we booked on quantas through a travel agent

[Blueeyes_two]

and then thought we would be able to get an upgrade to Business class(we are flying from NY to Sydney for our honeymoon)
with my American airlines points(oneworld)Business class and an upgrase for my future husbands with his corporate amaz points.

So i called quantas and and the lady said that i cant get an up grade - is this true?
is there anyway around this?

can i open a quantas amax card and transfer the points over and then get an up grade?

if anyone has any ideas please let me know.

I signed up online for quantas frequesnt flyer numbers. thanks in advance.

 

[serfty]

Hi Blueeyes_two, welcome to AFF.

Unfortunately for you points(/mileage) upgrades on Qantas flights can only be done with Qantas Frequent Flyer Points(/Miles).

More than that you, need to be in a non deep discounted fare class - you can't points upgrade from N, O or Q booking classes.

 

[Dave Noble]

Depending on the fare basis, it may well be ineligable to be upgraded regardless ( N,O,Q fare bases cannot be upgraded )

AA miles cannot be used to upgrade QF flights

Whether US AMEX cards allow transfers to QF , I do not know. If it is an eligable fare basis then you would need to transfer enough AMEX points to get 192,000 points each to upgrade from JFK-SYD r/t

Also, the airline is Qantas , not Quantas

Welcome to AFF

Dave

 

[serfty]

US Amex cards do not allow transfer of points to Qantas.

Membership Rewards® Program.

 

[NM]

Additionally, you need to understand the process for FF points upgrades on Qantas. Once the ticket has been issued, you need to request to join the upgrade waitlist. No international flight upgrades are confirmed before the day of travel. So you remain on the waitlist until about 24 hours before departure. At that time, Qantas services the waitlist based firstly on the Frequent Flyer status of the account from which the points will be used, with Platinum getting first bite at any available seats. followed by Gold then Silver then Bronze status members. Within each FF status category, the waitlist is services based on the time the waitlist was joined.

So as a Bronze status FF member, you are at the bottom of the list for upgrades. And note that on many QF trans-Pacific flights, they sell all their business class seats so no upgrades may be available even for platinum FF members.

If you have AA miles, then you can use those to redeem for award seats on Qantas flights pending availability. Note this is not an upgrade, but you need to redeem the miles for a business class seat. The problem here is finding two business class award seats on the dates you want to travel since they normally go very quickly when they are released 355 days out for Qantas FF members and 330 days out for AA members. So if you want to use that option, then get in early.

Another option is to use AA miles to upgrade an AA flight to Honolulu and then fly Qantas economy from there to Sydney.

 

[Blueeyes_two]

hi -thanks for all the advice - sorry for spelling the airlines wrong.

Does anyone have any advice for the long flight - what to bring with us for the plane - change of clothes etc. I would definitely be open to all and any advice.

I was talking to one of the people from Qantas and she recomended the last 2 seats it the plane cuase they are 2 seats together. but then i was wondering after i got off the phone if those 2 seaters in the back of the plane (the last 2) recline?

also does anyone know if they will bump us up for being Newlyweds? or are all the flights usually fully booked? we are on a 7:10 out of NY stoppong in LA at the beginning of aug.

thanks again for all the great advice.

 

[NM]

There are actually 4 rows at the back of the QF 747 aircraft that are configured with 2 seats against the windows. These are rows 70-73 and seats AB and JK. All economy seats on QF 747 aircraft have the same recline ability, even those in the last row.

Some people love those rows, some don't like them. The up-side is that you don't have to share with anyone when travelling as a couple. The down-side is that you are almost last of the aircraft and to join the immigration queues upon arrival, and can be last to receive meals etc.

Best advice I have for flying economy LAX-SYD is to try to book the QF8 flight that operates during the day (1pm or so departure from LAX) rather than the QF12, 108, 150 departures that are overnight flights.

Take a good book with you since the QF IFE system is notorious for failing. When it works, it is good and will keep you entertained with plenty of movie/TV/game options.