Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Aussiejosh]

Hi, I'm wondering if there is a way to search in this thread to see different itineraries that people have successfully booked in the past?
Thanks

No easy way but to manual look through

Mine was:
PER-HKG-KIX Cathay
NRT-YVR Japan Airlines
YVR-JFK Cathay
JFK-MIA-GYE American
GRU-MAD Latam
PSA-LON-HKG-PER British Airways to HKG then Cathy to PER

Cost about $700 in taxes.

 

[ozflier]

No easy way but to manual look through

Mine was:
PER-HKG-KIX Cathay
NRT-YVR Japan Airlines
YVR-JFK Cathay
JFK-MIA-GYE American
GRU-MAD Latam
PSA-LON-HKG-PER British Airways to HKG then Cathy to PER

Cost about $700 in taxes.

note that Latam is no longer a Oneworld member.

 

[DC3]

And AS comes on-board on 31st March, for those who can use that as an option for flights (although not as a replacement for LA).

 

[Ric]

YVR-JFK Cathay is no longer available. Correct?

 

[Captain Halliday]

YVR-JFK Cathay is no longer available. Correct?

Correct. Sadly.

 

[Noah Count]

Hi, I'm wondering if there is a way to search in this thread to see different itineraries that people have successfully booked in the past?
Thanks

I would suggest a different approach, post your proposed (dream itinerary) dates and in what class Y, J or F and let others come back with will/not work. Airlines are always changing routes, aircraft types etc and as @ozflier and @DC3 detailed at times airline alliances change.

 

[ozflier]

I would suggest a different approach, post your proposed (dream itinerary) dates and in what class Y, J or F and let others come back with will/not work. Airlines are always changing routes, aircraft types etc and as @ozflier and @DC3 detailed at times airline alliances change.

good idea

 

[kingzac]

Hi everyone,

I've been piecing together a bit of an itinerary but know you will be able to make it loads better.

2x Pax in J
Late Feb/Early March 2022

Definite stops
Tokyo
Frankfurt
Dublin or Edinburgh
Glasgow
Reykjavik

Open to going via Calgary in one direction but must avoid the US (Visa issues, long story).

Currently I've been able to put together the following with avail for 2:

BNE>NRT
NRT>HKG>FRA
FRA>LHR>REY
REY>LHR>DUB
GLA>DOH>BNE

I imagine that the LHR transfers will add significant costs and might be best avoided. I did see some options via AMS but they've been harder to find in my playing around.

I'd really appreciate any suggestions or help.
Thanks

 

[ozflier]

A few quick thoughts.
Great you are planning ahead - pity that flight schedules are really not in concrete that far ahead even in normal times.
LHR transfers, if less than 24 hours will, at least, not involve Air Passenger Duty .
You are at the stopover limit but plenty of sectors available.
I know its early days but if I can avoid a stopover , I would eg why not just fly NRT non stop to FRA on JAL - usually plenty of J awards available.
Finnair do travel HEL-KEF return though getting J awards on those flights is not easy.
If you could avoid LHR for one transfer to/from KEF, this would open room for the DUB-GLA sector as other wise it comes out of your pocket.
Finnair also fly HEL- DUB but using their affiliate Nordic Regional Airways - not sure if that counts as part of a OWA. ie in the same way Comair , an affiliate of BA, does . I suspect that its not ! You may need to ring QFF to check but sadly , in my experience , they are not always aware of the complexities of OW affiliates.
Happy planning.

 

[kingzac]

LHR transfers, if less than 24 hours will, at least, not involve Air Passenger Duty .
I know its early days but if I can avoid a stopover , I would eg why not just fly NRT non stop to FRA on JAL - usually plenty of J awards available.
Finnair do travel HEL-KEF return though getting J awards on those flights is not easy.

Thank you!
Would be a straight transfer through LHR, we have no plans to stop there.

I saw NRT>FRA on the flight map but couldn't get it to pop up in planning, will definitely take that option.

Finnair would be handy, would stopping for a couple of days in Helsinki cause issues if we go FRA>HEL>KEF? Assuming the flights are even available.

 

[Guvner]

Hi, I'm wondering if there is a way to search in this thread to see different itineraries that people have successfully booked in the past?
Thanks

I was logging each itinerary and costs/taxes where mentioned (no usernames logged) in a word doc for 12 or so months but somehow its disappeared from my PC which is annoying. I was using it for ideas/planning. If I find it I'll update it, upload it and post a link.

 

[Nimo]

HI I am quite new never booked RTW ticket now the border restrictions are easing I would like top travel using classic reward flight but not sure how to book RWT ticket

Question: Do I have to booked each segment individual or call call centre & tell them cities & see what they suggest

I want to start journey either from Mel, Syd , Adelaide preferably Mel
Mel - HND - LHR
LHR- JFK
JFK- YYZ
YYZ - Mel or something similar to this

Any suggestions??

 

[Jacques Vert]

Firstly, you are looking to book a Oneworld Award, not an RTW. Despite your suggested itinerary actually going around the world, this is not a requirement for a Oneworld Award. You have up to 35,000 miles and can zig zag around without completing a lap of the planet provided you stick to the rules (which are mentioned numerous times in this thread).

The more common rules are:

• Maximum 35,000 miles (including surface segments)
• Maximum 16 segments;
• Two airlines other than Qantas (you don't need to include QF but can if you want to);
• Only include Oneworld airlines;
• Cannot return to your country or city of origin (once you do that's the end of your trip);
• Maximum two transits and one stopover per city.

Start with the five cities you want to visit and have a few alternatives in mind in case your first choices don't work.

You can book your trip all on-line in one go (provided all the flights are available for booking). To do so you go to the "multi-city tool" and start searching. Once you make your original booking/flights, any changes or additions need to be made over the phone and will cost you an additional 5,000 points per person change fee.

Above all: Be flexible.

 

[cjd600]

You can book your trip all on-line in one go (provided all the flights are available for booking). To do so you go to the "multi-city tool" and start searching. Once you make your original booking/flights, any changes or additions need to be made over the phone and will cost you an additional 6,000 points per person change fee.

Noting the change fee is 5,000 points per person (6,000 to cancel), and is currently waived up until 31 March 2021.

 

[DC3]

Firstly, you are looking to book a Oneworld Award, not an RTW. Despite your suggested itinerary actually going around the world, this is not a requirement for a Oneworld Award. You have up to 35,000 miles and can zig zag around without completing a lap of the planet provided you stick to the rules (which are mentioned numerous times in this thread).

The more common rules are ............

Very generous of you to post this information. As you say, the rules are mentioned numerous times in this thread. So, I’m not sure whether some are actually prepared to do much research.

However, with the huge number of posts in this thread, the task may appear rather daunting, although many have successfully tackled this.

Maybe a wiki would help, starting with the information in your post?

Edit: Time spent on research is seldom wasted.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Noting the change fee is 5,000 points per person (6,000 to cancel), and is currently waived up until 31 March 2021.

Of course it is; and I've pointed the difference out to many others previously. I promise to be more careful next time.

 

[ozflier]

HI I am quite new never booked RTW ticket now the border restrictions are easing I would like top travel using classic reward flight but not sure how to book RWT ticket

Question: Do I have to booked each segment individual or call call centre & tell them cities & see what they suggest

I want to start journey either from Mel, Syd , Adelaide preferably Mel
Mel - HND - LHR
LHR- JFK
JFK- YYZ
YYZ - Mel or something similar to this

Any suggestions??

If you are going to do more travel like this , it may be worthwhile subscribing to something like EXPERTFLYER - there is a basic version that covers most of what you need for some AUD 7.50 per month. Particularly so if you are after a J OWA.
I find EF the best way to design my OWA - can also see if award seats are available though not all airlines allow this information to be accessed. Other free sites will offer this information but not as easy to find in one convenient place.
Knowing which aircraft is flying the route also helps - ie if you have a choice of a small or a larger aircraft , you would consider the latter as hopefully there would be a greater chance of an award seat.
As another poster says , you have to be flexible in terms of airlines and dates . Economy class awards are much easier to get but I think J is better value for money if you have the points.
I think now is a good time to access award seats compared to the pre covid past - maybe its just no one is booking or the airlines are desperate for the fees the booking comes with.
I try to find the longest sequence of flights with the greatest likelihood of getting award seats even if it doesn't start in Australia - you can always add on later.
I suggest that you look at award availability at the least on the qantas site and get an idea of what is going to be available on your preferred dates if you have decided those yet.
You could look at say november / december 2021 for starters and see what flights are available . Maybe then work back in dates. Bear in mind that some carriers have not released their schedules for the northern winter season beyond october 2021 so there may be gaps in availability.

 

[Noah Count]

.....
I want to start journey either from Mel, Syd , Adelaide preferably Mel
Mel - HND - LHR
LHR- JFK
JFK- YYZ
YYZ - Mel or something similar to this

Any suggestions??

If you start looking at the QF you should find it relatively easy to book this trip as availability is normally pretty good. Due to the different lead times I would start booking the flights as they become available. As you start to add in other sectors the ticket will go off for manual processing, I tend not to worry about the time this takes as until it is ticketed you can make additional changes without having to pay additional change fees (change fees are applicable once the ticket is issued).

The way you have written the first segment I am assuming that you are not planning to stop in JP. If this is the case just check what your arrival airport in JP to avoid transfers. If you are not looking to stop in JP have your considered MEL-HKG-LHR.

YYZ back to AU if you are looking for the easiest route CX would be a good option, however if you are not fussed about flying coming back the long way also normally simple to get.

Also I always try and get as many flights in the class I have chosen to fly, the number of points required will be based and priced in the highest level of travel. What this means is that you take one flight in F and the rest in J the whole trip is priced as F and you may unnecessarily burn additional points.

In 2020 I had similar routes booked on 2 occasions but both were cancelled. I am currently looking at doing similar in early 2022 and have started planning.

 

[stirlo]

I wish the government would hurry up and put out some more detailed vaccine guidance.

Just cancelled my SYD-JNB on 02/06/21 and moved it back to 29/09/21. Now I see Qantas is saying July/August might be possible and Scomo has brought forward the vaccine by a month. :/

Current booking is: SYD-JNB, JNB-lhr-MAD, BIO-mad-HAV, HAV-mad-DME, SVO-HND, HND-SYD. starting on the 29/09 and getting back early December.

Anyone think it’s worth trying to move it forward a month of two now? Or is even this booking too risky?

 

[Saanch]

What happens if you have a baby in the Classic Flight rewards ticket and you have to reschedule the ticket and the baby will be above the 2 Years mark? Do I have to give additional points for the baby?

Anyone had any experience on this?