Qantas Award Charges Outrageous

[SOPOOR]

Then as I have clearly indicated the OP should try different dates. The OP is not correct in indicating there is limited availability. Id suggest that the OP has not planned far enough ahead hence why all of the flights have been taken.

So even if he has a certain date I mind. And he cant see available flights That are actually available. Op has stated that flights are available but not showing up (unless he has edited)

Your sound advice is to look at different dates

Yeah right

 

[Dr Ralph]

So even if he has a certain date I mind. And he cant see available flights That are actually available. Op has stated that flights are available but not showing up (unless he has edited)

Your sound advice is to look at different dates

Yeah right

It would be preferable that you let the OP respond rather than you carry on with your characteristically belligerent approach.

For the OP it would be useful if you specified exactly which date, flight and/ or carrier you were looking at otherwise the replies you will receive will be very broad.

 

[SOPOOR]

For the OP it would be useful if you specified exactly which date, flight and/ or carrier you were looking at otherwise the replies you will receive will be very broad.

That's a much more helpful and " sound" reply

 

[dajop]

22 pages of whinging!.

Whinging is the fuel that keeps AFF burning Take that away, and it would undermine the owners business model. You'd be left with a few tips about credit cards and mistake fares, some fawning J & F reviews and a whole lot of unrelated discussions between friends

 

[dajop]

TAX TAX TAX, we kind of have to live with it. .....

Its a Money grab. Tax on fuel or lack of upgrade seats to force for paying customers.

Please don't call it a Tax, that besmirches the good name of taxes!!

Most of what you see is largely just surcharges that carriers impose, nothing to do with anything any more other than being purely cash copayments (once they were linked to fuel prices, but not any more). Unless you are flying a premium cabin out of the UK - in which the tax is likely to be the big component.

Then there are airport charges (and given many are privately operated, these are not taxes, but fair enough you pay for these), and lastly government charges (that could be considered taxes).

 

[cjd600]

22 pages of whinging!

Over 2 years.
Outrageous.

 

[travelislife]

22 pages of whinging!

Look I agree that QF points aren't worth that much, if it were for the fact that they get handed out like confetti I wouldn't collect them. But if you don't like it, rather than whinging why don't you do something about it. There are ways and means of getting points in alternate rewards programs which don't have the massive YQ (Singapore, Alaska, United, AA to name a few). Whinging never actually achieved ANYTHING, doesn't actually make anyone feel any better and in this case we all have alternatives. So why not use them instead of whinging?.

Virgin's Velocity probably being the key one for Australia. I personally believe it is the main differentiation between the QF and VA programmes. Otherwise they are pretty much the same.

 

[travelislife]

so what is a person supposed to do, needs to book via QFF but cant see availaiblity

BA site shows most if not all flights of their partners

If you see it on another airlines site as available as an award seat Qantas 'should' be able to book it. Just have to call.

 

[bmam]

It would be preferable that you let the OP respond rather than you carry on with your characteristically belligerent approach.

For the OP it would be useful if you specified exactly which date, flight and/ or carrier you were looking at otherwise the replies you will receive will be very broad.

Thanks for the replies on this matter and thank you Dr Ralph. I didn't actually have a particular carrier in mind other than a general query based on the earlier advice concerning the ability (or otherwise) of using QF FF points on a partner airline. My travel plans are for J class SYD/LHR in Jan 2019, returning FEB 2019.

Because of my inexperience in booking reward seats I can now see that Dr Ralph is correct in being flexible with dates. A search of various dates around my planned travel shows the ability to use a combination of QF and BA, CY or MH. I also see that were I to travel, for example, via Santiago, AA and LA (as well as QF and BA) also show up.

Thanks again for the interest various posters have shown. It has been a good help in clarifying things. Much appreciated.

 

[travelislife]

Thanks for the replies on this matter and thank you Dr Ralph. I didn't actually have a particular carrier in mind other than a general query based on the earlier advice concerning the ability (or otherwise) of using QF FF points on a partner airline. My travel plans are for J class SYD/LHR in Jan 2019, returning FEB 2019.

Because of my inexperience in booking reward seats I can now see that Dr Ralph is correct in being flexible with dates. A search of various dates around my planned travel shows the ability to use a combination of QF and BA, CY or MH. I also see that were I to travel, for example, via Santiago, AA and LA (as well as QF and BA) also show up.

Thanks again for the interest various posters have shown. It has been a good help in clarifying things. Much appreciated.

In theory that should be an easy one with QFF points with plenty of options out of Australia including QF, CX, MH, EK, BA, JL, QR, UL, AA even, for the full journey. Or alternatively one of those airlines to Asia and then another to London such as AY. So there is about 10 airlines you could be looking at.

The one thing is you need to be looking to book NOW! You have already missed the opening window (which a lot of people don't know about) when the majority of seats are booked up.

 

[bmam]

In theory that should be an easy one with QFF points with plenty of options out of Australia including QF, CX, MH, EK, BA, JL, QR, UL, AA even, for the full journey. Or alternatively one of those airlines to Asia and then another to London such as AY. So there is about 10 airlines you could be looking at.

The one thing is you need to be looking to book NOW! You have already missed the opening window (which a lot of people don't know about) when the majority of seats are booked up.

Many thanks! CY in my post should, of course, be CX. Oops! From memory Cyprus Airlines no longer exist, not to mention I wouldn't get far from Australia with them.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Thanks for the replies on this matter and thank you Dr Ralph. I didn't actually have a particular carrier in mind other than a general query based on the earlier advice concerning the ability (or otherwise) of using QF FF points on a partner airline. My travel plans are for J class SYD/LHR in Jan 2019, returning FEB 2019.

Because of my inexperience in booking reward seats I can now see that Dr Ralph is correct in being flexible with dates. A search of various dates around my planned travel shows the ability to use a combination of QF and BA, CY or MH. I also see that were I to travel, for example, via Santiago, AA and LA (as well as QF and BA) also show up.

Thanks again for the interest various posters have shown. It has been a good help in clarifying things. Much appreciated.

Planning well in advance is critical. Book as close to a year out as possible and you will have a very good selection of flights to choose from.

 

[rock86]

Planning well in advance is critical. Book as close to a year out as possible and you will have a very good selection of flights to choose from.

Agreed, although possible the shorter the time frame the more flexible on dates and creative for routes you need to be.

 

[burmans]

Whinging is the fuel that keeps AFF burning Take that away, and it would undermine the owners business model. You'd be left with a few tips about credit cards and mistake fares, some fawning J & F reviews and a whole lot of unrelated discussions between friends

There is a separate post somewhere about where you have had the most value out of AFF. My answer was the realisation that there are other FF programs are quite valuable to you. There is quite a lot of really good information on AFF about these programs, its QF and velocity that gets most of the whinging.

 

[jetpack]

I have always disliked the idea of having to book a year ahead. Surely almost everyone would prefer not to have to book that far ahead if they didn’t have to. We already work hard to earn points and rather than make the points work for us when it comes to redeeming them we again have to work hard for availability by having to book a year ahead.

 

[SOPOOR]

I have always disliked the idea of having to book a year ahead. Surely almost everyone would prefer not to have to book that far ahead if they didn’t have to. We already work hard to earn points and rather than make the points work for us when it comes to redeeming them we again have to work hard for availability by having to book a year ahead.

Totally agree

These points are a loyalty bonus for being loyal
These programs make a lot of money off the points scheme through their %, overpriced retail goods, expiry of points, the people who never use their points
To force us to pay taxes and surcharges etc on top of the points along with low availability is a slap in the face

Unfortunately we have no choice but to make the best of a bad situation

I find other programs to be more value but since I have Qantas earning cards. I need to keep my eye out on deals and opportunities

 

[Danger]

Hi Guys, I'm wondering if you can help me. I'm planning to book four (4) round the world business class flight bookings with QFF Points and wonder if anyone has any clue how much in "Qantas Tax" this would accrue? Are we talking thousands??? Is there a calculator somewhere?

Shouldn't this be covered under the ACCC inclusive pricing laws, to have advertised points prices including all taxes?

M

It is very much dependent on carriers, number of flights and airports visited but as a guide I'd be expecting upwards of $750 per passenger. This is the definitive thread on the type of booking you're looking to make: Creating, Editing and Integrating Wiki's. Post your query there (and have a look in the Wiki) for more info.

If you see it on another airlines site as available as an award seat Qantas 'should' be able to book it. Just have to call.

Theoretically, that should be the case. But the reality is it is not uncommon for oneworld airlines to make different seats available to different partners.

 

[travelislife]

I have always disliked the idea of having to book a year ahead. Surely almost everyone would prefer not to have to book that far ahead if they didn’t have to. We already work hard to earn points and rather than make the points work for us when it comes to redeeming them we again have to work hard for availability by having to book a year ahead.

Totally agree

These points are a loyalty bonus for being loyal
These programs make a lot of money off the points scheme through their %, overpriced retail goods, expiry of points, the people who never use their points
To force us to pay taxes and surcharges etc on top of the points along with low availability is a slap in the face

Unfortunately we have no choice but to make the best of a bad situation

I find other programs to be more value but since I have Qantas earning cards. I need to keep my eye out on deals and opportunities

I disagree with both these posts.
- You aren't 'forced' to do anything. It is a free market. Pick another programme if you don't like it.
- You don't 'have' to book a year ahead. Just like commercial seats for sale award seats are a product of limited supply (there are only so many seats on the plane), just because someone 'buys' that product before you doesn't warrant a whinge.
- You absolutely have choice. It was your choice to take out Qantas cards. No justification for a whinge.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I haven't redeemed since then but I didn't know the option to convert to aa miles and use less points and less taxes
I will now consider that

you can't convert QF points to AA miles.

 

[CaptJCool]

I disagree with both these posts.
- You aren't 'forced' to do anything. It is a free market. Pick another programme if you don't like it.
- You don't 'have' to book a year ahead. Just like commercial seats for sale award seats are a product of limited supply (there are only so many seats on the plane), just because someone 'buys' that product before you doesn't warrant a whinge.
- You absolutely have choice. It was your choice to take out Qantas cards. No justification for a whinge.

No, earning points is the simple part.


The gamification of how to spend the least amount of points for the same product becomes an " auction competition" between demand (10,000,000 members) and supply of points seats, points plus play seats and revenue full cash paid seats at varying price points so this depends on the rules of the game which are based on say 8F, 30-40 J and so on so forth. (So while 25% of seats may be given away (that's 2/8, 10/40))

The experience of AFF members is book early and you're guaranteed to win the jackpot and avoid FOMO The longer you wait (unless you're Platinum status) the more it mirrors a game of musical chairs and the primal FOMO pushes people to other options to ensure they get a seat brfore the music stops. But not every employer is willing to approve leave that far ahead....

The Yield Managers are consummate experts at milking every last dollar out of an individual or business so in effect if yields already achieved there's no reason to discount flights. If minimum yield isn't in for a particular flight, the more it demands them to offer a new extra discount to ensure its reached.

As a simple example, would I pay

a week before Christmas $500-$700 for a one way flight Perth -Adelaide because it must be on a given day over Christmas time or because it so happens a classic Reward seat is still open on that for 18,000 points and $40...?

Vs 9 months ahead booking for Christmas that same one way flight by spending $205 or 18,000 points and $40