Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[KingHuang]

Geneva or Lyon is pretty much going to limit you to BA, back via London, or Finnair back to helsinki. Then you’d have to pick a carrier from there.

From paris you could take your pick of sri lankan, cathay, qantas, japan airlines.

Ahh so might be better if i got out of GVA/LYS into CDG and then go from there into Asia/aus? Or perhaps I may have to see what routes I can fly from Velocity awards instead?

 

[SunnyS]

This is pretty standard these days and unfortunately a fact of reward seats - availability outside of Australia is generally better and seats are easier to find, of course there are some exceptions though.

From the UK to the US though (London to NY, then NY to other parts of the country), there should be a plethora of reward seats on AA / BA.



Yes, this would be the option for now to book what you can see, but it may be hard to add flights later on - it will depend on your luck on who you get when you call up to add legs.

Thanks MelbFlyer, is your experience that reward seats out/in of Australia get snapped up as soon as they become available (~ a year out) and then can’t be found… or does Qantas release reward seats sporadically?

My parents are retired so can travel during off peak seasons (and prefer to). Are there any times during the year which are easier to book in/out of Aus?

 

[nickfromeastryde]

Is there a date yet when FJ can be selected as part of a OWA?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Ahh so might be better if i got out of GVA/LYS into CDG and then go from there into Asia/aus? Or perhaps I may have to see what routes I can fly from Velocity awards instead?

Or take the train

 

[FlyingFiona]

Hi!

What would be the best way to find award seats (from a routes point of view) to go from Geneva or Lyon (or maybe even Paris) back to Sydney? I will be stopping in Singapore on the way to Europe, what's another route we can go on the way back to change things up? Prefer flying in J but also ok to fly in PE and Y!

Thanks!

Do you mean as part of a OWA ticket? Or in general? (Your mention of all classes for this route raises suspicions that you mean the latter, in which case, you're in the wrong forum and will only have answers pertaining to OWA tickets.)

 

[Mumanddad]

Doing some initial planning for a trip late next year and trying to get from eastern Canada to Vancouver. Am I guessing right that I cannot use Westjet or other AA coded flights which are not on AA metal?

The other option is to get to Seattle, then train or bus back into Canada from there.

 

[KingHuang]

Do you mean as part of a OWA ticket? Or in general? (Your mention of all classes for this route raises suspicions that you mean the latter, in which case, you're in the wrong forum and will only have answers pertaining to OWA tickets.)

Yep the latter - I completely misread the forum title!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Doing some initial planning for a trip late next year and trying to get from eastern Canada to Vancouver. Am I guessing right that I cannot use Westjet or other AA coded flights which are not on AA metal?

The other option is to get to Seattle, then train or bus back into Canada from there.

Correct.

You *might* be able to find a connecting service via the USA, but depending on how short the connection it would be considered cabotage, so could be risky.

If you could overnight it there might be some connections… for example fly into LAX PM and out to YVR the next morning.

 

[bobcat]

Is there a date yet when FJ can be selected as part of a OWA?

I've heard and read mixed reports re this but also very interested to know the answer (assuming there is a concrete one!). Hoping to tack on to an existing OWA booking.

Meanwhile ... how alarmed should I be about the below?

I booked one leg a month ago (104,500 points per person). Called up last night and added a few different flights. Few false starts but all seemed to go relatively well.

Additional taxes were charged to my card (still sitting as pending now, as they normally would be the day after). Total points correctly capped at 954k for the booking (two adults, one child).

Additional points were deducted.

I could - and still can - see the added flights on the booking shell. Status is 'confirmed' for all of them. Can access the booking using reference number on JAL/Cathay's website too.

But the e-ticket hasn't been updated. And curiously my points balance is now what it was prior to last night's call .... plus two lots of 104,500:
CANCELLED - CLASSIC FLIGHT REWARD REWARD POINTS DEDUCTION 1 CHD +104,500
CANCELLED - CLASSIC FLIGHT REWARD REWARD POINTS DEDUCTION 1 ADT +104,500

All very odd. Especially given there were - and are - 3 pax on the booking.

Has anybody had a similar experience? Will likely call up on Monday if nothing's shifted by then ... but from memory it isn't that unusual for the e-ticket to take some time to be processed? Does the debiting of points ever match that timeline, or is this a major red flag?

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

But the e-ticket hasn't been updated. And curiously my points balance is now what it was prior to last night's call .... plus two lots of 104,500:
CANCELLED - CLASSIC FLIGHT REWARD REWARD POINTS DEDUCTION 1 CHD +104,500
CANCELLED - CLASSIC FLIGHT REWARD REWARD POINTS DEDUCTION 1 ADT +104,500

More Red Flags than a North Korean Military Parade…

I suggest that you send a detailed unemotional email to the escalation team today - [email protected]

 

[MEL_Traveller]

More Red Flags than a North Korean Military Parade…

I suggest that you send a detailed unemotional email to the escalation team today - [email protected]

IIRC it’s normal for the old award to be cancelled, and a new one issued?

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

IIRC it’s normal for the old award to be cancelled, and a new one issued?

Yes, but my main concern is that the ‘old points’ have been returned, but the ‘new points’ haven’t been deducted. That suggests that the itinerary may not have been ticketed yet.

 

[DC3]

Yes, but my main concern is that the ‘old points’ have been returned, but the ‘new points’ haven’t been deducted. That suggests that the itinerary may not have been ticketed yet.

The thing is that QF deduct the points when they choose. In some cases (one of mine) the points were never deducted but the ticketing was no issue.

In any case, issuing of a new e-ticket needs to be closely monitored, especially if there are non-QF flights involved.

Also, sometimes, Call Centre staff totally mess up simple flight changes.

 

[Aeryn]

Is there a date yet when FJ can be selected as part of a OWA?

I was doing some dummy bookings 2 weeks ago that started with FJ flights and was capping out at 318k no issue. They are a full member so should have been eligible since that date.

 

[bobcat]

I've heard and read mixed reports re this but also very interested to know the answer (assuming there is a concrete one!). Hoping to tack on to an existing OWA booking.

Meanwhile ... how alarmed should I be about the below?

I booked one leg a month ago (104,500 points per person). Called up last night and added a few different flights. Few false starts but all seemed to go relatively well.

Additional taxes were charged to my card (still sitting as pending now, as they normally would be the day after). Total points correctly capped at 954k for the booking (two adults, one child).

Additional points were deducted.

I could - and still can - see the added flights on the booking shell. Status is 'confirmed' for all of them. Can access the booking using reference number on JAL/Cathay's website too.

But the e-ticket hasn't been updated. And curiously my points balance is now what it was prior to last night's call .... plus two lots of 104,500:
CANCELLED - CLASSIC FLIGHT REWARD REWARD POINTS DEDUCTION 1 CHD +104,500
CANCELLED - CLASSIC FLIGHT REWARD REWARD POINTS DEDUCTION 1 ADT +104,500

All very odd. Especially given there were - and are - 3 pax on the booking.

Has anybody had a similar experience? Will likely call up on Monday if nothing's shifted by then ... but from memory it isn't that unusual for the e-ticket to take some time to be processed? Does the debiting of points ever match that timeline, or is this a major red flag?

Exceptionally happy to report I was stressed about nothing. Updated e-ticket was emailed approx 24 hours later. Points adjusted then too.

I've read plenty of horror stories. Saturday night was long but refreshingly pleasant. A few things were amiss but I could see those mistakes while looking at the booking on Qantas website (highly recommend!) and they were quickly and apologetically fixed when asked. Wouldn't have waited more than 5 minutes to speak to someone.

This OWA booking was definitely much harder and more time consuming than our first trip, 6 years ago. Partly because we're now a party of 3 ... partly because of the abomination that is Classic Plus

Thanks again, your help is much appreciated.

 

[Mr H]

Thinking WELL ahead we were thinking of flying BNE-JFK return in Oct 2027, and with the increase of points needed for OWA bookings post August I thought I'd see if I could book well ahead and maybe save the extra 80K points. I found Sale fares for May 2026 and managed to get 2 x Business BNE-SYD-AKL-JFK-AKL-SYD-BNE released and ticketed (I'm WP). My thoughts are that prior to May 2026 I change the date to April 2027, then prior to April 2027 change again to October 2027 (all the same PNR). I shouldnt have to pay any points to make the changes. The service desk in Hobart didnt know if it would work or not but said worth a try and at worst I'll have to pay the extra 80K points difference for the flights, which I would have to do in any case after August. Another advantage is I was able to book the exact route/award seats I wanted and avoid the lottery that getting award seats has become.
I have booked OWAs several times in the past but its becoming increasingly difficult. Most recently I managed to get 2 x business OWA booked for April next year (BNE-SYD-BKK-AMM-CAI-LHR-SIN-KUL-PER-BNE) and that was an experience I dont want to repeat. I hit P1 and LTG in August and am honestly at the stage of running down my points while I can still get award seats. With all the changes to the program and limited Classic Award seats its just not worth the effort any more to accumulate points that are near impossible to use.

The terms and conditions do not work in your favour:

13.3.4 Flight Reward tickets will be valid for one year from the original ticketed departure date and all travel must be completed within 12 months of first departure, unless otherwise specified.

Besides which, holding award flights that you don’t intend to fly is pretty sh*tty.

 

[Kerrodt]

I was aware of the Ts&Cs but I'm also aware of this approach working in the past. As I said its worth a try and I have nothing to lose. TAlso these werent award flights, they were sale fares and I have the option of using them or cancelling well ahead so nil guilt.

Your original post implies that you were seeking, and booked, a points based flight, specifically a OWA flight. I don’t know how a sale fare can also be a OWA points redemption fare, unless I’m missing something.

If it is a cash paid sale fare, do the T&C of that fare bucket allow multiple date changes, destination changes or cancellation with full refund as you plan to do?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Your original post implies that you were seeking, and booked, a points based flight, specifically a OWA flight. I don’t know how a sale fare can also be a OWA points redemption fare, unless I’m missing something.

If it is a cash paid sale fare, do the T&C of that fare bucket allow multiple date changes, destination changes or cancellation with full refund as you plan to do?

I think it was a release of seats by a platinum member? Sale fare availability, award seats released.

 

[Kerrodt]

I think it was a release of seats by a platinum member? Sale fare availability, award seats released.

I’ll probably never know the answer to my question as it seems that @QFFBNE has either blocked me or vaporised their profile as I can’t see their profile or posts (except for what I quoted).

 

[Mr H]

I’ll probably never know the answer to my question as it seems that @QFFBNE has either blocked me or vaporised their profile as I can’t see their profile or posts (except for what I quoted).

Same