China Airlines reward seats using Qantas points

[iamsuperandrew]

The base offering is definitely not champagne but some sparkling, my partner would have tried the champagne at least but he went straight for the Heineken

And you are correct, not only the meals but also the bar has different offerings based on how you access the lounge and the staff will ask you to show boarding pass if you want anything beyond the standard range. Last August we had access through DragonPass so only had the base buffet food plus standard drinks, but according to my partner they did have a champagne in the fridge behind the bar as well, out of reach for him though lol. So who knows what is included with CI, will find out late May when I fly them from MEL.

from memory you can pay a $20 supplement fee pp to access the 'premium drink range and coughtail' But this may of changes by now

 

[aspro2]

I've done CI J between MEL and TPE quite a few times and the cabin was never full.

One time there was a crying baby near me so I ended up moving, there were like at least 6 empty seats to choose from.

I think I've done this route seven times in J and the load has varied, but about half of those were definitely in a pretty-much-full cabin (i.e., I didn't count seats occupied, but a quick scan of the landscape gave a fullish impression).

 

[iamsuperandrew]

I think I've done this route seven times in J and the load has varied, but about half of those were definitely in a pretty-much-full cabin (i.e., I didn't count seats occupied, but a quick scan of the landscape gave a fullish impression).

We flew from SYD last October and we had about 2 seats empty in J

 

[Yoz]

We flew from SYD last October and we had about 2 seats empty in J

We did MEL-TPE-MEL in March/April and probably 6+ seats outbound and maybe 10 inbound.

 

[05flyer]

Any experiences of CI being open to cash upgrades at check-in on QF-issued CR Y tickets?

 

[ChrisFlyer]

The base offering is definitely not champagne but some sparkling, my partner would have tried the champagne at least but he went straight for the Heineken

And you are correct, not only the meals but also the bar has different offerings based on how you access the lounge and the staff will ask you to show boarding pass if you want anything beyond the standard range. Last August we had access through DragonPass so only had the base buffet food plus standard drinks, but according to my partner they did have a champagne in the fridge behind the bar as well, out of reach for him though lol. So who knows what is included with CI, will find out late May when I fly them from MEL.

Last time I asked in MEL, the bar staff said that the champagne was only for Etihad passengers specifically. Yet, visible right there at the front of the fridge. So close, but so far.

 

[iamsuperandrew]

Last time I asked in MEL, the bar staff said that the champagne was only for Etihad passengers specifically. Yet, visible right there at the front of the fridge. So close, but so far.

Yes agree, I did manage to convince them to supply with the additional $20 upgrade fee

 

[05flyer]

Changed the date of a CI reward ticket via QF MMB this afternoon, and have received updated e-ticket with new details. However, my FF number has dropped off the new e-ticket. Tried to add it back via MMB, but it doesn't seem to stick after hitting save. Booking still listed under 'my bookings' though.

Not sure it makes any difference given OW status is meaningless to CI, but thought I'd see if anyone's experienced similar?

 

[EmBee]

Changed the date of a CI reward ticket via QF MMB this afternoon, and have received updated e-ticket with new details. However, my FF number has dropped off the new e-ticket. Tried to add it back via MMB, but it doesn't seem to stick after hitting save. Booking still listed under 'my bookings' though.

Not sure it makes any difference given OW status is meaningless to CI, but thought I'd see if anyone's experienced similar?

I was able to do something similar yesterday where I got my origin changed from BNE to MEL to get CI J ticket for same day flight. Had to phone to get this done and wasn’t charged the service fee (I don’t think I could do this via QF MMB). My QFF number still appeared on my CI J e-ticket.

 

[Hadun]

Interestingly enough it looks like CI does release last minute J for TPE-MEL at least. Not seeing the same for SYD or BNE.
Currently seeing 4x J each for today, the 2nd, 8th and 15th of this month. 4x is definitely unprecedented especially now that only MEL is getting 2x J per flight <> TPE after BNE/SYD got theirs cutdown to 1x.
Also seeing a couple of Js for MEL-TPE in December even though both SYD/BNE cuts out in late November.

 

[Yoz]

Interestingly enough it looks like CI does release last minute J for TPE-MEL at least. Not seeing the same for SYD or BNE.

Yes, I think earlier this year we booked MEL-TPE (J) and couldn't find return seats. We ended up booking TPE-HKG-MEL (J) flying Cathay, but about 1-2 weeks before leaving there was availability to book direct TPE-MEL (J) flying China Airlines.

I think the CI direct was fewer points, so we might've come out ahead even after rebooking fee.

 

[Hadun]

Yes, I think earlier this year we booked MEL-TPE (J) and couldn't find return seats. We ended up booking TPE-HKG-MEL (J) flying Cathay, but about 1-2 weeks before leaving there was availability to book direct TPE-MEL (J) flying China Airlines.

I think the CI direct was fewer points, so we might've come out ahead even after rebooking fee.

Very lucky then haha.

Just a bit of a shock to see something other than the usual odd 1-2x for international J. And with CI it seems like only MEL is getting the love, is it something to do with the new onwards route to AKL? Hope that doesn't mean these 2x J <> TPE are a temporary promo thing.

 

[Hadun]

Looks like the 4x J releases are still coming through. Now for the MEL>TPE leg as well. Though not sure if flightseats.io is showing phantom results or they're simply getting snapped up too quickly as the QANTAS website itself only shows <2 for MEL>TPE. Previously early and late Oct, at the moment 4-8 Nov dates.

 

[heycam]

Just booked 2 x J MEL-TPE flights for November 2026. Checking the last couple of days, at least 2 x J seats have been available on TPE-MEL flights when they show up on the search, 360 days out.

 

[aspro2]

Just booked 2 x J MEL-TPE flights for November 2026. Checking the last couple of days, at least 2 x J seats have been available on TPE-MEL flights when they show up on the search, 360 days out.

Having been monitoring this for a few weeks, I was about to post a warning about this to the forum, so your post is a good reminder to say: there is fairly regular phantom availability in the initial results from a QF search for TPE-MEL. It'll show as available in the date list, but when you click on the day there'll be no seats in J (other classes ok). This error can persist for up to 24 hours in my experience and can affect both newly released days and earlier days (it's not a case of someone else having snaffled a seat instantly).

2xJ seats appears to be actually available for 3-4 days per week on release (ie, not all days have J availability at release point). Many disappear within a day or two, but not always.

 

[heycam]

Thanks for the warning. I was checking this by clicking on the most recent date available in the strip at the top, and verifying that Business showed up in the flight list in the main part of the page, but I haven't checked a whole week's worth of flights.

Another funny thing is that (today) the front page search field only lets me select up to 2 December 2026, but once on the search results page you can scroll further to see dates up to 360 days ahead. Here it looks like the 9 December 2026 availability is real, but clicking on 10 December (when it works; sometimes the click is ignored), I didn't see availability.

 

[aspro2]

Another funny thing is that (today) the front page search field only lets me select up to 2 December 2026, but once on the search results page you can scroll further to see dates up to 360 days ahead. Here it looks like the 9 December 2026 availability is real, but clicking on 10 December (when it works; sometimes the click is ignored), I didn't see availability.

Yeah, That's "normal". There are always further days released beyond the latest date you can initially search for, and it will show availability for one day more than is actually clickable.

I have a PY booking (sadface) for Dec 2026 and for the first time I'm not being offered a seatmap on the QF site ("Seat selection is not available on this flight."). On the CI app, it says "unable to find any matching booking" which is also unusual. It has definitely been ticketed. On the Royal Jordanian website I can pull up the booking, but no seatmap (gives an error code; not sure if that has been possible in recent times anyway).

Any recent experiences/advice from others here?

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Another funny thing is that (today) the front page search field only lets me select up to 2 December 2026, but once on the search results page you can scroll further to see dates up to 360 days ahead.

I’m guessing, but I think that happens because 2 Dec is the longest date available for QF award seats (353 days), but that other carriers release seats out to about 360 days.