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

[Mr H]

Great. That makes sense.

As long as I meet the requirements then it should only be a max 318k points (assuming booking over phone points are waived)? I’m just concerned as I will likely just have a little over that amount and won’t have enough to cover additional points. Will the person over the phone confirm if I’ve met requirements? Or are they not much help at all? Really appreciate your assistance

Do not, under any circumstances, mention OWA on the phone. This will confuse the agent and makes it less likely that you will ever get a ticket. Just confirm how much the total price is in points and trust that the computer will max it out at 318. If it comes to more, you will find that your booking/route does not comply with the rules.

 

[Montyrulz15]

Do not, under any circumstances, mention OWA on the phone. This will confuse the agent and makes it less likely that you will ever get a ticket. Just confirm how much the total price is in points and trust that the computer will max it out at 318. If it comes to more, you will find that your booking/route does not comply with the rules.

Ah okay. So will the operator confirm the 318 before officially booking?

 

[levelnine]

Just one last question, would you recommend booking as many flights as possible at once over the phone? Or doing them one or two at a time as you travel?

Book as many as possible. No flights can be added after you've taken your first flight.

 

[Mr H]

Ah okay. So will the operator confirm the 318 before officially booking?

Yes

 

[Montyrulz15]

Book as many as possible. No flights can be added after you've taken your first flight.

Oh okay. Thanks heaps

Post automatically merged: Nov 28, 2022

Yes

Thanks for all that. Much appreciated

 

[marioh]

Hi All,
I've managed to make a OWA booking for mid 2023:
MEL - SYD - ICN
NRT - FRA
ORY - MAD - ATH
ATH - LHR - ORD
ORD - HKG - MEL

Does anyone know if it would be possible for me to call up and swap out my 1st leg (MEL- SYD - ICN) for a MEL - NRT flight on an earlier date? I'm not sure how risky it would be, as I certainly don't want to have my whole itinerary cancelled by an inexperienced operator..

FWIW I have gold status, so won't be able to reach the Hobart call centre.

Cheers

 

[PaulyB]

Can you ring and make the change? Sure if the seats are there.

The problem is not so much whether you can do it but the calibre of the people as I am sure you know. One thing I have found is to be sure they can see the flights and the class before making the change.

I also always ask how long the ticketing will take. If they say something like not til next year then hangup and start again. In fact if you are in doubt with any of it in the early stages , hangup..

You also need to be sure that none of the flights are not married, preventing you to make a change. That held me up a little at times.

Then you need to make sure they adjust the taxes with you on the call and then you need make sure it is updated on your screen - get them to go through it item by item with you looking at your own screen. Then when you are satisfied it has been sent to ticketing, ring back within 12 hours (and keep ringing) . I kept saying I was very concerned because flights can fall off the systems to hurry y them along which sometimes helped.

Can I guarantee it will all be roses? No - but persistence and expert knowledge will help along the way although I can't guarantee anyone doing things they will say they do like ringing back.

 

[kingzac]

Logged in last night and 2 sets of flights are gone without a trace. Now only my first 2 flight and my last two flights remain. NRT-CMB-MLE and MLE-CMB-CDG gone.
No notification of any change. Hoping it's just a glitch and they reappear, but they don't show up on any other apps either.

 

[SnowmanShroomz]

Hi all,
I booked the first segments of my OTW trip with some segments in business class.
After some changes, these flights have been changed to economy seats. All my flights are now in economy however the total points spent is 189,000 rather than the max. of 132,400 for economy trip. Not to mention the additional costs even though the changes have meant less flight times & downgrade to economy...? I still have a few segments left to book to finalize the trip but wary that something has gone wrong.
I have emailed Qantas support & called them 3 times only for them to promise to call me back and hang up, then never return the call.
Any advice on how to proceed?
Cheers

 

[PaulyB]

Logged in last night and 2 sets of flights are gone without a trace. Now only my first 2 flight and my last two flights remain. NRT-CMB-MLE and MLE-CMB-CDG gone.
No notification of any change. Hoping it's just a glitch and they reappear, but they don't show up on any other apps either.

Don't wait. Ring them and keep ringing until you get someone who takes action...

 

[PaulyB]

I have emailed Qantas support & called them 3 times only for them to promise to call me back and hang up, then never return the call.
Any advice on how to proceed?

Someone may be back with more sage advice but I would say ring back and don't hang up until you get a resolution you are happy with. Take a packed lunch... Don't believe anyone if they say they will call back.

And if the call drops out, ring again....

 

[SnowmanShroomz]

Thanks - that was going to a task for tomorrow.
Would love some input on whether I should be able to get the difference (189k - 132.4k = 56.6k) refunded? Or have I been "locked into" the business class ticketing system and that's why its messing up?
Cheers

 

[aikman]

Thanks - that was going to a task for tomorrow.
Would love some input on whether I should be able to get the difference (189k - 132.4k = 56.6k) refunded? Or have I been "locked into" the business class ticketing system and that's why its messing up?
Cheers

It's worth considering cancelling that booking and starting again. It will probably save you weeks of despair, frustration and anguish.

 

[PaulyB]

It's worth considering cancelling that booking and starting again. It will probably save you weeks of despair, frustration and anguish.

Sad but true...

 

[levelnine]

Would love some input on whether I should be able to get the difference (189k - 132.4k = 56.6k) refunded? Or have I been "locked into" the business class ticketing system and that's why its messing up?

You should be able to have the points difference refunded, but I'm not sure if the system will do it automatically or if it requires manual intervention.

I would be double checking to make sure my ticket meets all the rules for a OWA.

 

[Mr H]

Logged in last night and 2 sets of flights are gone without a trace. Now only my first 2 flight and my last two flights remain. NRT-CMB-MLE and MLE-CMB-CDG gone.
No notification of any change. Hoping it's just a glitch and they reappear, but they don't show up on any other apps either.

Those flights will not come back by magic. I presume they were all UL flights - so I'm thinking that QF did not ticket in time and UL auto-cancelled them. Call almost immediately, but first check whether the flights have gone back into availability for redemptions. If they have, you can get them booked again. If not, then they are likely to be lost for ever - so see whether there are obvious alternatives (change dates, etc.).

Sorry for your pain - it won't help you but you are not alone. The QF overseas ticketing system does not work.

 

[SnowmanShroomz]

Can't cancel unfortunately as the first flights are in May next year and won't be available any more!

 

[kingzac]

Logged in last night and 2 sets of flights are gone without a trace. Now only my first 2 flight and my last two flights remain. NRT-CMB-MLE and MLE-CMB-CDG gone.
No notification of any change. Hoping it's just a glitch and they reappear, but they don't show up on any other apps either.

Another hour of my life on the phone to Qantas. Managed to get the same flights readded (couldn't find one of them on search myself). No real response as to why they were removed from the booking but glad to have them back.
Agent was very nice, very faint accent so couldn't tell where she was but she seemed very genuine about getting them back when I told her what happened.

 

[Mr H]

Another hour of my life on the phone to Qantas. Managed to get the same flights readded (couldn't find one of them on search myself). No real response as to why they were removed from the booking but glad to have them back.
Agent was very nice, very faint accent so couldn't tell where she was but she seemed very genuine about getting them back when I told her what happened.

Good outcome. Now you need to check whether they have been ticketed and if they haven’t by tomorrow then you need to sit in the line with them until they do it or else you will lose them again.

 

[awah]

Hi Team!

Last week I managed to make a OWA booking for Jul-Aug next year on the following itinerary for 2 pax in Business.

MEL-HKG (QF)
HKG-BKK-AMM (RJ)
AMM-FCO (RJ)
AMS-HEL (AY)
HEL-JFK (AY)
JFK-ORD-SFO (AA)
YVR - HKG (CX)
HKG - MEL (QF - economy)

I consider myself extremely lucky to have managed to book these through an agent in Cape Town with touch wood, relatively few issues so far. The first agent transferred me to her team leader who was doing all of the RTW bookings because they are still in training apparently. Being armed with all the knowledge prior to calling was very helpful and I NEVER accepted a call back when it was offered.

I called back over the weekend to have the 1st sector upgraded to business on the same flight (QF29) because when I initially booked the agent couldn't see U class seats available even though they were appearing online. When I called back the new agent could see the seats and I now have new e-tickets confirming we are now in business for that flight. A small increase in taxes were also processed from my CC.

After the e-tickets came through a refund of 318,000 points were credited back to my account with the description "CANCELLED - CLASSIC FLIGHT 1 ADT REF xx_xx_ ON REDEMPTION". I was immediately scared that the agent had cancelled one of my tickets... BUT, I have 2 new e-tickets with the confirmed itinerary and I can still see my booking on the Qantas website and also seat selection for 2 pax is also showing on all the airlines websites.

So, long story short do I need to be alarmed or should I keep quiet and accept that Qantas' incompetency has benefitted me 318k in points???...

Cheers, Ash