Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[ozflier]

Good news for OWA award seekers.
Expertflyer has announced that from 11 january 2017, most F seats in 2 class US domestic services will be reclassified as business.
This appears to apply also to will change to "U".
This is certainly a big improvement over the current situation where J OWA awards mean a Coach seat in most AA domestic services.
It would be interesting to know how this affects existing bookings - I suspect that a phone call will be needed.
ExpertFlyer Blog - ExpertFlyer News and Travel Industry DiscussionExpertFlyer Blog

 

[fairbasa]

Has anyone ever tried switching payment cards when making a change to an award booking? IE when you're adding a flight, refunding any taxes previously paid on a card and paying the whole new tax amount again on a different card?

Thinking of the AMEX QF statement credit offer I haven't used yet!

 

[madrooster]

Has anyone ever tried switching payment cards when making a change to an award booking? IE when you're adding a flight, refunding any taxes previously paid on a card and paying the whole new tax amount again on a different card?

Thinking of the AMEX QF statement credit offer I haven't used yet!

Needs to be processed as an award cancellation and then a new booking.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Thanks to everyone for such an amazing thread. I've learnt heaps and am close to booking my first 280K award. But I've been looking at spreadsheets and booking engines and my head is spinning. I'm hoping fresh eyes and a clear perspective from the brains trust will assist in spotting problems, errors, or possible improvements/routing:

DRW-BNE QF Stop 1 (bit of a waste and could convert to revenue fare)

BNExSIN (QF) xHEL (AY) DUB Stop 2 (other options on my travel dates are BA via LHR or QR via DOH) AY appeals as it's long overnight flight and I'll be travelling with Miss Five

Own arrangements/revenue Y fare DUB-VCE

VCE xLHR-BOS (BA) Stop 3

BOS-HKG (CX) Stop 4

HKGxSIN-PER (CX) -DRW (QF)

My maths says I'm leaving a little over 5,000 miles on the table, plus one stopover. Any advice/thoughts?

 

[Jacques Vert]

Thanks to everyone for such an amazing thread. I've learnt heaps and am close to booking my first 280K award. But I've been looking at spreadsheets and booking engines and my head is spinning. I'm hoping fresh eyes and a clear perspective from the brains trust will assist in spotting problems, errors, or possible improvements/routing:

DRW-BNE QF Stop 1 (bit of a waste and could convert to revenue fare)

BNExSIN (QF) xHEL (AY) DUB Stop 2 (other options on my travel dates are BA via LHR or QR via DOH) AY appeals as it's long overnight flight and I'll be travelling with Miss Five

Own arrangements/revenue Y fare DUB-VCE

VCE xLHR-BOS (BA) Stop 3

BOS-HKG (CX) Stop 4

HKGxSIN-PER (CX) -DRW (QF)

My maths says I'm leaving a little over 5,000 miles on the table, plus one stopover. Any advice/thoughts?

Don't know your dates or how many of you but...

Why pay for DUB-VCE? Why not do it as part of the award?

Also agree that the first stop is a bit of a waste, unless you want to visit BNE for 24hr+, of course.

 

[Doctore1003]

Thanks to everyone for such an amazing thread. I've learnt heaps and am close to booking my first 280K award. But I've been looking at spreadsheets and booking engines and my head is spinning. I'm hoping fresh eyes and a clear perspective from the brains trust will assist in spotting problems, errors, or possible improvements/routing:

DRW-BNE QF Stop 1 (bit of a waste and could convert to revenue fare)

BNExSIN (QF) xHEL (AY) DUB Stop 2 (other options on my travel dates are BA via LHR or QR via DOH) AY appeals as it's long overnight flight and I'll be travelling with Miss Five

Own arrangements/revenue Y fare DUB-VCE

VCE xLHR-BOS (BA) Stop 3

BOS-HKG (CX) Stop 4

HKGxSIN-PER (CX) -DRW (QF)

My maths says I'm leaving a little over 5,000 miles on the table, plus one stopover. Any advice/thoughts?

BNE-SIN-HEL-DUB sounds like a looooong journey - why not stop in HEL for a couple of days if you have an extra stop?

Can you find a HKG-PER (CX) flight? Not sure what CX flies to SIN but some of their regional planes don't have as a nice a product in J.

Speaking of which, have you taken into consideration which aircraft are likely to be flown on the various routes?

 

[Captain Halliday]

Don't know your dates or how many of you but...

Why pay for DUB-VCE? Why not do it as part of the award?

Also agree that the first stop is a bit of a waste, unless you want to visit BNE for 24hr+, of course.

Thanks JV. We have ~2 weeks in BNE. But certainly could do a revenue fare there if other options emerge, or we need that stopover.

If nothing else changes we would add DUB-VCE. There's no point leaving that sector behind. But given the skeleton of my itin, I have left one stopover in case the brains trust has any bright ideas! Thanks for your input.

 

[Captain Halliday]

BNE-SIN-HEL-DUB sounds like a looooong journey - why not stop in HEL for a couple of days if you have an extra stop?

Can you find a HKG-PER (CX) flight? Not sure what CX flies to SIN but some of their regional planes don't have as a nice a product in J.

Speaking of which, have you taken into consideration which aircraft are likely to be flown on the various routes?

The HEL stopover is definetly an option.

There's no CX availability HKG-PER +/-4 days from my preferred date unfortunately.

I have looked at aircraft and will post a list of those when I'm not on mobile.

 

[fairbasa]

The HEL stopover is definetly an option.

There's no CX availability HKG-PER +/-4 days from my preferred date unfortunately.

I have looked at aircraft and will post a list of those when I'm not on mobile.

I know at least the SIN-HEL will be their new A350-900. J is apparently great on it.

HEL is also not a bad place to stop for a little while, and you can take a 90min ferry to Estonia to check out the beautiful medieval old town in Tallinn too!

 

[Captain Halliday]

Reposting from PC with full details

5 Jul DRW-BNE (QF837) B737

19 Jul BNE-SIN (QF51) A330-300
19 Jul SIN-HEL (AY82) A350-900*
20 Jul HEL BUB (AY931) E190

1 Aug VCE-LHR (IB3245)
1 Aug LHR-BOS (BA203) B747-400

10 Aug BOS-HKG (CX811) B777-300

14 Aug HKG-SIN (CX635) B777
14 Aug SIN-PER (QF078) B737
15 Aug PER-DRW (QF792) B737

*The SIN-DUB has options with QR via DOH & BA via LHR. I'd consider QR - but not that keen on BA given what I've read in this thread.

I also have an alternative plan - for which I'd also welcome your input/comments:

Date TBC: Revenue fare DRW-SIN so I can avoid the one departure from city of country of origin rule.
4 Jun SIN-DOH (QR947) A350-900
5 Jun DOH-VCE (QR125) A330

Own arrangements VCE-DUB-LHR-AMS
29 Jun AMS-HKG (CX270) B777

5 Jul HKG-CNS (CX103) A330
6 Jul CNS-BNE (QF709) B737

This plan is only 18,008 miles and leaves me with two stops for later in the year. There's no fixed plan, but I'm thinking some combo of NZ/Japan.

 

[Doctore1003]

There's no fixed plan, but I'm thinking some combo of NZ/Japan.

I'm a big fan of the two-trips-out-of-one-award strategy. You could definitely do a trip to Asia, and maybe even LAX with some changes, eg: SIN-DOH-VCE-FRA-HKG-CNS-BNE-LAX-BNE-SIN is 34,946 miles on gcmap.

 

[tallboy]

Reposting from PC with full details

5 Jul DRW-BNE (QF837) B737

19 Jul BNE-SIN (QF51) A330-300
19 Jul SIN-HEL (AY82) A350-900*
20 Jul HEL BUB (AY931) E190

1 Aug VCE-LHR (IB3245)
1 Aug LHR-BOS (BA203) B747-400

10 Aug BOS-HKG (CX811) B777-300

14 Aug HKG-SIN (CX635) B777
14 Aug SIN-PER (QF078) B737 :shock:
15 Aug PER-DRW (QF792) B737

*The SIN-DUB has options with QR via DOH & BA via LHR. I'd consider QR - but not that keen on BA given what I've read in this thread.

I also have an alternative plan - for which I'd also welcome your input/comments:

Date TBC: Revenue fare DRW-SIN so I can avoid the one departure from city of country of origin rule.
4 Jun SIN-DOH (QR947) A350-900
5 Jun DOH-VCE (QR125) A330

Own arrangements VCE-DUB-LHR-AMS
29 Jun AMS-HKG (CX270) B777

5 Jul HKG-CNS (CX103) A330
6 Jul CNS-BNE (QF709) B737

This plan is only 18,008 miles and leaves me with two stops for later in the year. There's no fixed plan, but I'm thinking some combo of NZ/Japan.

I am sure you are aware of it but the SIN-PER sector will be on a QF B738 with usual tight domestic configuration and is scheduled as a red-eye into PER. Not a very attractive proposition for an overnight international J sector. I would seek alternatives.

 

[Radio8tiv]

Finally all done, big thanks to all the people on here asking the questions and to the experienced people offering the advice, I have learned a lot from all, and special thanks to madrooster.

Firstly, this is not for the faint of heart and when you plan a trip like this be prepared and do your home work as the Qantas CSRs will test your resolve with many differences in their replies of the possibilities and the rules, big thanks to whomever put the wiki on top of the page, it helped me a lot to quote the rules.

Secondly, I would highly recommend if your looking at Qatar for your sectors, try to book them as the last legs, or book it all at once, I lost my flights 3 times

My upcoming trip will be late 2017 and looks as follows

TSV-BNE-SYD(QF)-DOH(<24hr transit)-MAD(QR)-XRY(IB) stop
XRY-BCN surface sector
BCN-MAD-VIE(IB) stop
VIE-HEL(AY)(<24hr transit)-RVN stop
RVN-HEL(AY)-TXL(AB)(<24hr transit)-JFK(AB) stop
JFK-HKG(CX) stop
HKG-BNE(CX)(<24hr transit)-TSV(QF)

Most flight are in U except for a few small trips of economy only flight like the return trip to RVN and an AB flight
Due to the many mix ups about the Qatar flights my A380 SYD-DOH will be in J not U

Very happy to get a huge mix of planes, I tried to maximize the variety because I wanted the journey to be part of the trip not just the destinations
So will be traveling on
Boeing 737, 787, 777-300er
Airbus A319, A320, A321, A330, A350, A380
and CRJ1000

Total miles ~34000
Total points 567000
Total +++ $1860

hope this can help others and if anyone wants flight numbers or more details let me know

 

[Captain Halliday]

I'm a big fan of the two-trips-out-of-one-award strategy. You could definitely do a trip to Asia, and maybe even LAX with some changes, eg: SIN-DOH-VCE-FRA-HKG-CNS-BNE-LAX-BNE-SIN is 34,946 miles on gcmap.

This suggestion is fantastic. I was trying to make the trip stretch to the US and swapping AMS for FRA saves just enough miles to do it. Thanks you so much Doctore1003. This is exactly why AFF is so wonderful!

 

[Captain Halliday]

I'm thrilled to say I've just booked my first 280K OW Classic Flight Reward. Before I share details I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread. I read it start to finish and there was so much helpful information. But I would like to acknowledge a few members whose contributions were particularly useful to my circumstances:

Vetrade, Danger, and Jaques Vert for some many helpful and positive contributions throughout the thread.

Doctore1003 for his routing suggestion a couple of posts back.

madrooster for his Amadeus access confirming I scraped in at 34,996 miles!

Here's the plan:

Jul/Aug, 17
DRW-SIN (revenue fare)
SIN-DOH-VCE on QR A350 then A330
VCE-FRA (own arrangements)
FRA-HKG on CX B777
HKG-CNS-BNE on CX A330 (sadly couldn't get my preferred dates on the direct service but will keep looking)
Dec, 17
BNE-LAX QF 747
LAX-YVR-LAX (Own arrangements)
LAX-BNE-DRW QF 747, then 737

I was mighty surprised to get this with only 6 months lead time as it's 3 pax. Taxes etc $2,810 total or ~$937pp.

I'm currently booked BNE-LAX-BNE as a same day turn around but will look to change that once reward inventory is released.

The QF site kept crashing at the booking page. The agent booked it without the phone fee. As she should but not taken for granted.

She also said both QR & CX were emailing while she was still in the booking trying to get the seats back.

As some of you have experienced with QR flights there's been no sign of a confirmation or tickets. Points are also still in my account. Remind me, how long should I wait before chasing?

 

[Steady]

I'm trilled to say

Congrats CH, I'm trilled for you

 

[Jacques Vert]

I'm thrilled to say I've just booked my first 280K OW Classic Flight Reward. Before I share details I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread. I read it start to finish and there was so much helpful information. But I would like to acknowledge a few members whose contributions were particularly useful to my circumstances:

Vetrade, Danger, and Jaques Vert for some many helpful and positive contributions throughout the thread.

Doctore1003 for his routing suggestion a couple of posts back.

madrooster for his Amadeus access confirming I scraped in at 34,996 miles!

Here's the plan:

Jul/Aug, 17
DRW-SIN (revenue fare)
SIN-DOH-VCE on QR A350 then A330
VCE-FRA (own arrangements)
FRA-HKG on CX B777
HKG-CNS-BNE on CX A330 (sadly couldn't get my preferred dates on the direct service but will keep looking)
Dec, 17
BNE-LAX QF 747
LAX-YVR-LAX (Own arrangements)
LAX-BNE-DRW QF 747, then 737

I was mighty surprised to get this with only 6 months lead time as it's 3 pax. Taxes etc $2,810 total or ~$937pp.

I'm currently booked BNE-LAX-BNE as a same day turn around but will look to change that once reward inventory is released.

The QF site kept crashing at the booking page. The agent booked it without the phone fee. As she should but not taken for granted.

She also said both QR & CX were emailing while she was still in the booking trying to get the seats back.

As some of you have experienced with QR flights there's been no sign of a confirmation or tickets. Points are also still in my account. Remind me, how long should I wait before chasing?

Congratulations.

I note that your first flight is a revenue fare so that means that your award fare starts in SIN.

I presume that your stopovers are VCE, HKG, BNE, LAX and presumably DRW?

If so, don't you need to include a flight to SIN to finish off the ticket?

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

---snip
As some of you have experienced with QR flights there's been no sign of a confirmation or tickets. Points are also still in my account. Remind me, how long should I wait before chasing?

Congratulations on getting through the maze, Cap'n... but to make sure that you you get to enjoy your hard won prize, I suggest that if the tickets don't issue overnight you call first thing tomorrow. Then rinse & repeat every day until they issue.
Happy travels,
J

 

[Captain Halliday]

Congratulations.

I note that your first flight is a revenue fare so that means that your award fare starts in SIN.

I presume that your stopovers are VCE, HKG, BNE, LAX and presumably DRW?

If so, don't you need to include a flight to SIN to finish off the ticket?

Technically I'm only using 4 stopovers, but that suits what we want to do.

There's no requirement to actually fly back to the point of origin.

However, the distance from your final destination back to the point of origin is included in the calculation of miles. And so it is with this itinerary.

But, still no tickets, receipt, points deduction, or credit card hit seven hours after booking.

Given QR's history, I'm starting to think mine will be one of those problem booking where I have to keep calling to get flights reinstated.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Congratulations.

I note that your first flight is a revenue fare so that means that your award fare starts in SIN.

I presume that your stopovers are VCE, HKG, BNE, LAX and presumably DRW?

If so, don't you need to include a flight to SIN to finish off the ticket?

I think rule 14.5.3 comes into play here... The distance from DRW-SIN needs to be included, but it doesn't need to be an actual flight.
J