Booking RTW Points Flight with Qantas

knobbs on 15/07/2018 - 19:50

I have finally churned enough cards to have stocked up for a RTW flight (280k points/PAX) for the missus and I. However I am having some trouble with the booking process. Now before iforgotmysocks replies, yes I have rang and asked Qantas but despite the foreign call center with a heavy accent I struggle to understand, having the operator end the call without warning part way through, being told someone will call me back with no call received and the hold time of at least 30m everytime I try to call them I am still puzzled.

I have our itinerary set out and it all should fall between the T&Cs they have for RTW travel. I have checked it through this site https://rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/?origin=QF (which Qantas' website directs me to). I couldn't find Bristol (England) on the site there and was told by the phone operator to book it using Qantas' multi city stop as I will be booking with points and it should show up there. It doesn't so I have given up and will just go into London. However when I put through all the flights on the Qantas site only 1 of the 12 legs were able to find a business flight, the rest economy. The dates I have put in are for May/June 2019 so I wouldn't think they are all booked out.

So is there a step I am missing is there another website I need to book the RTW trip with?
Can I book it through the oneworld site as I can only find a way to pay with $$$ rather than points?

Anyone have some pointers for me? I have read through https://www.pointhacks.com.au/qantas-round-the-world-classic… but still am stuck.

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Comments

  • The Wololo Wombat on 15/07/2018 - 20:10
    +1

    Flights are not released so far in advance I've found - maybe 300 days I can't remember? So perhaps that is the issue?

    • knobbs on 15/07/2018 - 20:22

      Yes that is a factor, I thought most were 330 days though? Also if they have economy for the same flight available wouldn't all fare types be open? Or do they open up business class later down the track to reward tickets?

  • try2bhelpful on 15/07/2018 - 20:35

    We just did one way to Brussels for two of us using business class and it took roughly 250,000 points, are you sure you have enough for around the world?

  • MrHyde on 15/07/2018 - 20:38

    Yes, 280k is enough for a business class round the world. It is a ticket called One World Award. Key conditions are 5 stops and I think 30k miles or so in total. Can fly in any order and must fly two other One World airlines plus Qantas.

  • MrHyde on 15/07/2018 - 20:39
    +2

    Have a look at Award Assist from Freq Flyer Solution services. They got us 4 business class flights around the world about 300 days prior to the date… Just give them your requirements and they do the searching and then provide detailed instructions on how to book.

    • knobbs on 15/07/2018 - 22:13

      I'll check them out in the morning, I am guessing there are fees involved? What costs are we looking at?

      • MrHyde on 16/07/2018 - 05:37
        +1

        Yes, they provide a quote first if they are confident if getting you the seats. They took just 2 days to give me 3 options and they do suggest booking immediately after they provide the instructions as award flights are rare and get booked fast.

        It cost me $225 for 4 business class rtw tickets.

  • blue_bug on 15/07/2018 - 20:45
    -3

    280K is not alot of points. Don't think that's enough for business class RTW.

    also, do you have any status with Qantas? Eg, QFF Silver or above? If not you might have a hard time finding available seat.

    EDIT: Just read the pointhacks and it appears that it can be done. However, again status matters.

    EDIT 2: Just did a quick test and I was able to get a quote of 407000 points for a business RTW, MEL-HKG-DOH-AMS-LON-JFK-LAX-MEL during April next year.

    • djkelly69 on 15/07/2018 - 21:13
      +1

      If it says it costs more than 280k, then you have done something wrong like added an Emirates flight or another non-one world airline which Qantas has an alliance with, or not met the award conditions.

      If done correctly it should just stop adding points at 280k.

  • maverick1 on 15/07/2018 - 20:46
    +1

    mate - whats your itinerary..i can take a look..iv booked this before for economy…

    • knobbs on 15/07/2018 - 22:12

      Brisbane
      Tokyo 6 days
      Bergen 12 days
      Paris 8 days
      London layover day
      New York 6 days
      Cusco 6 days
      Los Angeles layover day
      Brisbane

      We are looking at June July next year but I know those fights aren't out yet so just moved everything up a month to check fights and process.

      Appreciate the help

      • maverick1 on 15/07/2018 - 22:47

        throws an error when booking the NYK to CUZ leg…and do you use great circle mapper by any chance or any other tool to compute the miles flown?
        I wasn't able to find all connecting flights, but seems you would be withing the 35K mile limit, remember your routing can't have the same city twice..

        Miles flown -

        From To Initial
        Heading Magnetic
        Heading Distance
        Total: 31,274 mi
        Average: 3,127 mi
        Show latitude and longitude
        Show fractional heading
        10 segment path:
        BNE MEL 212° (SW) 201° (S) 857 mi
        MEL HND 356° (N) 344° (N) 5,048 mi
        HND HEL 331° (NW) 339° (N) 4,874 mi
        HEL BGO 278° (W) 269° (W) 676 mi
        BGO CDG 189° (S) 188° (S) 788 mi
        CDG LGW 322° (NW) 321° (NW) 191 mi
        LGW LGA 289° (W) 289° (W) 3,468 mi
        LGA CUZ 178° (S) 191° (S) 3,738 mi
        CUZ LAX 318° (NW) 324° (NW) 4,473 mi
        LAX BNE 246° (SW) 234° (SW) 7,161 mi
        31,274 mi

      • dales61 on 16/07/2018 - 17:22

        You won't find a one world flight from New York to Cusco!
        You could use AA to get to Lima but not sure if LAN flight Lima-Cusco.
        You may have to purchase the Lima-Cusco ticket as a seperate ticket.

        • knobbs on 16/07/2018 - 18:25

          Maybe not an award flight. Oneworld does fly that route though, using the oneworld RTW planner I got LATAM from New York to Lima to Cusco. It seems like they don't have any business from Lima to Cusco though.

  • djkelly69 on 15/07/2018 - 21:03
    +1

    Try posting your itinerary on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum in the One World Award thread. Someone there will let you know the issue/s pretty quickly.

    If you are using Qantas points you can only book with Qantas. Need to be flexible with dates and probably routes, even that far in advance.

    • knobbs on 15/07/2018 - 22:14

      Will try in the morning thanks

      • LauralHardy on 16/07/2018 - 02:35

        You can only fly to Bristol from Malaga, Palma, Ibiza and Florence on One World, doesnt seem like you are going anywhere near any of those.

  • capslock on 16/07/2018 - 08:32

    The hardest part is finding 2 business class award seats available on all the flights that you want. I suggest going on the Qantas website and searching for availability flight by flight. This part usually takes several hours. It is rare that your first choices will have seats available so your itinerary will change as you search for availability. Once you have prepared an itinerary where all flights have award seats available, and which still does not breach the rules, you can call Qantas and tell them which flights you want so they can book it for you.

    It is not surprising that a Qantas call centre agent will lose interest if you want them to spend hours searching for available flights for you while making sure your itinerary is within the rules.

    An award assistance service as suggested above is a good idea if you don't want to do the work yourself. They do this all the time and will be more efficient at it. The fee is not material compared to the $1000+ per person that Qantas will charge you in "taxes".

  • Foxtail on 16/07/2018 - 09:21

    We just got so fed up looking for flights out of OZ and the huge fees Qantas charge on award flights, so we always commence in HKG, then there are plenty of seats in J to choose from via USA or Europe and the fees are cheap.

    and yes ask away some very smart people there on Aust Freq. Flyer.

    https://tinyurl.com/y9m4v2fx

    • knobbs on 16/07/2018 - 10:24

      It looks to be a bit over $500 in taxes (for 2 of us) for our flight from BNE-HKG-NRT.

      Did a quick look on economy fares from BNE to HKG and they are $450 a person. Even if the taxes are stupid it is still cheaper than booking an eco flight just to save money.

      Edit. Also the one direct flight from BNE-NRT has no business availability currently. Is that because it would of been all taken or it is released later?

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