Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Jacques Vert]

I'm thinking of 23/01/2021. Currently sitting at bronze status with QF.

As a bronze, Premium Cabin Awards (PE & J) for that date will not be available to you until 1 April, by which time members with Gold status and above will probably have booked all Award seats on that route. You could be lucky but your chances are very slim.

You should consider what your Plan B will be.

 

[acinod]

Without knowing your exact situation, I would phone the Call Centre to see what the situation is with your’booking’.

Maybe you are able to cancel without penalty for a mistake, or just make changes and proceed with booking some remaining flights while you are at it, and quote the PNR when you call.

OK thanks, I might wait a few days before calling. What's the PNR? Is that the same as the reference code?

Also, how easy is it to change flights? Can I only change the date or time or can I change the entire segment? (e.g. changing stopovers)

 

[acinod]

As a bronze, Premium Cabin Awards (PE & J) for that date will not be available to you until 1 April, by which time members with Gold status and above will probably have booked all Award seats on that route. You could be lucky but your chances are very slim.

You should consider what your Plan B will be.

I guess my plan B would be to hopefully find seats the day before. If that's not possible then I might have to fly economy back or book a separate flight.

Alternatively, could I transfer my points to a Gold/Platinum member and have them book for me? Or will that only work if they're family?

 

[DC3]

THat is not totally true , I have twice flown on Comair internal flights in South Africa on a OWA - they are an affiliate of BA - so it does happen but likely not with Dragon.

Comair. Is that a franchisee/subsidiary of BA (operating as a regional carrier of BA)?

If so, then you would have flown on a Oneworld airline (British Airways, operating as Comair). Something like Envoy, Piedmont and PSA (as American Eagle) are to AA.

 

[DC3]

OK thanks, I might wait a few days before calling. What's the PNR? Is that the same as the reference code?

Also, how easy is it to change flights? Can I only change the date or time or can I change the entire segment? (e.g. changing stopovers)

PNR = Passenger Name Record. Yes, the booking reference.

I wouldn’t be waiting before calling to clarify. The suspense would be too much for me.

Your changes can include dates, flights, carrier, routing, booking class (and maybe more), as long as you have not flown the first segment. However, as you know, bookings depend on availability, and availability can disappear quickly.

 

[V Singh]

@DC3
"Comair. Is that a franchisee/subsidiary of BA (operating as a regional carrier of BA)?

If so, then you would have flown on a Oneworld airline (British Airways, operating as Comair). Something like Envoy, Piedmont and PSA (as American Eagle) are to AA."

This is true

 

[ozflier]

Both Cathay Dragon and Comair are "affiliates" of CX and BA respectively.
It sure was a lot of trouble booking OWA flights on Comair though - lots of phone calls.

 

[ozflier]

Booking the two passengers as part of the Qantas Oneworld Award, separately, will be a nightmare to do, and to subsequently manage.

If you post the flights, you may be able to get some advice as to why you are getting an error message. There are a number of possibilities, including invalid destination/routing, or just the QF site coughping itself.

There are very few advantages of booking separate OWA itineraries - the main issue is that if you have a joint booking and only one seat available ,you can't take it - you have to wait until there are 2 seats available.

 

[V Singh]

@ozafflyer "It sure was a lot of trouble booking OWA flights on Comair though - lots of phone calls."

I enrolled with JAL and use their website access to explore OWA flight/seat availability. Once the availability has been identified with flight details, I find it easier to call QFF to book those flights. While the process takes time, the results are worth it with only one call. JAL search recommended as an alternative before booking OWA flights

 

[DC3]

Both Cathay Dragon and Comair are "affiliates" of CX and BA respectively.
It sure was a lot of trouble booking OWA flights on Comair though - lots of phone calls.

I did some googling out of curiosity.

Comair Limited: British Airways, operated by Comair:

Comair - British Airways (operated by Comair) celebrates first of its new fleet

So, definitely Oneworld, as anyone flying Comair is actually flying on British Airways, for all intents and purposes.

Quite different to the Cathay Dragon affiliate (and even the Oneworld connect partner, Fiji Airways). Booking Comair comes with all the Oneworld Benefits.

Edit: It wouldn’t surprise me if it was difficult to book on QF.

 

[AndyQB]

I have successfully added a Cathay Dragon (KA) flight to an OWA today - but it was part of a married pair with a CX flight.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I guess my plan B would be to hopefully find seats the day before. If that's not possible then I might have to fly economy back or book a separate flight.

Without wanting to rain on your parade, I think you are being VERY optimistic. SCL-SYD is one of the more difficult sectors on which to get availability. As you are looking at January you will be lucky to find availability on any day that month (as a bronze).

Alternatively, could I transfer my points to a Gold/Platinum member and have them book for me? Or will that only work if they're family?

The list of family members that are eligible to transfer points to is quite extensive. If you can find a Gold or Platinum member in your extended family that is willing to assist, you should take advantage of it. Seats will open up for them on 5/2/20 for flights on 23/1/21. A Platinum member can also ask for seats to be released if there are none available although January will still be a challenge.

When talking of a Plan B, I was thinking of returning via the USA and ASIA (assuming you have enough miles remaining).

Good luck.

 

[acinod]

Without wanting to rain on your parade, I think you are being VERY optimistic. SCL-SYD is one of the more difficult sectors on which to get availability. As you are looking at January you will be lucky to find availability on any day that month (as a bronze).




The list of family members that are eligible to transfer points to is quite extensive. If you can find a Gold or Platinum member in your extended family that is willing to assist, you should take advantage of it. Seats will open up for them on 5/2/20 for flights on 23/1/21. A Platinum member can also ask for seats to be released if there are none available although January will still be a challenge.

When talking of a Plan B, I was thinking of returning via the USA and ASIA (assuming you have enough miles remaining).

Good luck.

Yeah it seems buying a separate flight ticket via Qantas in January will cost me at least $2k. I have enough miles to do SCL-LAX and then LAX-SYD-MEL so I might have to do that. It looks like they only release Economy seats for these routes, are there any business seats available? Also for SCL-LAX it seems I can still book LATAM in December?

Also how much will it cost to change flights? Is it per person, per booking, per segment, etc.?

 

[DC3]

I have successfully added a Cathay Dragon (KA) flight to an OWA today - but it was part of a married pair with a CX flight.

Well done. As long as it has ticketed without any issues.

 

[AndyQB]

Well done. As long as it has ticketed without any issues.

Thanks, DC3.

I got through to someone in Auckland this morning who knew what they were doing and was able to add back in the KA and CX flights that had dropped off through lack of ticketing yesterday, but said it would take a long time to sort out reconstructing the taxes. 8 hours later I got the ticket.

I also got a nasty credit card charge. Instead of the extra $298pp I was quoted yesterday for adding RGN-HKG-HND-SYD to the end of my trip, I've been charged an extra $884pp. I did think the taxes/YQ had been undercharged the last time I made a change, but not by that much! I plan to follow up. The phone calls are never ending...

 

[markus2578]

So if your itinerary has LATAM on it, hope you have better luck than I did! But if it doesn't have LATAM on the itinerary, definitely easier to book what you can online and amend after.

Not planning on doing Sth America this time, so hopefully will be ok! cheers for the tip

 

[markus2578]

Hi all,

Any ideas on how many J seats are released on the ADL-DOH flight? I dont think I have ever seen any, so assume its only 1 or 2 per flight? Keen to try the Q-Suite!!
Thanks

 

[Jacques Vert]

Yeah it seems buying a separate flight ticket via Qantas in January will cost me at least $2k. I have enough miles to do SCL-LAX and then LAX-SYD-MEL so I might have to do that. It looks like they only release Economy seats for these routes, are there any business seats available? Also for SCL-LAX it seems I can still book LATAM in December?

Also how much will it cost to change flights? Is it per person, per booking, per segment, etc.?

How many pax are travelling? If it's only you , then you may have a chance but January is always tough.

While you may be able to book LATAM in December, I doubt you will be able to include it in a Oneworld Award after September (even if you book it now). Try doing a dummy booking of your entire itinerary and see if the points max out at 318k.
Changes are 5,000 points per passenger, per phone call. Make all your changes in the one phone call if you can.

 

[knightfall88]

hi guys,
I live in SYD. If my oneworld classic originates from PER, do I need to book a return flight to PER? Or does the Oneworld Classic end when you return to the Country BUT calculates the total miles to the originating city (i.e. PER in my case)

 

[jeza]

hi guys,
I live in SYD. If my oneworld classic originates from PER, do I need to book a return flight to PER? Or does the Oneworld Classic end when you return to the Country BUT calculates the total miles to the originating city (i.e. PER in my case)

My understanding is you don't have to finish in the origin city but miles will be counted from where you do finish back to the OWA origin city. In your example back to PER if not finishing there.