Why can I only see EK430 F and not EK434 F DXB-BNE for QF Redemption?

[EestiTiger]

Hi team,

I am trying to find a single seat on the A380 into BNE in September 2018 using QF points.

I can see availability on the 777 flight just not the A380

Has anyone else struck this? I find it a bit curious that in order to fly on the A380 back to Australia I am going to have to fly into another city. Not preferred as I was hoping to get the chauffeur home from BNE!

 

[pjm99au]

Whilst not answering your specific question I have booked a QF J award redemption for November DXB to MEL on EK and then a transfer MEL to SYD on QF and was able to go onto the EK website and choose the chauffeur drive to pick up from Sydney domestic T3 to take us home. Not 100% confident there will be a car there to pick us up but it is booked

 

[EestiTiger]

Whilst not answering your specific question I have booked a QF J award redemption for November DXB to MEL on EK and then a transfer MEL to SYD on QF and was able to go onto the EK website and choose the chauffeur drive to pick up from Sydney domestic T3 to take us home. Not 100% confident there will be a car there to pick us up but it is booked

Good to know! Hope it works out for you - that might be my plan B

 

[fairbasa]

Unfortunately this is one of the issues with the award game we play! They can withhold inventory with no explanation and all you can do is watch like a hawk and hope.

I had to go via ADL recently to get to DOH as QR weren't releasing any inventory from MEL (and I checked it literally everyday).

 

[Scash]

I'm looking at the same trip using QFF points to book F in October 2018. Nothing released for this time yet, but checking random dates on Expert Flyer for August/September 2018 there is no availability on EK434 (A380) direct to BNE, but options on the A380 (albeit limited) via MEL or SYD. Have noticed some availability for EK434 in Oct and Sep this year so I'm probably going to book via SYD just to secure a seat but will hopefully be able to swap to EK434 closer to the date. Will have to pay a fee I’m guessing but worth it to go direct to BNE.

Also have noticed that availability can change depending on destinations/stopovers. For instance we are planning to fly FCO-DXB-BNE (2 nights in DXB) which can give different flight options for the DXB-BNE leg than if I look at FCO-DXB and then DXB-BNE as separate bookings. As someone previously said…welcome to the world of award bookings.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

The A380 flight is often in high demand from paying passengers out of Brisbane as it has the airline's best seats, whereas Emirates is launching a third daily flight from December using a 777: which is not only a new flight that they have to try and fill up, but it's a less desirable choice for passengers spending actual money compared to the A380 (angled beds and no bar vs fully-flat beds and the inflight bar and shower).

Combine them and you'll see why the 777 is much easier to book on points than the A380.