Business seats Perth-NY when do they become available

[Cybella]

I am considering booking business flights from Perth to New York via the Qantas FF site for late October/early November 2018 but note there are no Qantas flights or Qatar flights at this time.

I remember reading somewhere that FF seats are released at certain times. When would be the best time to check when business flight seats would be available during this time?

Currently I can see some Emirates flights but the taxes are very high. Cathay Pacific's taxes are much lower but points required are higher.

For people who have travelled this route before, which carrier would be the best option? Qantas, Cathay, Emirates or Qatar?

 

[Franky]

Flights or seats?

 

[Cybella]

Flights or seats?

Seats

 

[JohnM]

Award seats are released from about 362 to 330 days ahead on OW airlines (see: Wiki - "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread)

So for the time your wanting, availability - if any - should be showing.

As far as I can work out EK award seats for QF FF point redemption are released about 333 days ahead. EK taxes are brutal if booking flights originating in DXB, compared with originating in Australia. The dilemma becomes: do you wait until award seats are released for your return legs to book the whole itinerary and risk that the availability outbound has been lost, or book as two separate one-way fares as soon as availability appears (but cop likely higher taxes for the return legs)?

 

[RichardMEL]

With QF you have double trouble in terms of transcon avail dovetailing into QF93/QF11 to NY (or possibly the BNE-LAX-JFK when it goes 787). It may be the case of not seeing all of that online and possibly requiring a call, though going via the ME may actually be shorter and certainly only one plane change vs MEL/SYD/BNE and then LAX/SFO/DFW

 

[JohnM]

As a general rule, I think you'll find that J award seat availability is far better on EK than on QF. I'm not sure how CX and QR compare for seats from and to Australia.

 

[cove]

We are booked to do that run for the third time but have been buying the two tickets on the double status credit offer.
On points it is probably a few more points but I book the SYD or MEL-LAX separately at 96,000 points and then go back and book the PER-SYD or MEL next for 36,000 points.
Try going thru QF to see if they can help you as that uses less points.
This fortnight I booked MEL-LAX in first and LAX-SYD in business out to around 353 odd days forward. That was 144,000 plus 96,000 for each of us.
Have a look at Emirates to go Perth-Dubai-NYC.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I am considering booking business flights from Perth to New York via the Qantas FF site for late October/early November 2018 but note there are no Qantas flights or Qatar flights at this time.

I remember reading somewhere that FF seats are released at certain times. When would be the best time to check when business flight seats would be available during this time?

Currently I can see some Emirates flights but the taxes are very high. Cathay Pacific's taxes are much lower but points required are higher.

For people who have travelled this route before, which carrier would be the best option? Qantas, Cathay, Emirates or Qatar?

The Qantas fees and charges (as opposed to taxes which are not that high!) are going to be around the same on QF as they add fuel surcharges.

When looking for seats on QF, try looking from the East coast, and maybe only from SYD or BNE. Look for the connecting flights to/from Perth separately (although you'd get them all on the one ticket at the time of booking). You can use the multi-city tool when you're ready to book.

I booked USA for easly October a couple of weeks ago. Nothing was showing ex MEL except for CX and EK. But searching out of SYD there was wide open availability on QF to DFW. We then added the MEL-SYD through multi-city. It might also be that you fly as far as LAX/SFO/DFW with QF and then add an AA domestic flight, but this will likely need to be done by calling QF who will do the whole booking, including domestic flights.

 

[Cybella]

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[cove]

You may find BNE-LAX is available but be aware that the plane is a 747 that has pretty much gone past its use by date.
Flying to Dallas/Fort Worth is definitely an option. With a short flight to NYC that could work.
The 747 LAX to NYC and back is often late so you could miss your time critical appointments at either end.
You cannot book QF once you arrive in Los Angeles to get to NYC as Qantas can only sell the complete run while you are in Australia.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

We are booked to do that run for the third time but have been buying the two tickets on the double status credit offer.
On points it is probably a few more points but I book the SYD or MEL-LAX separately at 96,000 points and then go back and book the PER-SYD or MEL next for 36,000 points.
Try going thru QF to see if they can help you as that uses less points.

PER-SYD-LAX booked as a single ticket would be 112K points, vs 96+36 booking as separate tickets. A difference of 20K points.

Do you book them separately because of no availability on the flight to/from PER at the time of booking the trans-pacific?

 

[cove]

Yes we like splitting up the trip with stops in Sydney or Melbourne , Los Angeles and NYC and the QF website can be very Sydney centric. We are not too concerned about 20,000 extra points as we prefer picking the A330 at a time that suits us as well as a departure time to LAX that suits as well.Those 20,000 points are very easy for us to make up so our circumstances can be quite different from many others.
Going on a 737-800 in business class out of Perth or back to Perth is really worth avoiding.
It is much easier to be based in MEL or SYD to get the frequent flyer redemption to LAX if you want to go that way.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes we like splitting up the trip with stops in Sydney or Melbourne , Los Angeles and NYC and the QF website can be very Sydney centric. We are not too concerned about 20,000 extra points as we prefer picking the A330 at a time that suits us as well as a departure time to LAX that suits as well.Those 20,000 points are very easy for us to make up so our circumstances can be quite different from many others.
Going on a 737-800 in business class out of Perth or back to Perth is really worth avoiding.
It is much easier to be based in MEL or SYD to get the frequent flyer redemption to LAX if you want to go that way.

For passengers with limited points, the multi-city tool will allow you to select specific flights for the PER-east coast sectors and v.v (including the A330), connecting to your choice of flight ex East coast. This also provides all flights on the one ticket which can be helpful for onward connections if your inbound is delayed.

 

[cove]

Yes but you may find the points journey is coated in unobtainium and can be quite frustrating to get set. Our sons have gone the Dubai route with their bookings and that is easier for Folks who live in Perth.
One time I tried to do a run using QF FF folks and ended up with No Go so it can be harder for the uninitiated or someone with low status. We are both Platinums with Qantas and Mrscove has been a Platinum One.

 

[grussellt]

I am considering booking business flights from Perth to New York via the Qantas FF site for late October/early November 2018 but note there are no Qantas flights or Qatar flights at this time.

I remember reading somewhere that FF seats are released at certain times. When would be the best time to check when business flight seats would be available during this time?

Currently I can see some Emirates flights but the taxes are very high. Cathay Pacific's taxes are much lower but points required are higher.

For people who have travelled this route before, which carrier would be the best option? Qantas, Cathay, Emirates or Qatar?

If you try a multi-city search (PER-DXB and DXB-JFK) you will see 2J every day from 21/10 to 08/11. You can mix and match flights to give you a shorter or longer stay in DXB as long as it is less than 24h. There is also good F availability. Try your searches for consecutive days i.e PER-DXB on 24/10 and DXB-JFK on 25/10.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes but you may find the points journey is coated in unobtainium and can be quite frustrating to get set. Our sons have gone the Dubai route with their bookings and that is easier for Folks who live in Perth.
One time I tried to do a run using QF FF folks and ended up with No Go so it can be harder for the uninitiated or someone with low status. We are both Platinums with Qantas and Mrscove has been a Platinum One.

Perhaps as a platinum or P1 booking separate tickets gives you more flexibility when you call to request award seats to be created and released especially for you. Lock in the long hauls and make arrangements for the connectors later.

For those without status sufficient for the release of seats, additional 80k points (for two pax), while losing all the benefits of a single ticket probably doesn't represent value.

I just booked several of these connecting multi-city flights, either on line using the tool, or via the call centre (to include AA domestics).