Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Jacques Vert]

If you've managed to get a OWA for 4 pax despite the current lack of availability, I wouldn't touch it.

 

[Warragul]

Hi All ... Clarence here
There's no such thing as a stupid question, right? Ok here goes. Background first

I have a OWA for 4 passengers on 11 sectors. HKT-ROM is the plan. I have found a possible change of going through HKT-DOH-ROM instead of HKT-KL-SIN-LHR-ROM to save some 6 -8 hours and multiple layovers, however it can only be 2 passengers on one flight and 2 passengers on the next on DOH - ROM, (the QR /Virgin tie up methinks has meant no more availability for 4). This will mean Qantas will issue me a whole new OWA - ok but:

Question 1: To split those sectors, will Qantas need to split the OWA into 2 separate tickets (ie ticket A for 2 passengers and ticket B for the other 2 passengers, due to the different flights on DOH-ROM)?

Question 2: With the state of affairs at QCC of risking a change to my existing OWA ticket, is it stupid to even call QCC? and to stuff around with ticket changes, or to risk a QR sector may eventually be cancelled??

thanks
Oveur

The answer to question 1 I believe is yes, separate bookings and tickets. All passengers on a single booking must have the same itinerary - not just a OWA or redemption rule, applies for any booking

 

[Mr H]

Just returned from a 13 sector Business Class OWA that used six airlines: UL, BA, QR, RJ, AY and QF.

To my greatest surprise, the stand-out best flight was QF70 DEL-MEL. The seat was the most spacious for bed mode, allowing me to sleep in the recovery position rather than forcing me into an approximation of a straight line. This was also the only flight to use a mattress topper or to give me PJs. The design of the seat cubicle was well thought out with convenient shelves and racks to put bits and bobs in. The catering ex DEL was stellar with some genuinely spicy, tasty Indian options. The cabin crew were fantastic, attentive and chatty when pax were up for it. The crew were responsive to pax preferences rather than just running to a set timetable/formula. They fixed beds, helped pax with luggage and applied rules sensibly. Some pax were disappointed, though, that there was no champagne.

Runner up was BA - where I did pay extra to select one of the few sardine can seats that had both a window and aisle access on my DEL-LHR flight. This seat was so comfortable - which most of the J seats on other airlines were not. The catering, too, ex DEL was fantastic. I also flew BA on the Embraer 190 LCY-MXP and although the seats were the same as economy, they had plenty of legroom and were actually comfortable to sit on.

The only other memorable feature was RJ's use of a trolley service for meals, serving straight out of large containers onto plates - and a gorgeous embroidered uniform for some female flight attendants.

The other airlines - UL, QR and AY - were forgettable at best and pretty uncomfortable at worst. UL redeemed itself a bit with some OK food out of CMB, but their offering ex-Australia was dismal.

In terms of airports, HEL was the clear winner - beautiful, spacious and a super-efficient security process that minimised queuing.

My journey did teach me that it takes more than a 'door' to make a good business class seat.

Hope some of these thoughts help others in planning their journeys. It is worth the effort.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I agree… for all its downsides, the old BA ying-yang seat is very comfortable! And interesting observation about the BA e190… I agree it’s really comfortable too, despite the seat pitch being a standard 30’ throughout the plane. I wouldn’t mind 30’ pitch on any airline if they could use those same seats!

 

[am0985]

Question…I reserved my seats on a OWA weekend before last. I then have spent almost every day calling up to try and get it ticketed. I called up Friday and said they were finalising the points, I called up today and was told the points were finalised.

It has been ticketed. I have the email with the full itinerary and I can log into CheckMyTrip and it’s all showing up fine.

However they appeared to have refunded 318,000 points back into my account saying it’s been cancelled.

Is this an administrative error and I’ve accidentally been given it for 0 points? Is the fact it’s all showing up in CheckMyTrip reassuring that it hasn’t been cancelled?

Will Qantas rectify this at a later date or should I just keep shtum and it should be fine?

I feel little moral obligation to tell Qantas about this, if I’m honest. I remember once getting an EK F ticket on reduced points under similar circumstances (they refunded me for a changed ticket then accidentally charged me for part of the journey).

 

[SydneySwan]

When I recently changed a OWA the points were refunded and then a day later recharged. I think any change is processed by the points system as a cancellation and then a new booking.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Question…I reserved my seats on a OWA weekend before last. I then have spent almost every day calling up to try and get it ticketed. I called up Friday and said they were finalising the points, I called up today and was told the points were finalised.

It has been ticketed. I have the email with the full itinerary and I can log into CheckMyTrip and it’s all showing up fine.

However they appeared to have refunded 318,000 points back into my account saying it’s been cancelled.

Is this an administrative error and I’ve accidentally been given it for 0 points? Is the fact it’s all showing up in CheckMyTrip reassuring that it hasn’t been cancelled?

Will Qantas rectify this at a later date or should I just keep shtum and it should be fine?

I feel little moral obligation to tell Qantas about this, if I’m honest. I remember once getting an EK F ticket on reduced points under similar circumstances (they refunded me for a changed ticket then accidentally charged me for part of the journey).

You’ll need to get this sorted.

Subject to sydneyswan’s comments… If the ticket price has been refunded that means you haven’t paid, which means the ticket can be cancelled at anytime, or worse you could get to the airport and they refuse to carry you.

Tickets and bookings can sit for a while, historically, and you’ll be able to select seats and meals and all sorts of things, but it doesn’t mean you’re ‘good to go’.

Sorting it out now means you might be able to resecure your award seats before they go.

 

[fastferret]

However they appeared to have refunded 318,000 points back into my account saying it’s been cancelled.

Similar thing has happened to me.

I have a OWA for 2 people. Mid Sept I booked the return flights and got ticketed and a day later I noticed that the first flight on the OWA had dropped off the booking. I got onto a very helpful assistant who reinstated the first flight and re-ticketed on the spot.

A few days later I noticed that 318k points had been refunded to my account. No $ have been refunded for charges. A month later all flights still show as a booking for each passenger and I've been able to select seats for all flights.

 

[flapper]

Question…I reserved my seats on a OWA weekend before last. I then have spent almost every day calling up to try and get it ticketed. I called up Friday and said they were finalising the points, I called up today and was told the points were finalised.

It has been ticketed. I have the email with the full itinerary and I can log into CheckMyTrip and it’s all showing up fine.

However they appeared to have refunded 318,000 points back into my account saying it’s been cancelled.

Is this an administrative error and I’ve accidentally been given it for 0 points? Is the fact it’s all showing up in CheckMyTrip reassuring that it hasn’t been cancelled?

Will Qantas rectify this at a later date or should I just keep shtum and it should be fine?

I feel little moral obligation to tell Qantas about this, if I’m honest. I remember once getting an EK F ticket on reduced points under similar circumstances (they refunded me for a changed ticket then accidentally charged me for part of the journey).

This happened to me recently. I added a few flights and they still didn't correct it, they finally corrected it when I added the last flight. I don't believe they will cancel your booking but just take the points out if they ever realise, just make sure you have enough points in your account.

 

[am0985]

You’ll need to get this sorted.

Subject to sydneyswan’s comments… If the ticket price has been refunded that means you haven’t paid, which means the ticket can be cancelled at anytime, or worse you could get to the airport and they refuse to carry you.

Tickets and bookings can sit for a while, historically, and you’ll be able to select seats and meals and all sorts of things, but it doesn’t mean you’re ‘good to go’.

Sorting it out now means you might be able to resecure your award seats before they go.

But payment has been taken in the form of taxes and fees. Ticketing has also formally occurred. It's the points allocation which is the issue.

I can't see JAL (carriers of my first flight) suddenly turning me away at check in with a valid ticket number because Qantas didn't allocate my QFF points properly, that would make no sense.

Maybe the points will come out in a few days though...

Post automatically merged: Oct 17, 2022

This happened to me recently. I added a few flights and they still didn't correct it, they finally corrected it when I added the last flight. I don't believe they will cancel your booking but just take the points out if they ever realise, just make sure you have enough points in your account.

Yeah, I think if I need to make any changes the points will probably come out properly.

Post automatically merged: Oct 17, 2022

Similar thing has happened to me.

I have a OWA for 2 people. Mid Sept I booked the return flights and got ticketed and a day later I noticed that the first flight on the OWA had dropped off the booking. I got onto a very helpful assistant who reinstated the first flight and re-ticketed on the spot.

A few days later I noticed that 318k points had been refunded to my account. No $ have been refunded for charges. A month later all flights still show as a booking for each passenger and I've been able to select seats for all flights.

When are you flying?

 

[vetrade]

FWIW, I know of a case ( ) where 318K points (i.e. for one of the two pax on the booking) were unexpectedly credited back to the FF account the day after some flight changes necessitated by a re-scheduling. Unfortunately a re-ticketing was involved and the re-calculation caused a not insignificant increase in the taxes. To my knowledge there wasn't any issue of the original booking being cancelled and re-instated though. This occurred about 7-8 months before the departure date and there were at least 10 further flight changes & a couple of re-ticketings needed after that in the aftermath of Putin invading Ukraine.

The OWA has since been completed and the points are still in the account, approaching a year after they were "gifted" back. My thoughts are that at the worst the error might be discovered and they would then take the points back off you. There should not be any issue of the ticket being cancelled so I wouldn't raise the matter with them. Think of it as a small victory (or reasonable compensation for the problems and wasted hours QF has foisted on their customers), if you get to keep them.

 

[Mr H]

I have had redemption bookings where changes are recorded as a refund of points and then there is a subsequent debit of points a few days later. Similar for one new booking too - took a few days for the points to be debited after I had received the ticket number. You kinda get a bit excited in case you're getting something for free, and kinda worried in case it causes the ticket to be cancelled - but the points do get taken eventually.

 

[fastferret]

When are you flying?

Departing end July 2023. Over a month now since the points credit and ticketing.

 

[am0985]

FWIW, I know of a case ( ) where 318K points (i.e. for one of the two pax on the booking) were unexpectedly credited back to the FF account the day after some flight changes necessitated by a re-scheduling. Unfortunately a re-ticketing was involved and the re-calculation caused a not insignificant increase in the taxes. To my knowledge there wasn't any issue of the original booking being cancelled and re-instated though. This occurred about 7-8 months before the departure date and there were at least 10 further flight changes & a couple of re-ticketings needed after that in the aftermath of Putin invading Ukraine.

The OWA has since been completed and the points are still in the account, approaching a year after they were "gifted" back. My thoughts are that at the worst the error might be discovered and they would then take the points back off you. There should not be any issue of the ticket being cancelled so I wouldn't raise the matter with them. Think of it as a small victory (or reasonable compensation for the problems and wasted hours QF has foisted on their customers), if you get to keep them.

Yep, I got GRU - DXB - SIN - MEL in EK F for 144,000 points (rather than 192,000 points as it was then) due to an error like this. Didn't get corrected!

This would be an even bigger bargain though...

 

[am0985]

I have had redemption bookings where changes are recorded as a refund of points and then there is a subsequent debit of points a few days later. Similar for one new booking too - took a few days for the points to be debited after I had received the ticket number. You kinda get a bit excited in case you're getting something for free, and kinda worried in case it causes the ticket to be cancelled - but the points do get taken eventually.

The thing with mine is that there was no ostensible reason to credit the 318,000 points back to my account after they debited it.

They credited the 194,500 for the first two legs of my booking which had been ticketed a few weeks before, then debited 318,000 which should have been the end of it.

However they then credited 318,000 which seems to make zero sense. Shall wait a few days before getting excited though!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

But payment has been taken in the form of taxes and fees. Ticketing has also formally occurred. It's the points allocation which is the issue.

I can't see JAL (carriers of my first flight) suddenly turning me away at check in with a valid ticket number because Qantas didn't allocate my QFF points properly, that would make no sense.

Ticketing may have occurred, but that doesn’t mean the issuing airline can’t cancel it. Which is what can happen if it hasn’t been paid for (points being the payment), and you won’t necessarily get notified of it depending on how good their notification systems are.

If it’s an auto cancel getting the seats pack may be problematic, unless all on QF metal.

 

[Ktan89]

I was just reading this thread the last few days about QF refunding or not charging points on OWA booking.
I have an old booking still at 280k for 2 pax. I did multiple changes early 2021 and saw them only charging me for 1 pax, even thought they send through a eTicket for 2pax.
I was close to using it December 2021 to fly OWA but 5 days before departure I decided to book another trip to Thailand instead at the time (covid spike).

Now, I have made more changes since then and they have never corrected the points until today - They just deducted 280,000 from me last booking change I made was 21/09/22.

Looks like it's happening to a lot of people and maybe they started doing audits?
I just hope it wasn't someone who brought it up to their attention. it should be the same rule as error fares...

Edit add-on ***


It wasn't even a Cancel / Add... they just took the 280,000 which had the error since beginning of 2021. I'm starting to wonder if they would still take this 280k if I had already did my travel back in Dec 21.
Maybe they would have, I should've just transferred all my points to my partners account. HAHA

Also, before you start saying I should pay for what is due... I am just frustrated at QF and I wanted to take this as a WIN for all the time I have wasted with their call center staff + all the stress, which I am still going through right now on another OWA departing 22 Dec this year.

 

[Mr H]

Looks like it's happening to a lot of people and maybe they started doing audits?
I just hope it wasn't someone who brought it up to their attention. it should be the same rule as error fares...

With respect, many airlines do not honour error fares and anyone who manages to get an error fare ticketed would be nuts to make changes to the booking.

 

[Warragul]

Just completed booking and ticketing a OWA for Aug-Oct next year ( 2 people in Business Class), approx $1800 fees/taxes pp

CBR-SYD-AKL-JFK (QF) - Stop 1
JFK-CMN (AT) - Stop 2
CMN-BCN-AMM (AT/RJ) - Stop 3
AMM-FRA (RJ) - Stop 4
FRA-NRT (JL) - Stop 5
ITM-HND-SYD (surface between TYO-OSA)

Will try to add the SYD-CBR Dash 8 dash later, but not too fussed if they play silly buggers and I need a separate redemption for that - or heaven forbid a commercial Y fare.

I enrolled in JL Freqeunt Flyer for the search capability and ultimately never used, is there any benefit in adding the JMB number to the JL booking site instead of the QF number (I'm QF Gold)?

Having read through this thread prior to starting the booking process, it was a great assistance - thank you to all contributors. Things I noticed and picked up along the way -

• Lots of availibilty for 1 seat in J, 2 seats a bit tricky especially on AT and RJ.
• The number of times I was told that I couldn't add to an award booking noticable reduced over time (started booking early Sept, finished yesterday). Knowledge and experience seems to be improving, the operator yesterday (Fiji I think), looked at my booking and mentioned that I had a OW Classic award booking.
• I tried to book within a day or two of availability showing on the website, quite often it seemed that there was a slight delay before the call centre could see this. This did happen with a HBA operator as well as elsewhere, how I fluked that connection I don't know.
• Very much a lottery as to whether the operator (from most locales) had the knowledge/skill to complete the booking request. All very polite in saying can't be done. I just said thank you very much and called again. Having the prior knowledge that this would be an issue made this much easier to cope with and to stay calm and above all polite. I could sense the relaxation on the voice at the other of the phone by asking how they are etc.
• The biggest drama seemed to be with re ticketing after each booking change. Some call centre staff said its all good just go on the queue, most did try to expediate it and said it would be done in around 90 minutes (wishful thinking). Uusually a follow up call the next day required. Having the Royal Air Maroc bookings disaappear due to this maybe makes it seem more dramatic to me. That was resolved the same day as them dropping off and my ringing up saying HELP. My last booking took two calls to get the reticketing done. The last operator, very helpful and persistant, saw that the auto cancel was going to happen and said we have to get this done now and contacted the ticketing 'department', where she was number 50 in the queue. 90 minutes later (and my phone dropped out - she called me back), the tickets were re-issued. My take is the ticketing 'department' is under the pump.

Ultimately a successful although slightly stressful experience which I probably wouldn't do for Y class, but knowiing what I know now it would be that much easier next time - unlikely as getting the number of points took a very long time. I'll be watching the bookings like a hawk to catch any changes for reticketing.

I did join Award Nexus, which was not that helpful as I was generally booking as soon as availability was on the QF website which pretty much matched theaward nexus (or sometimes QF showed more). I have some leftover credit, which I'm happy to use to do some searches for people in need of information, as I don't see me needing it. PM me about that

Cheers.

 

[levelnine]

I enrolled in JL Freqeunt Flyer for the search capability and ultimately never used, is there any benefit in adding that to the JL booking site instead of the QF number (I'm QF Gold)?

A somewhat similar trip to one I have planned for next year.

To answer your question, if you mean adding the flights to your JL profile, there's no benefit.

What I have done with my booking is add it to the CheckMyTrip app on my iPhone as it often alerts me to flight changes before Qantas does.