Hi All,
I'm planning on travelling internationally with two mates, and I want to use my QFF points to redeem a flight. The other people I'm travelling with don't have QFF Points, or at least not enough to redeem a flight. What's the best way to book together, or have our bookings linked, or at least be seated together?
Thanks!
All book their own, once booked, select your seats so you are together.
You can actually call up and link the bookings as well. Call your P1 customer assist for this.* 😏
Is it worth doing if you already have seats next to each other? Probably not unless you foresee Qantas splitting your group up.
The seat selection rules though, aren't as straightforward as you might think:
As a Qantas Frequent Flyer, enjoy complimentary standard seat selection when you book on any Qantas operated domestic or international flight departing Australia.* If your flight isn't originating in Australia and you're a Platinum One, Platinum, Gold or Silver member, you'll also receive complimentary standard seat selection.
And if there is differing status among the group, higher status flyers will have access to more seats than lower status. Sometimes higher status flyers will actually block the seats of lower status flyers. So you have to move the lower status flyer first and then move the higher status flyer afterwards. This is why sometimes people just call the call centre.
* this is a (bad) joke, just call the best customer service line you can find
You can actually call up and link the bookings as well.
But who has time to wait on hold for the hell center to answer? :)
Is it worth doing if you already have seats next to each other? Probably not unless you foresee Qantas splitting your group up.
Does it really matter if they don't sit together? Sounds like they are all adults, so no big deal if they get split up. They'll all meet up again at the other end.
Honestly the best thing is the OP books all their tickets in one go and the mates pay them back, that way the OP can group them all together.
Everyone books own flight, someone with a lot of time calls Qantas, be on hold for a while and link the flights. Selecting seats together also works unless there are delays or changes. Any transfers involved or only direct flights?
Pay for your friends flights with your points.
They pay you back in Bintang at the resort.
Where are you heading? If I'm paying for a flight, it's not going to be with QF - too expensive. So your mates will likely choose another carrier and you'll meet up at the destination airport
you can't
Don't overthink it. Book your arrangements separately and then attempt to get seats next to each other. While not ideal, not sitting next to each other is a very minor point of your itinerary, I would have thought.
It's unlikely to be a problem but one thing to keep in mind is that there aren't very many Classic Reward fares available so if your friends book their paid flights first and you wait too long your Classic Reward seat might no longer be available. Classic Rewards are fully refundable save for 6,000 points so I always book them first when doing a combination of paid and points travel.
Or just arrange for everyone to book at the same time
You'd be surprised at the number of people who see a Classic Reward availability and just assume it'll still be there for them to book a week later. There's also far more likely to be a problem when booking a flight with points than cash so I still think it's good advice to sort the points flight out first. If you've ever used Qantas' wonky Classic Rewards booking system you'll know what I'm talking about.
Thanks for the refund tip… Good to know it's an option.
I've booked domestically many times with classic rewards and never had an issue…
What issues have you heard of? (I assume international)
@revo: I might just be unlucky but I've often had strange errors and issues when booking international Classic Reward flights. On two recent occasions it wouldn't allow me to book two flights together no matter what I tried so I had to book them individually which meant it was up to me to convince the check-in agent to check my bags all the way through to my final destination.
Everyone booking at the same time would have ensured everyone is booked on the same flight. Unless some of the travelling party is dragging their feet and doesn't wanna commit - then it's a different story.
Last time that I was using points and my travelling companion wasn't, we ended up going to Flight Centre just to make sure we were booked on the same flights there and back, rather than risking one of us putting their booking through then the other finding there were no more seats on the same flight. One time previously (on a domestic flight thankfully) we both booked at the same time, and my companion got an email a few weeks before the flight saying that the flight booking had been changed to a later flight, while mine didn't get changed. Awkward…
Calling QF to link the two bookings after you've booked them separately would have prevented that problem. (But yes, it involves someone actually calling QF.)
Really appreciate everyone taking the time to explain. Thank you!
Sounds like I should just book sooner rather than later if I want classic rewards and then if plans fall through or anything changes I can always refund for 6k points.
All book their own, once booked, select your seats so you are together.