AAAward Costs on QF

[chrisb]

Can someone please confirm my logic that PER-SYD-CHC(stop)-SYD-PER on Qantas in Business is 35,000 AA miles each? I need to buy some points to have enough to pay for it, so i want to get it right.

When I asked AA yesterday how much my award was going to cost they said 30k total, but then the AA rep said 'is that right'? I gave up at that point.

Thanks!

 

[serfty]

Can someone please confirm my logic that PER-SYD-CHC(stop)-SYD-PER on Qantas in Business is 35,000 AA miles each? I need to buy some points to have enough to pay for it, so i want to get it right.

When I asked AA yesterday how much my award was going to cost they said 30k total, but then the AA rep said 'is that right'? I gave up at that point.

Thanks!

Any AAdvantage business award wholly within Oz/NZ is 35,000 AAdvntage miles; 20,000 for WHY.

More here: AAdvantage Participant Airline Award Chart

 

[chrisb]

Any AAdvantage business award wholly withing Oz/NZ is 35,000 AAdvntage miles; 20,000 for WHY.

Thanks Serfty, although I do like AA's offer of 30k for 2 Business seats better.

 

[NM]

Thanks Serfty, although I do like AA's offer of 30k for 2 Business seats better.

Where is that offer? I just bought 3 x business class seats and they charged me 35,000 miles each.

 

[chrisb]

Where is that offer? I just bought 3 x business class seats and they charged me 35,000 miles each.

The 'offer' was just the answer I got from AA on the phone yesterday.. It's bulls**t - But if they do it for me I will be sure to tell everyone.

You'd think AA Australia would know what Qantas awards cost by now.

Chrisb.

 

[Soundguy]

I have a question about redeeming AA points - sorry if this sounds obtuse but I'll ask anyway!

From the AA chart it seems an AU to US return econonomy flight would be 75,000 points. Correct? And is that only direct flights eg SYD to LAX return or could one go ADL - SYD - LAX - JFK return also for 75,000 AA points?

I have the same question regarding the inter country awards. It seems like AU & NZ is regarded as one country (fair enough) and that an inter country return economy award flight is 20,000 points. But my confusion is between where and where? The distance does not seem to be defined. If I were to travel ADL to MEL return would this use up the 20,000 AA points? Or can I go ADL - MEL - CHC - AKL return (or something like that) also for the same 20,000 points? In other words does it have to be direct line between two cities or is there a limit on distance / stopovers (obviously there must be at some point)?

Again, sorry if this sounds daft and it may have been answered elsewhere here, but I can't see a simple answer on the aa.com site and they have no points calculator to verify.

 

[NM]

From the AA chart it seems an AU to US return econonomy flight would be 75,000 points. Correct?

Yes, that is correct. 75K for economy, 125K for business class, and 145K for first class.

And is that only direct flights eg SYD to LAX return or could one go ADL - SYD - LAX - JFK return also for 75,000 AA points?

The award is valid from any starting point in South Pacific region (Australia, Easter Island, Fiji, French Polynesia New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Western Samoa) to any point in North America (USA including Hawaii and Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, The Bahamas and The Caribbean) and return.

You must travel directly between the regions and not via another regions, so you cannot use CX via HKG between SP and NA regions.

I have the same question regarding the inter country awards. It seems like AU & NZ is regarded as one country (fair enough) and that an inter country return economy award flight is 20,000 points. But my confusion is between where and where? The distance does not seem to be defined. If I were to travel ADL to MEL return would this use up the 20,000 AA points? Or can I go ADL - MEL - CHC - AKL return (or something like that) also for the same 20,000 points? In other words does it have to be direct line between two cities or is there a limit on distance / stopovers (obviously there must be at some point)?

Between anywhere in Australia and New Zealand. And does not need to be the most direct route, but you cannot have a stopover along the way - only transit. I just booked BNE-AKL via MEL in both directions for 35,000 miles per ticket in business class.

So yes your routing above would be valid so long as MEL and CHC are transits. Obviously for an award flight you are not earning any miles so the most direct routing or most convenient times are generally the most attractive options. But of course availability is also going to play a key roll in the final routing . And of course the return does not need to take the same routing as the outward journey.

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks NM - that makes sense!

Somtimes a transit stop can be nice if it is a few hours in a place you don't visit much; I had a nice 7 hour transit in CNS a couple of weeks back, just enough time for a quick peek around town and a short drive up the coast.

Did you book your trip online at aa.com or is this something you have to do over the phone? I presume you search for seats first (eg expert flyer) to get an idea of what is available....

Appreciate the helpful advice.

 

[Dave Noble]

Thanks NM - that makes sense!

Somtimes a transit stop can be nice if it is a few hours in a place you don't visit much; I had a nice 7 hour transit in CNS a couple of weeks back, just enough time for a quick peek around town and a short drive up the coast.

Did you book your trip online at aa.com or is this something you have to do over the phone? I presume you search for seats first (eg expert flyer) to get an idea of what is available....

Appreciate the helpful advice.

The transit time can be anything less than 24 hours so you can have an overnight stop.

You cannot book partner awards online so you need to make a call; personally I recommend the AAdvantage desk in the USA. Some flights can be checked using Expertflyer (such as QF) but not all.

Dave

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks Dave.

Gotta say the online QF booking system for awards is great.

BTW do AA allow one way award flights, or is it only return?

 

[Dave Noble]

BTW do AA allow one way award flights, or is it only return?

Partner zonal awards are r/t only but the OW mileage based awards do not (iirc) need to return to the origin

Dave

 

[NM]

Did you book your trip online at aa.com or is this something you have to do over the phone? I presume you search for seats first (eg expert flyer) to get an idea of what is available....

Appreciate the helpful advice.

I phoned AA Platinum Desk in the USA one night (the benefits of having a US phone on my desk) and made the booking. All very simple. I had to call AA in Sydney the following day to pay for the taxes via my Aussie credit card.

I probably could have just called AA in Sydney and done it all with them. However, the Plat desk in the USA did know about some extra rules/benefits that were not known by the Sydney staff, such as being able to go up to 500 miles into the red (apparently an unpublished Plat benefit).

No surcharge of dollars or miles to make the booking by phone.

 

[vt01]

The transit time can be anything less than 24 hours so you can have an overnight stop.

You cannot book partner awards online so you need to make a call; personally I recommend the AAdvantage desk in the USA. Some flights can be checked using Expertflyer (such as QF) but not all.

Dave

I only just noticed this thread but it fits my question perfectly. I have the end of my DONE4 which is a SYD-PER-DRW-ADL-SYD. So I have one stopover currently in Perth and transits of less than 24 hours in DRW and ADL.

So I can book an AA award using the same route for 20k points(per passenger) for wife and kids?

If so, this is absolutely brilliant!

 

[Dave Noble]

I only just noticed this thread but it fits my question perfectly. I have the end of my DONE4 which is a SYD-PER-DRW-ADL-SYD. So I have one stopover currently in Perth and transits of less than 24 hours in DRW and ADL.

So I can book an AA award using the same route for 20k points(per passenger) for wife and kids?

If so, this is absolutely brilliant!

20k would be an economy award but you should be able to get a SYD-PER r/t award returning via DRW and ADL. < 24 hours stop should be ok

Dave

 

[vt01]

20k would be an economy award but you should be able to get a SYD-PER r/t award returning via DRW and ADL. < 24 hours stop should be ok

Dave

Thanks Dave.. AA is SO much better than QFF!