whoever booked the cancelled one knew how to get around that AKL glitch.

She also said that the last two flights are failing because I'm not allowed to repeat an identical route, i.e. SYD-MEL-DPS then DPS-MEL-SYD.

She said she will call me back after listening to the last call.

There is no special subset or award type.

It just caps if you follow the rules. You’re on a normal classic award until you reach the cap and are within the rules. If you’re not within the rules, you continue on a classic award, no cap.

As I said earlier… many agents don’t know why a booking fails, so they look for anything which might be a reason, even if it’s not.

That being said, not sure why you’d want MEL instead if SYD? Syd has full lie flats on the a330 to DPS, whereas MEL is operated by a 737.

 

[sydney]

There is no special subset or award type.

That being said, not sure why you’d want MEL instead if SYD? Syd has full lie flats on the a330 to DPS, whereas MEL is operated by a 737.

No award availability unfortunately, only via MEL.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just out of interest @sydney… when you initially called to make changes, why was the pricing in Thai baht? were you originally departing from thailand?

 

[sydney]

Just out of interest @sydney… when you initially called to make changes, why was the pricing in Thai baht? were you originally departing from thailand?

I have no idea. I asked them that same question.
This was our eticket that was cancelled during the week.

Auckland to Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok

Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur to Adelaide

Adelaide to Sydney

Denpasar to Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur to Paris

Rome to Helsinki

Helsinki to Tokyo

Tokyo to Sydney

This is the e-ticket cancelled this morning when trying to add AKL back in.

SIN-KUL

KUL-NRT

NRT-HEL

HEL-LHR

CDG-HEL

HEL-HKT

BKK-KUL

KUL-SYD

SYD-MEL

MEL-DPS

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I have no idea. I asked them that same question.

Some thing was very wrong at that stage of the booking if that’s the case! The price should have been the same currency to purchase the ticket originally. So unless you were starting in Thailand, it shouldn’t be in baht.

Were you adding sectors to or from HKT/BKK? Even if that was the case, they should still have converted to the original currency.

 

[sydney]

Some thing was very wrong at that stage of the booking if that’s the case! The price should have been the same currency to purchase the ticket originally. So unless you were starting in Thailand, it shouldn’t be in baht.

Were you adding sectors to or from HKT/BKK? Even if that was the case, they should still have converted to the original currency.

No, the one today was priced in AUD I think. My Amex was charged last night in AUD.
The first cancelled booking was in THB. Not sure why. I did make a few changes but not in THB, they just kept pricing it in THB for each change, and informed me as such. I never knew why.

Strangely, when I tried to make another One World booking in between the two cancelled e-tickets, it was also from AKL, and the agent said she would price it in baht. At that point, I said I would prefer pricing in AUD or NZD as we had an issue with THB before ...which is why my other booking was cancelled. So she said that's fine.

 

[DC3]

**Called again and found out that the orginal ticket was ticketet as a Classic Reward NOT a One World reward ... So the only way is to cancel this ticket and start again as a One World reward because they cannot convert this to a One World reward.
Does this sound right?

No. They are wrong. You are booking classic award flights, which will be in form a OWA itinerary (i.e., as described in the attachment to Post # 1). Talking to the wrong person unfortunately.

Edit: I don’t understand why any of your bookings will be priced in baht.

 

[nickfromeastryde]

So the reason for the failed booking is very simple! Rightly or wrongly, the system considers NZ and AU as the same country for OWA purposes. You *may* be able to find an agent trained to fix that, but it might be a stretch.

So, given AU and NZ is the same, you can’t come back to your starting country and leave again. It’s as simple as that.

That’s why the agent told you to delete the last four flights… although it really only needed to be the last three, you could have still flown your SYD-MEL.

As for the Helsinki advice, the problem is that the agent probably didn’t know why your booking was failing. Probably not aware of the system limitation for AU/NZ. In those cases, agents are trying to be ‘helpful’ by coming up with reason why it isn’t working. So they focused on HEL, albeit incorrectly.

As mentioned, FJ is not fully integrated for OWA purposes at the moment, hence you can’t get it in the cap.

These booking are actually fairly simple… it’s just when trying to maximise the mileage you can end up in knots. And come up against some system anomalies.

Post automatically merged: May 17, 2025

You don’t need to ‘close’ the booking with a return to AKL. You just need to include the mileage back to AKL.

I fully understand that you don't need to return to AKL, however the booking doesn't know that so you can't stopover in Syd for a second time.

 

[sydney]

I fully understand that you don't need to return to AKL, however the booking doesn't know that so you can't stopover in Syd for a second time.

Understood. However, I had an e-ticket that started in AKL ( for Asia jaunt), then a stopover in SYD, then Europe jaunt and returned and ended in SYD. That was my original eticket that was cancelled last Tue, because I was moving the second trip to next year instead of this year and encountered a Thai baht currency conversion issue.

*So it was possible to start in AKL, stopover in Sydney, leave and return to end in Sydney.

**We are happy to remove AKL if necessary. Even skip Bali and go somewhere else. So will see what other options there are.

***Just waiting for them to call me back as they are working on the ticket.

 

[Magicturtle8]

I've been told on the phone that any transit must follow the same airlines. Is this true? I couldn't find any information about this online and i thought that as long as the airlines belong to the oneworld alliance, it is eligible. E.g. KUL-HK (MH @ 5th November) HK-TPE (CX @ 6th November)

 

[sydney]

I've been told on the phone that any transit must follow the same airlines. Is this true? I couldn't find any information about this online and i thought that as long as the airlines belong to the oneworld alliance, it is eligible. E.g. KUL-HK (MH @ 5th November) HK-TPE (CX @ 6th November)

It can be any One World airline. Just ask them to book it as 2 separate one way tickets within 24hrs. An agent informed me last night that there are two booking systems - a Qantas preferred and "Neutral" which shows more availability. A few times, they said they could not see the business award flight, but eventually could see it after changing systems or adding a flight first and then searching again, or logging out and back in. Who knows?!

 

[Captain Halliday]

I've been told on the phone that any transit must follow the same airlines. Is this true?

No.