Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[Jacques Vert]

Below are some snippets/notes I have captured over the last 3-4 years of example routings and comments in this thread posted by various users. I kept a notepad file for ideas.
Might be some useful ideas for those pondering a OWA itinerary.
Note that the the old OWA points/taxes are sometimes quoted.

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MNL-SYD-CFS/CFS-SYD-ADL-DOH-ATH/ATH-LHR-GVA/ZRH-AMM-HKG-MNL

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The first of those itineraries was one of mine. What an Honour!!!

 

[RooFlyer]

• What would be the best direction to go (we live in Melbourne Australia) following the warm weather around.
• Does anyone have an itinerary that might provide some ideas of places to go and see?
• How do we ensure that we have full lay back beds/seats while travelling
• What is the best and cheapest way to handle money / minimize transfer fees etc.
• What is the best value travel insurance
• What would the best way to book flights / accommodation etc.
• Do you have any contacts that could help with planning / Ideas etc.

My 2 bobs worth:

• What would be the best direction to go (we live in Melbourne Australia) following the warm weather around.
  • My preference after many RTW trips is to fo eastwards, not so much for the weather but I survive the jet lag better
• Does anyone have an itinerary that might provide some ideas of places to go and see?
  • Ones above are a good start
• How do we ensure that we have full lay back beds/seats while travelling
  • Very difficult to 'ensure', as airlines can substitute planes differently configured to the one you booked, but most of the major airlines all have flat beds in Business, some exceptions with shorter routes (ie "within Asia") where they aren't configured for long haul and you'll get recliner.
• What is the best and cheapest way to handle money / minimize transfer fees etc.
  • The Latitude Mastercard has long been my go-to for a credit card for overseas. No fees and very good exchange rates. Citi debit card for cash withdrawals overeas. Again, very good FX rates and no fees.
• What is the best value travel insurance
  • Entirely depends on your situation. Shop around.
• What would the best way to book flights / accommodation etc.
  • For points, you'll have to book yourself, usually via the airline web site, but see the tip above re Frequent Flyer Solutions / Award Flight Assist. Will be perfect for you; they won't do suggestions and you'll need to specify your itinerary. They will find an itinerary that suits you, but be careful to tell them what you like, and don't like in the way of airlines (ie "No airlines from xx_ country or area...".). Many people try to avoid Chinese airlines as they generally aren't as good an experience as others.
  • I book accommodation direct, via the hotel web sites. In any event AVOID 'aggregators' who appear to be cheap, but usually have terms & coditions that will be awful if anything goes wrong or you need to change itineraty - that goes for flights and accommodation.
• Do you have any contacts that could help with planning / Ideas etc.
  • Note that 'planning' takes time, so professionals may either charge or give you limited free time. Once you get the skeleton of an itinerary, start a thread for it and ask specific questions there. Between us, we've been there, done that. Also good tips for guides, tours etc just about anywhere.

General tip - go with QR (Qatar Airways) where you can and try to get their QSuites in business - absolutely the best in the sky.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Agree with RooFlyer except on the direction! I find way less jetlag going westbound. YMMV

 

[paul66]

Hi. I know I must include 2 Oneworld Airlines, but must I also include Qantas or call all flights be with other Oneworld airlines.

 

[DC3]

Hi. I know I must include 2 Oneworld Airlines, but must I also include Qantas or call all flights be with other Oneworld airlines.

At least two oneworld airlines, other than QF. QF flights are not required but may be part of the itinerary if you wish.

 

[Spacetravel]

Are changes supposed to cost 5k points? I've made multiple calls to update my booking for free, currently on the phone to cape town who want 5k points for changes I'm making. I've refused and they are going to check with someone and call me back about it.

 

[11sjw]

Are changes supposed to cost 5k points? I've made multiple calls to update my booking for free, currently on the phone to cape town who want 5k points for changes I'm making. I've refused and they are going to check with someone and call me back about it.

In normal circumstances I believe so (eg. when adding a flight to your itnerary they charge a 5k fee).

 

[DC3]

Are changes supposed to cost 5k points? I've made multiple calls to update my booking for free, currently on the phone to cape town who want 5k points for changes I'm making. I've refused and they are going to check with someone and call me back about it.

No fee at the moment, certainly until 28 Feb, but this may have been extended yet again. Anyway, it’s on the QF website somewhere.

 

[flyingfun]

Soooo I used to consider myself a FF gun (at least compared to my circle of friends!). But to my surprise, I only recently came across the Oneworld award flights!

Unfortunately, this was after I bought classic award flights to and from Europe (ex. Melb).

I was quite happy with my classic award flight finds (as I've never flown to Europe on points, or on any class other than economy). However, now that I am aware of the Oneworld award flights, I'm wondering if I would have been better off trying to secure this?

My current flights are:

• Melb > London: Qantas Business Class (144,600 pts)
• Amsterdam > Melb: Emirates First Class (227,500 pts) (quite excited about this one).

So this comes to 372,100 points that I've burnt through.

As I plan to be in Europe for a few months, would or could it be possible for me to instead try to get a Oneworld award (maybe just business class for 318K), but add a few Oneworld flights in my Europe itinerary? Or am I missing some other criteria that would be required to get the Oneworld award booking?

 

[Spacetravel]

Soooo I used to consider myself a FF gun (at least compared to my circle of friends!). But to my surprise, I only recently came across the Oneworld award flights!

Unfortunately, this was after I bought classic award flights to and from Europe (ex. Melb).

I was quite happy with my classic award flight finds (as I've never flown to Europe on points, or on any class other than economy). However, now that I am aware of the Oneworld award flights, I'm wondering if I would have been better off trying to secure this?

My current flights are:

• Melb > London: Qantas Business Class (144,600 pts)
• Amsterdam > Melb: Emirates First Class (227,500 pts) (quite excited about this one).

So this comes to 372,100 points that I've burnt through.

As I plan to be in Europe for a few months, would or could it be possible for me to instead try to get a Oneworld award (maybe just business class for 318K), but add a few Oneworld flights in my Europe itinerary? Or am I missing some other criteria that would be required to get the Oneworld award booking?

You should be able to call up and add the flights you want to turn it into a oneworld award, assuming you meet the rules. However as you have a first class flight you will be charged the first class rate for the entire itinerary regardless of class of travel (445k points). As painful as it would be, if you changed your first class flight to business class and all your other flights are business or lower you would be charged the lower 318k rate. Alternatively you can attempt to secure first class for all or many of your flights to get maximum value.

 

[flyingfun]

You should be able to call up and add the flights you want to turn it into a oneworld award, assuming you meet the rules. However as you have a first class flight you will be charged the first class rate for the entire itinerary regardless of class of travel (445k points). As painful as it would be, if you changed your first class flight to business class and all your other flights are business or lower you would be charged the lower 318k rate. Alternatively you can attempt to secure first class for all or many of your flights to get maximum value.

Thanks so much for that quick tip! I have to laugh at "how painful" it would be going from first to business haha. I've never flown anything other than coughpy cheap international airlines in economy on a students budget, but I'll have to suck it up

I'm assuming there aren't many other first-class flights, particularly within Europe, so down to business would be best.

 

[Daver6]

Soooo I used to consider myself a FF gun (at least compared to my circle of friends!). But to my surprise, I only recently came across the Oneworld award flights!

Unfortunately, this was after I bought classic award flights to and from Europe (ex. Melb).

I was quite happy with my classic award flight finds (as I've never flown to Europe on points, or on any class other than economy). However, now that I am aware of the Oneworld award flights, I'm wondering if I would have been better off trying to secure this?

My current flights are:

• Melb > London: Qantas Business Class (144,600 pts)
• Amsterdam > Melb: Emirates First Class (227,500 pts) (quite excited about this one).

So this comes to 372,100 points that I've burnt through.

As I plan to be in Europe for a few months, would or could it be possible for me to instead try to get a Oneworld award (maybe just business class for 318K), but add a few Oneworld flights in my Europe itinerary? Or am I missing some other criteria that would be required to get the Oneworld award booking?

You can't use EK in a OneWorld Award booking as they're not a OW member.

You could take on more flights to your MEL - LHR flight, but that will obviously cost you more points. Depending on how much flying you plan on doing, it could be worthwhile and as would make out at the J OWA limit. You'd need to stay within all other rules too.

 

[vetrade]

Flyingfun, your starting point should be to read the link in post 10,441 higher up this page, to get the lowdown on the OWA rules. You really do need to familiarise yourself with these before anything else because they are significantly different to most classic award bookings

 

[11sjw]

Soooo I used to consider myself a FF gun (at least compared to my circle of friends!). But to my surprise, I only recently came across the Oneworld award flights!

Unfortunately, this was after I bought classic award flights to and from Europe (ex. Melb).

I was quite happy with my classic award flight finds (as I've never flown to Europe on points, or on any class other than economy). However, now that I am aware of the Oneworld award flights, I'm wondering if I would have been better off trying to secure this?

My current flights are:

• Melb > London: Qantas Business Class (144,600 pts)
• Amsterdam > Melb: Emirates First Class (227,500 pts) (quite excited about this one).

So this comes to 372,100 points that I've burnt through.

As I plan to be in Europe for a few months, would or could it be possible for me to instead try to get a Oneworld award (maybe just business class for 318K), but add a few Oneworld flights in my Europe itinerary? Or am I missing some other criteria that would be required to get the Oneworld award booking?

You can't use Emirates in a OWA itinerary.

 

[cambriamarsh]

You should be able to call up and add the flights you want to turn it into a oneworld award, assuming you meet the rules. However as you have a first class flight you will be charged the first class rate for the entire itinerary regardless of class of travel (445k points). As painful as it would be, if you changed your first class flight to business class and all your other flights are business or lower you would be charged the lower 318k rate. Alternatively you can attempt to secure first class for all or many of your flights to get maximum value.

And note you can't use Emirates in a Oneworld award
Edit. Beaten to it

 

[Matt_01]

Asking the brains trust as I am thinking about trying to book a double banger in 2023 but would like to understand if my thinking is correct. I have booked a few of these trips but they were pretty standard trips, a quick check on great circle mapper suggests this one will get close to the milage cap. I will be looking for x3 in J and travelling separately (x1 and x2) is not out of the question. What I am not sure of is the transit city's are they country based and once I go over the points cap do I actually need to book go back to the starting country. The initial thoughts are:
Apr 23
ADL-AKL (positioning flight)
AKL-BNE-HND (we will also head over to Korea on a seperate flight)
HND-SYD.

Sep 23
SYD/MEL/ADL-CDG on any carrier with availability.
CDG-AU, (this is the preferred endpoint) otherwise CDG-NZ
NZ-AU (return leg of the positioning flight)

I think it should work as I will have stops in HND, SYD, CDG it is the transits in AU from and back to NZ that I am not sure about.

Edit. After not getting many options from the QF website which seems to be playing up I ended up calling QF and the agent went through the process of creating a dummy booking on my behalf. In the end it would not ticket and was advised that it had something to do with the QF system treating NZ (as the exit country) as the same as leaving from AU, the error message mentioned was about flying out of the departure city city more than once is not allowed. For the purposes of booking OW classic rewards is leaving from NZ treated as if leaving from AU. The agent raised a case within QF and suggested I call back in a couple of weeks.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Asking the brains trust as I am thinking about trying to book a double banger in 2023 but would like to understand if my thinking is correct. I have booked a few of these trips but they were pretty standard trips, a quick check on great circle mapper suggests this one will get close to the milage cap. I will be looking for x3 in J and travelling separately (x1 and x2) is not out of the question. What I am not sure of is the transit city's are they country based and once I go over the points cap do I actually need to book go back to the starting country. The initial thoughts are:
Apr 23
ADL-AKL (positioning flight)
AKL-BNE-HND (we will also head over to Korea on a seperate flight)
HND-SYD.

Sep 23
SYD/MEL/ADL-CDG on any carrier with availability.
CDG-AU, (this is the preferred endpoint) otherwise CDG-NZ
NZ-AU (return leg of the positioning flight)

I think it should work as I will have stops in HND, SYD, CDG it is the transits in AU from and back to NZ that I am not sure about.

Edit. After not getting many options from the QF website which seems to be playing up I ended up calling QF and the agent went through the process of creating a dummy booking on my behalf. In the end it would not ticket and was advised that it had something to do with the QF system treating NZ (as the exit country) as the same as leaving from AU, the error message mentioned was about flying out of the departure city city more than once is not allowed. For the purposes of booking OW classic rewards is leaving from NZ treated as if leaving from AU. The agent raised a case within QF and suggested I call back in a couple of weeks.

I assume by “positioning flight” you mean separate PNR (either revenue or points) to get to AKL.

If so, the rest looks good to me.

As you’ve identified, you’ll be very tight for miles depending on exact routing and city choices in EU.

And they’ve been giving the “NZ is the same country as AU” excuse for some months now. Total nonsense IMO. If HUACA doesn’t work, consider SIN, CGK or DPS or KUL for your positioning flights. Might give you slightly more scope on the mileage too.

 

[Matt_01]

@Captain Halliday thanks for the response. The “positioning flight” will be a seperate PNR most likely revenue when a NZ sale comes along or a points flight if QF have a discount promotion, happy to spend 3.5 in Y. I did look at SIN, KUL or CGK, DPS options but didn't fancy spending 6-7 hours getting to the start point and then returning. I am only looking at this plan as we will head to France in 2023 (was planned for this year but have pushed it back to 2023) and if travelling on a partner airline the cost is 318K points so the extra trip to Japan is just a bonus and we like Japan. As for any side trips from France these would be minimal and I would be revenue. As long as we can get to/from Japan and France in J the rest is incidental.

 

[Captain Halliday]

@Captain Halliday thanks for the response. The “positioning flight” will be a seperate PNR most likely revenue when a NZ sale comes along or a points flight if QF have a discount promotion, happy to spend 3.5 in Y. I did look at SIN, KUL or CGK, DPS options but didn't fancy spending 6-7 hours getting to the start point and then returning. I am only looking at this plan as we will head to France in 2023 (was planned for this year but have pushed it back to 2023) and if travelling on a partner airline the cost is 318K points so the extra trip to Japan is just a bonus and we like Japan. As for any side trips from France these would be minimal and I would be revenue. As long as we can get to/from Japan and France in J the rest is incidental.

Fair enough. What I’ve done for a couple of trips is either a revenue fare or classic award to SIN and start the OWA from there.

I agree with you that it’s a long way to get to your starting point, but remember you can still end in AU. You don’t have to go back to SIN. Just remember to include the miles back to SIN.

The other possibility with your routing is to make ADL-HND your positioning fight. And book the rest as an award from starting from HND. It might leave you enough miles to include Korea in the award on JL, rather than revenue fares.

 

[BillW]

For a multi city award fare, does one internal Australian leg count as a stopover? Even Syd-Mel? Or ADL or PER?