Trying to book a Reward flight MEL - HEL during end of year - results unavailable

[gapmatt]

I'm trying to search for Reward flights on the Qantas page for MEL - HEL around Christmas/January, however search results don't seem to be showing. It says: We are unable to find recommendations from the airlines we search. Please change your search criteria and resubmit the search.


Anyone know the reason for this? And how I could go about searching/booking for a reward flight soon for that period?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm trying to search for Reward flights on the Qantas page for MEL - HEL around Christmas/January, however search results don't seem to be showing. It says: We are unable to find recommendations from the airlines we search. Please change your search criteria and resubmit the search.


Anyone know the reason for this? And how I could go about searching/booking for a reward flight soon for that period?

yeah - the Qantas booking tool isn't very good at showing most partner airlines - you'll get an error even if seats are freely available. You can try searching multi-city (MEL-SIN, BKK, HKG, PVG, or NRT) and then from one of those ports to HEL. Then book it that way. But that still might not show AY flights. In that case you can use another tool such as BA or even AA I think (AA doesn't require you to join their FF program). Once you find the availability, call QF to book. If all else fails, you can call QF reservations and have them look for you. They may waive the assistance fee as the flights don't show on line.

 

[gapmatt]

yeah - the Qantas booking tool isn't very good at showing most partner airlines - you'll get an error even if seats are freely available. You can try searching multi-city (MEL-SIN, BKK, HKG, PVG, or NRT) and then from one of those ports to HEL. Then book it that way. But that still might not show AY flights. In that case you can use another tool such as BA or even AA I think (AA doesn't require you to join their FF program). Once you find the availability, call QF to book. If all else fails, you can call QF reservations and have them look for you. They may waive the assistance fee as the flights don't show on line.

Appreciate the response, is there a way to use QFF points to book a Rewards flight from one of the ports you mentioned such as HKG to HEL?
It seems to be very difficult to try and get dates to match for a rewards flight for so many segments.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Appreciate the response, is there a way to use QFF points to book a Rewards flight from one of the ports you mentioned such as HKG to HEL?
It seems to be very difficult to try and get dates to match for a rewards flight for so many segments.

yes of course... QF points can be used on any oneworld airline. My suggestion for multi-city tool is simply to break up the itinerary into more manageable chunk to help the system. Finnar flies from all those ports I mentioned to HEL, so it's a matter of plugging in some dates and seeing what comes back. It might well be easier to call Qantas (if you can bear the waiting times) and ask them what they can see. You might need to give the call staff some assistance because they too may simply look for MEL-HEL (which would come back empty). Ask them to search via SIN/HKG/PVG or Tokyo.

 

[cjd600]

Appreciate the response, is there a way to use QFF points to book a Rewards flight from one of the ports you mentioned such as HKG to HEL?
It seems to be very difficult to try and get dates to match for a rewards flight for so many segments.

What class are you after?
Might have left it a bit late for awards to Europe over Xmas.....

 

[bsb]

If you have status, call. Don't forget JL and QR fly to HEL too.

 

[BacchusMarsh]

JL on the new MEL-NRT leg still has OK availability. And NRT/HND to HEL isn't too hard.

 

[Eija]

Have you thought about Japan Airlines MEL-NRT-HEL? I did MEL-SYD-NRT-HEL in J 4 years ago & just loved JL.


New MEL-NRT daily service starting 2 September 2017(787 = 8 across in Y)...same to HEL. There are good deals to be had on any new route In comparison AY's A350 = 9 across in Y plus you need a flight to Asia.


You can search award bookings via BA or JL sites or call QF as suggested above and get them to do it for you.

 

[gapmatt]

Thanks for the responses guys!
So, I've just created an account on British Airways website to search for reward flights. Their search engine is much better than Qantas'

If I'm not wrong, as long as I can find a suitable reward flight, I can call up Qantas to help me use QFF points to book it?

Also, how do I know how many QFF points are required or can I only know this once I call up Qantas to book?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for the responses guys!
So, I've just created an account on British Airways website to search for reward flights. Their search engine is much better than Qantas'

If I'm not wrong, as long as I can find a suitable reward flight, I can call up Qantas to help me use QFF points to book it?

Also, how do I know how many QFF points are required or can I only know this once I call up Qantas to book?

Depending on the airlines in question, if you find availability on the BA site you might be able to book them on line at Qantas. Use the multi-city booking tool to replicate what you find on BA... ie sector 1 Australia to Asia (or wherever) then sector two Asia to HEL. If you can't find the flights on the QF tool, ring Qantas and ask them to book it. Tell them you are getting an error on the website and that will improve your chances of them waiving the assistance fee.

Note that BA (like the QF tool) can have phantom availability... seats showing available that have actually been taken. This is due to a delay in the various airline booking tools speaking to each other. QF can tell you in real time if it's phantom.

you can get an idea of the points required by looking at the award tables on the QF site.

 

[trooper]

Using the AA site there appears to be more availability in Business than in Economy........ late December.... MEL-HEL

HKG-HEL by comparison has saver economy flights from Christmas day right through end December....

 

[fairbasa]

Using the AA site there appears to be more availability in Business than in Economy........ late December.... MEL-HEL

HKG-HEL by comparison has saver economy flights from Christmas day right through end December....

Be careful with the AA site. Good for narrowing down rough dates, but always cross-check with the BA site. I often find phantom availability on AA.