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

[Quickstatus]

entire booking needs to be on a single PNR

That makes sense
But how do you get past an agent who says "no can't add to an existing PNR"? - without telling them its for a OWA (which opens a whole new can of worms)

How does the system recognise a booking as a OWA and not just a multisector award booking

 

[ChrisMars]

That makes sense
But how do you get past an agent who says "no can't add to an existing PNR"? - without telling them its for a OWA (which opens a whole new can of worms)

How does the system recognise a booking as a OWA and not just a multisector award booking

The system should calculate the points automatically. As long as you are within the rules (max milleage, ow airlines, stopovers etc...), and cap the points at the owa point cost when reached, and according to the highest cabin booked. Unless you have hobart or auckland on the phone, I would not mention OWA to the agent. Just treat it as a normal award booking.

If you get an agent that can t add flight to a pnr, best is to tell them this is possible, tell them to not modify in any way your booking, and tell them you will try to call back to get an agent that received the training to add award segments to an existing award pnr.

 

[Quickstatus]

add award segments to an existing award pnr

So thats the phrase "I would like to add an award segment/sector to an existing pnr"

I suspect that they will immediately say yes or no. Then HUACA as necessary

But otherwise use the multicity tool as much as possible?.
Is it possible that until the OWA circle is complete, the points needed might initially at least by higher than the OWA cap?

 

[flapper]

First time trying to make an OWA booking. Have an existing booking MEL-NRT-FRA in J on JAL for June 2023. Trying to add the next sectors via phone now dates are available. Got told on the phone (after a 45 min wait) we can't make changes to this booking as it's already been ticketed, you need to make a new booking. Don't have enough points to book them separately. I'm assuming Fiji call centre. What is the best time for a bronze to call to get a Hobart or Auckland call centre staff and any tips on what to ask the staff member to get it ticketed?

The overseas call centres provide incorrect information more often than correct. You may need to call a number of times to find someone who knows how to do it, often 5 or 6 sometimes even more. I ask them if they know how to add an flight to a ticketed rewards booking, if not HUACA, it's not worth the effort arguing with them. You need to check everything they do because they get so much wrong. Look on MMB and CMT that they have added the correct flights as you are talking to them.

 

[Mr H]

The overseas call centres provide incorrect information more often than correct. You may need to call a number of times to find someone who knows how to do it, often 5 or 6 sometimes even more. I ask them if they know how to add an flight to a ticketed rewards booking, if not HUACA, it's not worth the effort arguing with them. You need to check everything they do because they get so much wrong. Look on MMB and CMT that they have added the correct flights as you are talking to them.

I start by saying that I would like to add x number of flights to an existing award booking, and remove y number of flights. That form of words generally gets me to a conversation with the agent looking up my preferred flights. It goes south once they have to calculate costs and get the booking ticketed.

I recommend CMT and never MMB. MMB is not a real time system.

 

[andye]

Just a marginal data point
Had to cancel a 5xY OWA today (mstrsandye3&4 have been selected for NZ rugby tours next Easter). Means we miss out on our Cairo, UK, Canaries, Maldives trip
Anyway couldn't be done online for some reason. Wait time only 15 minutes (as a NB) at 13.00AEST. Answered by Fiji. Easy problem but no issues

 

[TomYagher]

Thought I'd share an experience booking a J Oneworld award incase there's something useful in it (or just to laugh at some of the call center advice).

Was starting to panic last week when I started looking for return tickets to SE Asia for the Christmas holidays and seeing absolutely stupid economy ticket prices and no awards (unfortunately I've only got QF points). Instead found an award to LAX just after Christmas and decided to keep adding segments, finally getting to where I wanted to be via London, Colombo and Singapore, and then back into Aus in at the end of the school holidays.

Got as far as I could with multicity 'tool', then called up and the lady easily added on the segments I wanted and said she would call back two days later to collect the taxes and points. Of course she never did so I called back and was told the ticket had some notes on it from the reservations department, including one saying that Malaysia Airlines was no longer part of Oneworld, or that MH no longer allowed booking of Oneworld awards. After 40 minutes of her arguing that the Qantas website was wrong and had not been updated yet to reflect MH's sudden departure, the end of call survey suddenly appeared ( to which she got a 1,1,2)

Called back and thankfully heard an Australian accent, and an affirmative response to the question, "are you in Hobart?". After confirming that MH was still in fact part of Oneworld (I could almost hear him shaking his head in disbelief), the operator had a quick look at the ticket, fixed a few errors and said he would call back in ten minutes when he was ready to collect the taxes. He ended up calling back twice within half an hour to fix a few more errors such as stopovers that I hadn't planned within the award rules, and within a few hours the ticket has appeared with a 081 prefix in my inbox. Needless to say the end of call survey was now a 5, 5, 1.

Interesting advice at the end of the call, operator did say straight out that large and complex award bookings like this are up to the whims of the partner airlines, and if they don't accommodate a changed/cancelled flight, Qantas is unlikely to be able to help. I think we all know this is true.

Admittedly this was a pretty complex ticket that need manual tax calcs and all sorts of other stuff that inexperienced operators wouldn't know, so my suggestion would be for Qantas to add a Oneword Award Menu option to their phone menu so things like this could go to someone who does know.

</Story>

One last thing, has anyone else noticed when on hold sometimes the music stops briefly, and it sounds like your about to be spoken to again, but then it goes back to hold music? Seems to me like some call center operators are just putting you on hold, then checking if you are still there while hoping that you've got bored and hung up.

 

[squid01]

Thought I'd share an experience booking a J Oneworld award incase there's something useful in it (or just to laugh at some of the call center advice).

Was starting to panic last week when I started looking for return tickets to SE Asia for the Christmas holidays and seeing absolutely stupid economy ticket prices and no awards (unfortunately I've only got QF points). Instead found an award to LAX just after Christmas and decided to keep adding segments, finally getting to where I wanted to be via London, Colombo and Singapore, and then back into Aus in at the end of the school holidays.

Got as far as I could with multicity 'tool', then called up and the lady easily added on the segments I wanted and said she would call back two days later to collect the taxes and points. Of course she never did so I called back and was told the ticket had some notes on it from the reservations department, including one saying that Malaysia Airlines was no longer part of Oneworld, or that MH no longer allowed booking of Oneworld awards. After 40 minutes of her arguing that the Qantas website was wrong and had not been updated yet to reflect MH's sudden departure, the end of call survey suddenly appeared ( to which she got a 1,1,2)

Called back and thankfully heard an Australian accent, and an affirmative response to the question, "are you in Hobart?". After confirming that MH was still in fact part of Oneworld (I could almost hear him shaking his head in disbelief), the operator had a quick look at the ticket, fixed a few errors and said he would call back in ten minutes when he was ready to collect the taxes. He ended up calling back twice within half an hour to fix a few more errors such as stopovers that I hadn't planned within the award rules, and within a few hours the ticket has appeared with a 081 prefix in my inbox. Needless to say the end of call survey was now a 5, 5, 1.

Interesting advice at the end of the call, operator did say straight out that large and complex award bookings like this are up to the whims of the partner airlines, and if they don't accommodate a changed/cancelled flight, Qantas is unlikely to be able to help. I think we all know this is true.

Admittedly this was a pretty complex ticket that need manual tax calcs and all sorts of other stuff that inexperienced operators wouldn't know, so my suggestion would be for Qantas to add a Oneword Award Menu option to their phone menu so things like this could go to someone who does know.

</Story>

One last thing, has anyone else noticed when on hold sometimes the music stops briefly, and it sounds like your about to be spoken to again, but then it goes back to hold music? Seems to me like some call center operators are just putting you on hold, then checking if you are still there while hoping that you've got bored and hung up.

What status are you, to have gotten through to Hobart?

 

[Mr H]

One last thing, has anyone else noticed when on hold sometimes the music stops briefly, and it sounds like your about to be spoken to again, but then it goes back to hold music? Seems to me like some call center operators are just putting you on hold, then checking if you are still there while hoping that you've got bored and hung up.

The agent is refreshing the call. If you are on hold too long without this refresh then you get automatically cut off.

 

[TomYagher]

What status are you, to have gotten through to Hobart?

At the moment, Wonderful Platinum, thankfully.

The agent is refreshing the call. If you are on hold too long without this refresh then you get automatically cut off.

Sounds like a strange system...

 

[Guvner]

At the moment, Wonderful Platinum, thankfully.

Sounds like a strange system...

Upgrade recently completed.

 

[TomYagher]

Upgrade recently completed.

Thought I heard some strange clicking sounds...

 

[Nisho]

Hiya team,
I was just building my first ever OWA for mid-2023 & I was thinking about taking AY74 (HND-HEL) which is scheduled to land at 1500hrs, connecting to AY1305 to AMS which is scheduled to depart at 1600hrs.
Would Finnair automatically put me on the next available service or will I have to deal with the QF Call Centres to sort it out (which won't be ideal given the call centre issues).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hiya team,
I was just building my first ever OWA for mid-2023 & I was thinking about taking AY74 (HND-HEL) which is scheduled to land at 1500hrs, connecting to AY1305 to AMS which is scheduled to depart at 1600hrs.
Would Finnair automatically put me on the next available service or will I have to deal with the QF Call Centres to sort it out (which won't be ideal given the call centre issues).

If the Finnair flights are offered as a connection they are meeting current minimum connecting times, and you are protected in the event of a late inbound flight. So ‘yes’, provided there’s a seat available on the next plane, you’ll be on it. AY will take care of these on the day of travel. No need to get qantas involved.

Of course if any changes happen in advance of travel, QF may need to get involved to re validate the ticket.

 

[Nisho]

If the Finnair flights are offered as a connection they are meeting current minimum connecting times, and you are protected in the event of a late inbound flight. So ‘yes’, provided there’s a seat available on the next plane, you’ll be on it. AY will take care of these on the day of travel. No need to get qantas involved.

Of course if any changes happen in advance of travel, QF may need to get involved to re validate the ticket.

In that case, I suppose I'll go ahead and book into AMS. Thanks for your response

 

[Captain Halliday]

Hiya team,
I was just building my first ever OWA for mid-2023 & I was thinking about taking AY74 (HND-HEL) which is scheduled to land at 1500hrs, connecting to AY1305 to AMS which is scheduled to depart at 1600hrs.
Would Finnair automatically put me on the next available service or will I have to deal with the QF Call Centres to sort it out (which won't be ideal given the call centre issues).

I have this exact combo in an itin for mid next year also.

FWIW, my biggest concern is JPN still being (effectively) closed rather than a possible misconnect in HEL.

 

[Danger]

I haven't read the article but it may be of interest to some.

Do you know British Airways open last minute Avios reward flight availability? - TravelUpdate

British Airways sometimes open up last minute reward flight availability for those wanting to use Avios. Here's an example!

travelupdate.com

 

[Rach1616]

Hi all
I'm silver and preparing to add the final flight/s home from Europe to an existing OWA booking and seeking any tips or advice to deliver a successful outcome. Will be calling Qantas to add flights home in Aug 2023 shortly when they become available and want to ensure I've done all I can to ensure the stars align and I end up with an e-ticket for all the flights
.
Currently ticketed for 2 people as below in J from March 2023
MEL-SYD-HND-KIX
NRT-YVR
JFK-HEL-LIS

This is my current plan in case it's helpful to anyone else.
1. this will be my life's work until it's done. I will have all the time in the world to call as many times as I need to and wait on hold for as long as I have to in order to get the e-ticket in my inbox. I'm keeping it simple and just adding on flights to get home. Even though we could add more flights to get the most benefit from this OWA ticket, I figure the more flights the more risk of things getting messed up.
2. I am only silver so aware I am not likely to get Hobart or Auckland (buy hey one can dream!)
3. I will be friendly and polite and work out where the person is that answers my call then ask them if they can help me "add a flight to an existing award booking".
4. If they don't seem to understand how to do this or say anything about having to rebook on a new PNR or cancel and rebook I will HUACA. I will call at different times of the day and night.
5. I won't give them my PNR so they don't know what flights I want to change at this stage so hopefully won't cancel what I have already booked (I have some other award flights booked as well as this one).
6. Once I establish if they know how to add the flight to an existing award booking my first step will be to check if they can see the flights I want to add (I am aiming to have several options with details ready to share with them).
7. Once they confirm they can see the rewards flights I want to add and I'm somewhat confident they know what they're doing, I'll take a leap of faith and ask them to add these flights to the existing PNR.
8. I will wait on the call for as long as it takes, and ask to stay on hold to get the e-ticket.
8. If I can't get the e-ticket I will call back as many times as it takes over the next few days until I have the e-ticket in my inbox.

My questions
1. Is it correct that they will have to create a whole new ticket and therefore recalculate taxes for the flights I have already booked and these might have gone up so I will owe more taxes for flights already booked?
2. What is the timeline that I must have the e-ticket in my inbox in order not to lose the new flights (not sure who these will be with yet) or my other flights (JL, AY, Qantas)? In effect, when should I start to panic?
3. Is there anything else I can do to give myself the best chance of success?
4. I also need to contact Qantas to enter our APIS as I booked the flights without middle names which are on passports, should I ask about adding our middle names when they book the new ticket or is that just asking for trouble? I'm happy to sort this out later with another call (leaning towards this option) as Qantas can enter the APIS for us (as per their website) or I understand we can even just do it when we get to the airport (as we are not entering the US until 2 weeks after we leave AU).

Thank you

Rach

 

[cambriamarsh]

I

I haven't read the article but it may be of interest to some.

Do you know British Airways open last minute Avios reward flight availability? - TravelUpdate

British Airways sometimes open up last minute reward flight availability for those wanting to use Avios. Here's an example!

travelupdate.com

I've seen the same with CX as well, although perhaps not so much atm

 

[melbkate]

If the Finnair flights are offered as a connection they are meeting current minimum connecting times, and you are protected in the event of a late inbound flight. So ‘yes’, provided there’s a seat available on the next plane, you’ll be on it. AY will take care of these on the day of travel. No need to get qantas involved.

Of course if any changes happen in advance of travel, QF may need to get involved to re validate the ticket.

Hi I have a follow up question related I have a OWA booked for June 2023 and coming home AY73 connecting with JL773 with transit time of 80 mins - currently AY73 avoiding Russia so it is 3 hours longer landing at 12.30 and would then not connect to JL773. If that is still happening next year could you advise what JL would do at all? Kate

From: Helsinki departs at 17.45
To: Tokyo (Narita) (terminal 2) arrives at 09.10
Flight: AY73

From: Tokyo (Narita) (terminal 2) departs at 10.30
To: Melbourne (terminal 2) arrives at 21.55
Flight: JL773