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

[algae]

I would need to pay the points difference (even despite the fact that my itinerary was 318k capped) - it was quoted at 55.8k points to top-up.

That's incorrect. You would have to pay:

• The 5k change fee in points
• Any additional taxes in $

Post automatically merged: Jan 29, 2023

Happy to report that I had an almost successful OWA wrap up recently

Favourite business class was QF A380, then BA's 787 that had great food and service

Great to hear positive stories of people actually completing OWAs again! It's been years of just bookings, changes and cancellations. Sorry to hear about the funeral though.

Was the BA 787 club suite or the older club world seat?

 

[MelbFlyer]

That's incorrect. You would have to pay:

• The 5k change fee in points
• Any additional taxes in $

So the phone consultant was incorrect then and assuming that I was able to find a business seat that pops up, I'd only have to pay 5k in points as a change fee, and any taxes?

Is there a specific link that I can refer to, or is it just people's experience?

 

[algae]

So the phone consultant was incorrect then and assuming that I was able to find a business seat that pops up, I'd only have to pay 5k in points as a change fee, and any taxes?

Is there a specific link that I can refer to, or is it just people's experience?

The OWA T&Cs basically state that as long as you stay within the OWA rules, your fare will cap out at 318. The itinerary is clearly within the OWA rules as your partner has their ticket.

The phone operators give incorrect advice regarding the OWA all the time unfortunately. They won't know the cost (points and $s) until they try making the change. Then it'll all recalculate and you'll be charged accordingly. So I wouldn't bother trying to point them to a clause in the T&Cs as it'll be a waste of time. The computer will tell them (and you) what the fare is.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

So the phone consultant was incorrect then and assuming that I was able to find a business seat that pops up, I'd only have to pay 5k in points as a change fee, and any taxes?

Is there a specific link that I can refer to, or is it just people's experience?

Here’s the rule that says your plan is legal:

14.7.4 Subject to this clause 14.7, the following changes are permitted to a Classic Flight Reward after ticketing and prior to commencement of any travel and will incur a Change Fee (see the Fee Schedule) per passenger:

(a) change to flight number;
(b) change to date of travel;
(c) change to class of travel;
(d) change to any Segment routing or airline;
(e) change to name (only for Flights with a Qantas (QF) flight number on the ticket that are operated by Qantas); and
(f) request to cancel ticket and re-credit Qantas Points. Please note that only Qantas Points that would not have expired will be re-credited.


Here’s the link to the whole book of rules (the relevant rules for OWCA start at clause 13:

Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions | Qantas

These Terms and Conditions form the basis of Qantas Frequent Flyer, to protect both Members and the Qantas Group.

www.qantas.com

 

[algae]

Here’s the rule that says your plan is legal:

You'd probably know better than I, but would a phone operator try to charge MelbFlyer the 7,700 service fee in addition to the 5,000 change fee as the flights are in economy/premium economy?

Potentially something else to be ready to argue about when the time comes?

 

[MelbFlyer]

Thanks everyone! I'll just have to keep an eye on flights and see if any business seats pop up, and then rely on the below quote (regarding the computer calculations and hope that it will only charge a change fee, since my trip meets the requirement for the 318k cap) :

They won't know the cost (points and $s) until they try making the change. Then it'll all recalculate and you'll be charged accordingly. So I wouldn't bother trying to point them to a clause in the T&Cs as it'll be a waste of time. The computer will tell them (and you) what the fare is.

 

[Kangol]

You'd probably know better than I, but would a phone operator try to charge MelbFlyer the 7,700 service fee in addition to the 5,000 change fee as the flights are in economy/premium economy?

Potentially something else to be ready to argue about when the time comes?

Historically the service fee has been waived for changes made over the phone, because they can't be done online.
I've only booked F and J OWAs though.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

You'd probably know better than I, but would a phone operator try to charge MelbFlyer the 7,700 service fee in addition to the 5,000 change fee as the flights are in economy/premium economy?

Potentially something else to be ready to argue about when the time comes?

If I’m reading MelbFlyers post correctly, they have J Itinerary that also contains some legs in Y; so they’re being charged 318k points.
So, because it’s a 318k Itinerary, there should not be a service fee, just the change fee.

Edited to add:
I’ve just looked at the wording of the Service Fee rules, which state:

Service Fees will not be applied when changing Classic Flight Rewards booked for travel in Business or First class.

So it’s a bit ambiguous in this situation…

 

[Mr H]

A good news post.

I finally got my OWA ticketed:

LHE-CMB-MEL - UL in J
MEL-SYD-HKG - QF and CX in J
HKG-DXB - CX in J

My problem started when I tried to add to the CX flights. The new ticket was not issued in time and the previously ticketed UL flights auto cancelled. LHE-CMB did not come back into the award bucket. It took an age for UL to free up the seat for award booking, and in the meanwhile the CX flights auto cancelled twice, and the UL flights autocancelled twice. So four separate auto cancel events.

I noticed today that the UL flights had auto cancelled for the second time and before I called up, I checked availability. The LHE-CMB had come back for award booking (yay) so it looked like a simple task to add the two flights to the itinerary. The first agent told me that I could not get award flights by phone, and could only do it on the website. She was in the process of calculating revenue fares for the UL flights. I have no idea how on earth she was going to add revenue flights to an existing award booking. I hung up.

Then I got Olivia in Fiji. She added the flights with no drama, calculated the change in points and fees and told me that tickets would be issued within 24-48 hours. I begged her to expedite the ticketing and she promised she had done that. I was sceptical and expecting to spend all night on the phone to get this ticketed, but lo and behold, I got an e-ticket email within an hour - verified on CMT.

Two weeks of calls, cancellations and hell.

I have this to look forward to again in due course when I try to add flights back from Saudia Arabia to Melbourne when they become available.

 

[flapper]

You'd probably know better than I, but would a phone operator try to charge MelbFlyer the 7,700 service fee in addition to the 5,000 change fee as the flights are in economy/premium economy?

Potentially something else to be ready to argue about when the time comes?

I've been charged it a couple of times, before covid, without the operator ever mentioning it. From memory I had to call Frequent Flyer to get it removed.

 

[PaulyB]

I have this to look forward to again in due course when I try to add flights back from Saudia Arabia to Melbourne when they become available.

Oh boy....

 

[algae]

Qantas Fixes Ongoing Reward Flight Ticketing Failures

Qantas is taking concrete steps to ensure Classic Flight Reward tickets are issued and re-issued correctly in the future.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Well this is a welcome surprise

 

[MelbFlyer]

If I’m reading MelbFlyers post correctly, they have J Itinerary that also contains some legs in Y; so they’re being charged 318k points.
So, because it’s a 318k Itinerary, there should not be a service fee, just the change fee.

Edited to add:
I’ve just looked at the wording of the Service Fee rules, which state:

Service Fees will not be applied when changing Classic Flight Rewards booked for travel in Business or First class.

So it’s a bit ambiguous in this situation…

That's right - my 318k capped multi city reward booking has 1 leg in Economy and 2 in Premium Economy. All the rest are in business.

My partner has exactly the same flights, but just all her seats are business (so essentially I lose out because not all mine are in business but yet I've paid the same amount of points, but less tax - which I'd be willing to make up for should I find business seats).

Considering it was capped at 318k after picking the 5th leg and I've met all the conditions of the OWA - if I was able to find a free business seat on the PE legs (I'm not too fussed about the Economy leg as that's only 2 hrs) and call up to change to business - I 'should' only be charged the 5k points change fee + taxes, and not the 55.8k points + taxes that was quoted to me?

 

[Mr H]

Prolly a silly question, but is there any way to see the taxes and fees for an award booking? I have had money taken for my OWA on at least four occasions and I no longer have confidence that they have got them right. The QF documentation e-ticket makes no mention of taxes and fees. and when I look at the e-ticket generated by the MH website it shows payment as zero dollars which is obviously incorrect.

 

[billbro]

So after two weeks of a lot of dramas, a lot of errors and payments being taken by Qantas and no tickets... I've finally rebooked our 318k flights for our honeymoon.

The moral of the story is that it seems like it's very much a matter of persistence to get these things across the line. Ultimately, I actually had to cancel our bookings (a joint booking, which was then split into two without authorisation, then apparently auto-cancelled due to ticketing timelines) and rebook myself online on a new itinerary.

No doubt hidden in this thread, but in the event it is of assistance to others:

• Dialing in through higher end credit cards seems to bypass contact centre wait times (though sadly still no access to Hobart) - unfortunately, I only realised this after making a dozen calls and being on hold for hours.
• Facebook support to me seemed to have the most "capable" agents who understood what was happening and comms were clearer as it was written.
• Credit where credit is due, an email to Andrew David did elicit a response today, though I managed to rebook and ticket myself over the weekend (per above).

Probably preaching to the converted, but anyway that was my takeaway after burning hours late into the night on this. Now my biggest worry is forced cancellations I've read on other threads, though at least I can see my eticket on CMT.

Question:
Long winded post, but actually I realise I do have a query for the veterans on here. Should there only be 1 e-ticket number (i.e. the same number) across all the OWA flights? Logically this seems to make sense given it's consider a single ticket even though it straddles airlines.

 

[Mr H]

Should there only be 1 e-ticket number (i.e. the same number) across all the OWA flights? Logically this seems to make sense given it's consider a single ticket even though it straddles airlines.

Yes

 

[algae]

Dialing in through higher end credit cards seems to bypass contact centre wait times (though sadly still no access to Hobart) - unfortunately, I only realised this after making a dozen calls and being on hold for hours.

As in you dial your credit card concierge number and ask to be put through to Qantas support?

Haven't heard of that before!

 

[gfraser]

Well this is a welcome surprise

Hallelujah- I hope they mean it.
The system is broken

 

[billbro]

As in you dial your credit card concierge number and ask to be put through to Qantas support?

Yep spot on, dialed my concierge line, which actually then just re-routed to QF and all the calls I've subsequently made that way have immediately connected.

I didn't specifically A/B test to see if I would have gone through directly anyway, but all the prior times I had to wait at least 20mins.

 

[PaulyB]

Prolly a silly question, but is there any way to see the taxes and fees for an award booking? I have had money taken for my OWA on at least four occasions and I no longer have confidence that they have got them right. The QF documentation e-ticket makes no mention of taxes and fees. and when I look at the e-ticket generated by the MH website it shows payment as zero dollars which is obviously incorrect.

Yes - I have had this question too. My answer isn't definitive and I haven't actually worked through the process but it is high on my To Do's after the last few months. If all else fails I would contact the FF centre or maybe even the new 'support' for OWA ticketing announced today.

1st; Go back and looked at all the versions of the E-Ticket Itinerary & Receipt from QF and see the amounts paid (or credited) at times. That would give me a rough idea if the figure looks about right.

The further step could be this which I read about PointHacks but I do think I have seen something else recently but don't recall where...
How to minimise extra fees with flight bookings: cities & countries to aim for (and avoid). and more importantly: https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search.

Hope this helps.
Paul