Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[WanderBug]

Hi all,
Trying to book a OWA fare and getting various errors trying online and also struggling on calls either being told the availability (which I can see) isn't there. Or that it won't price for them as a valid fare. One agent told me she tried pricing it as a RTW fare which obviously didn't work and said they had no way to try and price it as a OWA fare.

This is what I'm trying to do, is there any reason this shouldn't work?

BKK-CPH (BKK-HEL, HEL-CPH)
HEL-NRT
HND-HKG
HKG-SYD (on same day as above flight but different airline)
SYD-KTM (SYD-KUL, KUL-KTM)
KTM-SYD (KTM-HKG, HKG-SYD)

This all comes out to 34,510 miles including surface sectors.

Would there be a problem as I have one stopover in Sydney but then also end the fare there?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

 

[nickfromeastryde]

Hi all,
Trying to book a OWA fare and getting various errors trying online and also struggling on calls either being told the availability (which I can see) isn't there. Or that it won't price for them as a valid fare. One agent told me she tried pricing it as a RTW fare which obviously didn't work and said they had no way to try and price it as a OWA fare.

This is what I'm trying to do, is there any reason this shouldn't work?

BKK-CPH (BKK-HEL, HEL-CPH)
HEL-NRT
HND-HKG
HKG-SYD (on same day as above flight but different airline)
SYD-KTM (SYD-KUL, KUL-KTM)
KTM-SYD (KTM-HKG, HKG-SYD)

This all comes out to 34,510 miles including surface sectors.

Would there be a problem as I have one stopover in Sydney but then also end the fare there?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Does the 34,510 also include SYD back to BKK? Re the second stop in SYD have you tried a different final stop, ie do you get the same errors if you go HKG-MEL as your final flight?

 

[WanderBug]

Does the 34,510 also include SYD back to BKK? Re the second stop in SYD have you tried a different final stop, ie do you get the same errors if you go HKG-MEL as your final flight?

Yeah the mileage does include the return back to BKK at the end.

Good thinking about trying a different final stop. I just tried with a final leg to HKG-MEL but got the error "we are unable to confirm your selected flights"

 

[Jacques Vert]

Yeah the mileage does include the return back to BKK at the end.

Good thinking about trying a different final stop. I just tried with a final leg to HKG-MEL but got the error "we are unable to confirm your selected flights"

What airlines?

 

[WanderBug]

What airlines?

BKK-CPH - Finnair
HEL-NRT - Finnair
HND-HKG - Japan Airlines
HKG-SYD - Qantas
SYD-KTM - Malaysian
KTM-SYD - Cathay

 

[Jacques Vert]

BKK-CPH - Finnair
HEL-NRT - Finnair
HND-HKG - Japan Airlines
HKG-SYD - Qantas
SYD-KTM - Malaysian
KTM-SYD - Cathay

They should be fine. Are all your transits under 24 hours? If you can't book online, make sure you log out a couple of hours before you ring.

 

[Aeryn]

Looks like 2 stops in SYD to me which isnt allowed as even though you aren't flying last leg your trip needs to end in BKK.

 

[serfty]

Looks like 2 stops in SYD to me which isnt allowed as even though you aren't flying last leg you trip needs to end in BKK.

Correct - The Qantas booking engine considers a surface segment creates a stopover wherever it is.@WanderBug You have an implicit -SYD(-<surface>-BKK) at the end of the routing, so by default it represents a stopover in SYD.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Correct - The Qantas booking engine considers a surface segment creates a stopover wherever it is. @WanderBug You have an implicit -SYD(-<surface>-BKK) at the end of the routing, so by default it represents a stopover in SYD.

I thought that was treated as a termination point and not stop?

Otherwise you could just add the flight back to bkk, even in economy, and just not board it.

 

[Aeryn]

I thought that was treated as a termination point and not stop?

The termination point is always the starting city, whether you fly back there or not.

Otherwise you could just add the flight back to bkk, even in economy, and just not board it.

For the second flight to SYD not to count as a stop-over the flight back to BKK would need to be taken under 24hours from the arrival in SYD. Because there is no flight to back to BKK they assume you stay in >24hours and hence a stop.

The OP could try replacing KTM-SYD with a KTM-MEL/BNE and then just buy a cheap domestic connection; but the distance MEL/BNE back to BKK will still need to be included.

Adding a SYD-BKK within 24 hours and then not boarding the flight is skip lagging and could see traveler placed on a ban list in future.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The termination point is always the starting city, whether you fly back there or not.



For the second flight to SYD not to count as a stop-over the flight back to BKK would need to be taken under 24hours from the arrival in SYD. Because there is no flight to back to BKK they assume you stay in >24hours and hence a stop.

The OP could try replacing KTM-SYD with a KTM-MEL/BNE and then just buy a cheap domestic connection; but the distance MEL/BNE back to BKK will still need to be included.

Adding a SYD-BKK within 24 hours and then not boarding the flight is skip lagging and could see traveler placed on a ban list in future.

Difference between ‘finishing’ and itinerary in a city other than the one you strayed at, and including the mileage back to the point of origin. The rules say you dan finish your itinerary anywhere… not that the finishing point will be considered a stopover, see 14.4.3.

Highly unlikely that failing to check-in and board the last leg is going to lead to a ban. This is not slip-lagging in the sense of taking advantage of a cheaper fare.

 

[Aeryn]

Debatable as a OWA is much cheaper than simply paying for each leg as individual awards; so still skip lagging if you add flights you dont intend to take just to get the OWA price.

Finishing in a city different to your starting point results in that finishing city being considered a stop-over; and likely why the OP cant book it online or via the call centre.

Most people nesting 2 trips within a OWA buy cheap positioning flights in/out of Aus to ensure the duplicate stop-over isnt an issue.

 

[elanshin]

Debatable as a OWA is much cheaper than simply paying for each leg as individual awards; so still skip lagging if you add flights you dont intend to take just to get the OWA price.

Finishing in a city different to your starting point results in that finishing city being considered a stop-over; and likely why the OP cant book it online or via the call centre.

Most people nesting 2 trips within a OWA buy cheap positioning flights in/out of Aus to ensure the duplicate stop-over isnt an issue.

Ive been told with good authority previously that the End point is the end point (not a transit nor a stopover). It is possible that sometimes the computer doesn't like it as much that way and potential manual intervention is needed. So in this case, just the distance of SYD - BKK would count but it wouldn't be a stop or a transit.

I finished my OWA last year in SYD despite starting in CGK and transiting in SYD once and stopping over in SYD once.

 

[WanderBug]

Ive been told with good authority previously that the End point is the end point (not a transit nor a stopover). It is possible that sometimes the computer doesn't like it as much that way and potential manual intervention is needed. So in this case, just the distance of SYD - BKK would count but it wouldn't be a stop or a transit.

I finished my OWA last year in SYD despite starting in CGK and transiting in SYD once and stopping over in SYD once.

That's very helpful, thank you!

Guess I'll just keep calling and hope I get lucky at some stage.

 

[WanderBug]

I thought that was treated as a termination point and not stop?

Otherwise you could just add the flight back to bkk, even in economy, and just not board it.

I did also try this either ending the trip in BNE/MEL as opposed to SYD or with a flight to BKK within 24 hours of the flight back to SYD but still had no joy.

The errors I get vary between "we are unable to confirm your selected flights" or "we are unable to confirm the fare for the flights you have selected from the airlines we search."

 

[djkelly69]

I get the same mileage as you using GCM, but I reckon that could possibly be the issue. From memory they calculate it differently so anything close can cause issues (not that ~500 miles is particularly close).

I thought there had been some other discussion here about the end point issue and as far as I recall, what elanshin said above is correct.

 

[WanderBug]

Interesting update:

Firstly, just spent 2 hours on hold to Qantas to be disconnected so that's fun.

However I was playing around with itineraries and if I do the below it will let me through to the payment page:

BKK-CPH (BKK-HEL, HEL-CPH)
HEL-NRT
HKG-SYD
SYD-DEL (SYD-KUL, KUL-DEL)
DEL-SYD (DEL-KUL, KUL-SIN, SIN-SYD)

So this shows me that ending the ticket in Sydney is not an issue.
This also comes in at 34,978 miles so I don't think the mileage is an issue on my previous attempts.

I did have to remove the HND-HKG sector to make this price, otherwise it wouldn't work. I imagine I should be able to call up and get that single sector added if I were to book this in but with my luck so far, who knows.

Unfortunately I would still rather go to KTM than DEL but if I try the same thing (removing the HND-HKG sector) on my KTM ticket, I still get an issue and it won't let me through to the payment screen.