Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[aikman]

Has anyone done this and would you recommend it?

I don't recommend it. Here's why.

1. This strategy uses up a lot of miles which limits your routing options to Europe which I assume is where you actually want to go. This also means that for most people the 2nd trip will be pretty much restricted to Asia.
2. You will have to buy a separate (likely return) ticket to Asia to start and end your reward trip, which cancels out the benefit of getting a 'free' trip to Asia as the 2nd part of your reward trip.
3. It's hard enough to find award seats without the added complexity of splitting it into two trips close to a year apart.
4. Once the first flight is flown, you cannot change the routing of the rest of the flights (and you're unlikely to find availability to change dates). Your 2nd trip becomes a 'use it or lose it' trip.

 

[JensInsanity]

Hey everyone, sorry I'm unsure if this question belongs here.

Does AA ever release more reward flights to Qantas for SYD-LAX or SYD-SFO?

Long story short, I got San Diego Comic Con tickets a few days ago and the classic reward flight options going over around July 2025 are pretty dismal right now (returning has great options!).

Otherwise, any ideas on how to get over without spending a small fortune?

 

[elanshin]

Hi all. I've been collecting points for a while and I'm now finally ready to book my first OW Classic Flight Reward.

I've seen the suggested 'hack' on the PointHacks website suggesting to start the trip overseas (book a cash fare to starting destination e.g. Asia) in order to get a second trip out of it within a year. Has anyone done this and would you recommend it? Not sure if I want to sit the repositioning leg to Asia in economy but I'm well under the 35K miles based on rough plan so would like to maximise it somehow.

I'm bronze and read that we can book reward flights up to 297 days in advance but I can view/book flights on Qantas site until Nov 2025 - is it just special/popular routes that are restricted to 297 days?

I don't recommend it. Here's why.

1. This strategy uses up a lot of miles which limits your routing options to Europe which I assume is where you actually want to go. This also means that for most people the 2nd trip will be pretty much restricted to Asia.
2. You will have to buy a separate (likely return) ticket to Asia to start and end your reward trip, which cancels out the benefit of getting a 'free' trip to Asia as the 2nd part of your reward trip.
3. It's hard enough to find award seats without the added complexity of splitting it into two trips close to a year apart.
4. Once the first flight is flown, you cannot change the routing of the rest of the flights (and you're unlikely to find availability to change dates). Your 2nd trip becomes a 'use it or lose it' trip.

It really depends. We made good use of this and having significantly more award availability out of Asia too.

We're about to do it again ( i have leg 1 and 2 booked). Try to get call and get the agent to price it in AUD if you plan on doing it. Our last one was out if Jakarta and having payment in IDR caused the call centre all sorts of problems ticketing.

 

[Amanad78]

We're about to do it again ( i have leg 1 and 2 booked). Try to get call and get the agent to price it in AUD if you plan on doing it. Our last one was out if Jakarta and having payment in IDR caused the call centre all sorts of problems titicketing.

Do you know if it's possible to get it changed to AUD?
We already have our first trip out of Singapore, to Europe and back to Australia.
The next part will be 2026 leaving Australia, so when we call up to book those flights will they be able to convert it to AUD?

Thanks

 

[Jacques Vert]

Do you know if it's possible to get it changed to AUD?
We already have our first trip out of Singapore, to Europe and back to Australia.
The next part will be 2026 leaving Australia, so when we call up to book those flights will they be able to convert it to AUD?

Thanks

Don't know about converting it to AUD but for future reference, when making the initial booking put in a dummy first flight from somewhere in Aus to anywhere so that it is priced in AUD. When you phone to add other flights, cancel the dummy booking at the same time.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Ticketed a 318K Award earlier this week for departure today.
Last minute compassionate trip for Shrek. Basically a SYD-LHR return, QF/ CX outbound and AY/QF return.

Not fully optimized but given the late notice was very grateful to have had the points, excellent TA and QF P1 to make this happen. Without any of the above would have been very stressful and big $$$$$.

 

[icecream]

Just returned a couple days ago from our 318k reward. Wanted to say thank you again to this thread for all the help, especially when I had questions during the booking process!

The trip:
SYD-HND (JL) Stop 1
NRT-HKG (CX) Stop 2
HKG-SIN (CX) Stop 3
SIN-HEL-FCO (AY) Stop 4
(internal Europe legs on cash fare)
HEL-JFK (AY) Stop 5
SFO-SYD (QF)

 

[adamk8]

Hi all - quick question - once you commence your itinerary, are you still able to make changes/updates to the flights (by paying the 5000 points change fee)? Or is it only possible to make changes before starting?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all - quick question - once you commence your itinerary, are you still able to make changes/updates to the flights (by paying the 5000 points change fee)? Or is it only possible to make changes before starting?

See 14.5 at this link: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/freque...ms-and-conditions.html#classic-flight-rewards

It will depend on the airlines involved, and the mix of award types, if any.

 

[sap1l]

Hi all - quick question - once you commence your itinerary, are you still able to make changes/updates to the flights (by paying the 5000 points change fee)? Or is it only possible to make changes before starting?

The Qantas Frequent Flyer terms and conditions state:

Within 24 hours before departure of any Flight Segment - international Itinerary (i.e. it contains one or more Flight Segments that are not within Australia)

14.5.13 The following changes are permitted to Qantas Flight Segments. A Change Fee will apply (see the Fee Schedule):

(a) change to flight number; and
(b) change to date of travel.

14.5.14 Changes to partner Flight Segments are only permitted up to 24 hours prior to the commencement of any travel on the Itinerary.

I thought you could make segment changes after commencement provided it was just a date change, but it looks like it’s not possible? Happy to be corrected.

 

[adamk8]

The Qantas Frequent Flyer terms and conditions state:

Within 24 hours before departure of any Flight Segment - international Itinerary (i.e. it contains one or more Flight Segments that are not within Australia)

14.5.13 The following changes are permitted to Qantas Flight Segments. A Change Fee will apply (see the Fee Schedule):

(a) change to flight number; and
(b) change to date of travel.

14.5.14 Changes to partner Flight Segments are only permitted up to 24 hours prior to the commencement of any travel on the Itinerary.

I thought you could make segment changes after commencement provided it was just a date change, but it looks like it’s not possible? Happy to be corrected.

Thanks! I spoke to a few different agents and they all had slightly different responses so was confused. One even said you couldn't make any changes at all. But the agent that seemed most competent said what you posted here

 

[myusernam]

im sorry if this has been answered before. this thread is long!
in the points hacks page

How to fly around the world in Business Class with Qantas Points

It's not easy, but those who persevere can enjoy one of the best uses of points.

www.pointhacks.com.au

it shows one readers (mark) example having lots of little flights all over europe.
I dont understand how this fits into the rules. There are only 5 stop overs arent there?
So was he just flying to these countries for fun or are these small flights not included somehow?
sorry if its a noob question.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

im sorry if this has been answered before. this thread is long!
in the points hacks page

How to fly around the world in Business Class with Qantas Points

It's not easy, but those who persevere can enjoy one of the best uses of points.

www.pointhacks.com.au

it shows one readers (mark) example having lots of little flights all over europe.
I dont understand how this fits into the rules. There are only 5 stop overs arent there?
So was he just flying to these countries for fun or are these small flights not included somehow?
sorry if its a noob question.

A stopover is defined as a stay of more than 24 hours. You can transit cities (connections or stays of less than 24 hours) much more frequently - although there are some rules like not transiting the same city more than a few times.

Many of the smaller flights will be connections… if you want to fly from Paris to Casablanca for example, you could fly non-stop on royal air maroc, or you could fly BA via London or Iberia via Madrid for example.

You can use transits to your advantage. Say you want to visit friends in London.. you could arrive midday on one day and leave at 11am the next. This doesn’t count as a stopover because it’s less than 24 hours.

Transiting London rather than a stopover also saves the huge departure tax from the UK.

 

[ameliorate]

Hi all! I'm looking for some urgent assistance from the oneworld masters in this forum.

I've paid the following itinerary early yesterday morning (it's already been almost 24 hours), however there's no evidence in my QF account, points haven't been withdrawn and ticketing is apparently saying they can't book it as I have insufficient points. I'm pretty anxious as my tickets will only be held (if at all) till the end of today if I can't get them to ticket and there's very limited availability on my sectors.

Essentially, the call centre/ticketing say that as my itinerary ends in a different port to my origin port then the points for an extra flight between my final port and origin port need to be added on top of the 318,000 point cap for a business OWA. I think they said this would take me to 475,000 points or similar.

A call centre agent directed me to:
"14.4.3 A one way oneworld Classic Flight Reward Itinerary will be charged as a return Itinerary. Itineraries finishing in a port other than the port of origin must include the distance to return directly to the port of origin when calculating the number of Qantas Points required to redeem the Flight Reward and the maximum distance for the Itinerary."

Is this correct? My understanding is that only the miles between the final port and the origin port would be considered and that the points would be capped out.

Is it possible that they're are confused and either (a) have inputted my itinerary incorrectly (for example, I heard a call centre operator say they were calculating the amount of stopovers) or (b) there's something else wrong with my itinerary such that it isn't within the fare rules and as such isn't being automatically capped? I'm under 35,000 miles, am under 16 segments and all the flights are business except one which is in economy. Airlines are QF, BA, AY, CX, JL and Oman Air. I stop in LND and transit through on the way out of Europe, but I believe up to two transits are permitted?

My proposed itinerary is -

BKK-HKG (less than 24 hr connection)
HKG-PVG (stop 1)
PVG-HEL (less than 24 hr connection)
HEL-LHR (stop 2 / surface sector)
CDG-LHR (less than 24 hr connection)
LHR-MCT (less than 24 hr connection)
MCT-CGK (stop 3)
CGK-SYD (stop 4)
SYD-ICN (stop 5)
then the way home GMP-HND (less than 24 hour connection) and HND-SYD END (my understanding is that the last destination doesn't count to the stopover limit). I don't think GMP and ICN count as a surface sector as I believe they'd both count as Seoul city airports.

[SIMPLIFIED ITINERARY
BKK-HKG-PVG (stop 1)
PVG-HEL-LHR (stop 2)
CDG-LHR-MCT-CGK (stop 3)
CGK-SYD (stop 4)
SYD-ICN (stop 5)
GMP-HND-SYD END]

Any guidance that can be provided would be greatly greatly appreciated so I can try Qantas again. I'm really unsure if I'm confused or Qantas is.

 

[SydneySwan]

I think Oman Air don't join One World until June 20 2025.

 

[pyramidforce]

If you did indeed book onto Oman Air then that doesn't count for a 318k ticket because it isn't a oneworld carrier. So the whole ticket is calculating distances and prices segment by segment for all flights even the oneworls flights.

 

[Mr H]

If you did indeed book onto Oman Air then that doesn't count for a 318k ticket because it isn't a oneworld carrier. So the whole ticket is calculating distances and prices segment by segment for all flights even the oneworls flights.

This is correct. Just as an aside, I know the rules for OWA can be quite complex but the one about having to use OW carriers is quite straightforward and I am surprised at how many people in this thread seem to get tripped up on it.

 

[FlyingFiona]

Hi all! I'm looking for some urgent assistance from the oneworld masters in this forum.

I've paid the following itinerary early yesterday morning

I assume you booked on the phone given the number of segments. The agent at the time of booking will have confirmed the number of points your itinerary was going to cost. If that wasn't 318K (which it won't have been because, as others have said, you have included a currently non-OW carrier in the mix) then you should not have proceeded. In fact, I'm surprised (and suspicious) that you were even able to proceed and pay the taxes if you did not have sufficient points.

 

[ameliorate]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies! You’re, of course, all correct. I had looked at the list of oneworld airlines on the OneWorld website and somehow missed that it said “Future Member” in the corner of the box associated with Oman Air and had thought they were joining earlier.

I’ve actually booked a OWA successfully (in economy) before but for me at least this continues to be a learning process. I’m beating myself up for such an odd oversight, back to the drawing board!

In response to Fiona, there was indeed some confusion about the points which I pointed out at the time and that something may be wrong as the call centre had somehow originally put the itinerary through for less than the 318,000 cap, however, as it was less I thought it was worth a try to pay the taxes and immediately get in contact with ticketing to see if it ticketed - and if not, to try and figure out where it had all gone wrong.

Does anyone know the best way to approach fixing this? Do I need to wait for ticketing to lapse and the seats to be released and re-book changing out those sectors? Or am I able to do it now while my other seats are still saved by calling Qantas?

Thanks again everyone.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies! You’re, of course, all correct. I had looked at the list of oneworld airlines on the OneWorld website and somehow missed that it said “Future Member” in the corner of the box associated with Oman Air and had thought they were joining earlier.

I’ve actually booked a OWA successfully (in economy) before but for me at least this continues to be a learning process. I’m beating myself up for such an odd oversight, back to the drawing board!

In response to Fiona, there was indeed some confusion about the points which I pointed out at the time and that something may be wrong as the call centre had somehow originally put the itinerary through for less than the 318,000 cap, however, as it was less I thought it was worth a try to pay the taxes and immediately get in contact with ticketing to see if it ticketed - and if not, to try and figure out where it had all gone wrong.

Does anyone know the best way to approach fixing this? Do I need to wait for ticketing to lapse and the seats to be released and re-book changing out those sectors? Or am I able to do it now while my other seats are still saved by calling Qantas?

Thanks again everyone.

Do it now! It's a simple :change:

There is no guarantee the seats will return to the award pool if you leave it until ticketing fails