Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[bnr032]

I would be more inclined to suggest looking at changing your route so you went to LA from your previous destination (unless you were wanting to be in SFO specifically).
My solution for a similar issue was to change my other flight from calgary to SFO to now land in LA (was on a seperate booking to my main trip). Failing that, if you didnt want to be in LA for that period, and you had a car (or hire car) its not a horrible road trip (on the coast road via Santa Barbara)

 

[flapper]

I think you could see whether there is award availability on flights SFO-LAX and see whether you can get that added top the itinerary provided it doesn't break the OWA rules, but I doubt you would get QF to pay for a free revenue flight for you - and the partner airline will not go out of their way to make it up to you.

There is availabilty, the operator suggested a flight and came back and said it couldn't be done. I even offered to take a Y seat but she said they couldn't do it, as it wasn't operated by QF.

 

[Mr H]

There is availabilty, the operator suggested a flight and came back and said it couldn't be done. I even offered to take a Y seat but she said they couldn't do it, as it wasn't operated by QF.

If you are on a OWA, have fewer than 16 flights, would not be introducing a sixth stopover, and would not be transiting the same city three times then it should be allowed without question. Maybe if you share the full itinerary we might be able to help?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

My flight from SFO to SYD end of Sep has been cancelled. I've been put on a LAX to SYD flight. It isa OWA. I tried to get them to put me on a SFO LAX flight on that ticket but they said they couldn't as it wasn't QF metal. Does anyone know if that is true. In the past when I had a cancellation they requested that a partner airline release a rewards seat. They also said I could get compensation from Qantas Care for the flight I have to purchase. Is that likely the full cost of flight or some percentage?

Possibly they don’t know that Alaska Airlines is oneworld

But as others have said… you can certainly have AS on an itinerary. The only thing is that they code their domestic first class as actually first class, not business, so you’d be right wanting Y can flying Y for that sector.

 

[vetrade]

There is availabilty, the operator suggested a flight and came back and said it couldn't be done. I even offered to take a Y seat but she said they couldn't do it, as it wasn't operated by QF.

What BS. OWAs only exist because you can book award seats on OW airlines other than QF.
Ring back and keep your fingers crossed that you get someone who understands the OW award

 

[djkelly69]

I tried to get them to put me on a SFO LAX flight on that ticket but they said they couldn't as it wasn't QF metal.

Might hazard a guess this was from an off-shore call centre?

 

[flapper]

My flight from SFO to SYD end of Sep has been cancelled. I've been put on a LAX to SYD flight. It isa OWA. I tried to get them to put me on a SFO LAX flight on that ticket but they said they couldn't as it wasn't QF metal. Does anyone know if that is true. In the past when I had a cancellation they requested that a partner airline release a rewards seat. They also said I could get compensation from Qantas Care for the flight I have to purchase. Is that likely the full cost of flight or some percentage?

Thanks for advice. Yes Fiji CC. As NB I haven't been able to get through to HBA or AKL so far this year, that's with many calls. I will call a few more times to see what they can do. Just a bit of difficult when I am at work with the long call wait times. It has happened to me 3 times previously, some years ago of course, with cancelled flights and QF requested that BA open rewards seats on other flights even though none of those cancellations involved BA. Fingers crossed. BTW restart of QF SYD to SFO flights pushed back to end of Oct.
Update: After 2 drop outs I got through to Fiji after 1 hour. She spoke to her support team as I waited for about 20 mins. They will put a request through to AA to release a seat. I suggested 2 flights that would suit. It will take 24-48 hours and she said they will call me back. I won't be counting on the call back though.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for advice. Yes Fiji CC. As NB I haven't been able to get through to HBA or AKL so far this year, that's with many calls. I will call a few more times to see what they can do. Just a bit of difficult when I am at work with the long call wait times. It has happened to me 3 times previously, some years ago of course, with cancelled flights and QF requested that BA open rewards seats on other flights even though none of those cancellations involved BA. Fingers crossed. BTW restart of QF SYD to SFO flights pushed back to end of Oct.
Update: After 2 drop outs I got through to Fiji after 1 hour. She spoke to her support team as I waited for about 20 mins. They will put a request through to AA to release a seat. I suggested 2 flights that would suit. It will take 24-48 hours and she said they will call me back. I won't be counting on the call back though.

There are no alaska airlines seats readily available? They usually have good availability in that route.

 

[vetrade]

.................. In the past when I had a cancellation they requested that a partner airline release a rewards seat. ............

Based on my numerous experiences in talking to the call centre over the past month, my feeling is that when anyone at QF says they will try and get award seats released they are probably blatantly lying. I doubt that they even bother to contact the other airline in the majority of cases. We are struggling to get award seats to MEL (from either DOH or KUL) after a schedule change and I keep getting told QR and MH haven't replied to their emails about releasing seats but when I rang with a solution after finding suitable J awards from KUL to PER, QF wouldn't even release either Y or J seats on any of their own flights from PER to MEL on the day we need them. I know that there are plenty of revenue J seats on every flight so they are not full. QF have put a blanket block on all award seats on many of their domestic routes over a large part of the calendar. That makes it particularly hard to position oneself to get out of, or into, Australia on a OWA if you have to depart or enter via interstate.

Not surprisingly, four days later, the MH KUL - PER award seats I found have gone and despite chasing QF up daily I still can't get an answer as to whether they will release seats on one of their OWN flights. Customer service is dead and buried at Qantas.

P.S. One agent even suggested I would need to call MH myself - she was oblivious to the obvious reaction I would get from MH if I rang them about changing a QF booking.

 

[Guvner]

I'd be inclined to take one for the team and just pay the $ for a rev SFO-LAX flight ($150?) and chance a QF refund (claim). Once the OS call centers start mucking around with an existing OWA I would be very worried. They are useless at it which is why they are evidently giving you misleading info... all too hard for them..someone else's issue.
OWA changes at this point in time could (most probably will) end up costing you more in the long run. They'll either accidently drop sectors, or recalculate your "taxes" incorrectly, or both.

 

[sudoer]

Made some additions to my OWA over the weekend and just received the ticket, it's in a pretty good spot I think, taxes below for reference



Wanted to get people's takes on departing LHR vs LCY for the flight to AMS. We will be staying near Paddington so the Heathrow Express is very easy, and we'll have F check-in/lounge at LHR.. but could easily change to an LCY departure. Thoughts?

 

[Mr H]

Wanted to get people's takes on departing LHR vs LCY for the flight to AMS. We will be staying near Paddington so the Heathrow Express is very easy, and we'll have F check-in/lounge at LHR.. but could easily change to an LCY departure. Thoughts?

LCY has no lounge and no premium services. It is fun to get to by Docklands Light Railway. The BA F Lounge in LHR T5 is nice and worth visiting. The Heathrow Express is expensive and the route is not very pretty but it is convenient. I always picked the Tube because it was cheaper.

 

[levelnine]

We will be staying near Paddington so the Heathrow Express is very easy, and we'll have F check-in/lounge at LHR.. but could easily change to an LCY departure.

Elizabeth Line might also be an option depending on when you are travelling. First part opens next week. Will make Heathrow way more accessible than before.

I'm surprised the taxes are so low given you have two long hauls on Qantas and one LHR departure. My last one had taxes of nearly $2K per person. I guess avoiding QR helps a lot.

 

[Daver6]

Wanted to get people's takes on departing LHR vs LCY for the flight to AMS. We will be staying near Paddington so the Heathrow Express is very easy, and we'll have F check-in/lounge at LHR.. but could easily change to an LCY departure. Thoughts?

I'd be going LCY simply because I haven't before. Done T5 and the BA F lounge. While it's a nice lounge, it's not amazing or special like some others can be. So new/novelty factor would decide it for me.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Wanted to get people's takes on departing LHR vs LCY for the flight to AMS. We will be staying near Paddington so the Heathrow Express is very easy, and we'll have F check-in/lounge at LHR.. but could easily change to an LCY departure. Thoughts?

TfL overground - formerly the Heathrow Connect or something - offers a fast service from Paddington to heathrow for about £9, and you can use contactless payment with an Aussie CC. I used it recently and it was clean and quick. Actually pretty enjoyable. Plenty of space for luggage and not crowded. Would highly recommend.

Pros and cons of LCY... it can be easy to get to depending on where you originate in London. The check-in queues were horrendous a couple of weeks ago when I flew to AMS in the morning at 9am. The economy queue was way long, but so was the business class/OW elite. Took around 30 mins to get through five people in front of me (one was a family of four)... and it wasn't because of covid checking... just they were short staffed (1 desk for premium and two for economy).

Legroom on the E195 was WAY better than the A320 returning to LHR. I'd say the E190 was maybe 31 or 32 inches compared to just 30 on the A320. Even with a middle free on the A320 it wasn't a good flight with the tight legroom and poor service (which is very unusual in Club). However, the E190 will be 2-2, no blocked seat. Even though the flight was on time ex LCY it boarded a little late and the tiny waiting room was jam packed... they simply weren't designed for ~90 pax. In the mix gate staff were circulating taking cabin bags off economy pax... after checking boarding passes to see if you has status. So it was all just a bit uncomfortable.

All things considered if you are in Paddington and take the Tfl overground and use BA F check-in it'll probably be a much nicer experience than LCY.

 

[Guvner]

I've also used LCY once and will avoid it if I have an option. Way too many pax for the design and facilities.

 

[Captain Halliday]

+1 to LCY being a zoo at busy times (which is most of the time.

No lounges and very limited facilities. I don’t think it’s over stating things to call LCY a large regional airport in a big city.

 

[andye]

+1 to LCY being a zoo at busy times (which is most of the time.

No lounges and very limited facilities. I don’t think it’s over stating things to call LCY a large regional airport in a big city.

Good to land in
Ordinary to depart (though sometimes a good option if time-poor)

 

[flapper]

Thanks for advice. Yes Fiji CC. As NB I haven't been able to get through to HBA or AKL so far this year, that's with many calls. I will call a few more times to see what they can do. Just a bit of difficult when I am at work with the long call wait times. It has happened to me 3 times previously, some years ago of course, with cancelled flights and QF requested that BA open rewards seats on other flights even though none of those cancellations involved BA. Fingers crossed. BTW restart of QF SYD to SFO flights pushed back to end of Oct.
Update: After 2 drop outs I got through to Fiji after 1 hour. She spoke to her support team as I waited for about 20 mins. They will put a request through to AA to release a seat. I suggested 2 flights that would suit. It will take 24-48 hours and she said they will call me back. I won't be counting on the call back though.

A further update. A few hours later I was looking at Check My Trip and a SFO-LAX flight was included on my OWA itinerary, it was also showing on QF and AA. I rang QF to get it ticketed. I was told because it is a revenue ticket added to a rewards intinerary they need approval from AA, that could take 2-3 days. I'll keep checking and hoping. If AA refuse I'll try a AS flight, theer aren't any rewards seats showing on QF. If I need to buy a ticket it's not a problem, I'd rather it all on one ticket in case the flight to LAX is cancelled at the last minute (crew shortages not just a QF problem) and I'm stuck in SFO.

 

[DC3]

Unfortunately, what I’ve seen on CMT, MMB and in other airline bookings doesn’t necessarily mean that much until ticketing. I have been able to select seats on AA flights (and QF) where ticketing was still pending. Then, out of the blue, the flights disappeared from the OWA. Reason: no e-ticket was re-issued by QF. Very frustrating.