Has anyone had success with the call-up "Marginal" xASA's?

[Newk]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Excellent booking result today. I had checked classic availability before the call and asked for ASA in U class. Got business ASA ADL MEL one way. 16000 points and 109.38. Interestingly I was told very sternly that the "slider" (I know there isn't one but you know what I mean) couldn't go under the classic rate....16000. I note though the above posts about going under classic points

Two to three minutes. Very business like CSO on premium desk. Clearly knew exactly what she was doing.

I know we all want it to be on the web site but IF Qantas keeps this going I wouldn't mind much having experiences like this.

So that's a quarter of the flights I need to get to the AFF Hobart do.

So there's that and the Sydney concreting, oops dinner, in December thanks to the last gasp ASAs

 

[lmere12]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Just called up to change my FASA in Oct to the next avail in 07'14. Checked the classics, picked my date, called up & explained I wanted to change the date of the FASA/MASA . Operator was knowledgeable & the cost was an extra $5.24.

 

[HarryB]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Let me be sure I understand: Are you saying you have booked this as a JASA pre June for 48000 pts + cash? How did you manage that? What am I missing here? I have done this run a couple of times, never at less than classic points though.


Edit: Oops, my mistake. Just checked my old activity statement; it WAS actually 48000 pts in the olden days. Sorry.
Looks like the classic points have been enhanced upwards without me noticing.

I never actually checked classic points before this change so can't confirm that they were 48000. It wasn't the points plus pay slider you were thinking of, was it?

 

[ketsuzei]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Just called up to change my FASA in Oct to the next avail in 07'14. Checked the classics, picked my date, called up & explained I wanted to change the date of the FASA/MASA . Operator was knowledgeable & the cost was an extra $5.24.

Did that end up being more than a year after the date on which you made the original booking? I'm wondering: if I want to travel in October 2014, can I book something for (say) July 2014 and then change it later?

Another annoying thing about this having been taken offline is that we can no longer look at cancellation charges, changeability, etc.

 

[lmere12]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Did that end up being more than a year after the date on which you made the original booking? I'm wondering: if I want to travel in October 2014, can I book something for (say) July 2014 and then change it later?

Original booking made on 26/10/12 for flite 01/10/13.

 

[ketsuzei]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Original booking made on 26/10/12 for flite 01/10/13.

Thanks. Interesting!

 

[asg29e]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

I never actually checked classic points before this change so can't confirm that they were 48000. It wasn't the points plus pay slider you were thinking of, was it?

29 OCT 12	QF 971 BUSINESS 27OCT12 TOWNSVILLE/BRISBANE (ANY SEAT AWARD FLIGHT) BOOKING REF (removed)	692	346	519	1,557	60
27 OCT 12	QF 663 BUSINESS 27OCT12 BRISBANE/ADELAIDE (ANY SEAT AWARD FLIGHT) BOOKING REF	1,008	504	756	2,268	60
26 OCT 12	QF 970 BUSINESS 26OCT12 BRISBANE/TOWNSVILLE (ANY SEAT AWARD FLIGHT) BOOKING REF	692	346	519	1,557	60
26 OCT 12	QF 660 BUSINESS 26OCT12 ADELAIDE/BRISBANE (ANY SEAT AWARD FLIGHT) BOOKING REF	1,008	504	756	2,268	60

No, it was a JASA, flown in Oct last year. Definitely 48000 pts. I don't think I have ever booked a JASA in which I haven't slid the bar as far to the left as it would go.

So, it appears that the classic points required for this trip have now risen to 72000. Thanks Qantas.

I still can't understand how you managed to get your current JASA for less than what is now the classic rate. Might depend on which consultant you get. May be worth putting in a low ball figure when trying to book these things?

 

[HarryB]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

The last one was done in December last year, but it could only be done when classic award seats are available. I checked a tonne of dates last year before I found ones that meant I could get a minimum of 48000 points. There were plenty of instances where the minimum points were higher than 48000 and again, when looking at flights this morning I probably could have landed dates where there was no classic award available but for higher minimum points.

This particular booking is highlighted in Markis10's thread about booking Any Seat Awards at Classic Award rates, which is how I discovered it.

 

[ckck]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

MEL-xSYD-OOL JASA return for the beginning of the Sept school holidays. :/ not amused when given such short notice to book work travel during school holidays, even worse the beginning of school holidays when everyone is trying to get away. Anyways... end rant.

Classic: 48,000 points +~$130
JASA: 48,000 points +~$340

Cash fare red-e deal was approx. $208 one way and $180 return = $388.

The Customer service assistant (CSA) was able to give me different connecting flights coming home that worked out better for me too with respect to what time I arrived back in MEL. This flight combination was not available online when just doing a flight search for depart:MEL destination:OOL. Happy with that.

The CSA asked me how many points I wanted to contribute and I made a suggestion but as soon as I did she said "oh-oh there is a minimum you have to pay in points".

The CSA tried to charge me the $35 fee but I explained to her that I was not able to book this online she shot back with "yes you are". I explained to her that there were recent changes that meant we were not able to book MASA online anymore. I was put onhold for a couple of minutes and she said that they would waive the fee for me.

Overall I am satisfied with the result but I would prefer the good old days where you could do this all online. Even if I had to stick to flights made available to me (and not given another option by the CSA as described above) I would happily trade that in for being able to do this all by myself without having to phone.

eta: all up spent about 1-2 minutes having my call routed and about 10 mins talking to the CSA.

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

not too far ... unfortunately extra $$ has always been a trade off with asa when minimising points use.... the points earn, eligibility for upgrades and status credits make the extra cost worth it, for me at least.

For mine I would have paid the 36,000 points - save $ 80, get the points earn for the trip + bonuses if status and get the Status Credits ?

 

[legroom]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Slightly off topic, if I may

Has anyone cancelled a MASA yet ?

What would the "new" rules be like ?

Same as before: full points / cash refund as per 15.6.1

Before I get a second MASA - just in case - I wish to know where we all are in terms of cancellation / refund.

Cheers

I was able to cancel a "U" class MASA booking with no penalty whatsoever.

A reference point post June 26th for AFF.

I managed to book a second MASA with a better yield (290 vs 300 points per SCs).

The quest, however, continues on this new terrain of phone assisted bookings.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Booked my first JASA since the new changes came for the usual flight ADL-PER-KGI one way. Prior to the changes, I had been able to get these for 24,000 points and around $150.

Actual fare cost at time of booking was $1569, which meant the first quote came in at 24000 points and $1398 :shock:. Then asked for the U fare class that I've read about here (thanks all for your help) and asked for the similar price at 25,000 points which came in at only $192. Needless to say I booked this on the spot very happily. Interestingly though, I had looked at the Classic availability and noted I could've booked the same flights for 36,000 and approx $93.00 in taxes. The phone fee was never mentioned at all. All up, 33 mins and 50 sec's on the phone but worth it in the end. Epic Win

The only thing I'm not sure about is that I was told if I had to cancel the booking, it would attract a 5,000 pt fee. Is this normal?

 

[Fifa]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Last week I booked 2 MASAs in J:
ADL-SYD-OOL 24,000 +
CBR-SYD-SIN 60,000 +

I checked all flights first to determine availability then phoned up to book and it took a total of 29 minutes.
Please QF - bring back the on-line booking process and save yourself having to pay staff to book these for us.

 

[Deleted User]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Please QF - bring back the on-line booking process and save yourself having to pay staff to book these for us.

Pretty sure they will use the time consumed to justify the removal of these eventually... Also since you cant do these on the web anymore there will be less of these marginal awards booked also justifying the permanent removal

...happy to be proven wrong by Red Roo though, however I doubt that's going to happen

 

[serfty]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

...

The only thing I'm not sure about is that I was told if I had to cancel the booking, it would attract a 5,000 pt fee. Is this normal?

No - check you booking canceelation rules - if Oz domestic then a cancellation should entitle you to a "full refund", in the case of a JASA that's all points and all $$$.

 

[mitch24]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Isn't it incredible that in order to book a simple xASA fare at a reasonable 'price' we need to trawl through a forum like this to get instruction and phone numbers because a simple piece of functionality on a website was removed. Anyone else out there who doesn't look at these forums would just be frustrated and left in the dark. For the sake of business and the convenience of your most loyal customers, bring this back Qantas.

 

[timmitch]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

That and how inconsistent points and cash wise

 

[HarryB]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Isn't it incredible that in order to book a simple xASA fare at a reasonable 'price' we need to trawl through a forum like this to get instruction and phone numbers because a simple piece of functionality on a website was removed. Anyone else out there who doesn't look at these forums would just be frustrated and left in the dark. For the sake of business and the convenience of your most loyal customers, bring this back Qantas.

I'd rather it be this way than binned altogether so lets hope they keep them

 

[ketsuzei]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Anyway know why they ask for your PIN when making one of these bookings?

 

[HarryB]

re: Has anyone had success with the call-up method for "Marginal" xASA's?

Assume for security