Perth to Italy - Random points

[XCelR8]

Hi, I've just joined the forum after reading for a few months on and off.

I figured this was the best place to put it as i am still unsure on the best way to get to Italy over the Christmas break. It seems that you can't guarantee an upgrade and hence im a little lost.

Here is my aim:

Perth to Italy leave on Fri 23rd Dec 2016 - Return Wed 18th Jan 2017 (Return date can change one day or two). Flying Business class for anything over 5 hours - Currently looking at QATAR airways (as they have the best layover and leaving times etc)

I have approximately 96,000 frequent flyers with Qantas and approximately 125,000 with Virgin Velocity.​

My partner has just applied for the ANZ CC with 75k QFF points. We still need to get the 2.5k spend to achieve this but it might help in the future...

I initially thought that i could buy economy tickets then upgrade us both with my points, however it seems you cant even find out if seats are available or if i have enough points to guess how much it would cost the upgrade. SO my future thought was i use all of my points to fly Business over, get them enough points to fly business over and work out the rest later.....I really only want to buy economy tickets if i guarantee an upgrade (which i hear you cant).

So how to do i get to italy with the best spend of points and my limited leaving/return timeframes? Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

 

[mannej]

Just a quick note, unless you are flying on QF metal (and a QF flight) you won't be able to use your QF points to upgrade.

 

[exceladdict]

Hi, I've just joined the forum after reading for a few months on and off.

I figured this was the best place to put it as i am still unsure on the best way to get to Italy over the Christmas break. It seems that you can't guarantee an upgrade and hence im a little lost.

Here is my aim:

Perth to Italy leave on Fri 23rd Dec 2016 - Return Wed 18th Jan 2017 (Return date can change one day or two). Flying Business class for anything over 5 hours - Currently looking at QATAR airways (as they have the best layover and leaving times etc)

I have approximately 96,000 frequent flyers with Qantas and approximately 125,000 with Virgin Velocity.​

My partner has just applied for the ANZ CC with 75k QFF points. We still need to get the 2.5k spend to achieve this but it might help in the future...

I initially thought that i could buy economy tickets then upgrade us both with my points, however it seems you cant even find out if seats are available or if i have enough points to guess how much it would cost the upgrade. SO my future thought was i use all of my points to fly Business over, get them enough points to fly business over and work out the rest later.....I really only want to buy economy tickets if i guarantee an upgrade (which i hear you cant).

So how to do i get to italy with the best spend of points and my limited leaving/return timeframes? Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Start looking now. Availability near Christmas will be tough if existent at all.

Given points balances you could maybe go one way QR J and the other EY Y using your Virgin points, but I don't know their tables well.

Otherwise given no VA or QF metal going in that direction ex PER, you're not going to be able to upgrade

 

[XCelR8]

Wow ok thanks for that. Is there anyway to search for the flights without having points etc, ie to know availability.

So i cant use my points to fly QATAR?

Sorry i dont know abbreviations that well, QR = Qatar EY etihad?

 

[travelislife]

Yep you need to look at awards outright if you want to 'guarantee' yourself a business class seat.

Unfortunately you are a bit late to be looking to book award seats at that time, you have to be ready to book 12 months+ in advance.

You are also a bit short on FF points for business class redemptions for 2 people (enough for 1 though).

Sorry can't be more help, I have done a search and there isn't anything I can find 22nd-24th December Perth to Italy available for 2 people in business class.

 

[mannej]

Wow ok thanks for that. Is there anyway to search for the flights without having points etc, ie to know availability.

So i cant use my points to fly QATAR?

Sorry i dont know abbreviations that well, QR = Qatar EY etihad?

Yes you can use your QFF points to fly QR, but you can't buy an economy fare on QR and use your QF points to upgrade that fare.

 

[XCelR8]

Excellent thanks for that info.

So my best bet is to get my partner 96k points to fly business outright and just pay the taxes. on QATAR as its the most direct. and we will work out a way to get home, maybe just pay for business for one of us...

How do i book QATAR with my QFF?

 

[exceladdict]

Excellent thanks for that info.

So my best bet is to get my partner 96k points to fly business outright and just pay the taxes. on QATAR as its the most direct. and we will work out a way to get home, maybe just pay for business for one of us...

How do i book QATAR with my QFF?

I have heard that QR J seats are not bookable on the QF website, meaning you need to make a phone call to the Qantas service centre.

Before you do that though, you could use awardnexus or another program that will tell you what's available to save time on the phone.

But as others have mentioned, you may be too late given it's the most popular time of the year to travel.

You could always consider EK, redeeming business for one of you, and then buying a cash ticket with the other. For example 24th dec PER-MXP in J is 112,000 points plus $630.72, and then your Y ticket on the same flight $1504.

On the way back, on Etihad, it's 47,800 velocity points MXP-AUH and 70,000 points with EY AUH-PER for a J redemption, if you book before the prices go up on 31 May. So you'd again be able to get one J seat and would need to buy the other Y ticket.

It looks like one of you can try EK or QR J on your QF points, one of you can try EY J on your VA points, and you can put together an awesome trip review for comparison!

 

[travelislife]

Excellent thanks for that info.

So my best bet is to get my partner 96k points to fly business outright and just pay the taxes. on QATAR as its the most direct. and we will work out a way to get home, maybe just pay for business for one of us...

How do i book QATAR with my QFF?

Not sure this will work unfortunately just due to availability at that time of year.

Per-Doh-Fco - 96,000 in business
Per-Doh-Mil - 112,000 in business

I have done a search through BA for QR availability at that time of year and nothing is showing up unfortunately.

 

[XCelR8]

Thanks for that....is there any other options i have overlooked?
or am i going to have to fly economy..not that its a bad thing. Just that ive been setting myself up for flying business.

EDIT:

WHAT ABOUT!?!?!?!

If we flew to London or Paris in Business then caught the train or flew over in cheaper economy...It takes slightly longer but might be worth the effort??

 

[travelislife]

Thanks for that....is there any other options i have overlooked?
or am i going to have to fly economy..not that its a bad thing. Just that ive been setting myself up for flying business.

EDIT:

WHAT ABOUT!?!?!?!

If we flew to London or Paris in Business then caught the train or flew over in cheaper economy...It takes slightly longer but might be worth the effort??

There are definitely lots of options if you are happy to fly in to Europe to different ports, but again availability is the problem as you are a bit late to the party for a peak travel period. You need to be looking 360 days in advance for CX flights and then others open up around 355 and 353 days in advance.

Out of Perth to Europe using QF points you have 4 options I think:
CX: PER-HKG-Europe (HKG-Europe on CX or AY)
QR: PER-DOH-Europe
QF: PER-SIN-Europe (SIN-Europe on BA or AY)
MH: PER-KUL-Europe

I have done some searching looking at all these options and I haven't been able to find anything with availability for 2 people around those dates heading out in business class.

Interestingly though PER-KUL-LHR on MH/BA is showing availability in Premium Economy, I didn't realise MH had premium economy on their A330's (actually edit: the PER-KUL leg must be in economy).

I just think you might be too late for that time of year but happy to be proved wrong. CX does often release seats closer to the date but that is a big risk for peak travel.

 

[XCelR8]

Hmm thanks for that, it might be only one leg we can get business then...ill just suffer...but not in silence

EDIT:

Maybe someone can point me in the right direction when i attempt to book on different dates i get this from Virgin points

TOTAL

Points 442600

I cant understand why is 400,000?????​

 

[wandering_fred]

From PER the best deals will require a short flight to SE Asia. Once there the number of (cheaper) permutations and combinations will be vastly increased.

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[travelislife]

Hmm thanks for that, it might be only one leg we can get business then...ill just suffer...but not in silence

EDIT:

Maybe someone can point me in the right direction when i attempt to book on different dates i get this from Virgin points

TOTAL

Points 442600

I cant understand why is 400,000?????​

That will be a points plus pay fare, I.e. It is just a conversion of dollars to points. All the 'classic rewards' are probably sold out. Unfortunately the VFF site doesn't make it as clear as Qantas' with the differentiation. And you can't search only 'classic rewards'.