OWE Rule Check - Land Sector

[Homer]

So by changing the first flight to the LAN codeshare, I save over $1,000 in fuel fines? And it's still QF metal, I still earn status credits, etc...the only thing is that I can't place an upgrade request (which I wasn't going to do anyway, as I think the middle three seats in J work better when there are three of us travelling)?

 

[serfty]

You also miss out on status bonus - as a WP that would be 7,320 QFF points.

 

[Homer]

You also miss out on status bonus - as a WP that would be 7,320 QFF points.

Well I'll take a thousand bucks over 7,000 QFF points any day. And there are three of us travelling so that's quite a saving. Thanks serfty and nm! Between the two of you it looks like I might be ~$6,000 better off!

 

[docjames]

Wow:shock: that's some saving.




(Isnt this what agents should be doing for you??????)

 

[Homer]

Wow:shock: that's some saving.




(Isnt this what agents should be doing for you??????)

Yes it's a great saving. I'll be ticketing it over the next couple of days so I'll advise what happens.

On the question of TAs, yes I would have to agree with you. The only thing is that my TA might actually have offered the 10% discount had I given her the chance. In the past she has only advised final pricing once she goes through QF ticketing and that's where this might have been picked up. As I've emailed her (with a link to the OneWorld press release) I guess we'll never know...

 

[docjames]

Ah, sorry homer, I was actually implying the LAN codeshare deal to save the $1k (x3!) should have been thought of - I presume she'd fix the 10% as your quote was pre-offer (benefit of doubt!).

Wonder if she realised or just unaware of the difference? (Again, she'll know now!)

 

[serfty]

One more thing - that cheaper price comes by ticketing through LAN ... not Qantas.

ie. The ticket number will start with 045- (not 081-).

 

[docjames]

One more thing - that cheaper price comes by ticketing through LAN ... not Qantas.

ie. The ticket number will start with 045- (not 081-).

But presumably that wont make any difference except for that first changed sector (and the 7000points)

 

[Homer]

Ah, sorry homer, I was actually implying the LAN codeshare deal to save the $1k (x3!) should have been thought of - I presume she'd fix the 10% as your quote was pre-offer (benefit of doubt!).

Wonder if she realised or just unaware of the difference? (Again, she'll know now!)

I think there could be a couple of factors here. Now I'm not excusing her, but in her case remember that she works for Centurion Travel and I don't think the subject of fuel fines comes up very often among Centurion members. Also I've never met her but she sounds quite young/inexperienced even though she is keen to help and learn. Again these aren't excuses just perhaps an explanation. I enjoy talking to her and she forgives my regular changes of mind/flight/seat so for now it (mostly) works...

 

[serfty]

It is possible that Amex Centurian travel on OZ cannot ticket airfares other than through Qantas (do to an agreement or some other situation).

When ticketing LAN do not charge fuel fines AFAIK (They might not even have them), Qantas will charge a fuel fine for every segment they can (and keep the moolah).

 

[Homer]

It is possible that Amex Centurian travel on OZ cannot ticket airfares other than through Qantas (do to an agreement or some other situation).

When ticketing LAN do not charge fuel fines AFAIK (They might not even have them), Qantas will charge a fuel fine for every segment they can (and keep the moolah).

Possibly. I know when I tried to get a DONE4 ticketed via AA about 18 months ago, Centurion Travel said they could only ticket with QF. However I just got off the phone from my TA and she said she would ask her ticketing people to ticket it on LAN. They, of course, may still come back with a "no can do"...

 

[serfty]

Well, LAN do use Amadeus as do Qantas.

 

[NM]

If they won't ticket through LAN then you have a choice to make. You can purchase using the on-line booking engine that serfty used to price it and save around $1000 per person, or you can purchase through the TA for the higher price. The choice is your, of course.

 

[serfty]

The issue with that MAY be the LAN pass; but then again if already ticketed, maybe the LAN Pass can simply be done later ... I do not know for certain.

 

[Homer]

Good news! The QF taxes come in at ~AUD$2,000 per ticket while the LAN taxes come in at ~AUD$600 per ticket. So that's a saving of ~AUD$4,200 for our three tickets. But of course you already knew this.

According to Centurion Travel there are just two small negatives with ticketing through LAN:

1. Ticket issue/revalidation is done by an outside agency (perhaps LAN themselves?) which is only open on weekdays. So if I need to make changes there could be some delays particulary if I want to make changes on a weekend; and

2. Ticket reissue, if required eg due to a routing change, may result in the fuel fines being reapplied. Apparently while LAN can issue the tickets without fuel fines, if I am enroute and I want to make a change that requires the tickets be reissued, such as a routing change, then airlines such as BA or QF will want to retrospectively collect fuel fines?

Anyway I can live with those things and happily "save" more than $4,000...thanks again!!!

 

[serfty]

... then airlines such as BA or QF will want to retrospectively collect fuel fines? ...

Only if you employ BA or QF (or CX) to reissue the ticket. BTW, such reissues (for routing changes) cost USD125 each time.

 

[docjames]

Quite a few changes for $4k!

Sounding good homer.

 

[Homer]

Only if you employ BA or QF (or CX) to reissue the ticket. BTW, such reissues (for routing changes) cost USD125 each time.

So if I did need the tickets reissued (unlikely) then I should be able to get my TA to do that through the same LAN office/agency that issued them the first time and avoid the fuel charges being applied?

 

[serfty]

I believe it is always best to make changes through the issuing agency; they are often the only ones who are aware the of complete itinerary.

I booked an ex CMB DONE4 some years ago through CX; I had three PNR's. CX's had the entire itinerary. Qantas/BA both using Amadeus they were only aware of their mutual flights and immediate connections; likewise AA with Sabre were aware of their flights alone.

More recently booking through AA; again I have 3 PNR's. I can see the entire itinerary on AA.com, but only an abridged version with CX and likewise for the Amadeus resources on CMT, Qantas.com and BA.com.

Note date, time and carrier changes do not incur any specific fee, but "service fees" may be applied by whomever makes the changes.

 

[Homer]

One minor update on this. It turns out that LAN does have fuel surcharges, however they are nowhere near as high as QF's. Also they don't add them into the taxes, which is why the taxes quote on LAN was only $600. However they add them on to the DONE4 fare itself. In our case they come to $245 per ticket but even with this we are still around $1,200 per ticket in front by ticketing through LAN.