Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Danger]

Hello - would someone please check over my J OWR meets conditions? thanks in advance

MEl-HKG-ICN CX STOP
ICN-HEL AY STOP
HEL-FCO AY STOP
surface FCO-NCE
NCE-MAD-EAS IB STOP (NOT YET BOOKED)
surface EAS-BOD
BOD-HEL-NRT AY STOP
NRT-MEL JL (NOT YET BOOKED)

The mileage looks like well under 35k so I'd be looking at routing back via North America, just because you can. Something like HEL-xJFK/ORD-NRT. Also maybe MEL-xSYD-xHKG-ICN. Hell, you can even throw DOH in the mix. The upside too is that it gives you plenty of room to add in extra flights if you can't get the routing you want. Also make sure the flight between MAD and EAS is marketed and operated by Iberia and not Vueling.

 

[melbkate]

The mileage looks like well under 35k so I'd be looking at routing back via North America, just because you can. Something like HEL-xJFK/ORD-NRT. Also maybe MEL-xSYD-xHKG-ICN. Hell, you can even throw DOH in the mix. The upside too is that it gives you plenty of room to add in extra flights if you can't get the routing you want. Also make sure the flight between MAD and EAS is marketed and operated by Iberia and not Vueling.

Thanks wouldn't mind sneaking in a NZ trip may investigate And yes will book the EAS on phone to ake sure all with IB

 

[zoom&boom]

Hi Brains Trust. Just wondering if someone could run an expert eye over this OneWorld Award and to confirm my understanding of a few points. Proposed trip is all in J when possible but a couple of sectors are in Y due non availability of J

SYD-DOH-ARN QR J Stop
ARN-CPH Ship
CPH-LHR-EDI BA J/Y Stop
EDI-LHR BA STOP
LHR-LCY Train
LCY-JFK BA J Stop
JFK-NRT or HKG JL or CX J Stop
NRT or HKG - SYD J

I can make some of the bookings before the September change but will have to make some after the change.
I believe that the mileage is ok and I understand that CPH is not considered a stop.
I believe that I can make the initial booking on the “Multi City Flights” but will have to ring Qantas to add further sectors. I don’t believe I can do it online. I understand that there will be a charge of 5000 points per pax whenever I interact with Qantas.

Do I have most of this correct or is it back to square one?

Any input will be greatly received and thanks in advance.

Regards
Zoom

 

[11sjw]

@zoom&boom Whilst no massive expert here I believe what you've stated is correct. One query, if you make changes after the key Sept date will it mean the points requirement jumps from 280k to 318k pp?

 

[zoom&boom]

Thanks for that. Yes I’m aware the points will increase but I can’t book my return from JFK until after the changes. I’ve been planning this for a while with a thousand dummy bookings etc and need to grab some ASAP on release. Had a feeling in you know where that this award was going to increase this year but unfortunately I’ll be caught. Still it will provide great value.

Thanks a lot.

 

[zoom&boom]

Would anyone else like to have a look at my planned itinerary? I’ll only have one shot at this and want to get it right.
Can anyone confirm absolutely that if I arrive in say ARN (Stop) make my own way to CPH and depart from CPH this is only 1 Stop and not 2.

Thanks in advance
Zoom

 

[motef]

Would anyone else like to have a look at my planned itinerary? I’ll only have one shot at this and want to get it right.
Can anyone confirm absolutely that if I arrive in say ARN (Stop) make my own way to CPH and depart from CPH this is only 1 Stop and not 2.

Thanks in advance
Zoom

Have you tried to dummy book the entire trip online? Does it cap at 280K?

If so then you are all good

 

[ellen10]

Would anyone else like to have a look at my planned itinerary? I’ll only have one shot at this and want to get it right.
Can anyone confirm absolutely that if I arrive in say ARN (Stop) make my own way to CPH and depart from CPH this is only 1 Stop and not 2.

Thanks in advance
Zoom

@zoom&boom we are doing something similar in our booking. i.e. flight arriving in Innsbruck, land sector to Venice ( 1 stop) and departing Venice for Madrid. We commence our trip next month and all flights and stops rounded out to 280 points.
There are also many experienced people on this thread, so I am sure they can confirm that the stop is only counted as 1 stop. But this is my experience in my booking.

Good luck with your booking.

 

[cjd600]

Hi Brains Trust. Just wondering if someone could run an expert eye over this OneWorld Award and to confirm my understanding of a few points. Proposed trip is all in J when possible but a couple of sectors are in Y due non availability of J

SYD-DOH-ARN QR J Stop
ARN-CPH Ship
CPH-LHR-EDI BA J/Y Stop
EDI-LHR BA STOP
LHR-LCY Train
LCY-JFK BA J Stop
JFK-NRT or HKG JL or CX J Stop
NRT or HKG - SYD J

I can make some of the bookings before the September change but will have to make some after the change.
I believe that the mileage is ok and I understand that CPH is not considered a stop.
I believe that I can make the initial booking on the “Multi City Flights” but will have to ring Qantas to add further sectors. I don’t believe I can do it online. I understand that there will be a charge of 5000 points per pax whenever I interact with Qantas.

Do I have most of this correct or is it back to square one?

Any input will be greatly received and thanks in advance.

Regards
Zoom

Just beware of married segments on your SYD-ARN leg, may be forced for a stopover in DOH. You’ll likely need to grab SYD-DOH as soon as it’s released, then call to add DOH-ARN when it comes out next day, if it is available and can be added. Sometimes QR will force a +24hr stopover before adding the connection

 

[zoom&boom]

Have you tried to dummy book the entire trip online? Does it cap at 280K?

If so then you are all good

I can’t book all of the trip in J as a lot of the seats have been taken. Guess I can try in Y and if it’s 140k points then I’m good to go...

Thanks for that and thanks for everyone who responded. Will let the forum know how I go...

 

[exceladdict]

I can’t book all of the trip in J as a lot of the seats have been taken. Guess I can try in Y and if it’s 140k points then I’m good to go...

Thanks for that and thanks for everyone who responded. Will let the forum know how I go...

If they're part J and part Y it should still max at 280k.

 

[Aus ATC]

Can anyone confirm absolutely that if I arrive in say ARN (Stop) make my own way to CPH and depart from CPH this is only 1 Stop and not 2.

This is 1 Stop (at ARN). The surface segment miles do count towards the total. CPH is likely regarded as a transfer location. There has been talk on here of some agents regarding a surface segment as 2 stops, but this is incorrect. In our own trip commencing next month we have 4 stopovers - of which 2 have surface segments flying out of a different city - which if they were counted as 2 would make the itinerary illegal (6 stops).

 

[Jacques Vert]

This is 1 Stop (at ARN). The surface segment miles do count towards the total. CPH is likely regarded as a transfer location. There has been talk on here of some agents regarding a surface segment as 2 stops, but this is incorrect. In our own trip commencing next month we have 4 stopovers - of which 2 have surface segments flying out of a different city - which if they were counted as 2 would make the itinerary illegal (6 stops).

This is correct; a surface segment is supposed to count as one stopover and that is how the online tool will treat it. It is only when you have to book over the phone that some, by no means all, agents will argue that it is two stops.

 

[Jamesaurus]

That's correct.

So I'm now looking at changing the dates to next year (for return on next years euro trip), Qantas facebook messenger informed me that although flights codes are available in July 2020, the latest they can do is June 2020 (perhaps 12 months from current ticket booked?)-
However, if I change this once to June 2020, cop the 5k points fee, could I then change again and delay this another 12 months if I'm required to?

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

So I'm now looking at changing the dates to next year (for return on next years euro trip), Qantas facebook messenger informed me that although flights codes are available in July 2020, the latest they can do is June 2020 (perhaps 12 months from current ticket booked?)-
However, if I change this once to June 2020, cop the 5k points fee, could I then change again and delay this another 12 months if I'm required to?

But keep this rule in mind...
14.6.1 Classic Flight Rewards will be valid for one year from the original ticketed departure date, unless otherwise specified.

 

[zoom&boom]

If they're part J and part Y it should still max at 280k.

Yes that’s exactly what happened when I did a mixed J/Y dummy run. Thank God the computer gave me a tick in the box...

Now to actually book this sucker.

Zoom

 

[_TheTraveller_]

I recall in the wiki or maybe a post in this thread where we talked about cheapest PoS for commencing 280k award. Does anyone know where that post is? I believe that consensus was that Philippines was a good place to start?

 

[exceladdict]

I recall in the wiki or maybe a post in this thread where we talked about cheapest PoS for commencing 280k award. Does anyone know where that post is? I believe that consensus was that Philippines was a good place to start?

Yep. I haven't compared since the recent changes; but at last comparison, MNL was cheapest out of MEL, HKG, DPS, KUL, and AKL.

 

[pye1201]

QUERY ONEWORLD J AWARD BOOKING

I have been working on this J itinerary for months and have read extensively on and had some advice from members on this thread. I'm at booking stage but would now really appreciate an expert or two running their eye over it to flag any error/s I have made or suggest any improvements I can’t see. To clarify, we are retired and totally flexible with dates – we could fly the LHR-JFK sector on separate dates and our only restriction is that we need to be in Tuscany mid October for our daughter’s wedding. We would like around 3 weeks in Sri Lanka, 4 months in Europe/UK with our son, 2 months in New York inc. Christmas day with our daughter, 4 weeks in Mexico and 4 weeks in Thailand on the way home. We have 8 to 10 months to complete this itinerary and hope to leave early June 2020.

SYD-CMB (stopover)-DOH-LHR (stopover) -JFK (stopover) -MIA-MEX (stopover)-BKK (stopover)-SYD - 33,566 miles

I was hoping to get a SYD-MEL with Qantas then MEL-CMB direct with Sri Lankan airlines to minimise the Qantas passenger surcharge however, they’re not showing availability on the QF website any more. ATM I’m seeing Cathay Pacific flights so was hoping to get a long layover in HKG on the way. I also put in the MIA transit on the US section as there is no business flight JFK-MEX – it automatically puts me into F which reprices the whole flight reward into F. So we would fly economy to MIA, then back to J for the remainder. I was also hoping to book the MEX-BKK sector with JAL to score another long layover in Tokyo.

However, I can’t get this itinerary to go through the Qantas website with dummy dates for the itinerary after CMB-LHR (perhaps because I can’t book the economy flight JFK-MIA). I think I am meeting the required rules for it to come in at the required 280K points (which will reprice to 318K when I book the remainder of the flights on the correct dates next year).

My quandary: should I book just the J award flights SYD-CMB then CMB-LHR now as availability in J will only decrease, and then book the remaining flights in late February or early March as they become available – will it definitely automatically revert to the 318K award point p/p costing?

Or should I note down flight details for each leg then ring a Qantas agent to get it all booked with dummy dates for those flights that aren’t available yet? Would I pay a fee for that given that I cannot get it to book on the QF website? I am aware that I would pay a fee to make the changes to the dummy dates next year.

Apologies if my questions are embarrassingly stupid – I am a newbie to the QFF oneworld award booking process.

 

[Jacques Vert]

QUERY ONEWORLD J AWARD BOOKING

I was hoping to get a SYD-MEL with Qantas then MEL-CMB direct with Sri Lankan airlines to minimise the Qantas passenger surcharge however, they’re not showing availability on the QF website any more.

Flights with UL MEL-CMB do show on the QF website; if you are not seeing them it's most likely because you are looking for 2 seats. UL usually only release one seat in J per flight (although there are exceptions). I just did a search for 1 seat and there is availability for every day I checked in June 2020. If you want 2 seats on the same flight you will most likely have to route to CMB via somewhere else, not the direct flight.