foxf1

Hello-I obtained business class award seats on Qantas to Sydney. Also purchased seats through Qantas for travel within Australia. These seats are economy. Heard that there is something called one world award which would have given me business class tickets in Australia, also. Does anyone know anything about this?

Thanks.

johnathome

fox1f,

Congrats, very difficult to get business class tickets on Qantas.

You might want to try flyertalk.com/forums and post in the Oneworld forum to get better responses. However, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=433366 may give you an idea. A oneworld award is essentially a ticket on multiple oneworld carriers with multiple stops. Mileage required depends on service class (economy/biz/first)and distance flown. I guess you could have booked a one world ticket in business to include Australia but I'm not an expert on terms.

Gardyloo

The main barrier to using Oneworld awards in Oz is the requirement that two OW members in addition to AA be used in any OW award itinerary. Since Qantas has a virtual monopoly to/from Oz, the only workable solution to this is to take some other OW member (CX, JL) across the Pacific to Asia, then Qantas from there on (or vice versa.) In that case you would be able to book an all-business class itinerary including internal flights within Oz.

Depending on your route, however, you'd possibly encounter mileage totals that would bump the award requirements (redemption level) to a place where it's uncomfortable. Read the FAQ on Flyertalk (mentioned above) for more details. I doubt if AA would allow you to roll over your existing award res to a OW award, but asking is free.

AAFrequentFlyer

<i>The main barrier to using Oneworld awards in Oz is the requirement that two OW members <u>in addition to AA</u> be used in any OW award itinerary.</i>

Not true.

2 OW partners, that's it! No addition of AA necessary.

AA won't count as 1 of the 2 partners required.

Just setting the facts straight.


For example:

I did a New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong trip few years back. Since I live in Florida, the mileage would have put me over to the next level if I did the OneWorld award from home port. The tickets from Tampa to Los Angeles were about $200 at that time, so I decided to buy the AA ticket, upgrade for free and do the award ticket from LAX to AKL to SYD to HKG and finally back to LAX. Used Qantas and Cathay Pacific only for the award ticket.

Gardyloo

AAFF, of course you know I know the rules. I just get a bit tongue-tied. &quot;Two OW member airlines in addition to AA if AA is used&quot; just sounds awkward. Perhaps you can find some more economical way of stating it. The rules are plenty complicated enough, and the OP was sent to the FAQ on FT, so that would quickly be made clear there.

Paulchili

foxf1,
you can also take advantage of the so called &quot;visit Aus/NZ pass&quot;
http://www.oneworld.com/ow/air-trave...nd-new-zealand
offered by OW through AA.
You are already flying to Oz RT so you would be eligible to buy segments at fixed prices (economy only). Whether this is a better deal in terms of price then buying tickets through QF, you have to compare the prices. I know it will be a better deal for me in Asia using the pass than purchasing individual tickets.

Betsy

We had wonderful luck traveling internally in AUS by booking Virgin Blue Happy Hour fares. Check the website.

Fox, would you please let me know how you were able to get business class tix from CA to Aus? How many miles? How did you book? Please post all the details. We have lots of AA and Continental miles, and I'm ready to return!

Paulchili

PS
Whatever you decide to do, don't give up those business award tickets on Qantas - you may never get them again; they are very hard to come by.

foxf1

Hi Betsy-I think I was lucky. Called right when the seats were about to open, then called back several times. Also, we have flexibility, which is really important. Also, had a good reservationist who took the time to really look up diffeent options. Some reservationiss, simply say nothing is available after checking one date. I would say flexibility in dates is most important.

Betsy

Thanks for the tips, Foxf. We have flexibility. Need to perfect the technique for turning our AA miles into business class tix!