Is there a Qantas Website tutorial?

[JennyMG]

It's a dumb question I suppose, I've used the Q website both successfully and also unbelievably unsuccessfully. My question is not aimed at the Qantas website people, (I don't guess they really care if know where all the bits and pieces are on their website, as it's so user-unfriendly, and works poorly at the best of times.)
No, my question is for AFF, and other Frequent Flyers who may have come across, or written, or youtubed, or something, a tutorial that explains the complexities of booking on the Qantas website. So many things I spend hours trying to find out myself.
For example, should be an easy question, but it's not...if you're new at it. Do all the partner's flights come up when you go to book a flight, say, to Singapore? It shows only Jetstar and Qantas, I would have thought other airlines in the partnership would fly to singapore. I mustbe doing something wrong.
Things like that. A tutorial would be a good idea to answer some basic questions.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It's a dumb question I suppose, I've used the Q website both successfully and also unbelievably unsuccessfully. My question is not aimed at the Qantas website people, (I don't guess they really care if know where all the bits and pieces are on their website, as it's so user-unfriendly, and works poorly at the best of times.)
No, my question is for AFF, and other Frequent Flyers who may have come across, or written, or youtubed, or something, a tutorial that explains the complexities of booking on the Qantas website. So many things I spend hours trying to find out myself.
For example, should be an easy question, but it's not...if you're new at it. Do all the partner's flights come up when you go to book a flight, say, to Singapore? It shows only Jetstar and Qantas, I would have thought other airlines in the partnership would fly to singapore. I mustbe doing something wrong.
Things like that. A tutorial would be a good idea to answer some basic questions.

I see what you mean. But while a tutorial might tell you that all the available options won't show, it won't fix the problem. Qantas - and other airlines - have carefully designed their website to deliver what they want you to see, and to make you buy what they want you to buy.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

It's a dumb question I suppose, I've used the Q website both successfully and also unbelievably unsuccessfully. My question is not aimed at the Qantas website people, (I don't guess they really care if know where all the bits and pieces are on their website, as it's so user-unfriendly, and works poorly at the best of times.)
No, my question is for AFF, and other Frequent Flyers who may have come across, or written, or youtubed, or something, a tutorial that explains the complexities of booking on the Qantas website. So many things I spend hours trying to find out myself.
For example, should be an easy question, but it's not...if you're new at it. Do all the partner's flights come up when you go to book a flight, say, to Singapore? It shows only Jetstar and Qantas, I would have thought other airlines in the partnership would fly to singapore. I mustbe doing something wrong.
Things like that. A tutorial would be a good idea to answer some basic questions.

I know your question was just an example but if it helps, generally the Qantas site will only show flights operated by other airlines in a couple of circumstances.
First, if they are subject to a code sharing agreement. This essentially means an airline markets a flight operated by another airline. So for example if you search for flights from Perth to Paris, Qantas will show you a lot of flights with QF flight numbers which are actually operated by Emirates. (It will also show you the same flights with EK flight numbers and if you choose these you won't earn many points or any status credits.)
However the same search will also show you QF marketed and operated flights via Singapore and London, then a British Airways flight from Paris to London.
These are shown because Qantas does not operate any of its own flights on those sectors and so it offers flights on partner airlines to extend its network.
Similarly if you search for flights from Perth to Kuala Lumpur it will show you flights with QF to Singapore and then options from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.
These will mostly be Jetstar flights but they will show some Malaysian Airlines flights as well.
It will also show you direct flights from Perth to Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian Airlines but only as award flights you can buy with points.
You won't be able to book those flights on the Qantas website with cash.
Incidentally none of Qantas' partner airlines is based in Singapore so there may not be many flights to show - although both British Airways and Emirates fly from some Australian cities to Singapore. However as Qantas flies these routes itself, it will probably only show you seats on these flights as award seats, not for cash.
The situation is more complex because Qantas has one arrangement with its OneWorld Alliance partners and then a range of other arrangements with non-OneWorld partners. To make it even more complicated it has additional arrangements even with some of its OneWorld partners!
But I am sure if the general picture I have painted is wrong someone will correct me fairly promptly!

 

[tdimdad]

As MEL_Traveller alluded to, it shows what Qantas wants to sell. All about product placement...
If you turn the question around, it becomes "why would Qantas want to show their competitors flights?", especially on routes which they operate themselves. E.g. east coast to HKG is operated by both Qantas and Cathay. Both of them heavily prioritise their own flights on their website - and rightly so.

If you want to see all options, then it'll be better to use Skyscanner, ITA Matrix, Oneworld timetable search, etc. to find out all the options available. From there you can then decide what'd be the best way to book your preferred flights.

 

[JennyMG]

I feel like the point is being missed. I was saying the website is not user friendly, anI can't intuitively find things on it, or even make guesses as to where I might find certain information.
Yes, that flight eg was just an example. Here's another one -
Today,I read an article on Point Hacks. It mentioned Any-Seat Awards. WTH?
What on earth is an Any Seat Award. I have read hours and hours of information on award seats, rewards and examined the website in minute detail and never once have I come across anything about Any Seat Awards.

Frequent Flyer - Member Specials - Flights - Qantas & Jetstar Any Seat Awards

Qantas and Jetstar Any Seat Awards are now even more rewarding.

www.qantas.com

I can see the link on PointHacks, that it's probably under the FFlyer section, but....if one wanted to find out how they work (because I certainly would like to know), then you'd have a very hard time digging up the info.
Its a hopeless website.

My question was, in the OP, IS there a tutorial??

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Short answer: no.
Long answer: you're reading it right now.

 

[oz_mark]

It would be a full time job keeping it up to date.

 

[TheInsider]

Today,I read an article on Point Hacks. It mentioned Any-Seat Awards. WTH?
What on earth is an Any Seat Award. I have read hours and hours of information on award seats, rewards and examined the website in minute detail and never once have I come across anything about Any Seat Awards.

My question was, in the OP, IS there a tutorial??

Any seat award is just points + pay. So search for any seat and pay with cash and points. That's it. I think you're reading too much into things!

 

[esseeeayeenn]

What on earth is an Any Seat Award.

Any seat award is just points + pay.

@TheInsider is quite correct however from memory in ancient times (5 years ago?) any seat awards were points only redemptions which earned points and status credits.
But they are long gone.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I feel like the point is being missed. I was saying the website is not user friendly, anI can't intuitively find things on it, or even make guesses as to where I might find certain information.
Yes, that flight eg was just an example. Here's another one -
Today,I read an article on Point Hacks. It mentioned Any-Seat Awards. WTH?
What on earth is an Any Seat Award. I have read hours and hours of information on award seats, rewards and examined the website in minute detail and never once have I come across anything about Any Seat Awards.

Frequent Flyer - Member Specials - Flights - Qantas & Jetstar Any Seat Awards

Qantas and Jetstar Any Seat Awards are now even more rewarding.

www.qantas.com

I can see the link on PointHacks, that it's probably under the FFlyer section, but....if one wanted to find out how they work (because I certainly would like to know), then you'd have a very hard time digging up the info.
Its a hopeless website.

My question was, in the OP, IS there a tutorial??

'Any seat award' is defined at the bottom of the page you linked....

Qantas & Jetstar Any Seat Awards may be booked for any available seat on any flight with a QF or JQ flight number and may include selected flights on other selected airlines for onwards travel. The points required include surcharges, fees and taxes (except any local airport fees or charges collected at the time of check-in), are variable and are only valid when quoted. There is no fixed relationship between the cash price charged by the airline for a seat and the points required to redeem an Any Seat Award through Qantas Frequent Flyer. Not all special promotional fares are available as Any Seat Awards. Award flights must be booked at least 24 hours before scheduled departure and other advance booking requirements may apply.

Essentially an 'any seat award' is the cash price of a normal ticket which Qantas has converted into points. These almost always represent a terrible use of points as they value each point at around .07 cents each - that's less than 1 cent per point.

In the example they give - Sydney to London return for 218,052 points, this roughly equates to an economy fare of $1500.

You can easily find 'any seat awards' buy using the 'pay with points' option for any fare you find.

But, here's the kicker. Qantas doesn't always apply the .07c per point. Sometimes there can be some real bargain when they value the points much higher. If you are really lucky you can sometimes find an any seat award priced at exactly the same price as a classic award. So for example if SYD-LHR was 126,000 points on a classic award, it will be roughly the same in pay with points. But - you also earn points and status credits.

But these can be really hard to find, for obvious reasons.

Conversely there can be some really bad redemptions - like a million points for a one way business class ticket.

is Qantas actually going to tell you any of this? Of course not. They want you to think that spending 218,000 points for an economy class return ticket is a bargain. When in fact if you knew what you were doing, you'd be flying Emirates business class return for just a few thousand points more.

The bottom line is simple... steer clear of anything Qantas loyalty tries to sell you, other than classic awards (and even those come with ultra high fuel surcharges) and domestic upgrades.

International upgrades = bad value because you are paying a higher priced airfare just to join the lottery of getting an upgrade. Save your money.
points plus pay = a serious under-valuing of your hard-earned points
upgrades on award tickets = terrible value because you are paying almost twice the price of an outright ticket in business class
Qantas cash = poor value because you are losing 5% or so on every dollar you spend
Qantas health, Qantas fitness, Qantas insurance, Qantas 'anything' will usually come at a hefty premium that won't represent the value of the few points you get in return.

Qantas 'anything worthwhile considering' = you'll find it here on AFF.

 

[Matt_01]

As far I am aware most airline booking systems are just carrier skins on a third party system such as Sabre or Amadeus with each carrier using standard configuration or customised changes to return availability based on what the airline wants to display.