Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[pottsy]

Much appreciated, will give it a go tomorrow.......wish me luck.....!

The unsuccessful time was midday , however there was an outage that day
The two recent successful ones were mid morning

 

[Jacques Vert]

Hey has anyone had any luck booking flights to Havana with Qantas points? It doesn't come up as a destination on the Qantas website but searching on the JAL site I can see reward seats available on Iberia from Madrid? Can you still book these seats through qantas? Is there some kind of embargo on Cuba from Australia/Qantas?

Yes; been there, done that.

You can't book a Oneworld or Qantas Classic flight reward including Cuba online due to the US embargo. You will have to call.

Reason is (apparently) that if you were able to book online, you may include a US airline (AA) or US transit/stopover, both of which are not allowed on this type of booking.

 

[stirlo]

Reason is (apparently) that if you were able to book online, you may include a US airline (AA) or US transit/stopover, both of which are not allowed on this type of booking.

Would this have changed now? Theres plenty of flights going MIA to HAV these days and I thought Obama removed the restrictions? Why is it not allowed?

 

[DC3]

Would this have changed now? Theres plenty of flights going MIA to HAV these days and I thought Obama removed the restrictions? Why is it not allowed?

Start with the trumpster, perhaps.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Would this have changed now? Theres plenty of flights going MIA to HAV these days and I thought Obama removed the restrictions? Why is it not allowed?

Obama changed things and Trump changed most of them back...

You can fly USA to Cuba if you meet one of the special categories (tourism is not one of those).

Basically, you tell a few fibs to the US border/immigration guys that you are going there for other reasons. Hard to argue that you are not a tourist if you are on a Oneworld Award, for example.

If you include a US airline (AA) or a US airport on your itinerary, it will be cancelled by AA.

I provided some information on another thread: here is a copy...

I visited Havana in 2010 flying in from MAD and flying out via MEX on a Oneworld Award. Unfortunately, the airline I flew HAV-MEX (Mexicana) went into bankruptcy not long afterwards so that routing is no longer available.

Despite some suggestions that things may have changed, the rules seem to be the same as in 2010, that is: if Cuba and a US airport, or any US airline (read AA), are included on the same Oneworld Award (or Qantas Classic Award) ticket, AA will cancel the ticket without notice (within a couple of days). This may be why Havana will not show on the QF website.

You can buy a separate revenue ticket to Cuba as a side trip from the USA, provided you can meet one of the special categories that will qualify for a permit (in addition to Visa requirements). Note: tourism is not one of the 12 allowed categories. Some basic information here: Can a non-US citizen fly to Cuba through the US? - Why Not Cuba?

However, you can still include Cuba on a Oneworld Award, provided there are no US airports or US Airlines (AA) anywhere on the same ticket; therefore, the options into Havana (using a Oneworld Award purchased with QF points) are with IB from MAD, LATAM from LIM, and a twice weekly seasonal flight from HEL.

Alternatively, as @Lynda2475 says, you can buy a separate revenue ticket from somewhere outside the USA.

Provided you avoid AA and any US city/airport (transit or stopover), you can include Cuba on a Oneworld Award; but as I noted previously, you will have to call QF to book (and hopefully get an agent that knows what they are doing).

Good luck!

 

[pottsy]

Yet another question if anyone would be kind enough to advise (whilst I'm looking at altering my OWA booking)?
Which major One World airlines (that can be used for OWA) , charge the most taxes and which charge the least? (I think I have read that BA charges the most? Just wondering about CX, Singapore, Qatar etc??
Would be nice to have some idea of the difference.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Singapore is not a Oneworld airline.

CX, BA, RJ, QR & QF are all expensive, IME

 

[DC3]

Yet another question if anyone would be kind enough to advise (whilst I'm looking at altering my OWA booking)?
Which major One World airlines (that can be used for OWA) , charge the most taxes and which charge the least? ...

If you have no concerns with MH, and if their routes fit your travels, they can be a good deal cost-wise. Might be worth looking into UL as well

Edit: You can probably disregard this post as I was thinking about fare cost rather than your Oneworld Award flights. . Can’t find strikethrough.

 

[JohnM]

Singapore is not a One world airline.

CX, BA, RJ, QR & QF are all expensive, IME

Not entirely in my recent experience.

I've just made an award booking CDG-xHKG-xSIN-SYD in CX F, CX J, BA F and the cash component was only $264.89 which blew me away.

But outbound PER-xDOH-CDG in QR F, QR J was $512.81.

 

[DC3]

Hey has anyone had any luck booking flights to Havana with Qantas points? It doesn't come up as a destination on the Qantas website but searching on the JAL site I can see reward seats available on Iberia from Madrid? Can you still book these seats through qantas? Is there some kind of embargo on Cuba from Australia/Qantas?

The problem is with AA, or more precisely, Donald Trump. Obama’s lifting of the embargo was overturned.

There’s a current thread running on AFF about flying to/from Havana from the USA. Not impossible, but not easy to do under the current USA regime, so other options need to be considered, IB being one, as you mentioned.

Edit: The thread that I was referring to, regarding HAV, is actually this thread. (Post # 8248)

 

[DC3]

Just wondering if anyone 'of late' has altered their OWA 'originally booked for 280,000 points' and the points deducted have remained the same, (not increased to 318,000) ...

Any issues, then HUACA of course. Waste of time arguing.

 

[DC3]

Yet another question if anyone would be kind enough to advise (whilst I'm looking at altering my OWA booking)?
Which major One World airlines (that can be used for OWA) , charge the most taxes and which charge the least? ...

AA have no fuel fines and minimal taxes, starting from about $US 4.50 (yes, $4.50) for domestic

 

[jeza]

Yet another question if anyone would be kind enough to advise (whilst I'm looking at altering my OWA booking)?
Which major One World airlines (that can be used for OWA) , charge the most taxes and which charge the least? (I think I have read that BA charges the most? Just wondering about CX, Singapore, Qatar etc??
Would be nice to have some idea of the difference.
Thanks in advance.

A lot of these charges were listed in the Wiki for this thread . QR is definitely at the more expensive end but worth it if you snag a Q Suite.

The thread below also provides a bit of info as @madrooster was providing segement calculations that we could compare with our own final cost.

Member Offers - oneworld award Surcharges / Taxes Check

 

[JohnM]

Not entirely in my recent experience.

I've just made an award booking CDG-xHKG-xSIN-SYD in CX F, CX J, BA F and the cash component was only $264.89 which blew me away.

But outbound PER-xDOH-CDG in QR F, QR J was $512.81.

Oops - correction. The 264.89 was Euros as the purchase was Europe-based. The AUD amount on my CC statement was $439.29. Still not too bad, IMO.

 

[Guvner]

I looked at a CX F award HKG-SFO and (from memory) the add-ons were only AUD200 or so.

 

[pottsy]

I have altered flights on my OWA after finally getting through to customer service. Against my better judgement (please let me be proved wrong) I dealt with the Phillipines....................
As payment of the extra taxes etc are not yet showing on my bank account, how long shall I wait before panicking 'entirely'! (Payment was made approx 5 or so hours ago...flights are showing as altered.)

 

[exceladdict]

I have altered flights on my OWA after finally getting through to customer service. Against my better judgement (please let me be proved wrong) I dealt with the Phillipines....................
As payment of the extra taxes etc are not yet showing on my bank account, how long shall I wait before panicking 'entirely'! (Payment was made approx 5 or so hours ago...flights are showing as altered.)

Don't worry so much about the payment, but that you receive a new e-ticket.

 

[ozflier]

Hi,

For my next OWA trip, I’m looking at splitting it into 2 or 3 sections.

I am looking for your advice re past experiences with this method.

Have you done this?

I can remember seeing some thoughts along these lines in the past but cannot find a way to find them on this forum.

I am concerned re taxes and I accept that having the departure of Manila would save money but there are other priorities.

I am thinking of initially leaving BNE in February 2020 and initially flying to AKL and probably coming back to BNE ( at my cost ) after visiting the Bay of Islands etc.

Quite a few months later, maybe later this year, we would pay ourselves to fly back to AKL and then continue our OWA journey to China, catch the train to Tibet . visit Beijing and fly home .

Early 2021 we would leave BNE to Europe and return to AKL. (I would love to go to Marrakesh plus see the aurora borealis in Finland).

I know the OWA rules fairly well thanks to this forum but would be interested in any tips from someone who has done this before.

Cheers for 2020.

 

[Captain Halliday]

@ozflier I’ve done this for both of my OWAs.

Details of the two elements from my most recent trip can be found in this trip report and in my Nordic skies and skis trip report.

For this trip - and my previous one - I departed ex. SIN with BNE as a stop mid trip.

In relation to your idea of starting in AKL, it can certainly be done, but for most routings that will just eat into the 35k miles.

My experience in the second TR chasing the Aurora may not inspire you much though...

 

[ozflier]

@ozflier I’ve done this for both of my OWAs.

Details of the two elements from my most recent trip can be found in this trip report and in my Nordic skies and skis trip report.

For this trip - and my previous one - I departed ex. SIN with BNE as a stop mid trip.

In relation to your idea of starting in AKL, it can certainly be done, but for most routings that will just eat into the 35k miles.

My experience in the second TR chasing the Aurora may not inspire you much though...

I see your point re extra miles associated with using AKL - so much further south .
Once , there used to be a weekly Cathay flight from Port Moresby to HKG and that was another option - can't seem to find it anymore .
Manila for me is such a long flight in Y - 7 hours 45 minutes in a non OneWorld Airline ( eg no lounge access , preferred seating etc).
I liked the idea of seeing the aurora borealis from one of those glass igloos and at the sametime see a bit of Finnish Lapland.
Re your comment , was your view of the phenomenon good and it was not worth the trouble or not a good view in the first place?