One world award flight Melb to London to New York, Melb Sept 2013 4 passengers

[aikman]

There’s very little variation, if any, in the fuel surcharges QF/CX/AA/BA charge for the same routes. I recommend you choose the airline which suits your schedule and which has seats available.

You have to pay a fee of 6,000 points per passenger to book over the phone. You cannot use points to pay the taxes.

 

[Pierre10]

There’s very little variation, if any, in the fuel surcharges QF/CX/AA/BA charge for the same routes. I recommend you choose the airline which suits your schedule and which has seats available.

You have to pay a fee of 6,000 points per passenger to book over the phone. You cannot use points to pay the taxes.

Thanks again aikman for answering my questions.

Ok so the fact all the airlines seem about the same in charges, makes it easier for me just to choose based on the airlines that suit our schedule. I've flown with all these multiple times, and all pretty much the same although I would put CX notch above the others. You didn't happen to find out the taxes and fees going this way? It seems like an awlful lot of points to use up, and then to still have to pay $6k over and above on the taxes & surcharges. I' m feeling I should get a quote not using points for this trip and see what the difference is. My gut feel tells me the extra I'd have to fork out for paid tickets is not that much. There are so many deals around ATM that advertise prices that include all taxes & charges, that makes me feel the premium over the using points option is not that huge. Does anybody else feel like this when booking overseas awards. The numerous awards flights we have taken domestically always seem better value use of points, basically just paying for accomodation as the other significant expense of a family holiday.

 

[DAC1]

Thanks again aikman for answering my questions.

Ok so the fact all the airlines seem about the same in charges, makes it easier for me just to choose based on the airlines that suit our schedule. I've flown with all these multiple times, and all pretty much the same although I would put CX notch above the others. You didn't happen to find out the taxes and fees going this way? It seems like an awlful lot of points to use up, and then to still have to pay $6k over and above on the taxes & surcharges. I' m feeling I should get a quote not using points for this trip and see what the difference is. My gut feel tells me the extra I'd have to fork out for paid tickets is not that much. There are so many deals around ATM that advertise prices that include all taxes & charges, that makes me feel the premium over the using points option is not that huge. Does anybody else feel like this when booking overseas awards. The numerous awards flights we have taken domestically always seem better value use of points, basically just paying for accomodation as the other significant expense of a family holiday.

Personally yes. I find QF economy awards to offer very ordinary value. They are far better for any seat awards in business (JASAs) and points upgrades to a higher class. Shop around a little, very likely that you could get a decent RTW fare for about $2500 each, yeah it's a little more but save some points and use them for domestic holidays and treat the family to a business fare in Australia which I find in terms of how much value you get out of your points to be far better.

 

[DAC1]

There you go, just did a quick quote on Qantas for the dates and routes your looking at, $2337 per person including taxes and you don't have to go through LHR to go JFK-MEL (more conventional route of JFK-xSYD-MEL). I know it's $3000 more but that $3000 could easily be made up in better value redemptions of points. If you're more interested a member here wrote a detailed analysis of different redemption methods and the value you get out of each (basically how much a frequent flyer point is worth). If you're interested in learning more and finding better ways to use your points it could make for good reading.

 

[Pierre10]

There you go, just did a quick quote on Qantas for the dates and routes your looking at, $2337 per person including taxes and you don't have to go through LHR to go JFK-MEL (more conventional route of JFK-xSYD-MEL). I know it's $3000 more but that $3000 could easily be made up in better value redemptions of points. If you're more interested a member here wrote a detailed analysis of different redemption methods and the value you get out of each (basically how much a frequent flyer point is worth). If you're interested in learning more and finding better ways to use your points it could make for good reading.

thanks rabbit5, mmm, so I guess my 560k pionts are worth a little over 3k in this instance. I did a search using "different redemption methods" as the search, and it led me to a number of posts of members pretty much attempting to get better/best value for their points in a variety of scenarios. This is a real black art, the posts make for interesting reading. I tried a couple of other searches, however was not able to find the analysis you reffered to. Is it in the blogs area?

Also, with the QF $2337 fare you mention I presume that attracts full points, would my OW award fair attract the same points for all 4 of us?
I see some people use points for upgrades to J domestically, however I would prefer to do the upgrade to j on a particular leg of an international trip where you really appreciate the difference or premium economy if we wanted to include the kids.

 

[Pierre10]

There you go, just did a quick quote on Qantas for the dates and routes your looking at, $2337 per person including taxes and you don't have to go through LHR to go JFK-MEL (more conventional route of JFK-xSYD-MEL). I know it's $3000 more but that $3000 could easily be made up in better value redemptions of points. If you're more interested a member here wrote a detailed analysis of different redemption methods and the value you get out of each (basically how much a frequent flyer point is worth). If you're interested in learning more and finding better ways to use your points it could make for good reading.

thanks rabbit5, mmm, so I guess my 560k pionts are worth a little over 3k in this instance. I did a search using "different redemption methods" as the search, and it led me to a number of posts of members pretty much attempting to get better/best value for their points in a variety of scenarios. This is a real black art, the posts make for interesting reading. I tried a couple of other searches, however was not able to find the analysis you reffered to. Is it in the blogs area?

Also, with the QF $2337 fare you mention I presume that attracts full points, would my OW award fair attract the same points for all 4 of us?
I see some people use points for upgrades to J domestically, however I would prefer to do the upgrade to j on a particular leg of an international trip where you really appreciate the difference or premium economy if we wanted to include the kids.

 

[coyote25]

Also, with the QF $2337 fare you mention I presume that attracts full points, would my OW award fair attract the same points for all 4 of us?
I see some people use points for upgrades to J domestically, however I would prefer to do the upgrade to j on a particular leg of an international trip where you really appreciate the difference or premium economy if we wanted to include the kids.

Hi Pierre10,

The OW Award does not get any points or status credits. The only bookings that do are Any Seat Award (xASA referenced on this site).

Some paid fares allow for an upgrade using points but it depends of the dare class. Others can help you better since I've never done this as an option but I have used a JASA (business) and a J OW Award both if which are great awards / use of points.

 

[Pierre10]

Hi Pierre10,

The OW Award does not get any points or status credits. The only bookings that do are Any Seat Award (xASA referenced on this site).

Some paid fares allow for an upgrade using points but it depends of the dare class. Others can help you better since I've never done this as an option but I have used a JASA (business) and a J OW Award both if which are great awards / use of points.

Thanks coyote25. Does an Any seat award mean that our family will be split up around the plane, on all or any legs of this trip?

I also searched xASA as you suggested. I'm still not sure what the x is sorry, I'm understanding that JASA is business class, but beyond that, this is doing my head in sorry, reading all the posts in that section. Am I understanding correctly with this?, is it booking business class with points,ie,jASA and getting them at close to economy point levels and you still earn points & SC too on the award flights? As a newbie i'm really confused here. So with jASA award which I understand earns us points &SC, How many points would I use up for the four of us for this round the world trip. I have 620,000 points. I am currently a bronze member if that makes any difference.

Also FWIW, in case it makes a difference in the answers coming back to me, I see plenty of people keen on the business classs awards on domestic in those threads, however for me I would never use points or even pay for domestic business class ticket as they are all relatively short flights, so for me the only attraction of business is only for long haul, europe/usa.

 

[Pierre10]

Thanks coyote25. Does an Any seat award mean that our family will be split up around the plane, on all or any legs of this trip?

I also searched xASA as you suggested. I'm still not sure what the x is sorry, I'm understanding that JASA is business class, but beyond that, this is doing my head in sorry, reading all the posts in that section. Am I understanding correctly with this?, is it booking business class with points,ie,jASA and getting them at close to economy point levels and you still earn points & SC too on the award flights? As a newbie i'm really confused here. So with jASA award which I understand earns us points &SC, How many points would I use up for the four of us for this round the world trip. I have 620,000 points. I am currently a bronze member if that makes any difference.

Also FWIW, in case it makes a difference in the answers coming back to me, I see plenty of people keen on the business classs awards on domestic in those threads, however for me I would never use points or even pay for domestic business class ticket as they are all relatively short flights, so for me the only attraction of business is only for long haul, europe/usa.

Is anyone able to clarify?

 

[DAC1]

Thanks coyote25. Does an Any seat award mean that our family will be split up around the plane, on all or any legs of this trip?

I also searched xASA as you suggested. I'm still not sure what the x is sorry, I'm understanding that JASA is business class, but beyond that, this is doing my head in sorry, reading all the posts in that section. Am I understanding correctly with this?, is it booking business class with points,ie,jASA and getting them at close to economy point levels and you still earn points & SC too on the award flights? As a newbie i'm really confused here. So with jASA award which I understand earns us points &SC, How many points would I use up for the four of us for this round the world trip. I have 620,000 points. I am currently a bronze member if that makes any difference.

Also FWIW, in case it makes a difference in the answers coming back to me, I see plenty of people keen on the business classs awards on domestic in those threads, however for me I would never use points or even pay for domestic business class ticket as they are all relatively short flights, so for me the only attraction of business is only for long haul, europe/usa.

The x means the varying class - YASA is economy, JASA is business and FASA is first. Yeah thats correct, if you book a JASA, you get to earn SC's and points. However, its difficult to get a JASA at this time for close to classic business point levels because most of these fares allocated for classic awards have already been taken up. The bookings open 353 days in advance and as its in September, you will find that most of the well priced for points seats are already sold. A JASA is only really unique to QF services as well so you cant use them on LHR-CDG-JFK.

I just had a look. You won't find any classic business awards or JASA's at close to classic rates for 4 people around the time you are looking as they are all gone. You may be better off putting in a points upgrade request, but these are difficult to get for 4 passengers. In a way, you might be better off saving points. $3000-$4000 more than the taxes you would have to pay to redeem your points in economy gets you 4 fares that earn points and SC's (pending that they are booked in the right class, as deeply discounted fares dont earn points).

 

[DAC1]

There is pretty much no chance of getting business or premium economy from SYD-LHR or JFK-SYD. However, there are 4 business/premium economy seats available on multiple dates on Iberia, AA and BA for CDG-JFK around the dates you are looking. If you want to maybe give the family a treat in Business, you could always purchase SYD-LHR, LHR-CDG and JFK-SYD and then use points on that 8-9 hour leg in the middle. That leg will set you back 260000 points plus taxes. The other 360000 odd points could then be used in a YASA points + pay option for the other legs of the journey which would give points and status credits.

 

[Pierre10]

There is pretty much no chance of getting business or premium economy from SYD-LHR or JFK-SYD. However, there are 4 business/premium economy seats available on multiple dates on Iberia, AA and BA for CDG-JFK around the dates you are looking. If you want to maybe give the family a treat in Business, you could always purchase SYD-LHR, LHR-CDG and JFK-SYD and then use points on that 8-9 hour leg in the middle. That leg will set you back 260000 points plus taxes. The other 360000 odd points could then be used in a YASA points + pay option for the other legs of the journey which would give points and status credits.

Thanks rabbits5. Ok, I understand what you are say re ecomony on the long legs, however I do like your suggestion for doing the CDG-JFK leg in Business for a total of 260k points for the 4 of us. Of the carriers you mentioned, do we get a choice of which one of those we can use?

 

[Pierre10]

The x means the varying class - YASA is economy, JASA is business and FASA is first. Yeah thats correct, if you book a JASA, you get to earn SC's and points. However, its difficult to get a JASA at this time for close to classic business point levels because most of these fares allocated for classic awards have already been taken up. The bookings open 353 days in advance and as its in September, you will find that most of the well priced for points seats are already sold. A JASA is only really unique to QF services as well so you cant use them on LHR-CDG-JFK.

I just had a look. You won't find any classic business awards or JASA's at close to classic rates for 4 people around the time you are looking as they are all gone. You may be better off putting in a points upgrade request, but these are difficult to get for 4 passengers. In a way, you might be better off saving points. $3000-$4000 more than the taxes you would have to pay to redeem your points in economy gets you 4 fares that earn points and SC's (pending that they are booked in the right class, as deeply discounted fares dont earn points).

Thanks rabbits5, the points plus pay for the MEL- LHR, LHR - CDG, then JFK- MEL is this the 360k points plus $3000- $4000 you refer to? And then I have about $6000 in taxes and surcharges on top?
At what point would I know how many points I will soak up and how much over and above the points I was going to pay, when I'm booking the trip over the phone with Qantas? I'll have to keep 24k point to do that BTW. Also by the sounds of it I'm not even going to know how many points or SC I will earn. I presume all 4 family members travel is credited to my FF number.
rabbits5, I really appreciate the help & education you are giving me here. Thanks!

 

[DAC1]

Thanks rabbits5. Ok, I understand what you are say re ecomony on the long legs, however I do like your suggestion for doing the CDG-JFK leg in Business for a total of 260k points for the 4 of us. Of the carriers you mentioned, do we get a choice of which one of those we can use?

Its mainly BA, with some legs on AA. There is availability for 4 people on most days in the first half of October. Note that in most cases, you will have to connect through LHR, as opposed to a direct flight. Some will also depart from Paris Orly and some arrive into New York Newark, rather than CDG and JFK.

 

[DAC1]

Thanks rabbits5, the points plus pay for the MEL- LHR, LHR - CDG, then JFK- MEL is this the 360k points plus $3000- $4000 you refer to? And then I have about $6000 in taxes and surcharges on top?
At what point would I know how many points I will soak up and how much over and above the points I was going to pay, when I'm booking the trip over the phone with Qantas? I'll have to keep 24k point to do that BTW. Also by the sounds of it I'm not even going to know how many points or SC I will earn. I presume all 4 family members travel is credited to my FF number.
rabbits5, I really appreciate the help & education you are giving me here. Thanks!

I just had a quick look and most of the YASAs are quite highly priced. You will have to use the points + pay option for a YASA (NOT the straight out points + pay becuase this offers poor redemption rates). Note that YASAs include all taxes, and earn points and status credits. So there wont be any more taxes on top of these fares, however you may have to contribute a fair bit of your own cash with the points you will have. You can work out how many points you will earn via the earn calculator on the QFF site.

No, you will have to set up an account for each family member so the points go to each of them. QF charges, but if you just sign them up through Woolworths Everyday Rewards then the membership fee is waived.

Have a play around with the calculators on the QFF site. Once you log into QFF, the main landing page gives you a number of options. If you scroll down a little and go to the right hand side, there is a box called flight bookings. Click the award bookings next to it and you will see it gives you some options. Just play with it and see if you can look into some of it. Could possibly teach yourself and save you the 24000 points that would be needed on the phone because what they will tell you on the phone is all there on the site. Try the oneway tool for MEL-LHR and JFK-MEL legs. I dont know if I would use points for LHR-CDG, you could probably buy a cheaper commercial fare outright on some budget European Carrier. Remember, just because there are 4 main flight legs on your trip, you can book each one separately! Its what a lot of us do here!

 

[casanovawa]

If going for the OW 140,000 point awards, which i imagine will get you much better value than buying individual award legs, on the way back from JFK to SYD, could you not choose routes that would take you via HKG or KUL down to SYD back from multiple USA destinations, even Vancouver in Canada or a bit more exotic is to go down to Santiago de Chile and then get the QF flight back to SYD from South America or the LAN flight? Rather than just think QF from LAX or DFW?

You can't use EK as they are not a OW airline, just a partner of QF... To get to Europe you might also think about taking QF SYD-JNB and then up from JNB to LHR... These OW awards give you so many different routing combinations to play with meaning a greater chance of J seats perhaps as well as perhaps a stop over you never thought of (any interest in seeing Machu Picchu or Rio for example)??

What might be even better value, is you keep your QFF points and buy miles from USDM in the next 100% bonus promo and see if you can get an effective business class trip round the world for about $2400 in miles and a couple of hundred in taxes and travel businessclass the whole way??? So Oz to CDG or Brussels etc and do your little Europe trip by train or LCC, then fly to JFK for your second stop, then JFK-OZ....

 

[DAC1]

The exotic options might be okay but the OP does have quite defined travel dates. With teenage children I gather they are I'm school thus limited in travel time and options through South America and Africa may be quite difficult and very stressful for a family of 4. If you had the time great but these options will take far longer than more direct routes. As for the Asian routes availability is quite restricted around these school holidays time ex and to Australia. I've just searched for an award that does route through indirect 'exotic' locations and I can't see much in terms of availability.

The priority here is finding the best use of 620000 points with limited money spent in additional taxes and charges.

The second point is a valid one though. If the OP wants to explore purchasing miles off US Airways, AA or even Avianca they are possibilities but the other trouble is finding 4 seats the whole way. Pierre10 if you're interested, there's quite a few threads here about these USDM, AA buy miles and Avianca promotions. A google search may break it down in more simple terms as well however it may confuse you as well so proceed with caution!

 

[Pierre10]

Its mainly BA, with some legs on AA. There is availability for 4 people on most days in the first half of October. Note that in most cases, you will have to connect through LHR, as opposed to a direct flight. Some will also depart from Paris Orly and some arrive into New York Newark, rather than CDG and JFK.

Ok so does that mean BA from Melb to LHR, and AA to the US and accross it and QF from LAX? , no probs if I have to go from Orly, or into Newark. I'm not sure what you mean when you say I have to connect through LHR as opposed to a direct flight? I'd be flyinging into there from Melb anyway and leaving there to get to Paris would I not?

 

[Pierre10]

I just had a quick look and most of the YASAs are quite highly priced. You will have to use the points + pay option for a YASA (NOT the straight out points + pay becuase this offers poor redemption rates). Note that YASAs include all taxes, and earn points and status credits. So there wont be any more taxes on top of these fares, however you may have to contribute a fair bit of your own cash with the points you will have. You can work out how many points you will earn via the earn calculator on the QFF site.

No, you will have to set up an account for each family member so the points go to each of them. QF charges, but if you just sign them up through Woolworths Everyday Rewards then the membership fee is waived.

Have a play around with the calculators on the QFF site. Once you log into QFF, the main landing page gives you a number of options. If you scroll down a little and go to the right hand side, there is a box called flight bookings. Click the award bookings next to it and you will see it gives you some options. Just play with it and see if you can look into some of it. Could possibly teach yourself and save you the 24000 points that would be needed on the phone because what they will tell you on the phone is all there on the site. Try the oneway tool for MEL-LHR and JFK-MEL legs. I dont know if I would use points for LHR-CDG, you could probably buy a cheaper commercial fare outright on some budget European Carrier. Remember, just because there are 4 main flight legs on your trip, you can book each one separately! Its what a lot of us do here!

I'm confused with part of your first paragraph "You will have to use the points + pay option for a YASA (NOT the straight out points + pay becuase this offers poor redemption rates)." Points+pay, straight out points + pay, what's the difference? I wonder what a fair bit of cash is, sounds expensive?
Ok will do the Woolworths thing. I had thought there was a family option on the Qantas card. My kids are 12 & 15.

I will have a play on the QFF site,This will be interesting!, for someone who has only ever booked all his travel through a travel agent. I take it shows availabilty on each of the legs also? take your point on the LHR,CDG leg, Ryan Air etc And thanks for leg by leg tip, I just thought that would not get as much value for my points that way.

 

[Pierre10]

If going for the OW 140,000 point awards, which i imagine will get you much better value than buying individual award legs, on the way back from JFK to SYD, could you not choose routes that would take you via HKG or KUL down to SYD back from multiple USA destinations, even Vancouver in Canada or a bit more exotic is to go down to Santiago de Chile and then get the QF flight back to SYD from South America or the LAN flight? Rather than just think QF from LAX or DFW?

You can't use EK as they are not a OW airline, just a partner of QF... To get to Europe you might also think about taking QF SYD-JNB and then up from JNB to LHR... These OW awards give you so many different routing combinations to play with meaning a greater chance of J seats perhaps as well as perhaps a stop over you never thought of (any interest in seeing Machu Picchu or Rio for example)??

What might be even better value, is you keep your QFF points and buy miles from USDM in the next 100% bonus promo and see if you can get an effective business class trip round the world for about $2400 in miles and a couple of hundred in taxes and travel businessclass the whole way??? So Oz to CDG or Brussels etc and do your little Europe trip by train or LCC, then fly to JFK for your second stop, then JFK-OZ....

Thanks casanovawa for your tips. Some great destinations!, and if I was by myself with no time constraints having to get back to work etc, I would like to visit some of those places, however on this trip, the less time in the air the better. It's all about getting to the destination in the quickest most direct route. Purpose of this trip is to show the rest of the family who haven't been to London, Paris, some of France and New York, all places I have been to many times.

The last part I will definitely have a look at on the internet, and read up, I have never heard of these.