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

[vetrade]

Yes probably a very long shot, but trying to find any leverage I can.

The LAX>SYD was Y+ but the SYD>MEL was J. So maybe another angle I can approach saying a portion of the trip was in J, albeit a small portion. Plane downgrade as well. On hold now.

Can anyone comment on my query about the chances of the other flights in the OWA dropping off?

With a simple change which only involves QF flights there would be minimal chance of other flights dropping off your itin.
Re-ticketing would be unlikely and probably they won't bother re-calculating the taxes either.
I would grab the LAX - MEL option with both hands. The reality is that you don't have any "leverage" so I'd be careful they don't just downgrade you to PE (or maybe even Y) on the SYD - MEL flight and just tell you there's nothing else available. I'd say you are being overly ambitious even thinking you have a chance of getting J on one of the long haul flights. That just won't happen.

 

[Mr H]

The LAX>SYD was Y+ but the SYD>MEL was J. So maybe another angle I can approach saying a portion of the trip was in J, albeit a small portion. Plane downgrade as well. On hold now.

I am surprised they did not just pop you onto the next SYD-MEL. You will get nowhere talking about a plane downgrade. As far as QF is concerned, a Y+ seat on one plane is equal to a Y+ seat on another.

Can anyone comment on my query about the chances of the other flights in the OWA dropping off?

Your problem would be if there were married sectors at play. But since your original LAX-SYD was on QF and you would not have had a married QF sector getting you to LAX you should be fine.

 

[Wolf creek]

Every day in April for the first 3 weeks there is no availability from Doha to anywhere in Europe.Most dates in May there is available flights to Europe from Doha.I haven’t missed out it’s that they have not released any.
l noticed it is Ramadan in that April period has that got anything to do with it?

Basically have not released seats for euro legs for April and jumped straight to May.

 

[Ross Pringle]

Hi

Require some advice whether this itinerary is valid regarding the DOH transits. I added a short stopover because I was transiting 3 times through Doha.

As 10 segments I dummy ran in two lots, PER-IST then IST-PER which seemed bookable although didn't go to the payment stage.

PER-(DOH)-FCU

 

[squid01]

With a simple change which only involves QF flights there would be minimal chance of other flights dropping off your itin.
Re-ticketing would be unlikely and probably they won't bother re-calculating the taxes either.
I would grab the LAX - MEL option with both hands. The reality is that you don't have any "leverage" so I'd be careful they don't just downgrade you to PE (or maybe even Y) on the SYD - MEL flight and just tell you there's nothing else available. I'd say you are being overly ambitious even thinking you have a chance of getting J on one of the long haul flights. That just won't happen.

I am surprised they did not just pop you onto the next SYD-MEL. You will get nowhere talking about a plane downgrade. As far as QF is concerned, a Y+ seat on one plane is equal to a Y+ seat on another.

Well just got off the phone with Qantas, think it may have been the Manilla call centre, he sounded Filipino and seemed decent.

Anyway after he spoke with his support team (or whoever), they actually have opened up two business seats on the LAX>MEL flight for me which I sort of couldn't believe. The flight and correct cabin class is now reflected in the booking on the Qantas site/app. He said the new ticket will be issued within 24hrs and the other partner airline flights are not in limbo and are 100% locked in still and unaffected.

If I don't have the ticket by tomorrow morning I will call up and start to get pushy just to get it over the line.

 

[Mr H]

Well just got off the phone with Qantas, think it may have been the Manilla call centre, he sounded Filipino and seemed decent.

Anyway after he spoke with his support team (or whoever), they actually have opened up two business seats on the LAX>MEL flight for me which I sort of couldn't believe. The flight and correct cabin class is now reflected in the booking on the Qantas site/app. He said the new ticket will be issued within 24hrs and the other partner airline flights are not in limbo and are 100% locked in still and unaffected.

If I don't have the ticket by tomorrow morning I will call up and start to get pushy just to get it over the line.

Just so long as you know you have done very, very well on that and it was not something you were entitled to.

 

[squid01]

Just so long as you know you have done very, very well on that and it was not something you were entitled to.

Yep I do most certainly know it wasn't something I should be entitled to. Even moving me onto that direct flight was actually a better outcome for me, even if no cabin class upgrade. I always just ask the question and hope to get lucky in these situations, and this is one of the rare times it has paid off. But the pay off is huge for me, a business seat will allow me to get proper rest as I will have to go back to work 24 hours after landing, from a 15 week trip :/

 

[Ross Pringle]

Sorry, pressed the wrong button.

PER-(DOH)-FCU Stop 1
VIE-MAD Stop2
MAD-(CMN)-IST Stop 3
IST-(DOH)-MCT Stop 4
MCT-DOH Stop 5
DOH-(ADL)-PER

Thanks

Hi

Require some advice whether this itinerary is valid regarding the DOH transits. I added a short stopover because I was transiting 3 times through Doha.

As 10 segments I dummy ran in two lots, PER-IST then IST-PER which seemed bookable although didn't go to the payment stage.

PER-(DOH)-FCU

 

[Mr H]

Sorry, pressed the wrong button.

PER-(DOH)-FCU Stop 1
VIE-MAD Stop2
MAD-(CMN)-IST Stop 3
IST-(DOH)-MCT Stop 4
MCT-DOH Stop 5
DOH-(ADL)-PER

Thanks

Looks fine. Two transits and one stop in Doha is ok.

 

[flapper]

Every day in April for the first 3 weeks there is no availability from Doha to anywhere in Europe.Most dates in May there is available flights to Europe from Doha.I haven’t missed out it’s that they have not released any.
l noticed it is Ramadan in that April period has that got anything to do with it?

Basically have not released seats for euro legs for April and jumped straight to May.

You might be right, I've been following the availabilty of QR flights and there was zero availability in April to Euro until the end of Ramdan, which is when some availability opened up.

 

[flapper]

Well just got off the phone with Qantas, think it may have been the Manilla call centre, he sounded Filipino and seemed decent.

Anyway after he spoke with his support team (or whoever), they actually have opened up two business seats on the LAX>MEL flight for me which I sort of couldn't believe. The flight and correct cabin class is now reflected in the booking on the Qantas site/app. He said the new ticket will be issued within 24hrs and the other partner airline flights are not in limbo and are 100% locked in still and unaffected.

If I don't have the ticket by tomorrow morning I will call up and start to get pushy just to get it over the line.

Don't trust the CC operators when they say the other flights are 100% confirmed. QR and CX will still delete 100% confirmed flights if they are not ticketed within 24 hours. Call first thing in the morning to get it ticketed, it may take more than one call until you find someone who will do it, as they have to call ticketing and most can't be bothered waiting on hold to get it done.

 

[squid01]

Don't trust the CC operators when they say the other flights are 100% confirmed. QR and CX will still delete 100% confirmed flights if they are not ticketed within 24 hours. Call first thing in the morning to get it ticketed, it may take more than one call until you find someone who will do it, as they have to call ticketing and most can't be bothered waiting on hold to get it done.

Ticket has come through tonight. Six hours after the phone call. Double checked over all flights and they are all untouched except that last leg which is now a the direct flight and business class.

Sort of can’t believe it really. Guess I was due a win after the hell it has taken on the phones to get the OWA booked initially. Now just knock on wood no other flight cancellations, and for my Q suites plane to be swapped back in.

 

[vetrade]

Ticket has come through tonight. Six hours after the phone call. Double checked over all flights and they are all untouched except that last leg which is now a the direct flight and business class.

Sort of can’t believe it really. Guess I was due a win after the hell it has taken on the phones to get the OWA booked initially. Now just knock on wood no other flight cancellations, and for my Q suites plane to be swapped back in.

Great result. Perhaps all the negative publicity about how badly QF and their call centres have managed the OWA's has resulted in the start of a more constructive and empathetic attitude on their part. Only a few weeks ago I tried several times to get QF to release J (or even Y) seats on one of their domestic PER - MEL or BNE - MEL flights to help us get back to MEL at the end of our award, but got a blunt "We can't do that sir" each time.
For you to get J seats released on a long haul LAX - MEL flight is the win of the century!

 

[DC3]

… Sort of can’t believe it really. Guess I was due a win after the hell it has taken on the phones to get the OWA booked initially …

Being able to talk to the right person in order to resolve these things is definitely a lottery

 

[cathalm8]

I have booked Qatar business classic rewards flights for 2 pax and 1 infant from Sydney to Dublin for May 2023. I am hoping to add a flight to New York and then a flight back to Sydney and hopefully have it capped at 318k points per adult. I read above that they need to be on the same PNR. I haven't done this before so I just wanted to be clear what I need to do.

Am I right that I need to find availability on appropriate one world airlines on the website, then call the Qantas call centre and ask to book the flights making sure they are added to the original booking specifically mentioning the same PNR? Bearing in mind I have already spent 318k points on 2 classic rewards flights, can I trust that the operator will know that the max points will/should cap out at 318k per person or is this something that happens automatically on their end while they are booking it?

Also knowing the difficulties with call centres in South Africa etc are there any other tips for how to successfully achieve this would be really appreciated, thanks.

 

[DC3]

… Bearing in mind I have already spent 318k points on 2 classic rewards flights, can I trust that the operator will know that the max points will/should cap out at 318k per person or is this something that happens automatically on their end while they are booking it …

Computer will max it out at 318,000 points, provided that the itinerary is within the rules. You shouldn’t need to worry about that bit.

 

[knightfall88]

Is anyone having issue managing a JAL reward on the JAL website? It has always worked for me prior to covid, doesn't seem to work anymore, I just keep getting an error.

 

[Guvner]

Is anyone having issue managing a JAL reward on the JAL website? It has always worked for me prior to covid, doesn't seem to work anymore, I just keep getting an error.

That seems to have been an issue for a few weeks now. It's discussed in other threads as well.

 

[djkelly69]

Am I right that I need to find availability on appropriate one world airlines on the website, then call the Qantas call centre and ask to book the flights making sure they are added to the original booking specifically mentioning the same PNR?

I would just call and say you want to add flights to an existing award booking, give them the PNR, and then start giving details of the flights. Don't mention OWA.

As mentioned above, the system deals with 318k point cap, etc.

 

[Guvner]

Make it abundantly clear that you do not want the agent to touch/alter/cancel/remove any other existing flights under any circumstances.
Then pray.