Best way to get Business rewards flights Melbourne to Montreal/Toronto

[theatreperson]

Hi,

Has anyone got any suggestions as to the best itinerary to get Business classic reward seats between Melbourne and Toronto/Montreal?
I'm trying to avoid going through the USA just due to the hassle but will if that's the best. I know seats through LAX can be a little difficult also.

Trip is June / July 2020 so I'll be able to book very shortly.

So far ideas I have are:

via Hong Kong (then where?)
via Shanghai (seems long)
via Tokyo with JAL (then where?)
via San Fran
Via Dallas Fort Worth
Via LA

Not particularly interested in China Eastern Business class unless anyone is really raving about them.
Don't mind if I have to hop to Sydney or Brisbane

Thanks

Damien

 

[Franky]

Have you thought of DOH, DXB or AUH? In Perth, we are almost halfway round the world from the east coast of North America, so all trips for us to that part of the world are long. We just did J return PER-DOH-IAD in February tho used AA points for the trip. All 3 MEA fly to both of your destinations, and you can also use AA points to book on QR and EY flights. AA has just announced a points sale which finishes at the end of the month, and has the best price for the year so far.

 

[VPS]

Cathay go to Vancouver

 

[Franky]

And Toronto, which is where he wants to get to...

 

[theatreperson]

Need to use Qantas points as we have about 600k for two of us.
Going west is a much longer journey and I don't think would fit in the points budget.

Yep, I know Cathay go Hong Kong to Vancouver but I think Vancouver to Toronto/Montreal is the more annoying issue. Would probably have to go economy with WestJet?

 

[theatreperson]

ooo, Hong Kong to Toronto with Cathay. Nice
Will look into that one.

 

[Franky]

ooo, Hong Kong to Toronto with Cathay. Nice
Will look into that one.

EF tells me that MEL-YYZ is a one stop flight via HKG...

 

[theatreperson]

EF tells me that MEL-YYZ is a one stop flight via HKG...

Qantas website doesn't want to show me Hong Kong to Toronto with points. Goes Bejing or Shanghai or London. I think I might have to call Qantas.
Does EF allow you to push through to the Qantas website or do you need to call with the flight details?
How far is EF seeing right now?

 

[Franky]

Qantas website doesn't want to show me Hong Kong to Toronto with points. Goes Bejing or Shanghai or London. I think I might have to call Qantas.
Does EF allow you to push through to the Qantas website or do you need to call with the flight details?
How far is EF seeing right now?

QF website is often like that - to me it says there are no award seats on the most direct route. I only looked at the schedule on EF, first week in June 2020 to give you an idea of what options you had. There were two, one with a two hour connection, and the other had about a 10 hour connection. In regard to the limited availability of CX flights to/from Perth, in December I was only able to get an inward seat HKG-PER about a week before the flight on points, so you are in the same boat. This is one reason I use AA points mostly, as the options out of Perth are always limited, and AA gives us more to choose from, and at a fraction of the fees that QF will bill you for. Further, for whatever reason, EF can't show award availability for either CX or QR, I mostly use BA to find availability which is quite easy to use, and seems to me to be the most reliable. QF invariably gives me similar results as you have just received.

 

[levelnine]

Not sure what you mean. There's heaps of availability in J on CX.

Eg.

 

[Franky]

I stated above that I only looked at the schedule, not award seats available, and could only look as far as early June. He wants to travel in June/July. I don't know what dates he was looking at to get his search results. He also still has to get from MEL-HKG.

 

[levelnine]

I stated above that I only looked at the schedule, not award seats available, and could only look as far as early June. He wants to travel in June/July. I don't know what dates he was looking at to get his search results. He also still has to get from MEL-HKG.

My post was in response to this from the OP:

Qantas website doesn't want to show me Hong Kong to Toronto with points.

It sounds like the OP is just testing available routes because he/she says:

Trip is June / July 2020 so I'll be able to book very shortly.

 

[theatreperson]

My post was in response to this from the OP:


It sounds like the OP is just testing available routes because he/she says:

So it looks like I have to check every day of the week to see where the direct options will be provided. I was trying a Monday or Tuesday in the week I was testing, not Wednesday as you did.

I wish there was a way to include or exclude certain carriers. that would make the hunt a little easier.

 

[VPS]

So it looks like I have to check every day of the week to see where the direct options will be provided. I was trying a Monday or Tuesday in the week I was testing, not Wednesday as you did.

I wish there was a way to include or exclude certain carriers. that would make the hunt a little easier.

You can do that in Skyscanner

 

[theatreperson]

You can do that in Skyscanner

but Skyscanner doesn't show me awards flights...

 

[Franky]

So it looks like I have to check every day of the week to see where the direct options will be provided. I was trying a Monday or Tuesday in the week I was testing, not Wednesday as you did.

I wish there was a way to include or exclude certain carriers. that would make the hunt a little easier.

Any award seats being made available are released daily at midnight GMT, so adjust your searches to your time zone and keep on looking. It can be a long and frustrating event.

 

[sudoer]

So it looks like I have to check every day of the week to see where the direct options will be provided. I was trying a Monday or Tuesday in the week I was testing, not Wednesday as you did.

I wish there was a way to include or exclude certain carriers. that would make the hunt a little easier.

Expertflyer can do this using the Flight Timetables function. Only CX and AC fly direct between HKG and YYZ.

 

[Franky]

but Skyscanner doesn't show me awards flights...

The Point Hacks newsletter has just released an article on the best, and worst, QF routes with award availability. Worth a read to help you in your search .