QF Paid vs Points Flight Search

[clazman]

Can someone explain to me why QF prefer you to fly with a partner using points rather than with QF.

Using the QF website and search for paid J Perth to NY results in flights being offered between Perth -> East Coast -> Various US ports to NY and no other routes.

When you select by points you get offered, Perth - HK - NY with CX, Perth - Dubai - NY with EK, Perth - Doha - NY with QR and even flights via London

Surely QF have to pay partners $$'s for FF booked tickets in some form, what am i missing?

 

[Alanslegal]

Surely QF have to pay partners $$'s for FF booked tickets in some form, what am i missing?

Too easy of a question - getting award seats on Qantas metal is close to impossible, thus it is never available

 

[opusman]

Surely QF have to pay partners $$'s for FF booked tickets in some form

Actually I wouldn't be so sure about that!

 

[boomy]

Long haul ward flights to the US are very popular. QF flys direct and I would guess most people prefer that. If you don't mind paying some extra points and fly indirect then both CX and EK offer better J products. Haven't tried QR yet but heard they are very good.

 

[clazman]

The ironic thing is qtr, cx and ek are 2 leg flights while the qf are 3+

 

[mannej]

The ironic thing is qtr, cx and ek are 2 leg flights while the qf are 3+

What's the irony about it? It's a mere case of geographic location, aircraft capabilities and traffic rights of each airline.

 

[Alanslegal]

At least getting on partner airlines makes Qantas points usable - if one solely wanted to fly Qantas metal, then they might as well forfeit the points or go buy multiple toasters.

 

[ellen10]

It took me many weeks of stress to get my QF flights to NYC. Even then the leg from SYD is in J and the leg from Los Angeles to NYC in Premium Economy. I took it because there was continually nothing else.
I could not get the return flight in J on QF at all, and finally settled for CX. Which I am actually now really looking forward to now.

 

[hummel]

It's probably not the thread to ask however...

Has the QF home page changed? I was trying to search for points redemption this morning but the search for flights wasn't working?

 

[Mattg]

It's probably not the thread to ask however...

Has the QF home page changed? I was trying to search for points redemption this morning but the search for flights wasn't working?

I haven't noticed any changes....

 

[Mattg]

Actually I wouldn't be so sure about that!

What makes you say this? I would have thought that booking a QF award seat involved some sort of cash payment from Qantas Frequent Flyer to the operating airline (be it QF or a partner) for the seat. Am I missing something?

 

[opusman]

What makes you say this? I would have thought that booking a QF award seat involved some sort of cash payment from Qantas Frequent Flyer to the operating airline (be it QF or a partner) for the seat. Am I missing something?

See How Much Do Award Tickets Cost Airlines? - One Mile at a Time for example.

No idea at all if this is true for QF, but often things are not as they seem.

 

[medhead]

What's the irony about it? It's a mere case of geographic location, aircraft capabilities and traffic rights of each airline.

Yeah, no irony in the so called national airline offering infer service than its competitors.

 

[Anna]

The ironic thing is qtr, cx and ek are 2 leg flights while the qf are 3+

I'm too lazy to check for myself but does it take longer on those 2 leg flights than on QF 3 leg?

 

[Mattg]

See How Much Do Award Tickets Cost Airlines? - One Mile at a Time for example.

No idea at all if this is true for QF, but often things are not as they seem.

I'll take that with a grain of salt but thanks, an interesting read!

 

[eastwest101]

I'm too lazy to check for myself but does it take longer on those 2 leg flights than on QF 3 leg?

Its not scientific but I had a quick look at ITA Perth to any NYC airport, and provided the connections work out - the quickest 1 stop option typical durations for flight and transit are:

CX (via HKG) = 25hrs 10min
EK (via DXB) = 26hrs to 28hrs
QR (via DOH) = 28hrs to 29hrs
EY (via AUH) = 29hrs 20min

vs

QF (via SYD and LAX) = 29 hours 10min - so in the ball park!
(and dosen't seem too bad until you have a close look, and see its a red-eye horror from PER-SYD leaving at midnight then 3 hrs in SYD before getting QF11 to JFK, getting kicked off the A380 at LAX with all the attendant risks of misconnection in LAX to the 747 service to JFK)

 

[Mattg]

Its not scientific but I had a quick look at ITA Perth to any NYC airport, and provided the connections work out - the quickest 1 stop option typical durations for flight and transit are:

CX (via HKG) = 25hrs 10min
EK (via DXB) = 26hrs to 28hrs
QR (via DOH) = 28hrs to 29hrs
EY (via AUH) = 29hrs 20min

vs

QF (via SYD and LAX) = 29 hours 10min - so in the ball park!
(and dosen't seem too bad until you have a close look, and see its a red-eye horror from PER-SYD leaving at midnight then 3 hrs in SYD before getting QF11 to JFK, getting kicked off the A380 at LAX with all the attendant risks of misconnection in LAX to the 747 service to JFK)

Couldn't you take the morning QF flight from PER-SYD, connecting to QF7 to DFW, then onto JFK or LGA with AA? I make that out to be ~26.5 hours.

 

[eastwest101]

Couldn't you take the morning QF flight from PER-SYD, connecting to QF7 to DFW, then onto JFK or LGA with AA? I make that out to be ~26.5 hours.

I agree - that would be a much nicer/better/humane option - but it wasn't offered on the QF web site though.

 

[Mattg]

I agree - that would be a much nicer/better/humane option - but it wasn't offered on the QF web site though.

I'm sure you'd be able to get that by doing a multi-city booking.

 

[juddles]

I'll take that with a grain of salt but thanks, an interesting read!

Not just a grain of salt - but an appreciation of the reality - the article highlights "costs" per trip, but less obvious is the concept that the airlines try to balance out their respective redemptions - which means the $ value is actually unimportant and focusing on it is highly misleading. The real cost is the amount of points that are deducted from the pax FF account.