Sydney to Canada business August 2016 with QFF

[Quokka]

30th wedding present for me and 70th birthday for my dad. Bucket list for us both and will be mum and dad's last big overseas trip due to deteriorating health.


If you can answer any of my questions or offer any advice I would be appreciative. Between us we have 1.2 million qantas ff points and would like to use them to reduce the cost of the fares. We have no special status.


Business class fares are a must on the long flights for us all - I will need to assist dad with mum's care. The shorter flights are manageable in cattle.


We meet the tour in Anchorage on 30th August 2016 and it completes in Calgary some 3.5 weeks later.


We are flexible with departure times and are happy to leave a bit earlier to enable my parents to recover but that is not essential.


Can someone explain the difference between buying the airfares with points and cash as apposed to purchasing a lower fare and upgrading using points? Am I missing something?

 

[RooFlyer]

If you buy a seat with points (and 'Award seat') you need to be able to see the Award seat is available on the day you want to fly, or you search until you find an available seat. You then select it, and carry through the process and pay with points and (in the case of Qantas) not a small amount of cash. J Award seats are much better value than Y award seats.

If you want to upgrade with points, as you note, you first have to buy an economy or a Premium Economy seat (not ALL fare classes are up-gradeable!) THEN put in an application for the upgrade. If you don't have status, the earliest the upgrade will come through is a day or so before the flight. Its a lottery. I wouldn't recommend this method if you really need to go Business as without status the chances of one of you being upgraded is low; two of you next to no chance (higher status passengers get first dibs and there are few upgrades offered). It DOES happen but I doubt you would want to take the risk.

If you are going to Canada in August, you'll have to start searching for Award seats right now. Award seats are also scarce. Search Qantas but also its OneWorld partners. Qantas Australia-LAX business seats are highly sought after and usually go quick. You may have to be creative with routing. For instance, look at flying to Honolulu and then on to Nth America on American; or Qantas/JAL via Japan; Cathay via HKG. If searching for JAL, American etc seats is a mystery, come back and ask (I'm not that good at it but someone will know).

Alaska Airlines (based in Seattle) have some affiliations with Qantas, but I don't think you can book them with QFF points.

Calgary is my second home Ask me anything you want to know about Cow Town.

 

[Quokka]

Thanks so much Rooflyer for your quick reply. I have been looking for the last week but an am amateur but am trying to learn real fast.


Tassie - beautiful part of the world. Spent 10 days doing the east coast in March. Some of the best food I've ever eaten and I was in awe of the beauty of Port Arthur. Loved Swansea and Burnie and got very emotional in Beaconsfield - made me a very proud Aussie for what was achieved with such iverwhelming odds. Looking forward to the west coast in the short future.


Now back to business, a stop over is an option. I am waiting for the tour operator to finalise dates but expect confirmation in the next couple of days. Yes, I can't wait to win the lottery so I must purchase award seats - one thing cleared up thanks. Now for the dumb question - how do I search for a Oneworld partner seat? Go to each airline or will the qantas or different site give them to me?


You can see the rookie in me.

 

[TomVexille]

Some partners show up on the QF booking engine online. For example I can see 3 Business seats SYD-xHKG-LAX on CX, 25 August. For certain partners you will have to either use another airlines website to search and then ring QF to book.

 

[Quokka]

Thanks for the info Tom

 

[RooFlyer]

Obviously 'search with flexible dates' on the Qantas site, and even though you tell it to search business, it'll first come up with Economy. Change the tick by the icon and get it to look again.

Beware the " ! " symbol on any result. It usually means that one of the long sectors will actually be in economy (if you mouse over it, it will tell you)! This is a shocking flaw in the QF system. You pay full business points but most of it is in economy!!

Qantas will bring up Cathay, American and BA alternatives, but I'm not sure if it will bring up ALL the available award seats.

I think the Japan Airlines search engine is pretty good; you may have to sign up for their frequent flyer program, and that's easy. You might want to search separately on the Cathay site as well and again, you might have to join their FF scheme (no charge for either, I think; NOT Marco Polo Club for Cathay). Heck, look on the American Airlines site as well!!

That's one of the AFF tricks I've learned - don't take the Qantas site at face value. You have to put some time in, but there are ways to find Award seats beyond what the Qantas site tells you. But as TV says, if it doesn't display on the Qantas site, you have to call to book those seats and there may be a charge (worth it I think in your case).

Australia to Hong Kong or Narita (Tokyo) and then to Vancouver or even Anchorage if there are direct services would be good options for you.

Ideally you might break the journey half way for your folk's sake, and spend a night; as long as the break is less than 24 hrs, its not a 'stop-over' which gets penalised.

Lastly, within Canada, west coast USA to Canada and possibly from Canada to Alaska, you can book Canadian airline Westjet using QFF points when the flight has a QF flight number. Westjet is economy only but decent enough. Its not part of One World, but bookable with points - you might see results for it coming up if you start looking for flights within Nth America. There is no Canadian airline in OneWorld, so Westjet substitutes when it has a Qantas code share.

Actually, the same goes for Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle. It flies up and down the west coast of Nth America (including Calgary) and some flights have a Qantas code share, and are bookable with points (I think).

 

[TomVexille]

If an airline isn't bookable online I make sure to very nicely ask for the phone booking fee to be waived as I can't do it myself.

 

[TomVexille]

Oh and I'd like to add that finding 3 J seats on the same flight isn't the easiest thing to do.

 

[Quokka]

Thanks so much Roo - you have given me so much great information.

I will be putting many hours over the next couple of days sorting thus out - ready go jump when dates are set. Back to work on Tuesday unfortunately.

The info about the destination airlines is particularly good because I had no knowledge of whom flew where.

I am am quite excited and I love the thrill of this FF chase. Once again, thanks for your time and knowledge

 

[Alanslegal]

We meet the tour in Anchorage on 30th August 2016 and it completes in Calgary some 3.5 weeks later.

Unless you're talking about another Anchorage, the one that I have been to is in America

 

[Quokka]

Thanks fir that advice too Tom - it will help me to keep looking when faced with multiple rejections.

If they are there - I'll find them ............hopefully

 

[cjd600]

Beware the " ! " symbol on any result. It usually means that one of the long sectors will actually be in economy (if you mouse over it, it will tell you)! This is a shocking flaw in the QF system. You pay full business points but most of it is in economy!!

Qantas will bring up Cathay, American and BA alternatives, but I'm not sure if it will bring up ALL the available award seats.

I think they've fixed the flaw re full points cost against a mixed ! itinerary....still annoying it brings up as J when the longest leg is Y....prices them out as 2 separate sectors.
e.g SYD-LAX J = 96k
SYD-BNE J BNE-LAX Y (comes up searching SYD-LAX J), prices 64k, 16k SYD-BNE J and 48k for BNE-LAX Y, so not the full 96k as previously.

Agree with RF that via HKG on CX is probably among the best bets for 3xJ same flight to North America now you're about a month beyond the 353 day QF releases...but 1.2m QF points are your friend, and am sure some others will be able to come up with some good solutions for your requirements

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Hi Quokka,
Sounds like an amazing trip you have planned for next year.

In 2011 (Sept/Oct) I spent three weeks in Alaska and one thing that I remember fondly is the spectacular beauty, particularly travelling on the Alaskan Marine Highway ( aka the state-owned Ferry service) through the Inside Passage and the spectacular Denali National Park which is breathtaking to say the least.

Anchorage itself is not a spectacularly pretty city, I would have to say , although is a base for most tourists travelling to the Last Frontier that Alaska is.

Alaska is certainly a destination I will travel back to one day.

Where does your tour take you may I ask?

Sounds like to you might be heading to Yellowstone if your end destination is Calgary?

As many contributors have already stated those J seats will be a challenge to find, although planning and booking now may be your best bet.

Flights to Anchorage are seasonal, although during the time period of your planed visit flights can be found on Alaskan via Honololu or Seattle, American/US via Phoenix or Dallas that you may be able to snare with your QFF points if availability exists.

All the best with hunting down those flights and please keep us In the loop how you book your flights.

 

[Mattg]

Japan Airlines via Tokyo is a viable option but will not appear on the Qantas website. To search for JAL availability, you could sign up to British Airways Executive Club (using an overseas relative's address as Aussies aren't technically allowed to join) and search on their website. Anything you find there should be able to be booked over the phone with Qantas.

Also, you can definitely use Qantas points to fly on Alaska Airlines.

 

[Quokka]

Thanks Mattg - I think I'm looking for the proverbial "needle in a haystack". Trying not to become discouraged

 

[Oxy]

Thanks Mattg - I think I'm looking for the proverbial "needle in a haystack". Trying not to become discouraged

On the Qantas website I can see 3 business seats 24/08 CX110 SYD-HKG. You can then overnight in HKG and connect to a choice of 3 CX flights HKG-LAX also with 3 J seats if QF website is correct. Assuming you go for CX884 at 1255 this would keep your time in HKG under 24 hours and can be done through to LAX for 417k QF points. You could get the later departure for 507k points.

That would take care of the bulk of your requirements, just needing the 6 or so hours to get to ANC.

 

[petunia]

Earlier this year my husband and I flew to Canada using our 1 million FF points. It was a oneworld award 5 leg journey which cost us 560k points, much less than just a direct return flight booked using points. Took a lot of planning, but turned out to be the trip of a lifetime.
Perth to Chicago with Cathay Pacific via HK. A few hours in the business lounge at HK was no hardship.
Chicago - Toronto with American Airlines. From Toronto we made our own way by bus, rail and hire car through Ottawa, Montreal etc ending in Halifax. Got a cheap Delta flight to New York.
New York flew Cathay Pacific to Vancouver.
from Vancouver Island made our way to Seattle by Clipper Ferry. Did a separate award booking with Alaska Airlines to fly to Juneau in Alaska, just in economy class as it's not a long flight. Caught Alaska State Maritime Ferry from Juneau in Alaska back to Bellingham near Seattle. Greyhound bus back to Vancouver (from where we did a bus tour of the Rockies).
Vancouver to Hong Kong via Tokyo with Japan Airlines. A few days in Hong Kong and then back to Perth with CX.
From Perth, the only way we could get to Canada using Qantas/Oneworld was to actually fly into Chicago or New York. But from there you can fly practically anywhere.
Don't give up, it is totally worth it!

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Earlier this year my husband and I flew to Canada using our 1 million FF points. It was a oneworld award 5 leg journey which cost us 560k points, much less than just a direct return flight booked using points. Took a lot of planning, but turned out to be the trip of a lifetime.
Perth to Chicago with Cathay Pacific via HK. A few hours in the business lounge at HK was no hardship.
Chicago - Toronto with American Airlines. From Toronto we made our own way by bus, rail and hire car through Ottawa, Montreal etc ending in Halifax. Got a cheap Delta flight to New York.
New York flew Cathay Pacific to Vancouver.
from Vancouver Island made our way to Seattle by Clipper Ferry. Did a separate award booking with Alaska Airlines to fly to Juneau in Alaska, just in economy class as it's not a long flight. Caught Alaska State Maritime Ferry from Juneau in Alaska back to Bellingham near Seattle. Greyhound bus back to Vancouver (from where we did a bus tour of the Rockies).
Vancouver to Hong Kong via Tokyo with Japan Airlines. A few days in Hong Kong and then back to Perth with CX.
From Perth, the only way we could get to Canada using Qantas/Oneworld was to actually fly into Chicago or New York. But from there you can fly practically anywhere.
Don't give up, it is totally worth it!

Sounds like you a great trip.

And you certainly used a variety of means getting around, from the Superb Service on Cathay Pacific , to the not so desirable Greyhound Bus ( who in North America, particularly Canada, Greyhound have some not so favourable reviews in relation to a number of onboard incidents in the past decade)

I've traveled on the Alaskan Marine Highway myself and thought it was fantastic, considering that it's deemed 'The poor mans Cruise' by some in the travel industry.

When you scratch the surface there are more options than just flying to places in Canada.

My tip is a trip on VIA rail is a fantastic method of travel within Canada, with so much diversity with the landscapes travelling across the nation ( and a lot less touristy too)

 

[petunia]

The Alaskan Maritime Highway ferry trip was fabulous, as was the overnight journey by VIA from Quebec City to Moncton in New Brunswick. Then again, the J flights with CX and the service from JAL - brilliant. We luxuriated in all the transport options in Canada, even enjoyed the Greyhound bus, as we live in remote WA where the only means of transport available is the car.