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

[andye]

Apologies for not going through the whole thread but a question:

If an airline cancels one leg, can you use that leg as a surface sector replacing with a revenue fare
e.g UL cancels MLE-CMB-SIN, could you just buy an SQ MLE-SIN without disrupting the rest?

 

[Mr H]

Apologies for not going through the whole thread but a question:

If an airline cancels one leg, can you use that leg as a surface sector replacing with a revenue fare
e.g UL cancels MLE-CMB-SIN, could you just buy an SQ MLE-SIN without disrupting the rest?

You can but I think it would be prudent to call and have the cancelled flights removed from the itinerary. This would save your whole itinerary being at risk of cancellation. It would also count as one of the permitted five stops unless it backs on to an existing stop.

 

[djkelly69]

Worth noting in case it throws people off track that it is quite possible to transit DOH from non-Australian ports eg SIN/BKK etc

I think it depends on route - I was trying to book MLE-DOH-SIN when I was told it couldn't be done due to through fare rules on QR.

 

[squid01]

About to try and phone up and book my OWA tonight.

The first leg is a rather long one getting from Australia to Europe. It is:
ADL > PER > KUL > HKT > DOH > LHR

ADL>PER is on QF. PER>KUL is on MH. KUL>HKT, HKT>DOH and DOH>LHR are on QR.

When I check in at Adelaide, will my bags be checked all the way to LHR?

No overnight stops or anything, just transit stops.

 

[sudoer]

About to try and phone up and book my OWA tonight.

Why not do it online? If you don't have an existing booking and can see the seats online, you should be able to book it online too using the multi-city tool.

When I check in at Adelaide, will my bags be checked all the way to LHR?

Yes, unless you ask for them to only be tagged to a particular city.

 

[squid01]

Why not do it online? If you don't have an existing booking and can see the seats online, you should be able to book it online too using the multi-city tool.



Yes, unless you ask for them to only be tagged to a particular city.

Had a placeholder flight booked for return home flight. Needing to build on that booking, but actually remove that flight for a different one too. Can’t just cancel as won’t then have enough points to do a new OWA booking until I got the points refunded.

Also, I have a lot more than the six flights Qantas website lets you book at once.

 

[squid01]

On hold now. If the agent doesn’t have a clue as to what a OWCA is, if they plug all the flights into the itinerary and all rules are adhered to then will their system automatically cap it at the points cap? Or does the agent have to do something to enable the itinerary to be a OWCA?

Also, should I not hang up until it all has been ticketed and I have received it via email?

 

[Mr H]

On hold now. If the agent doesn’t have a clue as to what a OWCA is, if they plug all the flights into the itinerary and all rules are adhered to then will their system automatically cap it at the points cap? Or does the agent have to do something to enable the itinerary to be a OWCA?

Also, should I not hang up until it all has been ticketed and I have received it via email?

It will cap out at (presumably) 318000 points. You should try to wait until it is ticketed but you will almost certainly be told to wait 24-48 hours and/or be cut off when you have been on hold a while.

I am finding Check My Trip invaluable in following their machinations in real time.

 

[squid01]

It will cap out at (presumably) 318000 points. You should try to wait until it is ticketed but you will almost certainly be told to wait 24-48 hours and/or be cut off when you have been on hold a while.

I am finding Check My Trip invaluable in following their machinations in real time.

Thanks I’ll look into check my trip.

First operator said she knew what a OWCA was. I told her I needed to amend my existing booking (just one flight on it) by removing that flight and then adding a bunch of others. I gave her all the flights, she said I couldn’t mix cabin classes lol.

She then said the existing booking would need to be cancelled and points would be refunded to me immediately. And she would need to send the new itinery to the “awards team” who wouldn’t be in until 7am tomorrow, so nothing could be booked now.

None of that sounds accurate to me at all, can anyone shed some light? Can I not use my existing booking but remove that one single flight that was on it and add in new flights? Don’t want to do cancel/refund and new booking as without refunded points I wouldn’t have enough to make a brand new OWCA booking.

 

[Mr H]

Thanks I’ll look into check my trip. First operator said she knew what a OWCA was. I told her I needed to amend my existing booking (just one flight on it) by removing that flight and then adding a bunch of others. I gave her all the flights, she said I couldn’t mix cabin classes lol. She then said the existing booking would need to be cancelled and points would be refunded to me immediately. And she would need to send the new itinery to the “awards team” who wouldn’t be in until 7am tomorrow, so nothing could be booked now. None of that sounds accurate to me at all, can anyone shed some light? Can I not use my existing booking but remove that one single flight that was on it and add in new flights? Don’t want to do cancel/refund and new booking as without refunded points I wouldn’t have enough to make a brand new OWCA booking.

The agent was wrong on many counts. Hang up and try again.

 

[squid01]

The agent was wrong on many counts. Hang up and try again.

Yep that’s what I did. On hold again.

 

[FishFood]

The first leg is a rather long one getting from Australia to Europe. It is:
ADL > PER > KUL > HKT > DOH > LHR

I'm also trying a OWA to Europe, and I thought my PER-BNE-SYD-SIN-LHR route was convoluted

 

[ozflier]

I have found QATAR J class award seats not needing stopovers
June 2022 Madrid to Doha ( transit) to Brisbane
September Amman to Doha ( transit) to Brisbane

 

[squid01]

The agent was wrong on many counts. Hang up and try again.

Spoke to another couple of dud agents last night, all of no help.

Early this morning spoke with another who seemed ok, was a very long call and on hold for quite a while while they spoke with the help desk. They linked the flights to me and I could see them in Check My Trip. They came back and said the points cost would be something stupidly high (as in the sum of all individual flights, not capping out). I told him to go back to the help desk and speak to someone who knows about the OWCA. He did and came back and they said they can't do it as you can't ammend an existing booking into a OWCA, it must be a new booking. That is not what I believe to be true at all.

Can the brains trust confirm, my existing booking I am trying to ammend has one flight on it. I am trying to get them to remove that one flight, then add all my other flights and having it cap out at the points cap. Is this scenario doable?

Also please look over my flights and let me know if any issues with the OWCA rules. From my perspective it is all good. Or could there be issues with so many segments on the one day (13/09)? Or too short connection times etc?

Need some help here as to where I may be going wrong.

Thanks

 

[aikman]

Might be easier if you cancel your existing booking and ask for an immediate refund of points?

 

[squid01]

Might be easier if you cancel your existing booking and ask for an immediate refund of points?

I'm thinking I might have to do that, they don't seem to want to ammend an existing booking which seems very odd.

If I ring up and ask them to refund the points immediately will they do that? The last guy I spoke to said timeframe is around 24 hours for points refund. How accurate is that? Just can't have a situation where it ends up taking a week and then all my flights get taken up.

 

[FishFood]

That is a very nice looking spreadsheet, I'll have to construct one of my own

 

[andye]

I'm thinking I might have to do that, they don't seem to want to ammend an existing booking which seems very odd.

If I ring up and ask them to refund the points immediately will they do that? The last guy I spoke to said timeframe is around 24 hours for points refund. How accurate is that? Just can't have a situation where it ends up taking a week and then all my flights get taken up.

Taking a risk that the award availability is still there though as no guarantee cancelled flights will return

I'd put itinerary into the QF website (in Y if needed) to check it fulfils rules then try again

 

[squid01]

Taking a risk that the award availability is still there though as no guarantee cancelled flights will return

The one flight that is actually ticketed (some weeks ago) on this original booking I am trying to ammend, I want removed. So basically I want to use the existing booking but remove the one solo flight that is on that booking, and add a bunch on. So I am not concerned about losing that flight as I want it gone!

 

[levelnine]

Need some help here as to where I may be going wrong.

I don't know the answer to this, but does MEL-ADL at the end of your trip (to return to your starting port) count as a surface sector, therefore putting you over the informal limit of two surface sectors that some people in this thread have said is sometimes (mistakenly) said by QF agents to exist?