Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Captain Halliday]

Hi, Planning my first 280k trip and having the usual trouble getting back to AKL from SFO / LAX in Oct 19. I understanbd American Eagle can be used as it';s an affiliate of AA. Can a flight is operated by Compass Airlines As American Eagle also be used? TiA.

Yes, if it has an AA flight number.

 

[cambriamarsh]

Yes, if it has an AA flight number.

thank you

 

[Henk]

Seeking help with the booking of a 280K (Business Class) OW/QF Award trip:
1 July 2019 SYD-WAW with a short stopover (optional) anywhere in Asia, preferably HKG, BKK, SIN, NTR.
25 September 2019 WAW-SYD via either USA or again Asia.
Should I try to call QF Premium Desk and ask to release a seat for me? Have never done it before but now this would be a handy benefit as a QF Platinum FF. Thanks for any help.

 

[jaseb]

So I've finally ticked over 280k QF points. I don't plan on using the points until mid-late 2020, so I've plenty of time to book and research for the 280K Business Class Oneworld Award fare.
I've read through this thread fairly extensively, and just want to clarify a couple of (hopefully, simple) things before I continue on and try to get my head around married segments and the like!

- I checked the AFF Glossary/Abbreviations thread. Am I correct in saying that the 280K J OWA (280k points, Business Class, Oneworld Award) fare is simple referred to as a "280K OWA" here? Or is it something like dONEx?


- Secondly, I note the fare conditions stipulate:

Up to five free Stopovers are permitted;
Additional Stopovers are not permitted;
Only one Stopover is permitted in any one city in the Itinerary; and
Only two Transfers may be taken at any one city in the Itinerary.
Surface Segments are permitted as part of oneworld Classic Flight Reward Itineraries, but the distance between the disembarkation point and the next embarkation point will be included in the Reward Point zone calculation for that Itinerary.

As a mock example itinerary:
MEL > HKG (stopover 1)
HKG > DOH (layover <24h) > ATH (stopover 2)
ATH > BCN (stopover 3)
surface segment BCN > MAD
MAD > JFK (stopover 4)
JFK > LAX (stopover 5)
LAX > MEL

- If I'm correct, surface segment BCN > MAD does not count towards a stopover, but does count toward the total distance limit (35k miles travelled)?
- Does the final leg (LAX > MEL) count as a stopover?

 

[leer30]

- If I'm correct, surface segment BCN > MAD does not count towards a stopover, but does count toward the total distance limit (35k miles travelled)?
- Does the final leg (LAX > MEL) count as a stopover?

Basically that is all correct. 5 stopovers (LAX would be your last stopover. Melbourne is where you start and end.

You would need to find a HKG xDOH ATH flight, if you want to fly with Qatar all the way (due to married segments). Otherwise you can fly Cathay to Doha (if they fly there) and then Qatar to Athens.

You won't be able to use Doha in the Qantas search. Doha does not show up as a starting point (to the best of knowledge). Would have to call if doing two seperate flights.

 

[Radio8tiv]

As a mock example itinerary:
MEL > HKG (stopover 1)
HKG > DOH (layover <24h) > ATH (stopover 2)
ATH > BCN (stopover 3)
surface segment BCN > MAD
MAD > JFK (stopover 4)
JFK > LAX (stopover 5)
LAX > MEL

- If I'm correct, surface segment BCN > MAD does not count towards a stopover, but does count toward the total distance limit (35k miles travelled)?
- Does the final leg (LAX > MEL) count as a stopover?

Correct, it's not counted as a stopover, but the distance will be calculated and also will count as a segment, you are allowed 16 segments, travel between airports in the same city also count as segments i.e. NRT-HND, LHR-LGW, CDG- ORY so if arriving and departing from a different airport in the same city, this will need to be taken into account

The final leg is not a stopover

 

[jaseb]

Basically that is all correct. 5 stopovers (LAX would be your last stopover. Melbourne is where you start and end.

You would need to find a HKG xDOH ATH flight, if you want to fly with Qatar all the way (due to married segments). Otherwise you can fly Cathay to Doha (if they fly there) and then Qatar to Athens.

You won't be able to use Doha in the Qantas search. Doha does not show up as a starting point (to the best of knowledge). Would have to call if doing two seperate flights.

Correct, it's not counted as a stopover, but the distance will be calculated and also will count as a segment, you are allowed 16 segments, travel between airports in the same city also count as segments i.e. NRT-HND, LHR-LGW, CDG- ORY so if arriving and departing from a different airport in the same city, this will need to be taken into account

The final leg is not a stopover

Fantastic, thankyou both, I did think that was the case - just wanted to be certain before I started throwing together ideas. Apologies for the beginner-esque questions.

 

[JohnM]

Or is it something like dONEx?

Most definitely not a DONEx. DONEx is completely a revenue fare and must be RTW.

 

[jaseb]

Most definitely not a DONEx. DONEx is completely a revenue fare and must be RTW.

Thanks John - I recalled reading something in this thread some weeks ago (and many pages back) where someone had either misreferenced the acronym, or been corrected to use said acronym - for the life of me I can't find the post now!

 

[Kangol]

Thanks John - I recalled reading something in this thread some weeks ago (and many pages back) where someone had either misreferenced the acronym, or been corrected to use said acronym - for the life of me I can't find the post now!

It's done a lot here, people fail to read the wiki. Then stick to their incorrect belief. Wrong but strong.

 

[siri]

If any one after OneWorld Business point awards(280K) for Syd to London, now have 2 extra stop overs, Beijing and Shanghai. Since QF land late at 10 pm you need to stay overnight and get morning BA flight to London.
Best option is via Shanghai since QF land around 6.30 pm and connecting BA flight is at midnight so that its not a bad transit point.
BTW at the moment SYD-SHA-LHR is available on business points.
I have booked 2 tickets, SYD-SHA-LHR, LHR-NY, NY-HK, HK-Toky, Tokyo-Sydney . Starting mid june 2019.

 

[JohnM]

Thanks John - I recalled reading something in this thread some weeks ago (and many pages back) where someone had either misreferenced the acronym, or been corrected to use said acronym - for the life of me I can't find the post now!

I have several times tried to stop people calling the 280K Award a RTW fare, thereby conflating it with a DONEx and causing great confusion .

 

[Danger]

Seeking help with the booking of a 280K (Business Class) OW/QF Award trip:
1 July 2019 SYD-WAW with a short stopover (optional) anywhere in Asia, preferably HKG, BKK, SIN, NTR.
25 September 2019 WAW-SYD via either USA or again Asia.
Should I try to call QF Premium Desk and ask to release a seat for me? Have never done it before but now this would be a handy benefit as a QF Platinum FF. Thanks for any help.

It doesn't hurt to try. Note, though, Qantas can only release seats on QF-operated services so that's only going to get you to Asia or LHR. July is also school holidays.

If you can get a seat from Australia to Asia, don't be afraid of having to go Asia-transit-WAW (i.e. two flights to get to WAW). For example, Asia-DOH-WAW; Asia-LHR-WAW.

 

[Aussiejosh]

Seeking help with the booking of a 280K (Business Class) OW/QF Award trip:
1 July 2019 SYD-WAW with a short stopover (optional) anywhere in Asia, preferably HKG, BKK, SIN, NTR.
25 September 2019 WAW-SYD via either USA or again Asia.
Should I try to call QF Premium Desk and ask to release a seat for me? Have never done it before but now this would be a handy benefit as a QF Platinum FF. Thanks for any help.

Sydney - Kuala Lumpur via Bris, Melb or Perth - Plenty of availability around your dates
Kuala Lumpur - Bangkok - Plenty of availability
Bangkok - Warsaw via Doha - Once again plenty of availability

Warsaw - JFK via London - Same again
JFK - Tokyo - Availabilty after the 30th
Tokyo - Perth - Heaps
Perth - Sydney


A bit of searching of nearby airports and different transit options find plenty of fares. Spend a bit of time on it and you will find it no problems. Took me about 15 mins to get the above.

 

[soh]

I'm SYD based and looking at starting in AKL to allow me to split the trip into 2 over a 12 month period. Plan is as below which comes in under 35k miles (including return to AKL)

AKL-DOH (STOP1)
DOH-LHR (STOP2)
HEL-NRT (STOP3)
HND-MEL (STOP4)
SYD-HKG (STOP5)
HKG-SYD (STOP6??)

Given that I don't need to return to AKL can I just finish in SYD or will this count as a 6th stop? Otherwise could I book the last sector as HKG-SYD-AKL with a long layover in SYD and just pick up my bags and head home?

 

[flyingchicken]

Wondering - has anyone had any experience booking a <24hr layover as part of the 280 OWA but then had delays force them over a 24hr departure time?

Has anyone experienced this first hand? I can't much on it. If you are already part-way through a trip, you've already paid/booked right. So does that throw your whole trip out mid way through your travels?

 

[Captain Halliday]

I'm SYD based and looking at starting in AKL to allow me to split the trip into 2 over a 12 month period. Plan is as below which comes in under 35k miles (including return to AKL)

AKL-DOH (STOP1)
DOH-LHR (STOP2)
HEL-NRT (STOP3)
HND-MEL (STOP4)
SYD-HKG (STOP5)
HKG-SYD (STOP6??)

Given that I don't need to return to AKL can I just finish in SYD or will this count as a 6th stop? Otherwise could I book the last sector as HKG-SYD-AKL with a long layover in SYD and just pick up my bags and head home?

You can end in SYD but you need to include the miles back to AKL and still be under 35,000.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Wondering - has anyone had any experience booking a <24hr layover as part of the 280 OWA but then had delays force them over a 24hr departure time?

Has anyone experienced this first hand? I can't much on it. If you are already part-way through a trip, you've already paid/booked right. So does that throw your whole trip out mid way through your travels?

A delay like that would not impact you; the rules apply to the scheduled flight times, not the actual times.

 

[flyingchicken]

A delay like that would not impact you; the rules apply to the scheduled flight times, not the actual times.

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[wentworthmeister]

My wife and I are in the early stages of planning a 4-5 month trip starting next July using the Qantas OneWorld Award; I've just ticked over 280k points (we'll be going in Economy) and are now starting to look at potential itineraries. I've read through the wiki and a few other key articles about how it works - think I've got my head around it.

We're based in Melbourne and are thinking we'll tackle the UK, Western Europe, USA, Canada and Patagonia on the way home. Possibly in that order but not set in stone - open to suggestions on what would work best with airports and stopovers etc. My initial thoughts were:

MEL-LHR (QF9 via Perth on the Dreamliner)
LHR-FRA(?) (surface sector after 3 weeks in the UK and then backpacking around Western Europe for 2 months. Could be any international airport really - next stop is the USA so open to suggestions)
FRA-JFK (assuming JFK makes the most sense when flying from Europe?)
JFK-SFO/LAX (surface sector after a 2-month USA road trip from east to west via Canada. Would you fly to Chile from SFO or LAX?)
SFO/LAX-SCL (couple of weeks hiking in Patagonia)
SCL-MEL

According to the Great Circle Mapper that's ~30,000 miles and 5 stopovers so all good I think. My biggest unknown at the moment is choosing which airports to fly in/out of. We're very flexible on dates and locations; the flights are mainly to get us across continents and we'll do a few surface sectors via train and car rental. I'm QFF Gold so thankfully we'll have access to lounges - let me know if that should influence my choice of airports in the list above?