Advice needed - Booking a Qantas rewards flight

[usmantk]

Hi all ,

Needed some advice , not sure if this is a right sub-forum, I am QFF Gold currently, will be platinum in July. Have roughly 250K points, should be at around 300K by end of this year. I have never booked an award flight so fairly un-familiar with the right strategy, in fact only got QFF last year September.

Looking to travel to Europe with a Following high level itinerary ( 2 people)

Time/Location: Mel to Rome ( last week of april 2017) Fly back Last week of may 2017 from either Munich/Geneva/Zurich/CDG to Mel . On return flight i am fairly flexible on location as will be driving from rome up to one of these location, CDG is least preferred.

The primary motivation for me is leg room ( at 6' 4 i struggle on these long haul flights) , I dont want to spend more than $1500/ticket out of pocket ( 1500$ has been my normal 1 way fair for europe uptil now), So the best outcomes for me are in following order

1. utilise 300K and/or $3K to get end-end business class for 2 people.
2. utilise 300K and/or $3K to get end-end premium Economy for 2 people.
3. utilise 300K and/or $3K to get Mel - UAE on business and last leg on economy which is only around 5 hrs. for 2 people.

Keeping this in mind , what would be your approach ?

1. IS using a classic reward the best bet or Points/Pay .
2. When should i book , now or when i am platinum in July ? How quickly do these reward allocation run out generally.
3. As i am flying out from a different city , when i try a different city in multi city for return , i never get a result for return flight. Any particular reason for this ?
4. Is there a better way of utilising the point/money combination other then booking on Qantas ( am i better off using a partner airline) , i gather that in either case i have to go through Qantas booking website.
5. Is it better to buy a ticket with cash and then apply for Upgrade using points ( at platinum is the risk high of not getting one ) , anyway to check before booking if upgrade option is available on particular flight?
6. Is going through Qantas call centre better option for reward noobs like myself.

Thanks in advance and apologies on long winded post.

 

[travelislife]

Europe in business return is 256k + approx $1000 per passenger so you are a bit short for 2 people.

 

[travelislife]

If you want business class seats you want to book at 353 days before travel. Can be 360 if you use CX.

 

[travelislife]

Upgrades are a lottery, you can not 'check availability'. Though you have a better chance as a platinum. And not all economy fares are eligible for upgrade.

 

[travelislife]

Flying in to one city and out of another just book as two one ways. No points penalty for this.

 

[travelislife]

I would book a return economy fare for this trip and put in for a points upgrade if possible. Otherwise I would save the points and keep accumulating (which you appear to be doing reasonably quickly) to get to 560k which will let you book 2 x 35,000 mile 5 stopover business class tickets. Essentially a RTW.

 

[Doctore1003]

You could use your points to get award flights to Rome in J, then buy a one-way ticket back in PE with CX. I just had a quick look on Expedia and ZRH-MEL in PE with CX next February is being quoted as $1800. It's a bit over your budget (and you'll have taxes on the award flight) but seems like a good option. With platinum you'll have access to a nice lounge in HKG.

 

[Limewood]

Buy 2 x Y seats to ASIA return, use FF points for possible upgrade later, book award 2 x J seats out of SIN, HKG or BKK to your destination.

 

[usmantk]

Thanks all for the feedback,

Buy 2 x Y seats to ASIA return, use FF points for possible upgrade later, book award 2 x J seats out of SIN, HKG or BKK to your destination.

Thanks , as i am new to this , just so i understand the rationale behind this approach better , are you suggesting this because J Award seats from ASIA to EU would be easier or cheaper ?

Secondly , If i were to book a reward flight from HongKong to Rome , Only way to do that is through Qantas Website ? or i can i do this CX website ?

 

[travelislife]

Thanks all for the feedback,




Thanks , as i am new to this , just so i understand the rationale behind this approach better , are you suggesting this because J Award seats from ASIA to EU would be easier or cheaper ?

Secondly , If i were to book a reward flight from HongKong to Rome , Only way to do that is through Qantas Website ? or i can i do this CX website ?

Well you don't have enough points to do it from Australia for 2 people, hence the option to do it out of Asia.

You have to book through Qantas as you are using Qantas points. A lot of available award flights on various carriers won't show on the Qantas website so you will need to call them up. Using BAEC is a good way to check for award seats on other OneWorld airlines.