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

[exceladdict]

Having some trouble getting AY HEL-ORD on the QF website, despite avail on BA. Has anyone had this issue with AY before?

 

[ellen10]

Yeah, thats the problem....you can only do the initial leg(s) online in one go, then every change/addition must be over the phone...

edit to add * or via online chat if you can get that to pop up

I didn't realise that the online chat can book your flights. Do they still charge points?

 

[cjd600]

I didn't realise that the online chat can book your flights. Do they still charge points?

Yes, I've done it a couple of times. Usual 5k points charge pp for award change (no assistance fee on J anyway, but would apply for Y). They have a secure c/card payment form you can complete and submit to pay the extra ++ surcharges for the added legs)

 

[cjd600]

Having some trouble getting AY HEL-ORD on the QF website, despite avail on BA. Has anyone had this issue with AY before?

Not having any probs with AY HEL-JFK which is my current Plan B for EUR-USA

 

[Danger]

After an hour on hold, calling immediately on award release this morning, QF advised I was unable to have NCE-MAD-JFK added to my award due to NCE-MAD being on Air Nostrum......could clearly have booked NCE-MAD-JFK online myself if I wanted but he was unable to add it to my existing J award over the phone.....as the tickets disappeared before my eyes from 6 released down to 2, I need 4). Will have to reassess and switch to FCO-MAD-JFK which is all IB metal, tomorrow. Dread the wait time on the phone hoping the seats don't disappear before I can have them added

I hope you got the agent's name because you need to file a complaint. As TheresOnlyOneJimmy pointed out (and as it appears you're aware), there should be no issue with Air Nostrum flights. This is what happens when companies make the rules so ridiculously complicated that even the staff don't understand. In the dying days of the ex-Maputo oneworld Explorer fares for a fraction of the prices being charged ex-every other destination, Qantas wouldn't allow me to fly Maputo-Doha-Casablanca because Morocco is in Africa and I'd already left the continent. Yes, it is. But according to the oneworld rule sheet, for the purposes of this fare (which, to be clear, is not the topic of discussion here), it's in Europe/Middle East. The passenger shouldn't need to educate the staff. It's pathetic.

 

[cjd600]

I hope you got the agent's name because you need to file a complaint. As TheresOnlyOneJimmy pointed out (and as it appears you're aware), there should be no issue with Air Nostrum flights. This is what happens when companies make the rules so ridiculously complicated that even the staff don't understand. In the dying days of the ex-Maputo oneworld Explorer fares for a fraction of the prices being charged ex-every other destination, Qantas wouldn't allow me to fly Maputo-Doha-Casablanca because Morocco is in Africa and I'd already left the continent. Yes, it is. But according to the oneworld rule sheet, for the purposes of this fare (which, to be clear, is not the topic of discussion here), it's in Europe/Middle East. The passenger shouldn't need to educate the staff. It's pathetic.

Ok, so I tried again today, 11.01am SYD time after again multiple (IB 6+) MAD-JFK J were released, and this time Iberia Express (not Nostrum) was connecting for me NCE-MAD still with at least 4 J to make the NCE-MAD-JFK IB booking look easily attainable online. An hour + wait time, thankfully the flights didnt disappear before my eyes this time. This time, the agent said they could not access the Iberia Express flights NCE-MAD (todays release was 8/10/19, but could only 'access' about 5 October. I asked about just MAD-JFK to add to my booking as the EUR-USA was my key requirement. Still no good. "Maybe try later, it's 'blocked'". Um, I've spent 3 hours on hold and 2 hours on calls the last 2 days......yesterdays MAD-JFK allotment have disappeared now, so somebody is getting them (even if not QF). Gave up and called again this evening. Try again, deep breath. Only 40mins on hold. Still full availability for NCE-MAD-JFK J on 8/10, "No, the system is blocking it."
But I can clearly book it online, I am staring right at it, I say. A bit of investigation, and the response comes back that IB are blocking these releases for dropping into existing bookings, and only allowing allocation for new bookings. I seem to remember a similar comment not too far back in this thread, maybe for AA or some other airline. Anyway, already having lost a day from my planned EUR-USA, I didnt want to argue the toss too much longer, far too many hours wasted on hold to be answered, or on hold while they 'investigated'. I saw 4 J same date on AY HEL-JFK, so ended up locking them in. BA would be a given releasing in a weeks time, but c$1k extra in ++charges for the 4 of us on this leg alone (even without LON APD) meant try to avoid if possible. So, AY HEL-JFK it is. And will work out NCE-HEL with either BA via LON, or AY if they release (not currently). Glad to have locked in the trans-atlantic leg....4xJ as NB cant look a gift horse in the mouth for too long! We are getting there

 

[Danger]

. . . But I can clearly book it online, I am staring right at it, I say. A bit of investigation, and the response comes back that IB are blocking these releases for dropping into existing bookings, and only allowing allocation for new bookings. I seem to remember a similar comment not too far back in this thread, maybe for AA or some other airline . . .

That is very interesting. Ironically, the comment you're thinking of was made by me:

Thanks to ExpertFlyer a number of seats on AA flights in J have opened up on an existing oneworld five stop award. I called Qantas to move into the higher cabin but after a lengthy hold I was told it can't be done on an existing booking; the only way those seats can be secured is if they are booked as a new itinerary. The agent said there are some airlines that it can be done for but this is one of the airlines it can't be . . .

It's worth noting I won on this. I pushed and pushed until the agent - reluctantly - got his supervisor to send it to the oneworld help desk to look into. I also convinced the agent to grab the available award seats on a new, standalone reservation that could then be moved into the existing award booking, pending the help desk's input. But I had to fight to get Qantas to do that. The agent basically said 'Bugger off. It can't be done'. I'm firmly of the belief it's a system limitation, not an example of other oneworld airlines blocking award space for certain carriers.

Damn Qantas is just so frustrating.

 

[cjd600]

That is very interesting. Ironically, the comment you're thinking of was made by me:



It's worth noting I won on this. I pushed and pushed until the agent - reluctantly - got his supervisor to send it to the oneworld help desk to look into. I also convinced the agent to grab the available award seats on a new, standalone reservation that could then be moved into the existing award booking, pending the help desk's input. But I had to fight to get Qantas to do that. The agent basically said 'Bugger off. It can't be done'. I'm firmly of the belief it's a system limitation, not an example of other oneworld airlines blocking award space for certain carriers.

Damn Qantas is just so frustrating.

Ha, so it was! I do remember you got the outcome, even though searching back through the thread whilst i was in the midst of battle wasnt a priority. The lady agent I had this evening was the most knowledgeable and helpful of the 3 over the last 2 days, tried "one more way" and one other way" which had me hoping that she had worked out the result that you received on the same issue.But, alas....
The fact that 3 different agents gave me 3 different reasons/excuses for not being able to add the flights showing on their website indicates there is a bit of a problem at least on one side of the phone.
Anyway, going from IB to AY is no big drama, slightly more EUR ++, but not significant. Very frustrating to have a trip planned (prebooking) within an inch of its life over many months of studying release patterns, timings,volumes, to end up having no confidence that what the QF website is telling you has any bearing on the actual. Depending who answers the phone.
Why TF one cannot just add flights online to the existing booking online and pay the associated ++ is beyond me. Can't be that hard.

 

[Aussiejosh]

That is very interesting. Ironically, the comment you're thinking of was made by me:



It's worth noting I won on this. I pushed and pushed until the agent - reluctantly - got his supervisor to send it to the oneworld help desk to look into. I also convinced the agent to grab the available award seats on a new, standalone reservation that could then be moved into the existing award booking, pending the help desk's input. But I had to fight to get Qantas to do that. The agent basically said 'Bugger off. It can't be done'. I'm firmly of the belief it's a system limitation, not an example of other oneworld airlines blocking award space for certain carriers.

Damn Qantas is just so frustrating.

Similar to my issue with award booking for Japan Airlines NRT-YVR. Saw availability online yet the agent could not find it on his system. So I asked if I booked it online if he could move all the other flights to new booking and he said yes.

Had to ring up to chase taxes refund on old booking but other than that everything got sorted. So it's not impossible.

 

[sudoer]

the Asia to SYD part could be an issue.

Ask QF to open up space on SYD-HKG perhaps?

 

[bobcat]

Hi all,

This is my first attempt at planning and booking a RTW trip. Business for 2 pax (more than a little bit worried about finding availability). We're pretty flexible on cites and dates, so hopefully that helps.

Appreciate any and all feedback you have re:
*Should we book each leg individually or would you recommend booking in blocks? Which legs do you think will cause the most angst??
*Any recommendations regarding itinerary (be it flight times, routes, aircrafts, carriers or anything else)?
*How troublesome is it to switch dates/flights should we wish to do this later?
*Any other pointers for somebody booking their first RTW redemption trip. Appreciate we will need to get skates on given planned departure date.

Rough dates (2019)
Oct 3: SYD to NRT (Qantas or Japan Air)
Oct 12: NRT to FCO (Cathay, less than 24-hour stopover in Hong Kong ... if not possible, Qatar via Doha)
Nov 3: FCO/MXP to LIS/OPO (Iberia)
Nov 12: OPO/LIS to BOS (Iberia or AA, less than 24-hour stopover in Madrid)
Dec 10: DFW to SYD (QF)
Stopovers (5): Tokyo, Rome, Lisbon/Porto, Boston, Dallas
Approx total distance (including surface sector BOS to DFW + transit): 27,480 miles (Great Circle Mapper)

Cheers
bobcat

 

[flapper]

Hi all,

This is my first attempt at planning and booking a RTW trip. Business for 2 pax (more than a little bit worried about finding availability). We're pretty flexible on cites and dates, so hopefully that helps.

Appreciate any and all feedback you have re:
*Should we book each leg individually or would you recommend booking in blocks? Which legs do you think will cause the most angst??
*Any recommendations regarding itinerary (be it flight times, routes, aircrafts, carriers or anything else)?
*How troublesome is it to switch dates/flights should we wish to do this later?
*Any other pointers for somebody booking their first RTW redemption trip. Appreciate we will need to get skates on given planned departure date.

Rough dates (2019)
Oct 3: SYD to NRT (Qantas or Japan Air)
Oct 12: NRT to FCO (Cathay, less than 24-hour stopover in Hong Kong ... if not possible, Qatar via Doha)
Nov 3: FCO/MXP to LIS/OPO (Iberia)
Nov 12: OPO/LIS to BOS (Iberia or AA, less than 24-hour stopover in Madrid)
Dec 10: DFW to SYD (QF)
Stopovers (5): Tokyo, Rome, Lisbon/Porto, Boston, Dallas
Approx total distance (including surface sector BOS to DFW + transit): 27,480 miles (Great Circle Mapper)

Cheers
bobcat

Hi all,

This is my first attempt at planning and booking a RTW trip. Business for 2 pax (more than a little bit worried about finding availability). We're pretty flexible on cites and dates, so hopefully that helps.

Appreciate any and all feedback you have re:
*Should we book each leg individually or would you recommend booking in blocks? Which legs do you think will cause the most angst??
*Any recommendations regarding itinerary (be it flight times, routes, aircrafts, carriers or anything else)?
*How troublesome is it to switch dates/flights should we wish to do this later?
*Any other pointers for somebody booking their first RTW redemption trip. Appreciate we will need to get skates on given planned departure date.

Rough dates (2019)
Oct 3: SYD to NRT (Qantas or Japan Air)
Oct 12: NRT to FCO (Cathay, less than 24-hour stopover in Hong Kong ... if not possible, Qatar via Doha)
Nov 3: FCO/MXP to LIS/OPO (Iberia)
Nov 12: OPO/LIS to BOS (Iberia or AA, less than 24-hour stopover in Madrid)
Dec 10: DFW to SYD (QF)
Stopovers (5): Tokyo, Rome, Lisbon/Porto, Boston, Dallas
Approx total distance (including surface sector BOS to DFW + transit): 27,480 miles (Great Circle Mapper)

Cheers
bobcat

AY NRT to FCO on 12 Oct 2019 in J are available today if you want to lock in that segment.

 

[knobbs]

I have most of my flights book but just trying to fiddle with getting home. I am leaving JFK to BNE (hopefully). However at the time of booking could only get to HKG in J. I was told I can't get the only economy seat from HKG to SIN as I had already had a transit through HKG on my way out and it is backtracking.

On the phone just now, after the first 2 agents hung up I was told I can't fly into JFK and leave from La Guardia as this would be considered a 6th stopover (despite the airports being in the same city). Anyway my flight from I was looking at was La Guardia to Dallas, Dallas to Syd then BNE. The agent went on to explain that if I find my own way from JFK to Dallas it would be fine and could book those flights I listed all the way home, how is that different to a stopover?

They went on to tell me how if I wanted to book that last leg, DFW-SYD-BNE it would be $900 AUD in taxes (difference between JFK-HKG and this flight) per person??? How can it be that much? I checked the google matrix and it only showed around $100 in taxes. Is there another way to calculate the taxes?

 

[jetpack]

As a guide, booking a separate award for DFW-SYD-BNE you get charged USD314.

 

[ellen10]

I have most of my flights book but just trying to fiddle with getting home. I am leaving JFK to BNE (hopefully). However at the time of booking could only get to HKG in J. I was told I can't get the only economy seat from HKG to SIN as I had already had a transit through HKG on my way out and it is backtracking

So you can't transit through the same airport?
I am transitting through HKG on the way to Dublin and was looking at transitting through HKG on the way back.

 

[flapper]

So you can't transit through the same airport?
I am transitting through HKG on the way to Dublin and was looking at transitting through HKG on the way back.

Yes, you can transit twice in one city.

 

[ellen10]

Yes, you can transit twice in one city.

Phew!! thanks for replying. Had me worried for a while!

 

[blacknwhite]

Hi all!Hoping that someone can help me.We are booking for two people a 280,000 J class ticket and wanting to book 2 flights.One being Vancouver to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Honolulu with American Airlines J class on the same day.I have tried to book the flights with Qantas twice and have not had success but I seem to be able to book online as a separate booking.
One agent told me that they use a different booking system to the one online?????The other said that because of marriage segments and AA won’t allow it.
Could someone tell me what I should do?

 

[knobbs]

Phew!! thanks for replying. Had me worried for a while!

That is what I told the agent, but they did not want to have a bar of it. Claimed it was backtracking, as I started from BNE to HND via HKG. Now getting back won't allow me past HKG for whatever reason. Even on a lowly Y flight (all the J are gone).

As a guide, booking a separate award for DFW-SYD-BNE you get charged USD314.

Maybe the agent misspoke saying it was $900 AUD/pp difference. Where it should be $900 AUD for 2x in taxes without taking in the difference? Otherwise that is some crazy taxing.

 

[cjd600]

I have most of my flights book but just trying to fiddle with getting home. I am leaving JFK to BNE (hopefully). However at the time of booking could only get to HKG in J. I was told I can't get the only economy seat from HKG to SIN as I had already had a transit through HKG on my way out and it is backtracking.

On the phone just now, after the first 2 agents hung up I was told I can't fly into JFK and leave from La Guardia as this would be considered a 6th stopover (despite the airports being in the same city). Anyway my flight from I was looking at was La Guardia to Dallas, Dallas to Syd then BNE. The agent went on to explain that if I find my own way from JFK to Dallas it would be fine and could book those flights I listed all the way home, how is that different to a stopover?

They went on to tell me how if I wanted to book that last leg, DFW-SYD-BNE it would be $900 AUD in taxes (difference between JFK-HKG and this flight) per person??? How can it be that much? I checked the google matrix and it only showed around $100 in taxes. Is there another way to calculate the taxes?

Hhmmm....a few things I disagree with there..

- backtracking is not relevant, and is fine
- I thought arrive/leave different airports in same city was fine (ie HND/NRT) and no extra stopover. Arriving say CDG then surface and leaving LHR doesn't count as 2 stopovers
- agree with Jetpack on the USD314 for J DFW-SYD-BNE....and thats standalone one way from DFW. For a ticket originating in AU I'd expect it to come out cheaper than that......certainly not AUD900!