Avoiding rookie mistakes [booking awards]

[serfty]

OK, that about the ball park for 2 x 280K zone 10 oneworld Business class awards & [SUB]+[/SUB]+[SUP]+[/SUP]. (Frequent Flyer - Using Points - Qantas & Partner Classic Awards - Points Tables)

Did they not charge the assisted award booking fee?

 

[leppo]

OK, that about the ball park for 2 x 280K zone 10 oneworld Business class awards & [SUB]+[/SUB]+[SUP]+[/SUP].
Did they not charge the assisted award booking fee?

oops forgot that one - another $120 in their pockets!..We will just have to drink the expensive wine to recoup that one

 

[grussellt]

You can secure your seats as soon as you have confirmed tickets. You will probably need separate PNR's for the non-QF legs and QF can provide you with those. BA will relieve you of a few more pounds for seat allocation unless you have Oneworld status so you will have to leave space for a little more high-class bubbles.

 

[leppo]

You can secure your seats as soon as you have confirmed tickets. You will probably need separate PNR's for the non-QF legs and QF can provide you with those. BA will relieve you of a few more pounds for seat allocation unless you have Oneworld status so you will have to leave space for a little more high-class bubbles.

:shock: OUCH nearly $100 per seat per sector with BA seat allocation system - unless did I do something wrong on the BA site)
We will try our luck & see what we are assigned assuming they will note we are a couple.
We have adjoining seats on all sectors with CX & QF so are very happy with that.

 

[Valerie Moffat]

I am aware that landing at Heathrow pushes up the fees.
Because my son lives in London and I will need to depart from there to return home, can someone suggest a less expensive, but uncomplicated way to land and depart from a less expensive Airport ??
Valerie Moffat

 

[gab]

What a thread! This should be made a sticky sticky! Thanks OP for the first question, the thread has answered a lot questions I had.

 

[flapper]

I am currenty on my second FF OW J class RTW trip. My advice is to plan as far in advance as you can, I start planning months before I book . I use QF website this gives you an idea on what flights are available and on what days, times etc. I plan my itinerary around availability. QF website doesn't show FF availabilty for all destinations available eg VNO & BER, call the contact centre for such flights. I usually call the contact centre a number of times before I book. I always check something with them on at least 2 occasions as you sometimes get different answers - some are very helpful, other can't wait to get you off the line.
I book as soon as the flights become available this is important for intercontinental flights - this changes from airline to airline, CX is the earliest & AA the latest. If booking on phone make sure you know all flights available to your desinations as sometimes they'll stick you one 1st flight that comes up on their screen & not the most convenient for you. In summary the most important thing is planning.
Enjoy your travels

 

[leppo]

thanks flapper.
we too were in a position to book our itinerary based on availability and were flexible with dates & times but still managed to stay within our preferred travel dates.
Friends had said you need to book 12 months out for any J class seats but is seems that is for the direct long hauls to 'LHR LAX etc (from my limited experience) - I was surprised how many options we had.
Double checking online before ringing help desk proved useful but gets confusing esp when it seems going via heathrow is almost compulsory. while HKG>Madrid>JFK showed as an option online (plus many other alluring european cities) they all had to go via LHR anyway.
its been a good learning experience and as long as we end up with adjoining seats on the BA flights all is good.
thanks again folks - will be checking in later for accommodation and trip ideas.
cheers

 

[Alanslegal]

thanks flapper.
we too were in a position to book our itinerary based on availability and were flexible with dates & times but still managed to stay within our preferred travel dates.
Friends had said you need to book 12 months out for any J class seats but is seems that is for the direct long hauls to 'LHR LAX etc (from my limited experience) - I was surprised how many options we had.
Double checking online before ringing help desk proved useful but gets confusing esp when it seems going via heathrow is almost compulsory. while HKG>Madrid>JFK showed as an option online (plus many other alluring european cities) they all had to go via LHR anyway.
its been a good learning experience and as long as we end up with adjoining seats on the BA flights all is good.
thanks again folks - will be checking in later for accommodation and trip ideas.
cheers

For a first time Oneworld Award redeemer you sure learn the ropes pretty quickly which is fantastic. No doubt having travel flexibility (dates and sectors) is so vital in these bookings.

Those folks who complain award tickets are hard (yes they generally are) or that points are so worthless that its pointless to accrue them, so let it be. Let them live like that, so that like minded people here on AFF can give it a crack and get the best value out of our very worthwhile points. Alot of us here, including myself, cannot earn/generate/hoard enough points for the things we want to do

The $3,000 taxes and fees are scary but oh well, that's the game we play and there's not much we can do really.

 

[Champo]

Have recently completed RTW J class out of Adelaide QF to New York, AA to Boston, Iberia to Madrid then Istanbul (was to fly Malev to Budapest but they went broke so had to find our own way on Turkish - covered by Amex Complimentary Insurance - but since have changed their rules and don't cover transporters that go broke) Iberia from Vienna to Moscow via Madrid, BA from Moscow to Heathrow and QF back to Adelaide all spaced over 33 days. To book award flights I have found telephoning Qantas late at night, e.g. 11 p.m. is a good time to get good service. You are correct about the need to be flexible with your itinerary as changes to your itinerary sometimes need to be made during the booking process and you get better results if you book as far ahead as possible, e.g. starting 350 days out bearing in mind the 350 days has to be the end of your itinerary not the beginning as you can only book about that far ahead

 

[leppo]

To book award flights I have found telephoning Qantas late at night, e.g. 11 p.m. is a good time to get good service

I fully agree..but if with a few reds under your belt, make sure you have a clear thinking, quick writing assistant next to you!
we got through straight away at 11pm and 730 pm. Both times they were really pleasant and helpful and offered good alternatives.

I like your itinerary champo - will try that in another 10 years when we have enough points!

 

[Julesmac]

+1 for Washington DC! Really impressive city. Boston is also on my "To Do" list....

Concur 100% on Boston and especially on DC. The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in particular is, seriously, the coolest place I have ever seen. MrJulesMac & I spent 6 hours there -absolutely riveting stuff. Try visiting the Washington Cathedral too - they have a modern stained glass window with a small piece of moon rock in the centre. Apparently they always held a service and blessing for all the astronauts prior to a launch, and one of the lunar missions brought back a piece of rock which was then incorporated in a new window. Sounds like a great itinerary - enjoy!

 

[Sprucegoose]

Malev to Budapest but they went broke so had to find our own way on Turkish - covered by Amex Complimentary Insurance - but since have changed their rules and don't cover transporters that go broke)

well now ain't that interesting.....anyone else confirm this? Another nail in the AMEX heart?

 

[Austashes]

Hello all, we are due our J class OTW trip departring in Sep. I booked this in May: Bne - HNK - SFO - JFK - ORL (Paris) - PNE? (Shanghai). The Hong Kong isnt a stop over but managed to get 10 hours via booking system. Separately we have a SFO - Vancouver points trip booked, where we are doing a rocky mountain rail trip. So you dont have to book 12 months out and remember if you do then it is 12 months from your return to Australia not your departure - then you have to allow about eight days for the airlines to load FF seats into their system.
With my booking the plan was to book all the hotels - one per month, so the credit card didn't get hit all at once.

 

[Austashes]

Meant to say that we have booked holiday apartments, opposed to hotels in Vancouver and New York. NY hotel will set you back over $300 a night for a small linen closet, but for $140 you can get an entire appt. My ony advise is not to book appts that only offer fold away beds unless you have a fold away back

 

[Champo]

Hi Austashes.
We have booked our next overseas trip QF82 ADL/SYD then QF11 SYD/LAX for repositioning cruise to Vancouver where we will spend a few days. Your info re apartments in Vancouver interests us. Do you have any websites that I can look at for any apartments in or close to CBD Vancouver please? We arrive Vancouver 12 May 2013

 

[bPeteb]

Leppo, I was also shocked by the inability to reserve a seat with BA when making the booking.

Such a bizarre situation that you book with an airline that provides free seat selection on international flights, using their points, but you either have to pay extra for seat selection or take the risk you will be sat together.

I finally made silver this year. I believe as OW ruby I will be able to select our seats seven days out instead of 24 hours out (at online checkin). Would be a bummer on our first business class flight not to be sat together but it's a risk I'm going to take. I refuse to pay any more on top of the $1000+ fees and charges we're paying on our Narita-Heathrow flights.

pete

 

[Limewood]

Hi Austashes.
Do you have any websites that I can look at for any apartments in or close to CBD Vancouver please? We arrive Vancouver 12 May 2013

VRBO is good or..

Google is your friend here.

 

[blu]

Such a bizarre situation that you book with an airline that provides free seat selection on international flights, using their points, but you either have to pay extra for seat selection or take the risk you will be sat together.

Earlier this year we were lucky to have our BA CW seats allocated when making the booking through QFF customer service (BA fee free).

 

[nuxie1]

Hi Austashes.
We have booked our next overseas trip QF82 ADL/SYD then QF11 SYD/LAX for repositioning cruise to Vancouver where we will spend a few days. Your info re apartments in Vancouver interests us. Do you have any websites that I can look at for any apartments in or close to CBD Vancouver please? We arrive Vancouver 12 May 2013

AirBnB is a good one.