Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Matt_01]

@Captain Halliday agree with your comments re seat selection. When I book OW rewards I ask the QF agent to do my seat selection at the time of booking, when adding flights or making a change. It takes away the need to call back, get other carriers PNRs and log into different carriers web sites etc. Maybe I am the exception rather than the norm but when I make changes or add to OW rewards flights I have already worked out (generally) what aircraft type I will be on and what the seat map looks like. There are heaps of tools out there to help you with this process e.g. EF, seat guru etc.

 

[Matt_01]

I assume it's CFU, not CRF - the itinerary looks OK. You would be doing two transits and one stop in Tokyo so that should be OK. So long as the transit OKA-HND-SYD is less than 24 hours it should be compliant with the rules. So that looks like either a married sector issue or a problem with the agent.

The only other possibility is an issue with flight classes - from memory JL's business class domestic offering (Class J) does not sit neatly within the normal system and you might need to take Y.

Agree

Below is the J Class flight I am trying to add to my existing OWA booking as explained earlier. I have spoken to 3 separate CSR's from the Fiji call centre and none have been able to assist, stating that JL won't allow it. I am at a loss to explain why this is happening other than it's too complicated and the CSR's in Fiji, too inexperienced. I am on the verge of giving up, however it is extremely frustrating to have to pay for a segment that is available to be booked under the rules of the reward.

J Class in the JL system is not what we in AU would consider business. For domestic JL travel there is F, economy and J class. J class is Y at the front end of the economy section maybe with some more leg room. There is no additional food service if any at all. I would also suggest that what the agents can see and book is consistent with what can(not) be booked under the fare rules. I recall going through the same frustration a few years back and ended up booking revenue fares for JL domestic flights. What JL do is not too dissimilar to US F/J or MU F/J and there will be other carriers who do the same thing. As far as I'm aware there is no international standard for fare buckets other than F,J and Y.

 

[GaryLG]

All this talk about domestic JL seats have made me realise my booking on a ITM-HND flight is no longer listed on my ticket!!!

Qantas and JL didn't say anything to me and it must have happened in the last fortnight though. I guess until we know for sure we can travel in Japan it is a moot point but still!!

 

[Danger]

If you have 17 sectors now then some of them are bound to be short. Perhaps some don’t even have proper J (e.g. European flights). Could you drop one and do it as a cheap cash flight at your own expense instead of blowing a stack of points on an Australian domestic flight?

Yes, I think that's what's going to have to happen unfortunately.

 

[Mr H]

Yes, I think that's what's going to have to happen unfortunately.

I believe the fundamental issue is that Amadeus bookings only have 16 lines - so a 17 sector itinerary just would not fit into a single booking. And I guess QF would not want to do a pro bono ticket. I think upthread they were offering to charge people for flights and reimburse them the miles, so you might be able to propose that as a solution... I still think the 17th sector is going to be a bridge too far for them though.

 

[GaryLG]

So I have decided to abandon all hope of going to Japan and I'll have change flights, etc but I have question.

I am starting from MEL and was hoping to fly back to PER-BME-MEL though looking at reward availability on the website there doesn't appear to be any between PER-BME for around the dates I want. I'll ask of course but is there any reason, aside from crazy flying times that I couldn't fly into any other city other than MEL, eg SYD, BNE, etc to then head to BME?

 

[Mr H]

Since it is over a week since I last amended my OWA booking, and since I was transiting through Amman and blowing a stopover on 24.5 hours in Narita...

I asked myself, why not stop in Amman for several days and do a tour of Jordan - then find a way of not spending more than 24 hours in Tokyo.

So may I present to you:

MEL-KUL-CMB (MH)
CMB-LHR (UL)
LGW-DOH-IKA (BA & QR)
IKA-DOH-TUN (QR)
TUN-AMM (RJ)
AMM-LHR-HEL-KIX-HND//NRT-MEL (RJ, AY and JL)

 

[Guvner]

Any chance you could list the "taxes"?

 

[Mr H]

Any chance you could list the "taxes"?

Not particularly easily. I have not been sent a new PDF itinerary (but checked and it has been ticketed, so I am all good).

 

[JohnM]

Since it is over a week since I last amended my OWA booking, and since I was transiting through Amman and blowing a stopover on 24.5 hours in Narita...

I asked myself, why not stop in Amman for several days and do a tour of Jordan - then find a way of not spending more than 24 hours in Tokyo.

So may I present to you:

MEL-KUL-CMB (MH)
CMB-LHR (UL)
LGW-DOH-IKA (BA & QR)
IKA-DOH-TUN (QR)
TUN-AMM (RJ)
AMM-LHR-HEL-KIX-HND//NRT-MEL (RJ, AY and JL)

View attachment 273032

Good stuff.

Over what duration is that trip?

And what is the duration of stops in the various ports?

 

[Mr H]

Good stuff.

Over what duration is that trip?

And what is the duration of stops in the various ports?

It's seven and a bit weeks. One week in Sri Lanka, two weeks in the UK, two weeks in Iran, five days in Tunis and eight days in Jordan.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Agree

J Class in the JL system is not what we in AU would consider business. For domestic JL travel there is F, economy and J class. J class is Y at the front end of the economy section maybe with some more leg room. There is no additional food service if any at all. I would also suggest that what the agents can see and book is consistent with what can(not) be booked under the fare rules. I recall going through the same frustration a few years back and ended up booking revenue fares for JL domestic flights. What JL do is not too dissimilar to US F/J or MU F/J and there will be other carriers who do the same thing. As far as I'm aware there is no international standard for fare buckets other than F,J and Y.

it’s actually closer to a premium economy seat in terms of extra width and pitch, but as you say it’s at Y fare plus surcharge type arrangement rather than a proper business class fare. Or at least that’s my understanding.

Is it possible for the OP on this issue to book economy? The upgrade to class J at checkin is something like $10. (or F for $100)

 

[madrooster]

I believe the fundamental issue is that Amadeus bookings only have 16 lines - so a 17 sector itinerary just would not fit into a single booking.

Amadeus can handle well north of 50 flights in a single PNR. I am currently midway through flying a 22 flight PNR, which consists of a mix of award and commercial flight segments.

 

[Chesty]

I am just about done with my OWA. After over coming cancelled AA flights getting back to MEL from LAX, now my flight from MEL-HKG on QF and HKG - FCO on CX has seen the latter flight canceled leaving me stranded in HKG.

Was probably looking iffy anyway with CX‘s viability shrinking by the day, but these constant flight cancellations are making my OWA the one that is unviable.

Back on the phone to QF it seems but unlike last time, reckon my luck has run out getting an appropriate change….

 

[jrfsp]

Unfortunately booking a CX award seems fraught with peril

 

[aikman]

oneworld needs to recruit new members asap. Either that or UL and MH need to add more routes.

S7 is dead. CX is grounded. AY and JL are restricted.

 

[Guvner]

Or change the name to HalfWorld

 

[Mr H]

oneworld needs to recruit new members asap. Either that or UL and MH need to add more routes.

S7 is dead. CX is grounded. AY and JL are restricted.

S7 only flies to planes that people don’t want to go to right now. AY and JL will be back on track soon. CX would be a loss but there are alternatives. For me, the absence of connections and routes within South and Central America is an issue and I can’t see an obvious fix.

 

[GaryLG]

Given the choice, would you fly with RJ or BA?

It's about a 5 hour flight and according to the schedule the RJ flight should be a 787 and the BA one would be a A320neo

 

[jrfsp]

Given the choice, would you fly with RJ or BA?

It's about a 5 hour flight and according to the schedule the RJ flight should be a 787 and the BA one would be a A320neo

Assuming AMM-LHR route, RJ without doubt, 787 vs A320......

Full service in both Y or J on RJ too unlike BA