Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[k_sheep]

Earlier this week I made the final change to my booking, adding in two JL flights. Pleased to have the trip all confirmed and ticketed.
My itinerary (including positioning flights and surface sectors) takes me to Thailand, Greece, London, Iceland, New Caledonia, Japan, and China.

Would you mind sharing your routing? Looks like a great trip and I might try to copy it

 

[RoseD]

I have started the 280k J awards and in my second stop. I will continue in June with the remaining segments Adl-Syd-Nrt, Nrt-Yvr, Sfo-Hkg. Qantas has cancelled the segment Adl-Syd Qf738 and replaced with Qf740. I have accepted the change but has not received the new E-ticket itinerary. The 3 international flights were confirmed long before I started the J awards. Am I in danger of losing the international flights whilst waiting for the new e-ticket? I’m nervous.

 

[Captain Halliday]

I have started the 280k J awards and in my second stop. I will continue in June with the remaining segments Adl-Syd-Nrt, Nrt-Yvr, Sfo-Hkg. Qantas has cancelled the segment Adl-Syd Qf738 and replaced with Qf740. I have accepted the change but has not received the new E-ticket itinerary. The 3 international flights were confirmed long before I started the J awards. Am I in danger of losing the international flights whilst waiting for the new e-ticket? I’m nervous.

Just call and ask for it to be reticketed.

 

[knobbs]

Bit of a pickle here, as part of our RTW J booking for this year we are travelling BGO-ARN-LHR.

BGO - ARN: Arrive 12:40 (Finnair)
ARN - LHR: Depart 13:20 (British Airways)

The airlines are different but part of the oneworld alliance. Does anyone know if they check the baggage through? I have had 2x different statements from the Qantas agents, one was going to call Finnair but then hanged up on me after they were ringing them. They also wanted to charge 5k change fee + 8k service fee per passenger (26k total) to change the connecting flight to a later time. I am worried if we miss this flight the rest of our itinerary will be forfeited. If baggage is checked through it should be fine, if not then we won't make the connection.

 

[cloudsurfer]

Have you considered setting up some alerts on Expert Flyer?



Your bronze status won't make any difference to your booking opportunities with airlines other than QF (and even then, only when booking between 297 and 353 days in advance). Forget the direct flight from Sri Lanka: no chance of 2 x J seats on that one, let alone 4!

Thanks for the suggestions, but pretty frustrated here after spending hours again today searching for 4 J seats from Croatia or Greece in early September. Can get to Asia but every seat from there seems gone, bar Tokyo (and that's after a LHR-HND trip with JAL that costs $2200 in extras).

Can anyone see availability for 4 pax in J from Croatia, Greek Islands or nearby to Sydney in early September? I'm stuck and currently on hold waiting for Qantas to answer at the 43min mark and counting...

 

[bobcat]

Does anybody have experience with taxes changing dramatically between booking and ticket confirmation?

I was advised that $X was owed a few days ago during a call, having added final few legs to complete oneworld booking.
Agreed to pay, provided CC details and patiently waited for email to come through.
Qantas rep in South Africa (I missed a call from an Australian agent) just told me the operator made an error and I actually owe 8 x $X.
No conversation entered into and told I risk losing flights if I don't agree to new charges immediately.

Is this common? Any ideas on how to resolve - ideally with paying the charge that was quoted and agreed on?

 

[Daver6]

Does anybody have experience with taxes changing dramatically between booking and ticket confirmation?

I was advised that $X was owed a few days ago during a call, having added final few legs to complete oneworld booking.
Agreed to pay, provided CC details and patiently waited for email to come through.
Qantas rep in South Africa (I missed a call from an Australian agent) just told me the operator made an error and I actually owe 8 x $X.
No conversation entered into and told I risk losing flights if I don't agree to new charges immediately.

Is this common? Any ideas on how to resolve - ideally with paying the charge that was quoted and agreed on?

So they acknowledge the original operator made an error? They'll have a recording of this. I'd suggest the cost of that error is the airline's and not the consumer's. You entered into an agreement with the information provided. Both parties accepted this and there is a recording of this. I don't see how they can legally try charge you more know.

The question becomes, can you be bothered fighting this? Someone else might be able to suggest the best avenue to do so. Another option is social media shaming I suppose.

 

[bobcat]

So they acknowledge the original operator made an error? They'll have a recording of this. I'd suggest the cost of that error is the airline's and not the consumer's. You entered into an agreement with the information provided. Both parties accepted this and there is a recording of this. I don't see how they can legally try charge you more know.

The question becomes, can you be bothered fighting this? Someone else might be able to suggest the best avenue to do so. Another option is social media shaming I suppose.

Thanks for your quick response. Yes. They acknowledged the smaller amount (which I had agreed to be charged to the card provided) was communicated but that was a mistake and insisted there is no scope for that original amount to be honoured. Essentially, do not pass go unless I pay 8x the original amount.

And yes, this also struck me as the case. Unclear whether it's illegal or unethical but even more unsure on what I can actually do about it. The threat of losing flights (as anyone who has attempted to book/booked one of these oneworld fares can appreciate) is pretty powerful.

Will make another call tomorrow and hope to resolve. Was hoping someone in this fine community might have had a similar experience and can advise how it was resolved. Feel free to send a direct message if you'd rather not post publicly.

 

[wingtip626]

Would you mind sharing your routing? Looks like a great trip and I might try to copy it

I’ve sent you a PM.

 

[JohnM]

Does anybody have experience with taxes changing dramatically between booking and ticket confirmation?

I was advised that $X was owed a few days ago during a call, having added final few legs to complete oneworld booking.
Agreed to pay, provided CC details and patiently waited for email to come through.
Qantas rep in South Africa (I missed a call from an Australian agent) just told me the operator made an error and I actually owe 8 x $X.
No conversation entered into and told I risk losing flights if I don't agree to new charges immediately.

Is this common? Any ideas on how to resolve - ideally with paying the charge that was quoted and agreed on?

I guess one factor for us to consider is the quantum.

Is 8 x $X a ludicrous amount of money or is it a handful of $$? Was $X a small enough sum that it may have triggered the thought that it could have been an error?

Is there any reason why you didn't provide the actual amount of $X so we could see whether it looked vaguely applicable or not?

 

[JohnM]

Does anybody have experience with taxes changing dramatically between booking and ticket confirmation?

I was advised that $X was owed a few days ago during a call, having added final few legs to complete oneworld booking.
Agreed to pay, provided CC details and patiently waited for email to come through.
Qantas rep in South Africa (I missed a call from an Australian agent) just told me the operator made an error and I actually owe 8 x $X.
No conversation entered into and told I risk losing flights if I don't agree to new charges immediately.

Is this common? Any ideas on how to resolve - ideally with paying the charge that was quoted and agreed on?

I also notice that the AUD-ZAR exchange rate is around the 9 mark. Could this be the root of the error?

 

[bobcat]

I also notice that the AUD-ZAR exchange rate is around the 9 mark. Could this be the root of the error?

The problem was caused by a previous change not being correctly processed and charged by Qantas. This didn't come up when final flight was initially added (by a South African rep), nor in last night's conversation (with a South African senior). Explained this morning by operator from Hobart, who admitted fault and was apologetic for misinformation.

Not overly happy with resolution but another very good advertisement in always trying to speak with someone from the Australian call centre. Obviously easier said than done!

Upside is booking is now complete (touch wood, still waiting for the ticket email).
Can't thank everyone enough for their help, guidance, links, information and responses to silly questions in past few months. Has made planning and booking so much easier than it otherwise would be.

 

[flychrisfly]

I have started the 280k J awards and in my second stop.

??? Oh you mean a 280K oneworld J award

 

[flychrisfly]

Bit of a pickle here, as part of our RTW J booking for this year we are travelling BGO-ARN-LHR.

BGO - ARN: Arrive 12:40 (Finnair)
ARN - LHR: Depart 13:20 (British Airways)

The airlines are different but part of the oneworld alliance. Does anyone know if they check the baggage through? I have had 2x different statements from the Qantas agents, one was going to call Finnair but then hanged up on me after they were ringing them. They also wanted to charge 5k change fee + 8k service fee per passenger (26k total) to change the connecting flight to a later time. I am worried if we miss this flight the rest of our itinerary will be forfeited. If baggage is checked through it should be fine, if not then we won't make the connection.

You mean oneworld J award booking...
If the airlines allowed it to be booked then you'll be fine, as it's all one ticket. Yes, the bags will be checked through. 40 mins is a decent amount of time at ARN and even if you miss the connection you'll be looked after without any tickets being cancelled (unless it's your fault for sitting in the bar while your plane leaves!)

 

[cloudsurfer]

Thanks for the suggestions, but pretty frustrated here after spending hours again today searching for 4 J seats from Croatia or Greece in early September. Can get to Asia but every seat from there seems gone, bar Tokyo (and that's after a LHR-HND trip with JAL that costs $2200 in extras).

Can anyone see availability for 4 pax in J from Croatia, Greek Islands or nearby to Sydney in early September? I'm stuck and currently on hold waiting for Qantas to answer at the 43min mark and counting...

After 1hr 45mins wait to get through yday, the rep was ready to book a cheaper flight (after a change to my 3rd stop) but the fees in his system wanted to charge me $700 more (it should have been a $1500-2000 refund). He promised a call back and never delivered (this after a 3hr12min call). I've finally found a flight home in J on the Qantas site, but the rep from South Africa tonight couldn't see availability on her system when logged into my booking. She also said I couldn't book a separate leg and link or merge the two bookings.

Is that correct? And why can I see availability but they can't?

 

[flychrisfly]

She also said I couldn't book a separate leg and link or merge the two bookings.

Is that correct? And why can I see availability but they can't?

Yes, correct. Why? Who knows - HUACA

 

[wentworthmeister]

Quick question about the following T&Cs:

"Classic Flight Rewards are not available on Codeshare Flights unless otherwise specified by Qantas Loyalty. Classic Flight Rewards must be booked using the airline code (eg QF for Qantas) of the Operating Carrier unless otherwise specified by Qantas Loyalty."

Does this mean I won't be able to select a Qantas flight in my OWA itinerary if it's operated by Emirates (e.g. QF8409 MEL-DXB)?

 

[rock86]

Quick question about the following T&Cs:

"Classic Flight Rewards are not available on Codeshare Flights unless otherwise specified by Qantas Loyalty. Classic Flight Rewards must be booked using the airline code (eg QF for Qantas) of the Operating Carrier unless otherwise specified by Qantas Loyalty."

Does this mean I won't be able to select a Qantas flight in my OWA itinerary if it's operated by Emirates (e.g. QF8409 MEL-DXB)?

EK is not part of the OW Alliance, as such not eligible as part of a OWE Award.

 

[cloudsurfer]

After many years (I tried to do this before kids), I've finally booked 4 in J (mostly) and have thrown in my learnings below:

SYD-SFO (QF)
LAX-DAL-WAS (AA in Y)
WAS-JFK-LHR-SPU (AA/BA)
SPU-LHR (BA)
AMS-HKG-MNL-HND-NRT-SYD (CX/JAL/QF)

Taxes/fees/surcharges: $935pp

Some things I learnt:
1/ I searched for single legs on Qantas' site, BA executive and aa.com and found one better than the other at different times
2/ Qantas call centre is painful (nothing new here) and no time of the day or night made wait times better. The South African rep gave confident but wrong advice, so best to end call and try again (and wait whilst doing other tasks). NZ call centre rep helped me most in the end
3/ I'd booked BA from USA to LONDON and didnt realise the massive fees (USD2000 or so) until too late. Finally found an AA flight across the Atlantic and fees were about 1/3rd
4/ Flexibility is obviously key. I'd booked the first 3 stops 3 months ago, so finding 4 J seats for the final legs was tough (as will our flight home from AMS - check that for an adventure!)

Thanks again to this thread for advice

 

[wentworthmeister]

EK is not part of the OW Alliance, as such not eligible as part of a OWE Award.

Not even if it's a QF flight?

The T&C's above imply that you can't even access Classic Rewards seats on a code-share flight, but when I searched on the Qantas site it shows Classic Rewards availability for that example flight (QF8409)?