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

[bookworm]

You can absolutely fly out of the same airport twice. You can even do it three times if one of your visits is a stopover.

Thank you for responding.

I did point this out and kept getting told that the system would not process it.

Another gripe is that many flights (different airlines) showed up as available on my end, but I was told there was no availability. I was told that their system has live updates. This was really frustrating.

 

[Guvner]

My SYD-JNB flight in Sept just got moved back a day. Seems they are dropping the Sunday flights.
It's part of an OWA with QR legs. No new e-ticket yet. I have a bad feeling about this.

So no e-ticket still. Miraculously the QR legs haven't dropped off (yet), just waiting for that to happen and completely screw up the whole OWA.
Rang again this morning, spoke to an agent in SA who sounded like she had Covid or Ebola or something, sniffed and snorted her way through the call.
Apparently my e-ticket request was placed in the "wrong queue" and is now in the "priority queue"...

What a farce.
A cousin of mine (Tim) rowed from Australia to Africa in 57 days. The clock is ticking Qantas.

 

[Jimmy Chen]

It would help to understand better what happened.
Are you saying that you identified the above itinerary online including "u" seats on the QR sectors and then when you rang QFF to actually book , they could not see them.
Its pretty upsetting.
Maybe the issue could be that other airlines award availability is released only a couple times a day and may not be updated immediately when someone from another airline frequent flier program sees those seats, and grabs them earlier than you and that transaction is not reflected at once on the QFF site- this has happened to me or at least that was the explanation given to me by Qantas.
I haven't heard of Qatar unilaterally cancelling a passenger's flights once they have been properly ticketed.

See itin here:


I could confirm the itinerary on Qantas website - tickets not issued yet. Got that generic error so I called up QF at around 2am, got transferred to NZ centre and kind lady helped me to book. By that time however, QR showed no U inventory on any flight in or out of Doha. Other segments were fine.

The curious thing is that I had checked on BA to confirm availability for direct LHR-DOH and DOH-HKG flights (which there were) literally two or three hours ago before I got on the phone, and I even had contingencies like LHR-MUC-DOH and DOH-SIN-HKG; however these now all show X only, also on BA. So it's borderline impossible for someone to snap everything up, unless the even the BA system is showing phantoms.

Expertflyer also doesn't show QR availability, "our provider is having problems"...

I've had similar, although not on a oneworld award. My flight into HND has been changed to NRT and my short transit has become 30-hour stop.



As ozflier noted, it's quite possible a member of a frequent flyer program with a half-decent award booking system snapped up the seats your were looking at.

I’m guessing that you were yet to book any flights for your proposed itinerary and were still in the process of trying to confirm availability.

Possibly phantom availability showing, or someone else snapped up the seats.

Unless a hundred people snagged seats for even things like LHR-CPH-DOH, LHR-MUC-DOH etc, I don't think that's the case. I confirmed all the available sectors and dates on BA as well before booking, but at 2am AU time the U invent was all gone. Even today:



Only RJ has J availability in and out of DOH..

 

[ozflier]

See itin here:

View attachment 273946
I could confirm the itinerary on Qantas website - tickets not issued yet. Got that generic error so I called up QF at around 2am, got transferred to NZ centre and kind lady helped me to book. By that time however, QR showed no U inventory on any flight in or out of Doha. Other segments were fine.

The curious thing is that I had checked on BA to confirm availability for direct LHR-DOH and DOH-HKG flights (which there were) literally two or three hours ago before I got on the phone, and I even had contingencies like LHR-MUC-DOH and DOH-SIN-HKG; however these now all show X only, also on BA. So it's borderline impossible for someone to snap everything up, unless the even the BA system is showing phantoms.

Expertflyer also doesn't show QR availability, "our provider is having problems"...





Unless a hundred people snagged seats for even things like LHR-CPH-DOH, LHR-MUC-DOH etc, I don't think that's the case. I confirmed all the available sectors and dates on BA as well before booking, but at 2am AU time the U invent was all gone. Even today:

View attachment 273947

Only RJ has J availability in and out of DOH..

This must be heartbreaking.
Expertflier has not been showing award availability on QR for months.
I have lost "u" award seats once on QR due to a delay in QFF's ticketing of over a week.
That really taught me a lesson.
Can you tell us if your ultimate aim is to get home from LHR to SYD.
I see your point that multiple business award seats just" disappeared".
Can you confirm that your ultimate aim is to get home from LHR to SYD without any particular transits or stopovers.

 

[djkelly69]

By that time however, QR showed no U inventory on any flight in or out of Doha.

I am not sure if it is (part of) the issue here, but I had issues trying to book flights for my OWA which transited DOH (eg. MLE-DOH-SIN) when availability for the individual segments showed online. When I called the system would let them put in/reserve the first leg, but then no U availability would show for the DOH-xx_ leg.

After speaking with a few o/s operators who couldn't explain why they couldn't book it, a very knowledgeable Aussie operator explained it was because DOH doesn't like 'through fares' in business class on certain routes. I understood this to basically mean they don't like you transiting DOH, but rather want you to stop there for more than 24 hours. It seems similar or related to married/divorced segments.

As it looks like you are only in DOH for less than 24 hours, perhaps this is causing issues?

 

[Mr H]

I am not sure if it is (part of) the issue here, but I had issues trying to book flights for my OWA which transited DOH (eg. MLE-DOH-SIN) when availability for the individual segments showed online. When I called the system would let them put in/reserve the first leg, but then no U availability would show for the DOH-xx_ leg.

After speaking with a few o/s operators who couldn't explain why they couldn't book it, a very knowledgeable Aussie operator explained it was because DOH doesn't like 'through fares' in business class on certain routes. I understood this to basically mean they don't like you transiting DOH, but rather want you to stop there for more than 24 hours. It seems similar or related to married/divorced segments.

As it looks like you are only in DOH for less than 24 hours, perhaps this is causing issues?

This is a phenomenon known as married sectors. They may be available singly but not together, or sometimes together but not singly.

 

[Pom-DownUnder]

I am not sure if it is (part of) the issue here, but I had issues trying to book flights for my OWA which transited DOH (eg. MLE-DOH-SIN) when availability for the individual segments showed online. When I called the system would let them put in/reserve the first leg, but then no U availability would show for the DOH-xx_ leg.

After speaking with a few o/s operators who couldn't explain why they couldn't book it, a very knowledgeable Aussie operator explained it was because DOH doesn't like 'through fares' in business class on certain routes. I understood this to basically mean they don't like you transiting DOH, but rather want you to stop there for more than 24 hours. It seems similar or related to married/divorced segments.

As it looks like you are only in DOH for less than 24 hours, perhaps this is causing issues?

any idea what those certain routes are? I will be looking to book SYD-DOH-MAN or SYD-DOH-LHR and return fairly soon.

 

[ozflier]

any idea what those certain routes are? I will be looking to book SYD-DOH-MAN or SYD-DOH-LHR and return fairly soon.

Qatar Air is well known for married segments as well as Cathay Pacific.
I'm not sure there is workaround and I know QFF agents do find it frustrating.

 

[flapper]

I am not sure if it is (part of) the issue here, but I had issues trying to book flights for my OWA which transited DOH (eg. MLE-DOH-SIN) when availability for the individual segments showed online. When I called the system would let them put in/reserve the first leg, but then no U availability would show for the DOH-xx_ leg.

After speaking with a few o/s operators who couldn't explain why they couldn't book it, a very knowledgeable Aussie operator explained it was because DOH doesn't like 'through fares' in business class on certain routes. I understood this to basically mean they don't like you transiting DOH, but rather want you to stop there for more than 24 hours. It seems similar or related to married/divorced segments.

As it looks like you are only in DOH for less than 24 hours, perhaps this is causing issues?

I have had the same problem with QR as well, you need to book both segments including transit in DOH at the same time. You can't book to DOH and add a transit leg later, like the next day when it becomes available. This makes it hard as flights into and out Oz are always snapped up so quickly. It also means you can't change the flight to the final destination, as the segments are always married.

 

[ozflier]

Please note that business revenue or reward seats are not sold/offered by QR on a whole number of Doha to Middle East destinations so, for example, you are never going to get an AMM-DOH-SYD BUSINESS CLASS reward on QR. The best would be AMM- DOH in Y or F ( changing the whole award to a F one ) in conjunction with DOH-SYD in J .
The workaround would be finding another OW airline that offered J seats in the ME sector eg in the above example, Royal Jordanian.

 

[ozflier]

Dunno… I find Eurobusiness on BA (and others like AF, KL, LX) to be far superior to anything QFd offers on the same size plane. Quality of catering, champagne, ratio of staff to pax and personal space (width wise) leave QF way behind. For a one or two hour flight I’d gladly take the extra space in eurobusiness compared to someone reclining in front of me on a QF 737

Granted some euro business aren’t that great… like IB.

I agree .
However,it is sitting in Eurobusiness seats for more than 3 hours that is pushing the friendship - eg LHR- Istanbul and LHR - Cairo ( 4 hrs 10 minutes and 5 hours respectively)



















9

 

[Mr H]

Can I express my frustration when great flights have a connection time of, say, 45 minutes? Slightly too short to ticket same day and slightly too long to do a day apart and count as transit.

 

[Jimmy Chen]

This must be heartbreaking.
Expertflier has not been showing award availability on QR for months.
I have lost "u" award seats once on QR due to a delay in QFF's ticketing of over a week.
That really taught me a lesson.
Can you tell us if your ultimate aim is to get home from LHR to SYD.
I see your point that multiple business award seats just" disappeared".
Can you confirm that your ultimate aim is to get home from LHR to SYD without any particular transits or stopovers.

My partner wants to try Qsuites, hence the stop at Qatar. I can't really force a stopover in DOH like with ITA using the QF website...And ideally, I'd like to visit one more Asian city before returning to Syd. Been toying with the idea of BKK or ICN, or even DOH-PER-HKG or something of the like

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

My partner wants to try Qsuites, hence the stop at Qatar. I can't really force a stopover in DOH like with ITA using the QF website...And ideally, I'd like to visit one more Asian city before returning to Syd. Been toying with the idea of BKK or ICN, or even DOH-PER-HKG or something of the like

When your searching for award seats, keep in mind that QSuites are only available on *some* routes / aircraft - refer QR website for details.
Also, aircraft substitutions can occur after you’ve booked…

 

[vetrade]

I've found this to be the most comprehensive reference for QSuites, especially as they periodically update the info to keep it current:

Qatar Airways Qsuite Guide, Routes with Flight Numbers

Guide for Qatar Airways Qsuite, all Qsuite routes with the corresponding flight numbers, aircraft registration numbers and when they will be retrofitted

www.premium-flights.com

 

[Jimmy Chen]

When your searching for award seats, keep in mind that QSuites are only available on *some* routes / aircraft - refer QR website for details.
Also, aircraft substitutions can occur after you’ve booked…

Of course, and given that half the A350s are grounded, we're only planning on flying routes like LHR-DOH where the Qsuites are most likely to be on.

I've found this to be the most comprehensive reference for QSuites, especially as they periodically update the info to keep it current:

Qatar Airways Qsuite Guide, Routes with Flight Numbers

Guide for Qatar Airways Qsuite, all Qsuite routes with the corresponding flight numbers, aircraft registration numbers and when they will be retrofitted

www.premium-flights.com

I've been using that resource too! That's why I'm fine with LHR-MUC-DOH, at least it's not on the 787

 

[Stusipad]

So my OWA begins on Wednesday, with MEL-BNE-DOH-FCO, and the 'What ifs' are beginning to play on my mind...

Is 2hrs going to be enough time to get from BNE Domestic to the International terminal, get through customs, check in, etc? My Qantas flight lands at 8.30pm and the Qatar international flight leaves at 10.40pm.. Would you think that's enough time?

Thanks all! Probably just need some reassurance.

 

[DC3]

So my OWA begins on Wednesday, with MEL-BNE-DOH-FCO, and the 'What ifs' are beginning to play on my mind...

Is 2hrs going to be enough time to get from BNE Domestic to the International terminal, get through customs, check in, etc? My Qantas flight lands at 8.30pm and the Qatar international flight leaves at 10.40pm.. Would you think that's enough time?

Thanks all! Probably just need some reassurance.

Probably OK. QF632 MEL-BNE has been late an average of 14 minutes over the past 2 months, according to EF.

The Terminal transfer bus is scheduled to run every 10 minutes, with a 5 minute ride.

Does QR boarding close 15-20 minutes prior to flight departure? So, that window between flights may be reduced a bit. Quite doable if everything goes as planned.

Anyway, there’s nothing quite like the adrenaline rush when things are not going as planned on the day and you realise that you may not make the flight.

Edit: Had the flight MEL-BNE been on Wednesday of this week, instead of next week, then it would have arrived in BNE at 7.30pm, rather than 8.30pm, due to daylight saving ending in Victoria (and elsewhere).

 

[cjd600]

So my OWA begins on Wednesday, with MEL-BNE-DOH-FCO, and the 'What ifs' are beginning to play on my mind...

Is 2hrs going to be enough time to get from BNE Domestic to the International terminal, get through customs, check in, etc? My Qantas flight lands at 8.30pm and the Qatar international flight leaves at 10.40pm.. Would you think that's enough time?

Thanks all! Probably just need some reassurance.

You'll be fine...enjoy your trip! And report back anything worthwhile from your experience

 

[Guvner]

Anyone with a CMB stop in their OWA might be interested in this: Sri Lanka declares emergency after violent protests over economic crisis