One way multi-stop from BNE - LAX and beyond...a real puzzler!

[dom_tyro]

Well, after searching through pages of posts and the QFF website i've hit a brick wall and now believe it's time to ask the experts to solve this puzzler.

My lovely lady and I are planning a 6 week holiday this coming Aug/Sept which includes a visit to the kids and inlaws in the U.S. and looking at so much in-air time spent getting there and around, decided to take a nice leisurely cruise back from LA to NZ and then fly the last leg back to BNE.
I've tried to source a way that I can book an itinerary through QF for all legs of our journey (eg; multi-stops) using points for some flights and cash payment for others but there just doesn't seem to be a way to do this, well, a way that I can see.

So for those that like a challenge, could I please ask for some advise on how to achieve this...if there even is a way, without having to recruit a travel agent? I'll lay out our plans below along with the relevent info i've already discovered and see if you can fill in the gaps. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

1. BNE-SMF 2 Aug (classic award - J) No problem, can book this.
2. SMF-PIT 6 Aug (pay) Can book, just not together with the classic award.
3. PIT-LAX 13 Aug (pay) Can book, just not together with the classic award.
4. LAX-AKL 15 Aug (cruise, sorted)
5. AKL-BNE 6 Sept (pay) Can book, just not together with the classic award.

All dates are flexible (apart from the cruise departure date), all flights bar BNE-SMF are Y/E.

So the questions are:-
:?:Can I book all of these flights together with a mix of points for the BNE-SMF leg and cash for the rest when booking through QF classic awards?

:?:SHOULD I book all of these flights when booking through classic award - is there a better/cheaper option as bookings will be in Y/E or would it be cheaper to book from the US last minute?

:?:In choosing the classic award flight using points to obtain J seating, is this booking guaranteed or is there a possibility of being bumped back to Y for some reason? ( did read the T&C but couldn't see anything about this ) & finally...

:?:Am I asking too much of everybody? Since I'm new here, I don't want to overstep the boundaries and ask for too much. I have looked till my eyeballs started turning back on themselves :shock: and for the life of me cannot see how I can achieve what I'd like to do.

So any advise/help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[eastwest101]

If you call Qantas and get them to do the whole thing over the phone with redemptions and some cash component it would be interesting to see if they charge the booking fees in QFF points per leg or a one-off fee for the entire trip.

I am sure you will have thought of this but maybe book the classic award flights that you can and then price the remaining legs, with this info it may be easier to then see if a travel agent can do the rest.

 

[dom_tyro]

Thanks for replying eastwest and I hope you got through the worst of Yasi up there without too much trouble. My brother lives at Pallerandra and had to hightail it out to Mundingburra to stay dry so I know what you guys had to go through.

I did assume that to go through Qantas I'd be charged per leg as I'd guessed that the booking fee for classic awards would be different to that of a normally priced seat, but a good idea to maybe try through them I guess.

And I have priced the remaining legs through various avenues, albeit my own and not through an agent, just wanted to see if from experiences shared on AFF whether that's the best or worst option.

 

[pshepvic]

:?:Can I book all of these flights together with a mix of points for the BNE-SMF leg and cash for the rest when booking through QF classic awards?

I'm pretty sure that Classic Awards and Paid flights are mutually exclusive when booking online. You have to log in and specifically select Classic Award to use points that way, and can't add paid flights to the same booking. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't see any way to do this.

The only way to use a combination of Points and Payment would be either an ASA (but that requires a minimum number of points for each flight segment) or Points+Pay (which is minimum 5000 points per flight segment, up to 100% points at the same rate as an ASA).

Not sure if the call centre can do a booking that includes some Classic Awards and some paid flights on the same booking...

I recently did a trip via Japan to the US though, which involved 16 flights on 8 separate bookings/PNRs and I had no issues. Only time it may become an issue is if a flight is delayed/cancelled and you're trying to connect to another flight on a different booking.

 

[dom_tyro]

Thanks for the advise pshepvic.
Getting all the flights on the one PNR would'nt be a problem as all bar the 1st US domestic flight will have days between travelling.

I think I might give the call centre a call and see what they say, and if all else fails I can purchase last minute domestic flights when I get over there as travel dates for those can be flexible.

And boy....16 flights on 8 PNR's, all in the one trip!!! Did your feet ever touch the ground? Talk about moving :shock: LOL. I love travelling, but even that many flights on the one trip would bring me to my knees really quick.

 

[MelUser]

If you want a classic award in J over pacific - grab it now. They disappear like hotcakes!

 

[dom_tyro]

Thanks for the heads-up MelUser.

One of the questions I had in my original post was..."In choosing the classic award flight using points to obtain J seating, is this booking guaranteed or is there a possibility of being bumped back to Y for some reason?"

Would you happen to have any idea about this?

 

[docjames]

Thanks for the heads-up MelUser.

One of the questions I had in my original post was..."In choosing the classic award flight using points to obtain J seating, is this booking guaranteed or is there a possibility of being bumped back to Y for some reason?"

Would you happen to have any idea about this?

Guaranteed barring massive logistical disasters (ie. aircraft breakdown/subsitution). As much as any seat in any class is guaranteed.

Pasenger downgrade is not undertaken lightly. I've not heard of a J award pax being downgraded, and it's a pretty rare occurrance in any J fare class.

 

[dom_tyro]

Thanks docjames,
there's one less worry so far.

 

[equus]

Guaranteed barring massive logistical disasters (ie. aircraft breakdown/subsitution). As much as any seat in any class is guaranteed.

Pasenger downgrade is not undertaken lightly. I've not heard of a J award pax being downgraded, and it's a pretty rare occurrance in any J fare class.

And when it becomes necessary, anything could happen, and I don't think they pay any attention to how the passenger ended up in J in the first place.

Was flying SYD-HKG last year, and was successful in the points lottery to get an upgrade to J at the T-24 hour mark.

Then things hit the fan in SYD and the 747 swapping started. The plane scheduled to fly to JNB went tech. QF took the ER (with 66J seats) which had been scheduled to operate to HKG as it had the range for the JNB flight. They then substituted a Kangaroo configured bird with 56J seats for the HKG flight.

All these flights were substantially delayed, and this all happened well after checkin had closed. With the substitution, 10J seats to HKG had disappeared, and most of them were full. Somehow, we retained our seating in J (2 x points upgraded), but some paying customers were bumped down to Y (or possibly Y+), and were not happy. They were given the choice of Y or not being on that flight.

 

[dom_tyro]

Well equus, as long as it's not a frequent issue I'll go for the J and keep fingers crossed.
Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

So the questions are:-

:?:Can I book all of these flights together with a mix of points for the BNE-SMF leg and cash for the rest when booking through QF classic awards?

Might be worth comparing the points cost for BNE/LAX & AKL/BNE rather than using points for all the internal USA flights as well. To purchase sectors within the US can be very cheap & it might pay to hang on to your points & keep them for J class long long redemptions where IMHO you get better value for money/bang for your buck.

:?:SHOULD I book all of these flights when booking through classic award - is there a better/cheaper option as bookings will be in Y/E or would it be cheaper to book from the US last minute?

You could look at a JASA (J Any Seat Award) which will earn you points whereas Classic awards don't. A JASA using the minimum points (but maximum dollars eg $700.00) often equates to the Classic points required. Sometimes you can be lucky particularly ex BNE & score one for 90,000 points, other times they'll be a ridiculous amount like over one million so not even worth considering.

:?:In choosing the classic award flight using points to obtain J seating, is this booking guaranteed or is there a possibility of being bumped back to Y for some reason? ( did read the T&C but couldn't see anything about this ) & finally...

Other AFFers have already answered this one.

:?:Am I asking too much of everybody? Since I'm new here, I don't want to overstep the boundaries and ask for too much. I have looked till my eyeballs started turning back on themselves :shock: and for the life of me cannot see how I can achieve what I'd like to do.

Not asking too much at all. You've done your best to source the answer yourself first & there's nearly always someone out there who has done/is doing what you're doing. Besides sometime in the future you'll be able to help answer someone else's query & help them out.

So any advise/help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

My responses are in blue text

 

[dom_tyro]

Thanks Oz, I really appreciate the help/advice that yourself and others have offered so freely. It's really helped to make a daunting task that much more managable.

And so, weighing up all the options and opinions I have bitten the bullet and grabbed the last J classic award flight available for Jul/Aug (kudos to MelUser for the "grab it quick" tip ) All other flights I'll look at over the next few weeks.

Thanks so much to all that have offered their help. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to pay it back.
Cheers all.
Dom