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

[Kangol]

Hi, when I cancel flights on a reward booking. Shouldn't I be getting exactly the same amount of fees I paid for them originally? Has anyone had experience with Qantas not calculating the fees right?

Depends if there is foreign currency involved (likely if it's in this thread) and the exchange rate difference.

 

[exceladdict]

Hi, when I cancel flights on a reward booking. Shouldn't I be getting exactly the same amount of fees I paid for them originally? Has anyone had experience with Qantas not calculating the fees right?

Could it be forex fluctuations?

 

[knightfall88]

Depends if there is foreign currency involved (likely if it's in this thread) and the exchange rate difference.

It involved a multitude of flights but the first flight originates from Australia so I paid in Australian dollars. Would that be impacted by exchange rate differences?

 

[exceladdict]

It involved a multitude of flights but the first flight originates from Australia so I paid in Australian dollars. Would that be impacted by exchange rate differences?

Less likely I guess. Had you made many changes along the way?

 

[Kangol]

It involved a multitude of flights but the first flight originates from Australia so I paid in Australian dollars. Would that be impacted by exchange rate differences?

Depends on what the breakdown of taxes includes.
Generally local taxes such as passenger movement through an airport would be charged in local currency; if you are going through LAX, you would be charged in USD.
Sounds like your "multitude of flights" includes some outside of Australia.

If you gave some detail people could help. The vagueness of the answer is directly related to the vagueness of the question.

 

[ozflier]

I rang QF this morning and some good news was heard.
The lady was Hobart based and told me that call numbers have really gone down.
She thinks that most of the cancellations / rebookings have been done .
Wait time more like 15 minutes this time.
Remember there was a discussion in this forum recently about just training up a new member of their team .
She tells me that the current training time for her position is 8 weeks and after that , nursemaiding needed for another two months.
As always, the agent showed the usual Hobart competence.
best wishes and good health to all.

 

[pottsy]

I rang QF this morning and some good news was heard.
The lady was Hobart based and told me that call numbers have really gone down.
She thinks that most of the cancellations / rebookings have been done .
Wait time more like 15 minutes this time.
Remember there was a discussion in this forum recently about just training up a new member of their team .
She tells me that the current training time for her position is 8 weeks and after that , nursemaiding needed for another two months.
As always, the agent showed the usual Hobart competence.
best wishes and good health to all.

What time did u make the call pls?

 

[ozflier]

What time did u make the call pls?

0915 Sydney time today.

 

[pottsy]

0915 Sydney time today.

Thankyou

 

[GaryLG]

There’s a mass of useful information in this thread. A fair amount of reading is needed, otherwise it will be a matter of just floundering around.

I appreciate that and was trying to avoid floundering too much.

Edit: If you have an aim in mind for your OWA trip (e.g., certain places to visit, or a proposed itinerary) perhaps share what you would like to achieve. That may make it easier for planning advice to be provided for your trip.

That is my aim, I just wanted to clarify a couple of points like the impact of extra flights and start and end point. Thanks.

 

[GaryLG]

I'm not sure i understand the question.
If you are saying you are flying MEL - 1st stage OWA - SIN , then SIN for rest of the OWA finally returning to MEL,
the sectors in the middle SIN_MEL_SIN do NOT count in the final mileage calculation .

Thanks you got it. Time to plan and post a proposed itinerary.

Post automatically merged: Apr 17, 2020

If you are buying a separate ticket from MEL-SIN-MEL, and therefore starting and ending your OWA in SIN, then the MEL-SIN-MEL mileage does not count toward the 35k of the OWA.

The point of itineraries starting elsewhere could be any combination of the following: to save mileage and get better value from the 35k, to save on taxes/cash component, because you wish to return to your home port in the middle of the OWA (which is not allowed.)

You can start booking as soon as the first flight is released, if you wish, and then add flights as they become available. Or you can wait until several -- or all -- have been released. Your strategy will depend on how flexible you're prepared to be on the routes/dates/airlines. If you want specific flights/dates/airlines then you'll need to jump on those quickly. If you're more flexible, you may choose to wait and book the first leg all at once. When you start booking, you don't have to specify this is a OWA.

Thanks for that.

 

[vetrade]

Knightfall88, each airline charges taxes in their home country's currency. For QF flights it will be $AUD; for BA flights it will be GBP, for AY it will be Euro etc. When you are booking a OWA with QF, all those OS airline flight taxes are converted to AUD by QF at the various exchange rates applicable at that time. QF then charges you in AUD for the aggregate of all the taxes which apply to the flights you have booked up till then.

If you change or add flights to your itinerary, QF recalculates the taxes for every one of your flights (not just the changed or added flights) at the exchange rates prevailing on that day. Depending on how the exchange rates have moved your total taxes could end up being more or less in AUD than they were previously.

 

[k_sheep]

Well we're all grounded now but we can dream right? I'm still optimistic for my trip next year ... this is my current iteration ....

bne-syd-scl-eze-gru-cmn-zrh-ktt-hel-kef-phl-yyz-yvr-nrt-bne

BNE-SYD-SCL-EZE stop (QF, QF ... urggh) departing January 2021 ... yes I'm optimistic ...
- This one is to pick up cruise to Antarctica. Problem is the SCL-EZE leg; assume LATAM exit will mean this one will have to be surface sector

EZE-GRU-CMN-ZRH stop (QR, AT, AT)
- Taking advantage of the Qatar fifth freedom route here.
- Can't search from CMN on QF website currently so no idea what the availability is like. Funny because a lot of AT routes do show up.
- No actual plans for ZRH. I'll think of something!

ZRH-KTT stop (AY)
- Time for a week of skiing with the optimistic hope of seeing Aurora borealis
- At this point, looking at grabbing a flight home for the next few months - get some work done, come back in Summer!

KTT-HEL-KEF stop (AY, AY)
- Never been to Iceland, absolute bucket list place.

KEF-PHL-YYZ stop (AY, AA)
- Visiting some friends
- Unsure what the availability on KEF-PHL is ... imagine that's a hotly contested route.

Then home! In my head I was going to get the train across Canada, then stopover in Japan on the way home, but writing this has made me realise I've got too many stops. Hmmmmmmmm. Maybe I'll make the ZRH stop <24hrs.

 

[tgh]

SCL >EZE would be an interesting drive..but sadly , in 2021, the penguins are having a human free year….

As for the rest...

 

[Cerveza]

Hi does anyone know how long it takes for points to be deducted from an account?

I booked the first leg of my OWA online and points and taxes were deducted straight away as expected.

Called to book the second long and added that on 04/04/2020, have paid the taxes however no points have been deducted as yet.

Furthermore when they issued the ticket for the second leg, they gave me a new ticket number for the first leg which now matches the second leg. Booking reference is unchanged. I am flying JAL for first two legs.

Are there any alarm bells for me here? Concerned that this will fail once I add on more legs as they havent deducted my points correctly. Planning on adding the third leg today.

Thanks in advance.

 

[flapper]

Hi does anyone know how long it takes for points to be deducted from an account?

I booked the first leg of my OWA online and points and taxes were deducted straight away as expected.

Called to book the second long and added that on 04/04/2020, have paid the taxes however no points have been deducted as yet.

Furthermore when they issued the ticket for the second leg, they gave me a new ticket number for the first leg which now matches the second leg. Booking reference is unchanged. I am flying JAL for first two legs.

Are there any alarm bells for me here? Concerned that this will fail once I add on more legs as they havent deducted my points correctly. Planning on adding the third leg today.

Thanks in advance.

They will recalculate the points after you add each flight. I have had the situation where they didn't deduct the extra points and never had any problem adding further flights.

 

[Cerveza]

They will recalculate the points after you add each flight. I have had the situation where they didn't deduct the extra points and never had any problem adding further flights.

Ok thanks mate. I just added the third leg on and they didnt say anything so must be all good.

Does anyone know if I need to push Qantas if I can see the third leg on my booking but no ticket number has been sent to me as yet?

 

[DC3]

So I still havent received an updated ticket following my recent call at 1:30pm to add on an extra flight to my itinerary. Only 2 flights at the moment and Japan Airways for both. Lady on the phone said it could take 24-48 hours. Do I need to call back to try and have the ticket forded to be issued .....

.... Does anyone know if I need to push Qantas if I can see the third leg on my booking but no ticket number has been sent to me as yet?

So, how long did it take for QF to re-issue your eticket for the 2nd flight booking (on 4th April)?

MMB doesn’t really count for much. It’s the eticket that confirms the booking.

.... when they issued the ticket for the second leg, they gave me a new ticket number for the first leg which now matches the second leg ....

Each subsequent eticket will have a new ticket number, because the ticket is reissued after each change (i.e., the old ticket is now cancelled).

Edit: Post 8,861, from 4th April:

I never wait more than 30 minutes for the updated e-ticket before calling back. Without the new e-ticket, what do you have?

 

[Cerveza]

So, how long did it take for QF to re-issue your eticket for the 2nd flight booking (on 4th April)?

Instant after I called them to push it through following your previous advice.

MMB doesn’t really count for much. It’s the eticket that confirms the booking.

Noted, thanks will know for next time.

Each subsequent eticket will have a new ticket number, because the ticket is reissued after each change (i.e., the old ticket is now cancelled).

Thanks I called them again yesterday and got through to the SA office. Had to force them to do something about the ticket and they spoke with a ticketing officer and was assured they would action within an hour. 20 minutes later I received an updated e-ticket with all flights and looks like my points have now been deducted correctly as well so I'm a happy man.

Noted that I've spoken with 2 local Qantas agents now over the phone who refused to push the tickets through and assured me that it was an automated process. However it looks like unless I forced the issue nothing was going to happy. Both seemed to understand the OWA product as well.

 

[blu]

I guess that is because I hadn't thought those flights being booked separately would count for the mileage.

Gary, if you are still following.
There is an excellent summary in the Wiki, see section 14.5 . If you do not breach any of these rules, your award wil lock in as a OWA.

Qantas Oneworld Award Planning (wiki content) - Australian Frequent Flyer

The Qantas oneworld Classic Flight Reward is a Qantas Frequent Flyer redemption for a distance-based ticket up to a maximum of 35,000 miles of travel,

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Here is an itinerary for 34,984 miles (Qantas figure may differ slightly):
Singapore-London-Brisbane-San Francisco- Brisbane (+ notional/equivalent miles back to Singapore).
You would need to make additional arrangements outside of the OWA itinerary to get to Singapore to start the OWA and to commute between Brisbane and Melbourne.