Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[11sjw]

Thanks Jacques Vert - I actually enjoy travelling with my husband so I think I will be opting for the Cathay Pacific flights! If I can't get a long layover, I hear the Pier Lounge at Hong Kong is very comfortable...

My wife is the same. Although she's doing PER-HKG-JFK a day before my daughter and I do it due to no more than 2 x J seats being available on the days we wanted to travel.

 

[flyingchicken]

Hey guys,

I made a decision to postpone my J OWA from Jan2020 to July2020 and thus it is time for me to start booking in my options.

I know we can't be sure - but I was looking for your thoughts: one of my legs includes FCO-DOH-JFK, both on Qatar. Obviously, I was banking on Qsuites with QR701 flying me DOH-JFK. However I think we have established that for now, it seems there are no business q-suite award seats open/being offered. I cannot find a single solitary option in all months, on all days. No matter where I look.

What does the group think? Do I still book that flight in economy, and then try my heart out for the next 6 months to change it to business? I'm not sure I'd like to stomach a 16hr flight in business, no matter the carrier. If I don't do a direct flight that is gonna blow out my mile-limit and I'll have to rethink my plans. Does anyone have experience booking economy early in OWA and then changing it with a call to Qantas once business becomes available? And more importantly - do you guys think that those spots are ever going to open up?

Thanks

 

[MartyMan]

Hey guys,

I made a decision to postpone my J OWA from Jan2020 to July2020 and thus it is time for me to start booking in my options.

I know we can't be sure - but I was looking for your thoughts: one of my legs includes FCO-DOH-JFK, both on Qatar. Obviously, I was banking on Qsuites with QR701 flying me DOH-JFK. However I think we have established that for now, it seems there are no business q-suite award seats open/being offered. I cannot find a single solitary option in all months, on all days. No matter where I look........

I recently finished booking a J 280K OW award. I managed to score QR from Sydney to Europe, and back from Doha direct to Sydney. QR release seats 361 days in advance and they appear on the Qantas website at 10am AEST. The DOH-SYD seats were usually gone 1 to 2 hours after being released at 10am so I had to be quick to pick them up. I'm not sure if QR release many seat on DOH-JFK, as I imagine it was be a popular route, but try looking just after 10am 361 days in advance (hopefully that still works in your schedule).

 

[pye1201]

For the record, I wasn't recommending that you travel on different flights.

Understood although it sometimes does depend on the day.....

 

[flyingchicken]

I recently finished booking a J 280K OW award. I managed to score QR from Sydney to Europe, and back from Doha direct to Sydney. QR release seats 361 days in advance and they appear on the Qantas website at 10am AEST. The DOH-SYD seats were usually gone 1 to 2 hours after being released at 10am so I had to be quick to pick them up. I'm not sure if QR release many seat on DOH-JFK, as I imagine it was be a popular route, but try looking just after 10am 361 days in advance (hopefully that still works in your schedule).

Wow you are amazing! I've just done a dummy run and it works. Thank you so so much!

 

[pye1201]

I am now getting really worried - I asked for advice on this forum in the last couple of days on booking a J Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Reward:
SYD-CMB (S/Over) -LHR(S/Over) -JFK (S/Over) -MIA-MEX (S/Over)-BKK (S/Over)-SYD : 33,500 miles approx

My husband and I don't want to commence until early June 2020 but hope to complete the itinerary around March 2021. I have read differing reports on how to do this - book the first SYD-CMB and CMB-LHR legs now while 2 J seats are available and then book the remaining flights by March next year and hope they all convert to the 318K point costing, or wait a little longer and book the whole itinerary with dummy dates for the flights that are not yet available, ensuring they will come in at 318K. I rang the Qantas service desk and got a rep who did not seem to know anything about this award - she advised me to book the flights that are available now and then the rest later but said they would not come under the same booking and thus would cost out at the miles cost per flight - obviously a lot more than 318K. If I wait a few weeks I will be within the 360 day window and should be able to book the flights SYD-CMB & CMB-LHR on the correct dates, then the remainder on dummy dates a couple of days apart.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

 

[11sjw]

I am now getting really worried - I asked for advice on this forum in the last couple of days on booking a J Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Reward:
SYD-CMB (S/Over) -LHR(S/Over) -JFK (S/Over) -MIA-MEX (S/Over)-BKK (S/Over)-SYD : 33,500 miles approx

My husband and I don't want to commence until early June 2020 but hope to complete the itinerary around March 2021. I have read differing reports on how to do this - book the first SYD-CMB and CMB-LHR legs now while 2 J seats are available and then book the remaining flights by March next year and hope they all convert to the 318K point costing, or wait a little longer and book the whole itinerary with dummy dates for the flights that are not yet available, ensuring they will come in at 318K. I rang the Qantas service desk and got a rep who did not seem to know anything about this award - she advised me to book the flights that are available now and then the rest later but said they would not come under the same booking and thus would cost out at the miles cost per flight - obviously a lot more than 318K. If I wait a few weeks I will be within the 360 day window and should be able to book the flights SYD-CMB & CMB-LHR on the correct dates, then the remainder on dummy dates a couple of days apart.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

Yes, book the first flights now and book the others as soon as you can. After the initial booking online you'll need to ring up and you'll be docked 5k points pp fee.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

I am now getting really worried - I asked for advice on this forum in the last couple of days on booking a J Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Reward:
SYD-CMB (S/Over) -LHR(S/Over) -JFK (S/Over) -MIA-MEX (S/Over)-BKK (S/Over)-SYD : 33,500 miles approx

My husband and I don't want to commence until early June 2020 but hope to complete the itinerary around March 2021. I have read differing reports on how to do this - book the first SYD-CMB and CMB-LHR legs now while 2 J seats are available and then book the remaining flights by March next year and hope they all convert to the 318K point costing, or wait a little longer and book the whole itinerary with dummy dates for the flights that are not yet available, ensuring they will come in at 318K. I rang the Qantas service desk and got a rep who did not seem to know anything about this award - she advised me to book the flights that are available now and then the rest later but said they would not come under the same booking and thus would cost out at the miles cost per flight - obviously a lot more than 318K. If I wait a few weeks I will be within the 360 day window and should be able to book the flights SYD-CMB & CMB-LHR on the correct dates, then the remainder on dummy dates a couple of days apart.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

When you ring in to book the 2nd flights, tell them that you want to change an existing booking.

 

[pye1201]

When you ring in to book the 2nd flights, tell them that you want to change an existing booking.

Thank you - I will do that.

 

[exceladdict]

Seeming to find some phantom availability on the QF website - on QF metal! Has anyone experienced this? i.e. see a flight but when calling it is unavailable; a flight appearing for SYD-BNE-LAX when searching SYD-LAX but not when searching BNE-LAX directly.

 

[flapper]

I recently added a flight to my J OWA booking via SMS. The ticket was reissued and the extra taxes charged but the extra points for the flight and 5,000 pts changed fee were never deducted. I've been waiting for them to twig and deduct the points but it's over 2 weeks now. I know the extra points on the flight don't matter as the booking will eventually top out at 280K but hopefully I've saved the 5,000 pts change fee. It certainly makes a change from getting incorrectly charged the 8,000 pts service fee again.

 

[jeza]

I recently added a flight to my J OWA booking via SMS. The ticket was reissued and the extra taxes charged but the extra points for the flight and 5,000 pts changed fee were never deducted. I've been waiting for them to twig and deduct the points but it's over 2 weeks now. I know the extra points on the flight don't matter as the booking will eventually top out at 280K but hopefully I've saved the 5,000 pts change fee. It certainly makes a change from getting incorrectly charged the 8,000 pts service fee again.

Same for me, it has been about a month and no 5k deduction with a change made via sms. FYI mine is at the 280k stage.

 

[flyingchicken]

I recently added a flight to my J OWA booking via SMS. The ticket was reissued and the extra taxes charged but the extra points for the flight and 5,000 pts changed fee were never deducted. I've been waiting for them to twig and deduct the points but it's over 2 weeks now. I know the extra points on the flight don't matter as the booking will eventually top out at 280K but hopefully I've saved the 5,000 pts change fee. It certainly makes a change from getting incorrectly charged the 8,000 pts service fee again.

Can I ask how you phrased your changes via the text? I'm thinking of using this option twice following my original booking. Did it take long? I'm trying to time it to ensure I get some of the rarer flights that sell out quick. Hoping its faster than calling for a change.

 

[pye1201]

I recently added a flight to my J OWA booking via SMS. The ticket was reissued and the extra taxes charged but the extra points for the flight and 5,000 pts changed fee were never deducted. I've been waiting for them to twig and deduct the points but it's over 2 weeks now. I know the extra points on the flight don't matter as the booking will eventually top out at 280K but hopefully I've saved the 5,000 pts change fee. It certainly makes a change from getting incorrectly charged the 8,000 pts service fee again.

I'm in the same situation as Kyah Hester - I've only booked my first two flights of a 9-10 months and I'd much rather be able to make the changes via SMS than wait 2 hours on line for a Qantas rep who might not know what they're doing..

 

[exceladdict]

I'm in the same situation as Kyah Hester - I've only booked my first two flights of a 9-10 months and I'd much rather be able to make the changes via SMS than wait 2 hours on line for a Qantas rep who might not know what they're doing..

Beware though, I've encountered SMS agents who couldn't add flights to existing bookings too.
Lack of clarity on fare rules extends across platforms it seems

 

[flapper]

Can I ask how you phrased your changes via the text? I'm thinking of using this option twice following my original booking. Did it take long? I'm trying to time it to ensure I get some of the rarer flights that sell out quick. Hoping its faster than calling for a change.

You tell them your name and booking number and the date, Flight numbers, and origin and destinations involved.
It takes on average an hour to get the first reply and then an hour to finalise the change.
Make sure they don’t charge the 8,000 pts service fee if it is a premium class booking only the 5,000 pts change fee as the all try to charge that.
I find generally they are more knowledgeable than the CC but they do make mistakes. I’ve had them book the wrong flight despite confirming the correct one and don’t know about married segments etc.
Good luck.

 

[jeza]

Start my first OWA tonight from Singapore, little bit excited!

Huge thanks to all those who contribute to this thread by answering questions, both simple & complex, offer route suggestions & make it so much easier to navigate the many pitfalls that are encountered

To those who have hit those pitfalls or spent hours waiting on the phone, I feel your pain!

Mine is a reasonably simple itinerary broken into 2 trips to Europe. When I land in PER is the end of the first part & I fly out of PER in May 2020.

SIN-HEL AY
HEL-TXL AY
AMS-DOH-PER QR
PER-HKG CX
HKG-BCN CX
CDG-DOH-SIN QR

 

[ellen10]

Sounds great and you are certainly entitled to feel excited!
I start mine in 1 months time and I am already excited!
Have a great trip.

 

[barry richardson]

Just joined. Useful info above but one big question remains for us. Can we still hope to get from somewhere in the UK or Nothern Europe back to MEL business class between 10 and 14 DEC 2019? We have ff to Paris booked on Emirates 19 Nov (256,000 pts) but can't find and way home (Business/PremEco) except LHR Tokyo Singapore and then $7000 ($3,500 each) back to MEL. We have about 400,000 pt left. We've tried all English Airports and Several Continentals. Big question:
I there a reasonable chance of something coming up between now and October? I fear dimimishing chances. Today is the last day for a Singapore Airlines MEL-LHR business return for $7000 each and we're thinking of buying those and and cancelling the MEL - Paris trip (and use ff pts next year). Any advice very welcome.

 

[11sjw]

Just joined. Useful info above but one big question remains for us. Can we still hope to get from somewhere in the UK or Nothern Europe back to MEL business class between 10 and 14 DEC 2019? We have ff to Paris booked on Emirates 19 Nov (256,000 pts) but can't find and way home (Business/PremEco) except LHR Tokyo Singapore and then $7000 ($3,500 each) back to MEL. We have about 400,000 pt left. We've tried all English Airports and Several Continentals. Big question:
I there a reasonable chance of something coming up between now and October? I fear dimimishing chances. Today is the last day for a Singapore Airlines MEL-LHR business return for $7000 each and we're thinking of buying those and and cancelling the MEL - Paris trip (and use ff pts next year). Any advice very welcome.

Welcome BR.

Good luck with looking this close in such a tight window. I can see CDG-MEL with China Eastern on the 10th but this will take you outside of the Oneworld Award. I may have misinterpreted what you've written but it read like you're just trying to book two one way J flights. Is that the case or are you trying to get them as Oneworld Awards?

Edit: I can see two J for Helsinki-Mel on the 16th with JAL.
Edit2: Struck out per my oversight highlighted below!!