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

[DC3]

Probably not a super common itinerary including VS in a OWA

I recall a few years back when it seemed that BA couldn’t get me out of SEA to LHR, AA offered 2 x connecting flights instead (1 x UA and 1 x AA). I was already maxed-out on flights. In the end this wasn’t needed, but oneworld airlines seem pretty good at being able to keep you moving, regardless of the rules (including segments and airline) once the itinerary has commenced.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

An update from me to say thanks again for all the help!
Currently sitting in the SFO Virgin Clubhouse with champagne and wings. Far less stressed than we were 48 hours ago!! (The second person I spoke to did get things moving, but needed another call to the call centre to find out all the confirmations were going to my wife's email :/ )

Probably not a super common itinerary including VS in a OWA, but my interactions with staff so far (call centre and in person) are going far better than with BA, so we're not too disappointed.
Added our VFF numbers to the VS booking. Not sure if the BA booked fare type will qualify for points so not placing any expectations on it, but some points would be a nice bonus!

Just make sure you contact QF on arrival to make sure the rest of the ticket is in tact. I’d leave it till arrival so there aren’t any extra flights on non-OW carriers to confuse things!

I would not rely on manage booking..l speak directly to QF.

 

[djkelly69]

Just make sure you contact QF on arrival to make sure the rest of the ticket is in tact.

Yeah this part is very important IME (although personally I did rely on CheckMyTrip or MMB or other OW carrier's versions rather than speaking with someone at the QF call centres, but with CMT now useless it is not so easy).

Not the same situation, but as part of my OWA last year, we were put on Delta to MCO due to QF11 being late into LAX (originally booked on AA to MCO obviously). Somehow in the chaos AA managed to cancel the rest of the AA flights (a handful of US domestics) in our itinerary seemingly because we 'missed' the first leg of our AA itinerary. According to MMB the remainder of our flights remained in tact, but I wasn't sure how long that would last for given some airlines propensity to cancel reward flights that aren't properly ticketed.

Anyway after a number of phone calls to QF, a few late nights and stressful days, the flights were all reinstated without issue and all was good. But definitely recommend taking steps to confirm this is the case.

 

[itsjackson]

You will keep the points, but in your case I don't think it's possible as you only have one option for your date!

Have you looked at alternative ways back from LHR?

Is this still the case if my trip commences? If I book a flight on an alternative date with the hope of changing it later, and the desired date never becomes available, leading me to cancel the booked leg with the alternative date, would I receive a refund of the additional points used?

For instance, let's say my current booking requires 290k points, and the speculative booking (where I choose the wrong date initially) maxes it out to 318k points. If my trip begins but I still can't find the desired date and need to cancel that leg, would I get the 28k points back, or would they be lost?

The Qantas terms 14.9.2 suggest they'd only be refunded if I cancel the legs before my trip commences, or would still refund the difference if I cancel a sector after the trip starts?

Sorry if that's a bit confusing, still trying to wrap my head around all these rules

 

[Jacques Vert]

Is this still the case if my trip commences? If I book a flight on an alternative date with the hope of changing it later, and the desired date never becomes available, leading me to cancel the booked leg with the alternative date, would I receive a refund of the additional points used?

For instance, let's say my current booking requires 290k points, and the speculative booking (where I choose the wrong date initially) maxes it out to 318k points. If my trip begins but I still can't find the desired date and need to cancel that leg, would I get the 28k points back, or would they be lost?

The Qantas terms 14.9.2 suggest they'd only be refunded if I cancel the legs before my trip commences, or would still refund the difference if I cancel a sector after the trip starts?

Sorry if that's a bit confusing, still trying to wrap my head around all these rules

As per my previous post, it is my understanding that once your trip commences, the only changes you can make are to the date and flight number of a flight. Once your travel has commenced you cannot cancel a flight (or flights) and get a refund:

14.9.3 Once any travel has commenced on a Classic Flight Reward, the Reward is considered used, even if the remaining travel is not completed. Qantas Points will not be re-credited to the Member's account for unused ticket coupons.

You need to sort out your entire itnerary at least 24 hours prior to departure of your first flight. It's time to look for alternative options to get home, even it that means paying for some sectors.

Good luck.

 

[Phoenix-1]

Is this still the case if my trip commences? If I book a flight on an alternative date with the hope of changing it later, and the desired date never becomes available, leading me to cancel the booked leg with the alternative date, would I receive a refund of the additional points used?

My mistake, if it's part of an OWCA you will not get back the points. Are you flexible on your dates at all? Leaving London sooner/later?

 

[mumof2sydney]

Hi all- i have read extensively about my first attempt to book a business RTW ticket and am trying the following

bkk-ams
surface to -LHR
LHR -aus (texas)
surface to SFO
sfo-hnd (really dont need to stay here- can just transit- only way i can find to get from Nth america to sydney)
HND -syd (home base long layover)-
syd- bkk (second holiday)

I can see a lot of availability except for the last leg syd-bkk as i have no status

my questions
1. am i at my maximal stopovers? Vegas is calling! but can surface austin to vegas to sfo othewise
2. chances of getting syd-bkk 9or anywhere is SE asai in say feb 2025?)
3. can i start a rtw points trip and THEN add the last sector in without penalty??
or do all sectors have to be booked prior to departure? I wnat to lock some in asap

any dumb mistakes?!
much apprecaited

checked miles total
BKKAMS322°(NW)323°(NW)5,727 miAMSLHR258°(W)255°(W)231 miLHRAUS295°(NW)294°(NW)4,915 miAUSSFO297°(NW)293°(NW)1,504 miSFOHND303°(NW)290°(W)5,160 miHNDSYD170°(S)178°(S)4,837 miSYDBKK306°(NW)293°(NW)4,662 mi 27,035 mi

 

[pjm99au]

Are you trying to book a business class one world award I.e that caps out at 318k points? I’m assuming so given the details on miles and stopovers. I’d suggest posting in the dedicated thread. Here

First question who are you flying to get from BKK to AMS?

 

[Warragul]

3. can i start a rtw points trip and THEN add the last sector in without penalty??
or do all sectors have to be booked prior to departure? I wnat to lock some in asap

any dumb mistakes?!

Assuming you're referring to a One World Class Award -

• All flights need to booked/ticketed before first flight. Very limited changes allowed after firts flight is flown.
• Dumb mistakes - trying to book non (full) Oneworld airlines who are Qantas partners EG - EK,FJ,JQ.

 

[mumof2sydney]

Are you trying to book a business class one world award I.e that caps out at 318k points? I’m assuming so given the details on miles and stopovers. I’d suggest posting in the dedicated thread. Here

First question who are you flying to get from BKK to AMS?

yes re 318k pts -
bkk to ams is coming up as KLM?

 

[pjm99au]

That was my fear - KLM are not a one world partner so whilst you can book that flight with QFF points you will invalidate your OWA

 

[mumof2sydney]

Assuming you're referring to a One World Class Award -

• All flights need to booked/ticketed before first flight. Very limited changes allowed after firts flight is flown.
• Dumb mistakes - trying to book non (full) Oneworld airlines who are Qantas partners EG - EK,FJ,JQ.

ok thanks re first flight advice- apprecaited
no flights are with ek fj or JQ

its KLM then BA then JAL then QF then no idea syd-bkk

Post automatically merged: Dec 19, 2023

That was my fear - KLM are not a one world partner so whilst you can book that flight with QFF points you will invalidate your OWA

Oh no!! and air france?? i can switch to bkk to CDG..

 

[mumof2sydney]

That was my fear - KLM are not a one world partner so whilst you can book that flight with QFF points you will invalidate your OWA

omg i made dumb mistakes alright! air france isnt either right?? any tip on asia to europe (anywhere?!) where setas are actually available??

 

[BriarFlyer]

Try Finnair from BKK to HEL and then onwards to AMS. Or BKK to LHR, routed on AY via HEL.

 

[mumof2sydney]

Try Finnair from BKK to HEL and then onwards to AMS. Or BKK to LHR, routed on AY via HEL.

thank you so much- back to planning board...

 

[pjm99au]

From BKK in addition to Finnair you have

Royal Jordanian who fly from BKK to Europe via AMM or

SriLankan (UL) via CMB

 

[elanshin]

omg i made dumb mistakes alright! air france isnt either right?? any tip on asia to europe (anywhere?!) where setas are actually available??

fortunately, your options from Asia to Europe on One World is pretty decent in terms of options.

The first thing is familiarise yourself with the main OW airlines and their home bases.

In Europe you have BA (London), AY (Helsinki), IB ( Madrid - although they don't fly too much internationally),
Middle East- RJ (Jordan), QR (Doha) Although I wouldn't expect to find anything for Qatar
Aisa - CX (Hong Kong), JL (Tokyo), MH (Kuala Lumpa), UL (Colombo) Although I wouldn't look to fly Sri Lankan at the moment.

Of course there QF with SIN <> LHR as well.

From there, you can start narrowing down in terms of paths. For example Finair (AY) flies to BKK, SIN, TYO etc and you can look through each option in this manner.

If you find a long haul Cathay from Hong Kong, for example, you could also then start somewhere intra asia fairly easily as Cathay has a strong network regionally and award space is plentiful intra asia.

Finally with your original plans, I count 2-3 stops(1.Europe, 2. US, 3 Syd?) , you could definitely stop in Tokyo for a bit as well if that's on your route at that would be 4 stops. you're permitted up to 5 stops total.

 

[markyb]

Hi all - I'm searching for 4 J seats each leg to make a OWA and occasionally see an option like the one pictured below, but when I click continue it turns out to be economy only. This is happening a lot. Anyone else experience this and is there a fix?


Also - if I had a family member who is gold or platinum, could I transfer my points to them, find seats and book a OWA on their account (for 4 people) if they're not flying?

 

[ellen10]

I have just received a change to my flights from Tokyo Haneda JL47 to Helsinki.( I was expecting this because of the no flying over Russia)

However I now only have a 1hr 10min transit time for my flight AY1255 Helsinki to Budapest. Should I be worried? is this enough transit time?

I have not accepted these changes yet. Should I phone? I'm only Bronze so concerned about messing the whole itinerary .

 

[mumof2sydney]

fortunately, your options from Asia to Europe on One World is pretty decent in terms of options.

The first thing is familiarise yourself with the main OW airlines and their home bases.

In Europe you have BA (London), AY (Helsinki), IB ( Madrid - although they don't fly too much internationally),
Middle East- RJ (Jordan), QR (Doha) Although I wouldn't expect to find anything for Qatar
Aisa - CX (Hong Kong), JL (Tokyo), MH (Kuala Lumpa), UL (Colombo) Although I wouldn't look to fly Sri Lankan at the moment.

Of course there QF with SIN <> LHR as well.

From there, you can start narrowing down in terms of paths. For example Finair (AY) flies to BKK, SIN, TYO etc and you can look through each option in this manner.

If you find a long haul Cathay from Hong Kong, for example, you could also then start somewhere intra asia fairly easily as Cathay has a strong network regionally and award space is plentiful intra asia.

Finally with your original plans, I count 2-3 stops(1.Europe, 2. US, 3 Syd?) , you could definitely stop in Tokyo for a bit as well if that's on your route at that would be 4 stops. you're permitted up to 5 stops total.

thank you so much- im using seats aero mostly- is there a better site that will narrow down to just airlines im allowed to use but also show availabile seats..??

Post automatically merged: Dec 20, 2023

From BKK in addition to Finnair you have

Royal Jordanian who fly from BKK to Europe via AMM or

SriLankan (UL) via CMB

thank you!!!

Post automatically merged: Dec 20, 2023

Try Finnair from BKK to HEL and then onwards to AMS. Or BKK to LHR, routed on AY via HEL.

thank you!