Very poor QR J availability - MEL to Europe

[airly]

Had been trying to find 2 one way Business class reward seats from MEL to major cities (London, Paris, Athens etc) in Europe during Jun and Jul 2024. (or any other months in 2024)
Couldn't find any seat available at all.
Is it because I am VFF Silver or the reward seats already been taken or there is actually no seat available. (like SQ, only has Premium Econ)?
Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[ANstar]

I'd say its because Velocity only has QR award availability at -330 days and other airlines like BA and Qatar themselves have it earlier so the in demand seats like AU to norther hemisphere summer destinations go pretty quick before Velocity members even get a chance.

 

[odysseus]

No, it's because QR pulled all J seat availability in that time frame on long haul routes a month or so back and hasn't released any more.

 

[airly]

No, it's because QR pulled all J seat availability in that time frame on long haul routes a month or so back and hasn't released any more.

I was thinking about that. QR did that to QFF and now do the same for VFF.
I saw something similar happen for CX to QFF too. Used to be a lot of CX rewards seat for QFF but I can only see it become available maybe 7-14 days before departure.

I'd say its because Velocity only has QR award availability at -330 days and other airlines like BA and Qatar themselves have it earlier so the in demand seats like AU to norther hemisphere summer destinations go pretty quick before Velocity members even get a chance.

I guess this also contribute to the availability but most of the time I can still see QR rewards seat if I use Privilege Club.

Very annoying tho ... was hoping to use Privilege club to get 1 seat and VFF to get another 2 seats for the whole family on J

 

[Human]

I guess this also contribute to the availability but most of the time I can still see QR rewards seat if I use Privilege Club

When you use Privilege Club, are you seeing standard award availability (90,000 points one-way to Europe in business) or "Flexi" availability (180,000 points one-way to Europe in business)?

I'm seeing lots of Flexi availability but no standard availability.

 

[airly]

When you use Privilege Club, are you seeing standard award availability (90,000 points one-way to Europe in business) or "Flexi" availability (180,000 points one-way to Europe in business)?

I'm seeing lots of Flexi availability but no standard availability.

you are right tho, all the one I could see are Flexi award seat instead of standard one.

 

[Auski]

I managed to get QR 2 Business to MAN just before they pulled all the availability. Just booked return SQ 5 July LHR-MEL, in the last few weeks even SQ choice much more limited. I got Seats.Aero (see Matts review) and it made it a lot easier to see what is available. SQ has some availability, some more than 3 to limited cities but inc AMS CPH FRA LHR plus others if you are flexible.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Excuse me if this is a silly question but thought I'd ask: do you have any reservations about flying United to Europe? The reason I ask is that while it's true that QR can be stingy on awards, I've found that United does provide a decent selection of award availability to Virgin. For instance, SYD/MEL to SFO/LAX is quite easy to come by in J. Better yet, United has a calendar search tool that will show you in which days they have business class I (partner) availability.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Human]

Excuse me if this is a silly question but thought I'd ask: do you have any reservations about flying United to Europe? The reason I ask is that while it's true that QR can be stingy on awards, I've found that United does provide a decent selection of award availability to Virgin. For instance, SYD/MEL to SFO/LAX is quite easy to come by in J. Better yet, United has a calendar search tool that will show you in which days they have business class I (partner) availability.

-RooFlyer88

My only reservation is transiting in LAX, which I'd avoid if I could.

But I would definitely do it if availability on Qatar, Singapore or Etihad were limited -- especially considering that business class is 127,500 points on United versus 139,000 on the other airlines.

Can Velocity members use points to fly to Europe on ANA yet?

 

[kangarooflyer88]

My only reservation is transiting in LAX, which I'd avoid if I could.

It's not that bad especially since you'd have access to the Polaris lounge which has things like showers, a-la carte dining, rest areas, etc.

But I would definitely do it if availability on Qatar, Singapore or Etihad were limited -- especially considering that business class is 127,500 points on United versus 139,000 on the other airlines.

The big issue I see isn't so much finding availability to the US, but rather finding both availability to the US and from the US to Europe. Essentially you need to have I availability on the same dates for SYD/MEL to SFO/LAX and SFO/LAX to Europe. It's doable, but certainly not as easy as a simple SYD > SFO turn.

Can Velocity members use points to fly to Europe on ANA yet?

Per the Velocity site it's coming soon:

 

[drron]

AA only gets awards at 330 days and certainly no premium awards available after 12/6/24. But before then scattered days with 2 J awards from MEL,SYD or BNE but with all 3 cities most days have 2 F awards on QR to DOH.

Then used my BA account and certainly no direct DOH -LHR Jr awards late june and July but was offered awards on several times with QR to DUD,BER or FRA in J then on to LHR on BA.

 

[deangelj]

There certainly is availability for the DOH->EUR leg. Just saw some for DOH->FCO, DOH->LHR, DOH->ATH etc available to VA - just nothing from AUS (syd,bne,per,mel,adl) to DOH

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Then used my BA account and certainly no direct DOH -LHR Jr awards late june and July but was offered awards on several times with QR to DUD,BER or FRA in J then on to LHR on BA.

I apologize if you are already aware of this but would feel guilty not telling you if you don't already know: all Avios programs including British Airways, Qatar, Iberia and Aer Lingus are transferrable to each other at a 1:1 rate. Meaning you can take BA Avios and move it over to Qatar Avios for free at a 1:1 rate. The reason I bring this up is I would suspect Qatar's own program will have better availability than with QF's or BA's program. And a trip from Australia to Europe only sets you back 90,000 Avios one-way in business on QR. Not bad!

-RooFlyer88

 

[drron]

I have no desire to set up another loyalty program at my age. It won't be long before top status is but a memory.
I have yet to take a QR flight but will in May 2025 coming back from Athens after a cruise. I have been searching AA for a while to get a feel for availability and up to 7/7/24 there hasn't been a day when I haven't been able to get J awards all the way back to Australia. And occasional days when it is F DOH -Australia. And that segment for 100000 miles and $US70.70 charges.

 

[Spizz]

Isn’t the reason we are seeing less Business class is because Qatar haa just moved to dynamic award pricing so less award seats at Saver rates will be released to partners?

Starting to make Alliances a joke if each program has dynamic awards which are only available to their members at elevated rates for Premium classes.

 

[levelnine]

Isn’t the reason we are seeing less Business class is because Qatar haa just moved to dynamic award pricing so less award seats at Saver rates will be released to partners?

Starting to make Alliances a joke if each program has dynamic awards which are only available to their members at elevated rates for Premium classes.

Qatar don't have dynamic award pricing. They have saver & flexi (2x saver).

Qatar have launched a lot of new partnerships/transfer partners in the last couple of months. My guess is they've removed all saver long-haul J availability and are beginning to re-add it at flexi levels to test the market demand for flexi pricing, especially for June/July 2024 which is going to be a high-demand time for long-haul J due to the Paris Olympics.

Many airlines have made more seats available to members of their own programs. One of the advantages of having flexible points currencies that transfer into different programs.

 

[Spizz]

Sorry I meant Flexi. Thanks for the clarification. I agree about having Flexible points programs, warehousing points, but I'm finding the amount of seats once shared with other Airlines in any one alliance has drastically dwindled over the years in Premium classes.

 

[Phoenix-1]

QR seats seem to disappear before your eyes. I think this was an error that was fixed before? I was searching ADL-DOH and found a business seat. Refreshed it and it disappeared. Checked another date and found another seat, refreshed again and it disappeared. They were on 24/8 and 27/8.

 

[airly]

QR seats seem to disappear before your eyes. I think this was an error that was fixed before? I was searching ADL-DOH and found a business seat. Refreshed it and it disappeared. Checked another date and found another seat, refreshed again and it disappeared. They were on 24/8 and 27/8.

I have a similar experience with VFF and also with QF ... found a J seat with CX .. tried to book .. received error ... refresh .. then gone.

 

[Clayton]

Qatar don't have dynamic award pricing. They have saver & flexi (2x saver).

Qatar have launched a lot of new partnerships/transfer partners in the last couple of months. My guess is they've removed all saver long-haul J availability and are beginning to re-add it at flexi levels to test the market demand for flexi pricing, especially for June/July 2024 which is going to be a high-demand time for long-haul J due to the Paris Olympics.

Many airlines have made more seats available to members of their own programs. One of the advantages of having flexible points currencies that transfer into different programs.

Totally agree that QR try out Flexi pricing for most routes during the northern hemisphere summer, when availability opens, and if they aren't gobbled up by those with more points than sense after a week or so (around about the time BA availability opens up they sometimes drop them back to saver pricing. In previous years this practise peters out as the peak season closes, hopefully this trend will continue, but most of us keep transferable points or multiple stashes to cover these bases, and at worst revert to a low-cost positioning flight to a region where the "Australian flying tax" doesn't mess with cash prices.