"oneworld" award (132.4K/249.6K/318K/455K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

[ozflier]

I am working up a J owa and am coming up with issues with Cairo as a departure point but not as a destination.
I can book, on the QFF engine , HKG to CAI but cannot do it the other way!!
I am able to travel on BA lhr-cai but not in reverse - its not that there are no reward flights available ( which i understand) but the site does not let me even make the request for a flight .
I rang an Agent and was told some story that there were restrictions on flights out of Cairo.
Before I ring back and try again, has anyone had this problem before and hopefully found a resolution?

 

[Jacques Vert]

This is common to a number of cities, e.g., DOH, CMB, LIM....

If you use the multi-city tool, you can depart from CAI for all flights except flight 1.

If it is the first flight in your itinerary, you'll need to call to book; but find the flight you want with availability first, give the agent the details (flight number, date, etc).

BTW, only destinations departing CAI on Oneworld at present are AMM & LHR.

 

[jfl]

It's been impossible to get a hold of Qantas all morning! First 2 hour wait for the phone only for the staff member to say that our booking was not allowed, then to the front of the queue on livechat for it to boot me off, now Facebook Messenger but it's taken 40 minutes just for someone to ask my name.

Hopeless...

 

[ozflier]

This is common to a number of cities, e.g., DOH, CMB, LIM....

If you use the multi-city tool, you can depart from CAI for all flights except flight 1.

If it is the first flight in your itinerary, you'll need to call to book; but find the flight you want with availability first, give the agent the details (flight number, date, etc).

BTW, only destinations departing CAI on Oneworld at present are AMM & LHR.

Ta for that - i have booked the first sectors now so will try.

 

[ozflier]

It's been impossible to get a hold of Qantas all morning! First 2 hour wait for the phone only for the staff member to say that our booking was not allowed, then to the front of the queue on livechat for it to boot me off, now Facebook Messenger but it's taken 40 minutes just for someone to ask my name.

Hopeless...

I rang round 1020 this am and got the elite desk in round 20 minutes but maybe I was lucky.

 

[jfl]

I rang round 1020 this am and got the elite desk in round 20 minutes but maybe I was lucky.

Ah I've been going througn the bronze line, hence the wait. I finally ended up booking MXP-DOH-SIN QR through Facebook messenger, however it was about 15 minutes between messages.

They didn't seem to know much about OW award and kept trying to charge 350,000 points per pax, but after much persistence I got it booked for 280,000 each.

 

[Lomandriel]

Hi all. New member to the site as I've been directed this way for some time everytime I asked the one world reward redemption questions.

We are trying to book our first one world RTW trip to Scandinavia from over western australia way. We are going solo as the mrs reckons we can find flights ourselves for feb-march 2020... any tips? There are an abundance of people saying to use agents and that it takes months of planning but surely a night or two one should be able to search up what flights are available on the qantas flight booker page can you not? Some mention using other airlines and signing up to their frequent flyers to see flights but is this really necessary? is there one or two key methods for a newbie such as myself to start planning what flights are available and out there, as we've just been recording down what qantas shows up with on their flight booker.

Also - given this is for two of us (honeymoon) - is it best one of us transfers points to the other, say the 280k points? Or is it just as easy/safe to book in each of our QFF accounts the same tickets? I mean the chances of selling out within the same period of bookings on one leg? Or do qantas restrict some seats so if we book two business under one account it will work, if you book 1 then they may restrict or take the remaining seat off availability to keep for full paying members?

Also, the wife kept her maiden name so is there issues with one of us booking both flights under the other /transferring points to one person to do both bookings? Given we don't share the same last name? or is it just like any other "flight" you would pay and book for in economy for two or more persons?

Glad to be here! Any other quick tips or directions to help us plan would be great! We do find some legs of the trip frustrating as there is nothing available . Would be great if there was a tool which showed all possible routes ....after all you don't know what you don't know (if that makes sense) in terms of checking for business class availability...

 

[JohnM]

From PER, I'd say forget QF and concentrate on QR or CX. J Award availability on QF is notoriously very rare. Note that QF redemptions on EK are not possible on a OW Award.

Note that you do not have to go RTW on a OW Award. It is distance-limited (35K miles) and has stopover and number of carrier restrictions that I don't believe are onerous.

I'm not clear on what you mean by 'going solo'. It seems to mean organising the flights yourself. Apart from Award Assist, available on AFF, I'm not aware of agents that will book award itineraries for you.

You seem very optimistic. That's great, but optimism is no substitute for effort in the business of getting award seats in premium cabins. You need to check the Wiki to see how many days ahead seats are released for different airlines.

It very likely will take months of planning if you plan to be away for a lengthy period. You will need to book the outbound flights as soon as they become available and then add others as they become available. Waiting until the window for booking the whole itinerary is open will almost certainly mean the earlier award seats are gone.

The 'chances of selling out' quickly in premium cabins are very high! Be prepared to pounce as soon as you see what you want. It may not be there in 5 minutes.

I would think it best to transfer points to one of you and book as two pax on the one booking. I reckon to do it separately would be a the makings of a nightmare.

The golden rules: plan well ahead; be flexible. Disappointment will very likely ensue if you don't follow those rules.

I hope that helps some. There are plenty of others much more experienced on the OW Awards.

 

[Lomandriel]

'm not clear on what you mean by 'going solo'. It seems to mean organising the flights yourself. Apart from Award Assist, available on AFF, I'm not aware of agents that will book award itineraries for you.

Correct - what I meant was organising and booking flights oneself through qantas multi city flight booker to get the 280k points oneworld aware ticket.

You mentioned to focus on QR? Is this Qatar? Sorry I am not aware of the lingo.

Regarding the RTW I do note we don't have to necessarily RTW and end up back in Perth, however, figured in the end we would be wanting to ride all throughout on the one ticket without booking our own flights. That said we are new to all this so we would probably be oblivious if we booked from Perth all the way back to Perth and paid more in extra taxes to get back here than paying for our own flight from finishing up somewhere internationally (to get back to Perth).

Actually I was the pessimistic one always hearing about months of planning and "dont do it yourself, use agents" , and how it was a big hassle, very sophisticated etc. The mrs is more optimistic in 'lets find a business class flight' and book it... I think she is ignoring aircraft types e.g. if it's a free business, then so be it, and largely just trying to find an option that works. That said maybe it is a less busy time, but I have managed to run some example Scandinavia and there seems to be a few options... however one or two legs require british airways which many guides say to avoid? I am not sure if using these will dramatically increase our taxes and fees (particularly as it is for a quick 2-3 hr flight via a stop over)?

I do note you mentioned the "Wiki", excuse the ignorance but are you referring to this thread?

Hardest legs appear to be getting from Copenhagen to Switzerland, and eventually Switz back to Hong Kong as the HK to Perth flights are generally available on Cathay. All other options or routes wouldn't work to get us to HK bar going through Switzerland, and there are some fixed dates in there as other days are out.

Another odd one being I can find a Stockholm via London stopover to Reykjavik (Iceland) flight on British Airways, yet can't search up Iceland back to Oslo Norway.... the origin box shows nothing for Iceland??

Taken on board your feedback on booking as one rather than two pax. Is this solely an issue for if flights need changing down track? If we have no issues booking at the same time the same flights is there any other reason to pool points under one person and book?

As for an example itinerary, for now this is what I have found:

PER-HK-OSAKA, OSAKA-HELSINKI-STOCKHOLM-Reykjavik (cant find flight back out of Reykjavik as an option).

Then somehow after Reykjavik is getting back to Oslo - (via Helsinki) Copenhagen - (via London) Zurich - Hong Kong - Perth.

Apologies as I don't know the city acronyms .Most are Cathay or Finnair apart from Stockholm to Iceland (via London ) on British airways, and again British airways in order to get from Copenhagen to Zurich via London...

Is there a rough 'guide' as to what is a reasonable total taxes and duties to pay per person for this sort of itinerary on business class redemption on oneworld aware?

Would anyone have any other suggestions? Most of each city in Scandinavia we've set aside mostly 4-5 days, bar Finland which has a good 8 or so days, but presumably mrs left this as this would need 3 or 4 days in Lapland to hopefully sight the northern lights.

I am abit uncertain on the 4-5 days per one city per Scandinavian country, but with 5 weeks or so to spare (about circa 35-38 total days when you include weekends) that I have to take time off work, i can only dedicate so much. It would be great to see those ski resorts you see in fb videos with beautiful mountains up the background of the huge town of lights... however I presume most of the countries you need more than 4 or 5 days to cover a ski resort for 2 days plus see the capital city? Happy to take any suggestions if one country in particular will be most convenient to detour to the slopes, in which case we could try and shift an extra 2 or 3 days... after all going all the way to Scandinavia and not touching one snowboard would be very regretful. That said it is very hard to cover all the Scandinavian countries otherwise.

 

[Lomandriel]

Sorry on an aside note would transferring points for the very first time to the mrs (with her maiden surname / no same name) take more than a day or two? If it will take say a week or two first time around then in the interest of time i would wonder if we redeem our one world awards in our own seperate accounts.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Transfer of points should be instantaneous, just do it.

If you have separate bookings, you may not get to sit together; but more importantly, one of you may get offloaded while the other continues on.

You want to be on the same PNR.

 

[Kiwifruit]

Fortunately, you are travelling outside of peak season and have a bit of time up your sleeve which makes the hunt for award seats a bit easier.

With regards visiting Reykjavik (KEF) your options are limited as only British Airways (BA) and Finnair (AY) fly there at the time you are travelling but if you use AY you would be burning a lot of mileage to get between KEF and Oslo (OSL) so BA is again the obvious option. To search for KEF to OSL use the multicity search option on the Qantas website i.e. Leg 1 Stockholm ARN-KEF; Leg 2 KEF-OSL and it should show availability.

I wouldn't be too worried about flying BA as you are only using them for short haul sectors and it's on the business class long haul sectors that they really slug you with taxes and surcharges. In any event you have little option other than to fly BA if you want to visit Iceland.

You should definitely transfer points between yourselves so that you can be on the same booking (PNR) as this simplifies things with regards 1. getting seats together (BA for instance do not allow you to choose seats in business class unless you pay); 2.making sure you both get reaccomodated on the same flight in the event one of your flights gets cancelled; 3. Ease of booking two seats at a time rather than trying to juggle two bookings and risking availability for the second person not being there or even disappearing between bookings.

A couple of other things I would comment on with regards your proposed itinerary is that you are spending a lot of time in Northern Europe in the middle of their winter. Obviously the weather is very cold at that time but more importantly the daylight hours are very short. I spent some time in the Artic circle in February and it was only light for four hours each day. The further south you go the daylight hours increase but days are still short and this really limits your ability to see and do things.

You should never plan a trip around seeing the Northern Lights but rather treat it as a bonus if they do eventuate as they can never be guaranteed. I spent 6 nights in the Artic circle but never got to see them as skies were overcast. Also you don't necessarily have to venture to Lapland to see them as you are just as likely to see them in Iceland at that time of the year.

The last thing I would say is to maybe be more creative to maximize the value that you are getting from your award. This is very much a personal thing as I'm a bit of an aviation geek and love experiencing new airlines and airports and this may not apply to you. For instance on your itinerary I would probably try and fit in a couple of legs on Qatar Airways (QR) which is widely regarded as the bench mark for business class travel and you could even try and sneak in a one night layover to see a bit of Doha and thaw out as any transit of less than 24 hours doesn't count as a stopover. In your itinerary you could fly between Hong Kong (HKG), Tokyo (NRT) or Osaka (KIX) and Europe via Doha (DOH) or vice versa which would allow you to sample QR.

I have booked a couple of 280 K awards in recent times and although challenging it can be great fun and my advice is to try and research availability yourself online as far as possible taking notes of dates and flight numbers etc but then book it over the phone with Qantas on 131313 as there are sometimes instances where they find availability you can't see online.

Good Luck

 

[JohnM]

When I said that you don't need to travel RTW, I meant literally going in one direction all the way around the globe. The 'RTW' is taken to mean that and it is a specific requirement of airline alliance 'RTW' fares (eg. the XONEx OneWorld Explorer (paid for with money) fares: Global Travel | oneworld).

There have been many instances on this thread (OneWorld Award - ie. paid for with points) where people have either actually or seemingly mixed up the two. "RTW' is convenient shorthand for the OneWorld Explorer; it is misleading shorthand for the OneWorld Award. It could result in people 'forcing' themsleves to circumnavigate the globe and using up miles in the distance allowance when they don't need to.

World airport and airline codes: The Airline Codes Website

QR is generally recognised as having the best Business Class in the sky in their Qsuite-fitted aircraft (Global Travel | oneworld), hence the suggestion to look for availability on QR. Qsuites are still fairly new, so you need to check closely to see where they are offered. I don't think any of their A380s yet have them, but some B777s and A350s do.

Sorry about the bum steer on the Wiki. It did reside at the top of this thread until the recent system changes, but I had forgotten it has now gone. See post #1 for a link to the information from the wiki.

 

[Lomandriel]

Transfer of points should be instantaneous, just do it.

If you have separate bookings, you may not get to sit together; but more importantly, one of you may get offloaded while the other continues on.

You want to be on the same PNR.

Good point! Silly question but I presume the system allows you to book the 280k points oneworld award for two persons simply by selecting just two seats instead of one? It will then just automatically charge 560k points? As presumably others book for their whole family at times?

It is good being out of peak season in order to get flights.. but I wonder if we will regret going at such a cold time given the lack of light… the idea was perhaps snow and hitting up the slopes, but alas I am not sure how feasible it will be getting to a ski resort from any of the Scandinavian capitals – I haven’t had the time to research or link what is the ‘goto’ ski resorts there, but assumedly 5 days in each country won’t allow much more than the capital city and one or two side cities outside , let alone a trip to the ski slopes?

I had no idea the daylight was so low… I am happy with it being dark to explore, provided is there lighting to suit? Or do all the city’s attractions and venues open later and close earlier with the lack of light? If it doesn’t affect operating hours for tourists and merely just the light then I guess we will put up with it in order to get flights outside of peak. It also suits our working lives for getting 5 weeks off… very hard otherwise (short 2 or 3 week holidays we would pick better seasons otherwise).


Thanks for the Reykjavik (KEF) option. I will try the multi city at home tonight to see if it works for KEF-OSL using multi city. I was only using one way and you could not find an ‘origin’ being KEF. Ok, so I won’t necessarily avoid BA then if a few hours short haul flights are not an excessive slugfest of charges. After all if it was a 1 or 2 hr internal Scandinavian flight on BA business during normal daylight hours (no redeye) and it slugged you a couple of hundred bucks each I would be inclined to stay economy.

As mentioned above have taken aboard the advice and will get the mrs to transfer points to myself today and book on the one PNR. We did not think of the offloading… let alone in flight cancellations we would have thought we’d all get rebooked on the same flight but you are right, perhaps different itineraries they will overlook the common sense. I did not know British Airway did not allow seat choice in business (one of her arguments was we could pick our seats individually anyway), so thanks for that!

Going back to the low daylight hours and artic circle, how did you make full use as a tourist with the lighting issue? IF you keep an open mind and don’t mind the dark or the cold, is there still plenty of touristy things to see and do? Otherwise if the ability to see really hinders sightseeing and to do’s, how do you suggest one spend their time? Perhaps there are night activities to suggest e.g. thermal springs (indoor) that can serve as a good ‘dark hours’ activity?

We figured the typical facebook videos of Lapland/Finland resorts like Kakslauttanen would be the best way for an Australian to see the Northern Lights in a very unique manner (glass roof igloo). True, we probably won’t chase it… but we’ve been advised allowing more time e.g 5 days for the Finland/Lapland would do it. Is there no need during that time of the year to target it? Can you happen to see it in any of the Scandinavian countries and capital cities throughout Feb-March? Or do you need to get out of the cities and light pollution ideally? In which case Iceland/Finland/Lapland are more appropriate than in the middle of Oslo, or Copenhagen etc?

Dog sledding, Snowmobile and Reindeer rides etc. are all on the ‘tourist to dos’, although it would be great to get to a ski resort for two days of snowboarding. The quick few names I pulled up seem hours away from major cities in Scandinavia (given we’re going Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm etc.) so not sure if it is abit too ambitious unless we spend more than 5 days in one of the countries in order to dedicate 1 or 2 days to snowboarding. Probably not a topic for this thread but it will be interesting to find insurance that covers all of these activities as normally these are on the ‘exceptions’ list.

I am not too fussed with trying new airlines or airports tbh. I wouldn’t mind Qatar airways if it offered a route home that was better for times. As mentioned to get back to Perth the only viable business appeared Hong Kong to Perth on Cathay, and the only way to get to HK we found so far was getting to Zurich, Switzerland from Copenhagen, as they have a flight out to HK. However, dates are relatively fixed due to lack of availability. Most of the Qantas flights routing us home go through Abu Dhabi/Doha ,but offer Emirates not Qatar… More than happy to stop through Tokyo on the way back and detour to Hakuba for snow but haven’t found a route to get us back to Perth that way. And currently I think Perth through Osaka to Get to Helsinki is available, but there doesn’t appear to be much more options getting to Scandinavia if we wanted to reverse things and put Japan on the tail end during return?

I think once this big honeymoon is over I would like to book some more 280k awards on shorter trips e.g. Japan and one or two other countries, nothing big. Seem slike good value, and with credit card bonuses these days it isn’t too hard. Regarding your advice to ring Qantas to book, if you come up with flights why would they advise over phone of availability you can’t see online? Is this additional flights not showing online? Or flights not showing with business class redemptions online are actually bookable through the phone? It is a 5000 point fee per person to book over phone, correct?

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Lomandriel]

There have been many instances on this thread (OneWorld Award - ie. paid for with points) where people have either actually or seemingly mixed up the two. "RTW' is convenient shorthand for the OneWorld Explorer; it is misleading shorthand for the OneWorld Award. It could result in people 'forcing' themsleves to circumnavigate the globe and using up miles in the distance allowance when they don't need to.

No worries - i think the best way to refer to this is the OneWorld Award redemption correct? Classic flight Reward or One world classic flight rewards is what confuses me and I assume this is any "normal" points redemption of flights whereas the "oneworld award' better describes the capped points pricing e.g. 280k points to fly business provided you don't exceed the 35,000 miles and other conditions.

No worries with the Wiki - will check it out. Will also try to get Qantas on business, but to be honest given we don't have months to plan, we are just scouting out some flights over a few nights and trying to bed this down (it feels like a big overhang in a stressful sense as we need to go on this honeymoon, leave all booked) would be great. So we may simply go for routes where business is available, than trying to specifically get one airlines for the better cabins. It would be great if this coincides.... but given the amount of time users report spending and the knowledge gathered prior to booking we may risk missing out on flights by the time this is done. Not to mention being Feb-March 2020 we have probably gone well into all the airlines having released flights so first mover advantage is gone?

Looking at the finnair and BA flights is there a general guide on what some of the smaller planes and models offer in terms of business? For example are A330's old school and not very frilled for business? Are finnair and cathay generally completely lie flat beds? BA?

 

[JohnM]

You're getting the drift! Don't worry - we were all befuddled at the start!

If you have 5 weeks, my suggestion would be to think about taking only a (small) portion of that time in the far north of Europe and the rest in the south - or in the US or Asia. Five weeks in the short days and cold may be very limiting and could become tedious. The very short days - just so vastly unlike anything experienced in Australia - can be quite deadening. Be careful that you don't paint yourself into a corner in that regard would be my advice.

Given that airlines release award seats around 360-330 days out (there should be a table in the Wiki), for Feb 2020, you are way inside the optimum zone so you need to move pretty swiftly I would think. High-demand aircraft like long-haul QR Qsuites are very likely gone months ago, but being low season will work to your advantage.

All the airlines will have flat beds on long haul. You will need to check the layout on the relevant airlines' website or Seat Guru.

 

[Kiwifruit]

I have to agree with JohnM, I think you may regret spending five weeks in Scandanavia as even when it is light the weather can be downright gloomy that time of the year.

I had an absolute blast when I was in Norway in the Arctic circle during February and I'm certainly not discouraging you from going there. There's plenty to keep you busy for a few days and while there I went dog sledding, trips on snow mobiles, hiking in snow shoes and floating in the Arctic Ocean wearing an insulated wetsuit such that you looked like the Michelin man. Great memories and a once in a lifetime experience, but six nights was sufficient with the cold, short winter days.

The Nordic capital cities are all very nice with plenty to keep you occupied if you were to spend 4 or 5 days in each but I would probably save them for a future trip when the weather is less severe.

The great thing about the 280 K award is that it gives you the opportunity to combine a whole host of different places in the one trip flying in the comfort of business class. I would look at expanding your horizons beyond just Scandinavia (you have 35,000 miles to play with after all) to create a truly unforgettable honeymoon itinerary. For example, why not also try and fit in a safari in Kenya, Zanzibar beach stay, time in the Caribbean or South America all of which could be fitted in to a 280 K itinerary (subject to availability).

On another note, if you not already aware Scandanavia is one of most expensive regions in the world for travelling and you will certainly get more bang for your buck elsewhere.

Anyways have a play around exploring possible routes and availability and shout out if you need any help.

 

[Lomandriel]

All , just wondering what I am doing wrong? I ‘tested’ the multi city given I had only found business class seats through one way flights… I get to flight 6 of 8 and I run into the following errors (says max 12 flights so why can’t i?)

Please review the following items

The requested cabin class is full or not available in at least one of the options listed below. (5003)
A maximum of 12 segments can be included in your itinerary. Please modify your last availability request or use the Back button to select another flight.
Start again


The 5003 error was there from the very start but I could click through my first 5 flights with no issue. Is this the whole issue that people mention you can’t book longer itineraries through the online multi city? If so what is the best way to book? Others mentioned they’ve “fb chatted” an dbooked it, but is this secure and safe? I mean room for errors when using facebook chat? Seems quite ‘casual’ for a first timer than the official website.

The live chat last time I logged in at 1:40pm at work at queue 48 and wasn’t served until 4:45pm…. At which time I noticed it at 4:56pm and was kicked out already. So this seems like a long way to book… again my worry is room for error? Or do you get a complete itinerary to review and cooling off period incase of any noticed erros with booking?


1Perth to Osaka (Kansai) [1 stop via Hong Kong]
Departs
23:55
Arrives
15:00 Fri
Flight Duration
14h 05m
Flights QF8237, JL7052 are operated by Cathay Pacific
BUSINESS

2.
Osaka (Kansai) to Helsinki
Departs
11:45
Arrives
15:00
Flight Duration
10h 15m
Flight AY78 is operated by Finnair
BUSINESS

3
Helsinki to Stockholm (Arlanda)
Departs
10:40
Arrives
10:40
Flight Duration
1h 00m
Flight AY805 is operated by Finnair
BUSINESS

4
Stockholm (Arlanda) to Reykjavik (Keflavik International) [1 stop via London – this is one of the worst ones as it arrives in 9:45pm to London but the flight out to Iceland is 8:15am the next morning. Is there no way to do this same flight but perhaps have the London to Iceland 2nd leg delayed one or two days later? Might as well see London for the first time if this is possible]
Departs
20:15
Arrives
11:30 Wed
Flight Duration
16h 15m
Flights BA783, BA894 are operated by British Airways
BUSINESS

5
Reykjavik (Keflavik International) to Oslo [1 stop via London again]
Departs
15:15
Arrives
23:00
Flight Duration
6h 45m
Flights BA801, BA770 are operated by British Airways
BUSINESS

6
Oslo to Copenhagen
Tuesday, 10 March 2020

[This is where I can’t pick the business class seats that show up and proceed to the next 3 bookings below].

7
Copenhagen to Zurich

8
Zurich to Hong Kong

9
Hong Kong to Perth

 

[Lomandriel]

I have to agree with JohnM, I think you may regret spending five weeks in Scandanavia as even when it is light the weather can be downright gloomy that time of the year.

The Nordic capital cities are all very nice with plenty to keep you occupied if you were to spend 4 or 5 days in each but I would probably save them for a future trip when the weather is less severe.

The great thing about the 280 K award is that it gives you the opportunity to combine a whole host of different places in the one trip flying in the comfort of business class. I would look at expanding your horizons beyond just Scandinavia (you have 35,000 miles to play with after all) to create a truly unforgettable honeymoon itinerary. For example, why not also try and fit in a safari in Kenya, Zanzibar beach stay, time in the Caribbean or South America all of which could be fitted in to a 280 K itinerary (subject to availability).

On another note, if you not already aware Scandanavia is one of most expensive regions in the world for travelling and you will certainly get more bang for your buck elsewhere.

I’ll run it by the mrs and see what she says… I think we had our heart set on the whole area… after all you’re already there why not do all of it sort of thing? Perhaps if she agrees we only cover part of Scandinavia would other parts of Europe (say Switzerland, spain and the like) be a lot more light friendly in winter in that feb-march period? How about Canada?

I guess our thinking was – we’re already there, and all countries are alongside one another so why not? That said we have no experience of the weather or light so would take heed if most travellers are saying 4 weeks of all the Scandinavian countries would be tiring?

The one reason we figured not mixing hot and cold is needing multiple clothing themes e.g. summer and winter gear. Seemed far easier sticking to the winter cold theme. Bringing snow gear for snowboarding, thermals etc and not worrying about packing the shorts.

Although it does sound concerning with the warnings of spending lengthy times there….and yeah I did hear it is very expensive , one of the more expensive areas. Supposed Canada brings in northern lights too? Wonder if that is too far off the current itinerary to modify.. it just seems like we’d finally found a workable itinerary….

 

[JohnM]

I can't help with this. I've booked plenty of point-to-point award flights using QF points, but I have never booked a full OW Award. I understand the principles involved but there are others who have booked many OW Awards who can hopefully relate their experiences.

The other thing to do is use the Award Flight Assist service offered within AFF. It's under Member Benefits and Services (Award Flight Assist - Frequent Flyer Solutions). I know one member who used it and said it was excellent and saved him a lot of hassle. It may be the way to go for a newbie. Putting together a OW Award is not for the faint-hearted.