Best Approach for Booking RTW Flight with Qantas FF Points

vasya on 09/09/2019 - 10:17

Dear all

I'm planning to book an RTW flight with Qantas FF Points soon. I understand that it is not simple to find right flight legs available for QFF payment and I should try and catch those seats 361 days in advance. In case of a round trip ticket I can just consider both legs as separate one-way flights and as a result I would just book each of those legs 361 days in advance.

But how does it work with RTW tariff and multiple flights spread over period of time?
Could anybody who such experience explain how early booking works in case of Qantas RTW tariff. For example I want to start my journey on 1st January 2021 from Sydney then a couple of legs like on 10th January, 15th January and 20th January and finally my last leg from Singapore to Sydney let say on 1st February.
So in order to secure the ticket I'm logging in to QFF site 361 days in advance on 5th January 2020 and assuming tickets are available book my tickets for the 1st January 2021. But what happens with the rest of my RTW legs?
1) should I login 4 more times to book the rest of the legs (each time when I have 361 day before respective leg's date) or
2) QFF site will let me booking all the legs including the final one on the 1st February 2021?

And if only the first option above is available does that mean that I have to login to QFF site 361 days in advance of my final leg on 1st February 2021 in order to ensure that I can book all my RTW legs at once?

Thank you!

Travel Airfare Frequent Flyer Qantas Frequent Flyer Reward Points

Comments

  • Skramit on 09/09/2019 - 10:19

    Spend the 5000 extra points and get the QFF call centre to book it all for you on their system.

    • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 09:03

      Given all the complexities described below I'm happy to spend extra 5000 points.
      How does that work - just call them and ask for assistance?

      • Skramit on 10/09/2019 - 09:16

        Yep

  • noyesmaybeok on 09/09/2019 - 11:11

    In what class? The change fees can add up. You need to meet the rules to have a valid RTW so can't see how anything except waiting until a year before date of the last flight will be possible.

    • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 09:03

      Economy.

  • knobbs on 09/09/2019 - 11:32

    Every time you make a change to your booking Qantas charge you a fee to do so. Also the only way to make the change on these tickets is to call the call center in South Africa (usually). You pay a fee to have a human book it and also a fee to change it. These can add up very quick if you book each leg individually. It can be a game of cat and mouse whether you book now or wait a few more days for another leg to open up and book them all together. Also have fun with the call center, my last RTW ticket I spent I would say about 20/30hrs on hold most of the time with them. It started to become an absolute joke, calling up 1hr on hold before getting through, then it would be too hard for them and they would hang up on me. Having them tell you you can't do XX because it is against the rules, when in it actually specifically states in the rules that is perfectly fine and so. If you get onto someone in the Aus call center cling to them and get as much as you can from them before resorting back to the arrogant South African one.

    • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 09:05

      Thank you, it looks like I'll wait for the final leg date

  • stoodamire on 09/09/2019 - 11:53

    OWA* not RTW

    Also keep in mind there will be a points increase from 18 Sep 2019 for J and F class.

    • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 09:07

      Thank you for letting me know. As far as I understand after checking forums there is no firm information about details yet, will check Qantas site after 18 September.

      • starburstyellow on 10/09/2019 - 10:25

        What do you mean? There are plenty of websites mentioning the price increase. Heres one from a news website even let alone a dedicated FF website:

        Oneworld Classic Flight Rewards are rising a whopping 18.9 per cent for premium economy (up from 210,000 to 249,600 Qantas points), 13.5 per cent for business class (up from 280,000 to 318,000 Qantas points) and 8.9 per cent for first class (420,000 to 455,000 Qantas points).

        https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/money/you-have-…

        • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 10:36

          On the forum mentioned below people in recent messages referenced to Qantas contact centre agent providing mixed information

          Anyway thank you for the link. For some reason in the article they don't mention amount of increased points for OWA economy, but I can estimate it based on other categories and it seems that I still have sufficient points.

          And anyway I'm going to book flights around December - January timeframe.

          • vetopower on 10/09/2019 - 10:39

            @vasya: There is no points increase for an economy OWA. It recently got a points decrease. All other classes are getting a points increase, however.

  • Pcoder on 09/09/2019 - 13:50
    +1

    First tip, see the Australian Frequent Flyer thread on this topic as it does have some good advice (https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/threads…)

    You should be able to book online as American, British Airways, Cathay, LATAM, Iberia, Japan airlines, Qatar, Qantas, Malaysia and Sri Lankan do appear in the booking engine. Remember you can only use oneworld airlines (no Emirates, Jetstar, etc).

    It will take a bit of time, but you can do it all online now with the multi city option. Remember to space out the individual flights as if you do something like Mel to LHR, the Qantas engine will put you on crap, so choosing the intermediate airports (ie Doh) will net you a better flight.

    I did my RTW business in 2017 and it was excellent.

    • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 09:08

      Thank you for advice!

  • djkelly69 on 09/09/2019 - 13:58

    FYI the number of days in advance you need to book is not just 361, it depends on who the flight is with (not who you are booking through) and can also depend on your status.

    Here is PointHacks' latest list.

    • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 09:08

      Thank you for advice!

  • itx on 09/09/2019 - 18:40

    Even at 361 days out, flights are sometimes snatched up quickly so don't be surprised if you log in and find nothing available.

    Conversely, whilst it may be harder, it actually is possible to find and book all your flights at once - I managed to book all of mine in one go 8 months out from departure.

    • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 09:09

      Thank you, I will not give up then )

  • vetopower on 10/09/2019 - 09:50
    +1

    If you're doing it in economy, I wouldn't worry too much.

    There's generally good availability in economy.

    It is in business and first class where it is very challenging to book a OWA.

    • vasya on 10/09/2019 - 10:31

      Ok cool, thanks

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