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Posted:
June 10, 2025
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What’s your dream with a big stash of Qantas Points? Is it a short sojourn in Singapore, a tantalising taste of Tokyo or living in the lap of luxury in London? Well, you can do it all. Qantas Frequent Flyer offers a way to use your points to traverse the globe in any cabin class you choose – all at a fixed rate. In fact, it only costs 318,000 Qantas Points + taxes in Business Class on oneworld member airlines!
This is the oneworld Classic Flight Reward. Up to 16 flights and 35,000 miles with Qantas and oneworld partner airlines are all included. Fly in Economy, Premium Economy, Business or First Class. If time permits, you don’t have to circle the globe, but you certainly should. It’s one of the best uses of Qantas Points. But like all good things, this reward can be quite challenging to book, particularly for two or more people together.
IMPORTANT: The number of points needed for a Oneworld Classic Flight Reward will increase on 5 August 2025. The figures quotes in the article remain valid until then. The new reward costs are:
- Economy: 152,200 Qantas Points + fees and taxes
- Premium Economy: 287,000 Qantas Points + fees and taxes
- Business: 365,800 Qantas Points + fees and taxes
- First: 523,200 Qantas Points + fees and taxes
Qantas American Express Ultimate
- Sign-up Bonus:
- Up to 100,000 bonus Qantas Points¹
- Rewards Earn Rate:
- 1.25 Qantas Points earned per $1 on eligible everyday purchases. 2.25 Qantas Points per $1 spent on selected Qantas products and services in Australia. 0.5 Qantas Point per $1 at government bodies in Australia. After a total of 100,000 Qantas Points is earned in a calendar year, the everyday earn rate will change from 1.25 to 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent.
- Annual Fee:
- $450 p.a.
- Offer expires
- 5 May 2026
- Earn 70,000 bonus Qantas Points when you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months, plus an additional 30,000 Qantas Points when you spend a minimum of $1 on your Card within 90 days of paying your second year annual Card Fee¹. (Offer ends 5 May 2026. New Amex Card Members only. T&Cs apply.) This card includes an annual $450 Qantas Travel Credit, two Qantas Club Complimentary Lounge Invitations after eligible Qantas spend each year, complimentary international travel insurance, and Qantas Wine Premium Membership (valued at $99). Earn 1.25 Qantas Points per $1 on everyday spend, 2.25 on Qantas purchases, and 0.5 on government payments. The annual fee is $450.
What is a Qantas oneworld Classic Flight Reward?
Qantas Frequent Flyer has four separate points tables for different flights. We’re focusing on the last one today:
- Qantas Classic Flight Rewards: for Qantas and its preferred partners, including American Airlines and Fiji Airways.
- Jetstar Classic Flight Rewards: for Jetstar flights only.
- Partner Classic Flight Rewards: for travel on a single partner airline.
- oneworld Classic Flight Rewards: for itineraries including two or more partner oneworld airlines.
What’s unique about the oneworld Classic Flight Reward table is that it covers travel up to 35,000 miles. Essentially, you can mix oneworld member airlines, creating a tailored itinerary as you enjoy a journey around the world!
Here are the caps for the oneworld reward. If you meet all the rules, then this is the most you’ll have to pay:
| Cabin Class | Bookings up to 4 Aug 2025 | Bookings after 5 Aug 2025 |
| Economy | 132,400 Qantas Points | 152,500 Qantas Points |
| Premium Economy | 249,600 Qantas Points | 287,000 Qantas Points |
| Business | 318,000 Qantas Points | 365,800 Qantas Points |
| First | 455,000 Qantas Points | 523,500 Qantas Points |
- All figures exclude fees and taxes, which are payable on top.
We recommend aiming for the Business Class reward at 318,000 Qantas Points. You’ll have plenty of airlines and flights to choose from, plus lounge access and priority perks at every airport.
Watch our video below on how to fly around the world in Business Class for 318,000 Qantas Points:
On the other hand, First Class is a luxurious way to fly, but reward seats and flights are very limited. And many airlines no longer offer First Class service, which makes it a challenging reward to assemble.
What are the rules of the oneworld Classic Flight Reward?
There are some other rules to take note of:
- You must include at least two other oneworld airlines besides Qantas, and not include any non-oneworld airlines.
- Up to 16 segments of travel are allowed, including transits of 24 hours or less and surface segments (where you make your own way between two cities by alternative means of transport).
- You can have up to five stopovers (where you stop for more than 24 hours – these are the main cities you wish to visit).
- You can only stopover in each city once and transit through each city twice on one booking.
- After your first flight, you have 12 months to complete the whole itinerary.
- You can travel up to 35,000 miles all up, including surface sectors and transits.
- You may finish your itinerary in a different city to the one you started from, but the distance between the two cities will be taken into account in the final distance calculation (i.e. as a surface sector).
- The whole itinerary will be priced based on the highest cabin in the whole itinerary. So if you have 14 Business Class flights and one connection in First Class, your whole booking will reprice to the higher First Class rate. Don’t do it!
Explore the world with a oneworld Classic Flight Reward
As we’ve emphasised before, you don’t need to fly around the world with a oneworld reward. But a round-the-world (RTW) itinerary booked as a oneworld reward is one of the best ways to use your Qantas Points.
The oneworld reward allows you to explore the world and stopover in up to five cities over a 12-month period, provided there is reward seat availability and the total distance is kept under 35,000 miles.
If you bought a standard RTW ticket with cash, expect to part with $3,000 in Economy, $11,000 in Business and upwards of $20,000 in First. Compare that to 318,000 points for Business Class, plus taxes.
We know that Business Class itineraries are very popular with our readers. Previously, some of our readers have saved between $20,000-$35,000 in out-of-pocket costs. With this reward, you can choose from over 1,000 destinations in more than 150 countries covered by the oneworld alliance:
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Finnair
- Fiji Airways
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Air Maroc
- Royal Jordanian
- Sri Lankan Airlines
Emirates is not part of the oneworld alliance and can’t be included in this itinerary. The same applies to other Qantas non-Oneworld partners and Oneworld Connect airlines, such as China Eastern Airlines.
In mid-2025, we expect Oman Air to join the oneworld alliance. Once that happens, you will be able to include that airline as part of your Oneworld Classic Flight Reward. Fiji Airways joined earlier in 2025 and can now be included.
The oneworld reward is unmatched in travel power
A oneworld reward is not as expensive as you might think. Were you planning on flying Melbourne to London in Business Class, perhaps? On a partner airline, that would set you back 159,000 Qantas Points each way, or 318,000 points for a return trip.
Yet – and not-so-coincidentally – that’s also the exact amount needed to fly around the world in Business Class with a oneworld reward! Both options are:
- 318,000 Qantas Points return in Business, or
- 455,000 Qantas Points return in First
| Melbourne to London return on Qantas | Melbourne to London return on Qatar Airways or Emirates | oneworld Classic Flight Reward (maximum distance) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | 110,400 | 132,400 | 132,400 |
| Premium Economy | 216,800 | 249,600 | 249,600 |
| Business Class | 289,200 | 318,000 | 318,000 |
| First Class | 433,800 | 455,000 | 455,000 |
| Miles travelled | Around 21,300 | Around 21,300 | Up to 35,000 |
So for the same price as a simple return Business or First Class flight to London, you can fly almost double the distance (up to 35,000 miles) and have stopovers in five cities.
Where can I fly on a Qantas oneworld Classic Flight Reward?
The possibilities are truly endless. To help get your creative juices (or wanderlust) flowing, here are just a few examples of trips you can take with the oneworld reward.
Example: A standard ‘big city’ round-the-world routing
The following basic itinerary totals 30,250 miles flown – well within the 35,000-mile maximum:
- Sydney to Johannesburg with Qantas (Stop #1)
- Johannesburg to London with British Airways (Stop #2)
- London to New York with American Airlines or British Airways (Stop #3)
- New York to Los Angeles with American Airlines (Stop #4)
- Los Angeles to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific (Stop #5)
- Hong Kong to Sydney with Qantas or Cathay Pacific
If you want to check the mileage of a range of flights, we recommend inputting the airport codes into Great Circle Mapper to get the total distance, ensuring you keep it under the 35,000-mile maximum.
You don’t have to tack on long flights, of course. Adding on several smaller flights to reach non-hub cities, if that’s where you want to go, is also a handy way to get value from this award.
Getting creative: nest two trips into one
If you start your Oneworld Classic Flight Reward overseas, you could potentially nest a stop at your hometown in Australia as one of the five ‘stopovers’. With luck and clever planning, enjoy two trips for the price of one!
For example, this route starts with a cheap positioning cash fare from Melbourne to Denpasar (Bali), where you can spend a few days. Afterwards, your Oneworld Classic Flight Reward begins in earnest:
- Denpasar to Paris (flying Malaysia Airlines and transiting in Kuala Lumpur). Paris is Stop #1.
- Paris to Helsinki (flying Finnair). Helsinki is Stop #2.
- Helsinki to Melbourne (flying Finnair to Singapore and Qantas to Melbourne). Melbourne is Stop #3.
- As Melbourne is our hometown in this scenario, you would conclude the Europe portion of your travel. Next is a smaller side trip to Asia, which you can commence later.
- Melbourne to Hong Kong (flying Cathay Pacific). Hong Kong is Stop #4.
- Hong Kong to Tokyo (flying Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines). Tokyo is Stop #5.
- Tokyo to Melbourne (flying Japan Airlines or Qantas). This concludes your reward booking.
This itinerary meets all the rules and clocks in at around 32,607 miles of distance, including the surface sector from Melbourne to Denpasar, which we need to include as per the rules.
How to research and book a Qantas oneworld Classic Flight Reward
Like other flight rewards, seats are subject to availability. There is a decent chance you won’t be able to fly on the date you desire. Try to be flexible with dates and routes (as always when using points to travel).
To kick things off, you can use the Qantas website search engine to find reward seat availability. Also, consider using the British Airways or American Airlines website for backup results. Learn more about searching for Qantas reward seats. Otherwise, consider a paid service such as Concierge.
Once you’re ready to book, the simplest way to find reward seats for this itinerary is to search for one flight at a time. It can be time-consuming, so have a notepad handy to write down the:
- Date of travel (e.g. 4 October 2025)
- Departure and arrival cities (Helsinki to Singapore)
- Flight number (AY131)
- Departure and arrival times (11:50 pm – 6:25 pm)
Keep repeating this for each city, bearing in mind that sometimes you might need to connect via an intermediary city.
Then book online through the Qantas website via the multi-city booking tool. If you need help or want to book a partner that doesn’t show up on the Qantas website, then phone Qantas Frequent Flyer.
If your itinerary is particularly long, you might not be able to book everything in one go. That’s okay – you can book some of the flights now and add more later. Remember that whenever you change the booking, you’ll have to pay a change fee of 5,000 Qantas Points per person.
What are the common mistakes when booking a Qantas oneworld Classic Flight Reward?
Many people have run into issues where they can’t get the correct pricing. Usually, this is an issue with routing or airline choice. So here are a few tips:
- Don’t include Emirates flights on a oneworld Classic Flight Reward. Make sure you’re only using the 14 full oneworld member airlines. However, subsidiaries of major airlines, including QantasLink, are usually okay.
- Check that you have no more than five stopovers (or breaks) on your trip. If you’re transiting, ensure the connection is shorter than 24 hours.
- If you’re making your way between two cities through alternative means, include that distance in your calculations. Those ground sectors count toward your distance limit.
- Check that your cabin class is consistent with each flight. Even if one flight is in a higher cabin than the rest of your itinerary, your booking will re-price at a higher rate.
If you’re having trouble with your routing, feel free to post it in the Point Hacks Community for assistance.
Summing up
The key takeaway is that this reward is not easy to book. It requires a lot of research and luck to find the reward seats you want. But those who persevere can look forward to a trip of a lifetime with Qantas Points.
You’ll be able to explore at least five cities with proper stopovers. If you have time, you can also use that stopover as a base to see more of the surrounding areas on separate tickets.
Just remember to follow every rule to the letter. The system will automatically reprice everything if you make a mistake. Try to book as many flights as possible at the start, as it will be more expensive to make changes later.
We also have a supplementary guide specifically for travellers in Perth and Adelaide. Have KrisFlyer miles with Singapore Airlines instead? Read our RTW guide to using KrisFlyer miles.
Have you successfully redeemed your Qantas Points for a oneworld Classic Flight Reward around the world? If so, where did you go?
Frequently asked questions
This guide is extremely popular and has a long comments thread below. We’ve picked out the most common questions to save you some time.
Do I have to go around the world?
No, not necessarily. The oneworld Classic Flight Reward is calculated on total mileage and doesn’t have to go in one particular direction.
Is backtracking permitted?
Technically, backtracking is not forbidden. Some phone agents may prevent you from doing so. If so, hang up and call back.
Are transit cities calculated in the total mileage?
Yes. If you’re flying from Sydney to Johannesburg via Hong Kong, you will need to include SYD-HKG and HKG-JNB as separate segments.
Are surface sectors counted?
Yes. A surface sector is when you fly into one airport and make your way on to another airport to fly out of. That distance between the two airports will be calculated and included.
Do I need to return to the same airport at the end of the trip?
Not necessarily. But if you finish your trip in a different airport, then the surface sector distance between your origin and final airport will be calculated and added as a surface sector.
Can I travel more than 35,000 miles?
No. Once you go even one mile more, it will recalculate as separate reward flights and be much more expensive.
Is it cheaper to start my redemption from overseas instead of in Australia?
Yes, it can be! Read our two-part series on how to save points and taxes by starting your oneworld redemption from Asia or New Zealand.
How do I add segments?
You can add segments for most airline partners online, but note that you may be charged 5,000 points in change fees each time (per person). Try to lock in as many flights as possible from the start. If you have to call Qantas to add flights, additional service fees may apply for bookings in Economy and Premium Economy.
Can I mix cabins, e.g. fly Business Class for most segments and First Class for one or two?
The award is calculated on the rate for the highest cabin, which means that even if you have one First Class flight and the rest are in Business, you will be charged 455,000 points instead of 318,000. This means you’re best to stick to the same cabin the whole way.
How are infant and child fares calculated?
If you have a child under two years of age who does not occupy a seat, then you just pay the taxes, no points. If a child is two years of age or older, then they are charged the full adult rate for this reward.
Do some airlines charge higher taxes than others?
Yes. Qantas, British Airways and Qatar Airways are known for having higher carrier charges. Read more in our guide to airlines and frequent flyer programs that charge the lowest fuel surcharges.
Are some airports more expensive to fly out of than others?
Yes. For example, departing flights from the UK are charged the Air Passenger Duty. However, if your transit through the UK is under 24 hours, then your departing flight won’t be charged the APD.
Read more in our guide to cities and countries to aim for to minimise taxes and fees.
Can I include Emirates in my itinerary?
No, Emirates is not part of the oneworld alliance – so it’s not eligible for this award. The same goes for other partners like Fiji Airways and Jetstar.
How to fly around the world in Business Class with Qantas Points was last modified: June 10th, 2025 by
Community Comments
Just looked at the Oneworkd site:
How Can I Pay For A oneworld Round The World Trip With Frequent Flyer Points?
Currently, it is not possible to use frequent flyer points to pay for a oneworld Round The World trip.
Hi pointhackers,
I am based in Melbourne. I’ve recently booked Business class ‘Oneworld Classic Flight Rewards’ for two adults with the following routes:
ADL – PER (economy), PER-KUL
KUL – CDG
MXP – HEL, HEL – HND
NRT – HKG, HKG – KUL
KUL – PER
PER – MEL (Economy)
1. I actually wanted to add MEL – ADL on business class at the very start of the trip. But due to Qantas website only allowing 6 segments i couldn’t do this. Is this the ONLY way to add this to the existing booking -> to call Qantas operator to add this segment?
2. With the above, the only extra i will pay is the 5000 change fee pts + $50-60 tax per person right? I don’t need to pay the classic flight rewards pts of around 18000-19000 given i am already maxed out at 318000 points?
3. I’ve read that if I call to change and/or add segment to an existing booking, they would release all the booked business rewards seats segments I am having (people losing their bookings), which are very risky. Is this true?
4. If the above is true, how should I ensure this doesn’t happen in the call with the operator? What did people usually say to the operator to ensure remaining bookings are still kept and safe? Is there any way to do this on website, instead of calling? I have heard that a lot of the qantas operator call centre don’t even understand ‘Oneworld classic flight reward’ hence my worry.
5. If I want to change PER – MEL from the date I booked to 1 day before bcs they just released a business classic flight rewards seat, would they allow me to change it? And again do i only need to pay the differences in tax? Given i have paid the 5000 change fee pts above?
6. My main goal is to just fly business class from Milan back to Melbourne, but I wasn’t able to find any such flight. Hence why my itinerary is as above. Do people have any advice on how to rearrange my bookings e.g. what routes are usually more available from Europe back to Melbourne in business class?
Any advice would be welcomed as it is my first time booking oneworld classic flight rewards.
Thanks in advance!
Wondering with a positioning fare to make it basically two trips, whether it’s allowed with the oneworld award to just do this from a closer Australian city?
For example (within the span of 1 year):
Trip 1: Sydney to Tokyo, Tokyo to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Melbourne
Pay a cash fare to go back to sydney, then back to melbourne when ready to commence the 2nd portion of the trip
Trip 2 (haven’t fleshed it out fully): Melbourne to London (via KL), London to Sydney (via Singapore)
Airlines would involve a combination of JAL, Cathay, Qantas, Malaysia Airlines and British Airways
If trip 1 is booked as 3 x separate flights based on when seats are released, how would this then be linked up as a oneworld award, particularly when trip 2 flights are booked?
Hi wondering if this worked for you, I was thinking of doing similar
I’ve been a student of Q point sweet spots for many yrs. I even managed the old round Australia deal before they stopped it. I have managed to organise 2 big RTW trips like this but the last one almost cost me my sanity. I was, without exaggeration, on the phone ( mostly on hold) for well over 24 total hours of my life to smooth out the last one. Can you imagine my state of mind to finally get through after 3 or 4 hours on hold, only to get an operator in an overseas call centre who knew much less about the rules than me and therefore risked losing the entire booking. It used to happen a lot. Q may have improved the wait times on hold, but being only bronze it’s now almost impossible and I know I would be asking for a great deal of frustration and disappointment, trying to find and organise a RTW with Q now. That’s putting it mildly. I’ll use the pts occasionally when I can but for big premium seats there’s much better options than Q these days I’m sad to say.
Hi,
I just spent a couple of hours on the phone to Qantas and they insisted that I must go in one continuous direction (West to East or vice versa) meaning that I had to include the Americas in my booking for it to work – is that right? I have seen several examples where this doesnt seem to have been a requirement… do I call back and hope for another agent?
Hi Nic, the Qantas staff may be confusing this for a paid RTW ticket which has those rules. When calling Qantas, it’s best not to ask for a ’round the world’ ticket. Instead, use the term ‘Oneworld Classic Flight Reward’ which is the actual name for it.
Thanks Brandon, I was very clear with what I was asking for. If you can I would avoid calling Qantas, numerous times I had to ‘remind’ them of the rules and a fee payable in points.
Also a severe lack of availability despite the fact I was flexible with dates and cities. This frustrated the Qantas agent who wanted me to call back another time.
In the end I settled for a basic economy classic reward through Asia to Europe
Have been able to get my RTW ticket for 11-12 months in advance from SYD-PRG (via HKG and HEL – no stop overs) and then across to North America and back home to SYD. 318,000 points for each of 2 business class seats. Some things I have learned:
1) QF only opens seats 353 days in advance (CX as well I was told), AA less at 330 days in advance but JL was over 365 days (not sure exact number).
2) Because of these day limitations, I could only see the North America-Australia flights by checking OW options and being taken to the international US site (eg LAX or JFK to SYD via HAN on JL)
3) I then had to call Qantas and book through them in order to complete the RTW 318,000 business point tickets. There was no reservation agent booking fee because Qantas website would not allow me to complete as they only show flights 353 days in advance. I would have had to wait for another week until I could see options on the Qantas website for my return across the Pacific.
4) After being ticketed, I realised that I could probably add in a trip earlier in 2025 to NZ on the same RTW fare and can at least get the return to SYD included in the RTW but as noted above, will try another agent tomorrow to see if they will accept the backtracking. Todays reservation agent would not allow the backtracking (ie start our journey in SYD to NZ and back to SYD then with a “stopover” in SYD until we start our big trip around the world.
Thanks Point Hacks! 🙂
Hello all
I am looking to delete a segment from my upcoming Qantas Oneworld classic award Business class. The segment was with another carrier who updated it and it no longer suits our travel plans we will book a segment outside the One World ticket. After removing the segment my trip will still meet the rules for one world classic award. However I’m worried from what I read on the internet that if I get the wrong call agent that they can actually end up deleting my whole trip and end up being able to get it back. Any advice or tips is much appreciated as this is a honeymoon trip and I don’t want to mess it up.
Hi Brandon, thanks for a great article that keeps on giving. We’ve finally got the points for the business class trip! Quick question for anyone who might know or has booked the flight:
If you find award seats through the AA or BA website that aren’t available on the Qantas website, can you still call Qantas and book these flights?
Thanks!
My experience so far with booking online, making 2 changes and 1 more to go.
Flights are BNE to LAX, SFO to JFK, JFK to Cancun, Bogota to MAD, MAD to NRT via Frankfurt, and Tokyo to BNE via SYD. Leaving Feb 2024, booked Oct 2023.
Airlines used are Qantas, AA, Iberia and JAL.
For 2 people 636,000 points.
I booked online. Found all in business class except Frankfurt to NRT was premium economy. Took about 10 hours over a 1 month period to find all legs. Would recommend just putting in 1 or 2 legs at a time into multi city to find. One strange thing is I can’t put in Bogota to Madrid on its own (can’t select Bogota as a starting leg) but can put in JFK to Cancun as first leg and Bogota to MAD as 2nd leg to see availability. Might be quite a few a few other cities that can’t be chosen as a starting city.
My first change was pushing last 3 legs back. Was to firm up the date I wanted for Bogota to Madrid leg. Has to be done over phone. Make sure you have flight numbers, cities dates and times for your changes. Did this change on a Saturday, account showed a refund of 318,000 points to my account but could see new flights confirmed. Called Sunday to make sure no issues, they said looks good at their end but FF not open on weekends so likely just required them to make some changes. On Monday everything looked good and wasn’t charged for the change.
2nd change not as smooth. Wanting to lock in right date for MAD to NRT via Frankfurt and change Frankfurt to NRT leg from premium economy to business class. Needed to push back Tokyo to BNE as well. Took 2 attempts both times call centre couldn’t generate a quote for change in taxes. First time they said they would call me back later that day. Didn’t happen. Called them again a week later same issue but this time I asked to stay on hold. After an hour they solved it.
Now I just need to change to Tokyo to BNE to FEB 2025 as first leg is Feb 2024. I’m using the entire year.
Will update once last change is made.
Hi there,
im hoping for some wise words of wisdom as being on the phone to QF call centre is literally doing my head in.
Im trying to book a reward rtw – 318,000 points cap for next year.
the call centre staff keep telling me that i cannot add legs to my booking as it has to be within 365 days of the booking (ticket issue?) date. I booked my first legs KUL-HKG-CDG departing 21 Oct 2023 on Dec 10th 2023 and now want to add LHR-SIN (via Tokyo) and SIN-SYD in Jan 2025.
i am told that i cannot add flights to this booking as you are ONLY able to book flights within 365 days from the time you MADE the booking.
so how is it possible to book flights in advance? if I were planning to fly 1 Jan 2025 returning 31 Dec 2025, does that mean i have to book every flight on the 31st Dec 2024?
Hi Jacqueline, it could be that the maximum ticket validity is one year, because you would need to have the booking finalised before you commence travel, and you can only book flights a ~year in advance.
Hi Jacqueline,
Your last sentence would be correct if booking three entire ticket in one go with no changes. Flights aren’t released that far in advance. I had a similar but I was closer to my leaving date. I had to change the dates of my last 3 legs once they became in the 365 days (I can only see classic reward flights 353 days in advance on Qantas website so I’ve only been changing 353 days in advance).
I would recommend locking in all flights that are within 365 days, put placeholder dates for remainder and change the dates when they become available. It cost 5,000 points per a person for a change.
I misunderstood part of your message today. I had an interesting experience today. I tried to change my last leg and they mentioned the 365 day from when it was ticketed instead of 1st flight. I booked in Oct 2023 and my current last flight is Dec 2023 so I’m already past 365 days from first ticketed. I still didn’t win the argument today. I will try again in the morning.
First leg is Monday 19 Feb and was trying to get last leg 10 Feb 2025.
If I build an itinerary overtime – you mentioned we can add on further sectors. Does that mean I can add onto the same PNR or will I get different ones? If I get different PNRs, what happens if there is a delay etc that causes flow on effects? Will they say bad luck or treat the bookings as they were on one PNR?
What happens with baggage if the bookings are on different carriers and have different PNRs on a transit arrangement? I know some carriers will push the luggage through, but will all when using this product?
Hi brandon, great article.
As someone who has read alot of articles like yours, i feel like an armchair expert , with no real life experience.
A couple of questions:
1. A lot of people incl yourself talk about transit stops, if they dont count in the total and unless you want to leave the airport for a day to experience it as a ‘freebie stop” why would how many or where you transit matter?
2. Given availability especially now is low, would you recommend looking to book 12 months/release date of tickets to get best availability?
3. I agree that first class is not available on many legs but if you could get say half of them, id think paying the extra points is worth it, what do you say?
4. Ive met a lot of people who simply dont bother woth rtw due to availability and would be happy just booking a one way long haul return. I am yet to do my once in alife time trip to eu, usa, and africa. Have you got any advice on how to book these? Eg certain countries are easier to get to? Im more of a spend 2 months in 3 to 4 countries rather than 8 countries in a month
Thank you for your guide on RTW with QFF. I started reviewing to plan a RTW trip a couple of months ago with limited options for a business class trip for 2 people and life calling a halt to planning. Last week I decided to have another go. I had good flexibility with a few must do destinations but fairly open how we got there. Surprisingly, I had a lot more success this time around and have coordinated an itinerary with 7 flights total, to have 5 in business, 1 premium economy and 1 economy. Total cost was 318,000 pts + $1394 pp. That’s $20,000 worth of flights! Awesome points value.
The trip includes: Brisbane- Tokyo, Tokyo-New York, Miami-Barcelona, London-Singapore, Singapore – Brisbane.
Unfortunately the economy flight is a long one LHR-SIN 13:35hr, so any hints on how to upgrade this sector will be much appreciated.
Thank you Points Hacks for all of your tips over the years. The difficult part is now ahead to plan what to do at our destinations.
Congratulations on putting it together! If the LHR-SIN leg is Qantas-operated, you can still put in a Classic Upgrade Request, although it’ll cost a lot of points. Otherwise, check back regularly or set an alert on Expertflyer (paid subscription). If Business Reward availability opens up, you should be able to phone Qantas and change from Economy to Business, paying the fare difference in points and a 5,000-point change fee (there may be increased taxes departing from LHR in Business as well).
Hi Brandon,
If you already paid the maximum points 318,000, why you still need to pay fare difference in points for an upgrade?
Appreciate your reply.
Hi Kit, because an upgrade works on a different system. If you book a Oneworld award in Business but one of the legs is in Economy, you can change it to Business if reward seats open up later on (plus change fee). But if no seats open up and you choose to upgrade, the system just recognizes you as upgrading from a lower cabin class so the points cost will be charged.
Is there a rough idea on how much total taxes cost will be using QFF points via oneworld. I know this can vary depending on the route but just after a rough idea of what ppl generally pay out of pocket.
Hi Jess, as a rough idea, expect to pay at least $1,000pp in fees and taxes (possibly a lot more if you use airlines with high carrier charges).
Brandon you still haven’t replied to the previous post. I also would like to know if they have cancelled the Oneworld RTW ability to pay with points?
Hi Mimeon, you and Ryan are confusing two different concepts. The tickets via https://www.oneworld.com/world-travel is a cash round-the-world ticket and no, you can’t pay for it with points as per the FAQs. However, this guide is about the Oneworld Classic Flight Reward with Qantas Points and that is still valid as per the table here. You don’t have to travel around the world with it, but most people do hence why the guide is focused on it.
Hi there, are you able to review this? It is July 18 2023 and there FAQ saying that “Currently, it is not possible to use frequent flyer points to pay for a oneworld Round The World trip.”
Are you able to follow up and understand any other changes that are happening with the one world program?
Hi Ryan, you are confusing two different concepts. The tickets via https://www.oneworld.com/world-travel is a cash round-the-world ticket and no, you can’t pay for it with points as per the FAQs. However, this guide is about the Oneworld Classic Flight Reward with Qantas Points and that is still valid as per the table here. You don’t have to travel around the world with it, but most people do hence why the guide is focused on it.
Hi – have they recently changed the rules now requiring you to actually go around the world? I previously had a RTW flight booked going SYD – DOH – ROM – LDN – SIN – SYD which seemed to be fine back in 2021 before COVID forced cancelling. Now when trying to book something similar I get advised that I need to be going in a continuous forward direction crossing both Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
We haven’t heard anything about the rules changing. It may be the agent you were speaking to was mis-informed. On the phone, you should refer to it as a ‘Oneworld Classic Flight Reward’ rather than a ‘Round the World’ to avoid confusion.
Hi Brandon
Can you please clarify this point in your article ‘You can only stopover in each city once and transit through each city twice on one booking.’ Are you saying with each city you can:
1) Stopover + Transit + Transit, or
2) Stopover + Transit (or Transit + Transit)
Great article btw. Thanks.
Hi Hannah, I haven’t tried doing that, but according to the T&Cs it looks like it could be Option 1. The actual conditions are below. It says ‘and’ not ‘or’ between the stopover and transfer rule. But let us know how you get along.
14.5.4 The following Stopover conditions apply to oneworld Classic Flight Rewards:
(a) up to five free Stopovers are permitted;
(b) additional Stopovers are not permitted;
(c) only one Stopover is permitted in any one city in the Itinerary; and
(d) only two Transfers may be taken at any one city in the Itinerary.
Thanks Brandon. I can confirm it’s Option 1. I’ve just made a RTW booking with one stopover and two transits in LHR.
Hi Brandon,
Can you clarify one point. I understand that you can only stopover (over 24 hours) in a city once, and you can only transit (under 24 hours) through the same city twice.
However, within the rules, If I have a stopover in one airport, can I transit through that same airport on a later segment?
Thanks
Adrienne
Hi Adrienne
yes you can go through one airport twice (max) whether transiting or stopping over.
Brandon what is the situation with Cathay and Qatar airways business class rewards seat on the Qantas website for One World around the world deals for 318,000 points. They seemed to have disappeared into thin air!
Hi Brandon,
Does Velocity have RTW reward like like Qantas OneWorld? If yes, do you have article for Velocity version? If not, can you book multi city with Velocity?
Thank you for a great article!
Hi Sani, Virgin Australia does not have an equivalent reward. A workaround is to transfer your Velocity Points to KrisFlyer and book a Star Alliance RTW award, but that is an expensive and costly exercise.
Hello Brandon,
Sorry I couldn’t find out how to make a new comment.
If booking a Round the World ticket do all the flights need to be booked at once?
My understanding is that for the best chance of finding Business Class Reward seats you should book them one year out. We are planning a trip from July 2024 until September 2024. So I was planning to book the trip there in July 2023 and the return flight in September 2023 (we’re very flexible with dates so I was just going to look everyday in July until I could get the flights we need and then do the same in September). But I’m not sure if that is possible if planning to use the RTW option?
I hope that makes sense!
Katrina
Hi Katrina, your dilemma is a very common one! Of course, the easiest way is to book everything at once if the seats are available. But if that’s not possible, then you can add on extra legs later to reach the cap. But note yo will pay a 5,000 point change fee per person each time you do this. It’s unavoidable, unfortunately.
Hi Brandon! Thanks for the article. Just wondering why you think the economy isn’t as worth it as a the business one? I’m trying to convince a friend to save up for the business RTW ticket 🙂
Hi Scott, in general, Business rewards will also give you far greater value and comfort compared to an Economy reward, and for only a bit more than double the points. So if you have enough points and can find the availability in Business, then I would definitely recommend going for it. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with going in Economy.
Can you give an update on the 318,000 pts rewards RTW pls.
I’ve just been on the phone to QF and they say there’s no availability from Aust to London or New York and anyway they say that 318,000 is just an estimate ???
Hi Pam, nothing has changed with the Oneworld Classic Flight Reward with Business Class at 318,000 points. That amount is fixed if you meet all the rules. It’s most likely the lack of available reward seats in Business to London and New York which is causing the problem. You’d need to consider using partner airlines or flying a different route with availability. It’s best to do some research online first before phoning up to book if can’t book online. If you call with a blank slate, it could be very hard to put it together.
Hi everyone,
If we have received the e-ticket with the 081 number, does that mean the flight is fully confirmed and we can now relax?
If any cancellations occur will Qantas uphold the ticket and assist in obtaining a new segment without cost?
Thanks
The e-ticket with the 081 number is exactly what you need. Hopefully, cancellations won’t occur because if they do, Qantas may want to move you onto other flights with reward availability (which might be none). If that were the case, you might need to push back to get reaccommodated some other way. But that’s all just hypothetical right now.
I just want to thank the PointHacks team for making it possible for my family of three to have an amazing bucket list trip RTW, ALL segments in Business Class in Sept & Oct this year.
We did:
SYD-HND
HND-LHR
INVERNESS- BCN
BCN-JFK
JFK-HND
HND-SYD
For three adults at A$3600 total for taxes, this was amazing value and I never would have realised it was possible if I hadn’t originally stumbled across this article a few years ago.
I know that given I was only a Bronze QFF at the time I booked this (Oct 2021) I got incredibly lucky to have got this whole trip in Business on classic reward seats, and it was probably just a total fluke because the timing meant that very few people were booking long haul reward itineraries as we were still all in international lockdown. I know there is no way I could get the same itinerary again for travel in 2023. But here’s hoping reward availability comes back in future years.
What’s even more amazing is that we got into Japan by the skin or our teeth two days after the borders opened and none of the flights on our itinerary were cancelled or even significantly delayed.
Anyway, thanks again guys. You made it possible for me to create memories with my family that we would never have otherwise been able to afford, and do it in comfort!
Hi Brandon
I’ve tried searching for the answer but is it possible to cancel one segment of a OWA booking?
My itinerary is SYD > SIN > HEL > CDG > LHR > MXP > MAD > JFK > DFW > SYD
I’d like to cancel LHR > MXP trip as our itinerary has changed and we’d like to go straight from Paris to Milan. Will cancelling one leg throw the whole booking into chaos? I don’t have much faith in the call centres and if this is a difficult task I’d rather not risk ruining the whole booking
Hey everyone,
So I’ve booked 4 out of my 5 leg of flights myself via Qantas as I wasn’t able to add my last leg of flights (for whatever reason).
I looked up whether there were seats available for my last leg and there are on a new rewards search. I called up Qantas and asked if they could add this flight to my existing booking (to cap the RTW points).
I was told there was no such flight available despite being able to see it on multiple browsers on my end, because the Customer Service system is different to the Qantas website.
Is there any way to get around this or will I have to book it separately for 170k points on top of the 260k spent 🙁 – for 2 people.
Thanks
Hi Brandon,
I have tried the multi city booking to travel from Oz to Japan then onto Europe. I come up with a 4002 [7597] error. As the flight to Japan arrives at 1700 and the next flies out at around 10am next morning is the fact that it sees it as a stopover of less than 24 hours as a problem.
If I book the flights separately ie to Japan on one flight and then another to Europe, can you link them later
Hi Michael, unfortunately separate reservations can’t be linked into one award. If you can’t book it online, your only choice is to call up.
Hi Folks,
I noticed the qantas multi city tool only allows 6 flights to be added… How would you go about booking up to 16? Does that require a call?
Cheers
Andrew
Hi Andrew, yes you’d need to call to add more sectors to the booking.
Hi Brandon & Andrew,
Once I book the first 6 flights, will I incur a fee of 5000 points for adding additional flights over the phone?
Cheers,
Sophie
Hi Brandon and the Pointhacks Community,
Awesome guide which has allowed me and my wife to book RTW Business Class 12 months ago and hoped COVID restrictions would have all fallen away by now. It is our “once in a lifetime” trip and after raising 5 kids, includes us celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary in London!
Currently, we are due to fly out from Melbourne to HK on Cathay Tuesday 6th September (CX104). I know there are connecting flights on Cathay, AA and BA and if we could get a classic reward seat on any of these One World partner connecting flights to LA, we are all good. Problem is there are none currently (not even economy!) and don’t hold great hope for any becoming available soon. Qantas has said just check each day for more seats to be released: helpful!
If this transiting flight HK- LA cant be done, we are open to other options and have flexibility around:
(1) departure dates – (can leave anywhere between 6th and 11th – we just need to get to LA to meet connecting internal flight by 1400hrs 12 Sep
(2) starting cities: we can leave from any of Melb, Syd or Brisvegas
(3) arrival cities on US west coast (any of SF, LA, Seattle, Vancouver – but appreciate this probably of limited help given most flights go thru LAX)
(4) different routes and stopovers: we don’t mind going via other cities as long as they get is to LA by 12th (and we don’t face COVID restrictions – for example stopovers for a few in Fiji, Honolulu, Manila, Singapore is OK)
(5) class of travel: ideally we would like to stick with business but would be ok with premium
(6) cash and points: we have more points to use and OK to add some cash if it will get us on…
Suggestions and ideas of where I best look are welcomed.
Whatever we do, we are aware too that we need to get Qantas Reservations to cancel HK, Japan legs, and link any new travel to the rest of the booking so that all other flights aren’t forfeited.
I am resigned to reality that come two weeks from our scheduled leaving date, we will need to book and pay for economy fare on any airline to LA direct.
Thanks in advance for any ideas!
Hi team,
After years of following the site and accumulating points and nagging from my partner (who is now a convert), we’ve managed to book a RTW ticket with Qantas but i have question. We’re still a leg or two short of completing our full rtw journey and mainly due to award seats possibly not being available yet (I am a lowly QFF Bronze). Our completed booking utilised 309,300 points. Once we find award seats hopefully over the next few weeks to add on to this trip, any idea if calling Qantas and adding the flights would automatically cap the ticket to 318,000 points per person or would i have to convince them i have met all the conditions of a RTW ticket? Any shared experience or lessons would be greatly appreciated. Itinerary is as follows:
MEL-ADL (Qantas – Biz)
ADL-KUL (MH – Biz) + stop
KUL-BKK (MH – Economy)
BKK – DOH – BCN (Qatar – Biz) + stop
BCN-MAD (Land segment)
MAD-FCO (Iberia – Biz) + stop
FCO-MXP (Land segment)
MXP-LHR (BA – Biz) + stop
LHR-DOH (Qatar – Biz)
Going to hunt for a DOH or LHR – MEL flight in business to end the trip but Qatar is showing no availability to MEL for mid July 2023 at the moment. Would ideally buy a separate award ticket on the leg back with Emirates in 1st class and would be happy to part way with additional points beyond RTW to experience that for the first time.
Hi Don, this question is better suited for our community forum where more people can help and be helped.
But to answer your question quickly, the system should automatically cap it at 318K points. If it doesn’t, it usually means something doesn’t meet the rules.
Hi guys,
Currently trying to plan a RTW itinerary using classic flight reward. I’m traveling with my wife and 12yo son. Doesn’t seem like I’m going to be able to find business class flights for 3 people for the dates we need to go. I’m happy to settle for economy.
However, I’m having some issues. Website is trying to charge me 236,900 points per passenger for ECONOMY??? It should only be 132,400 per passenger?
Could you guys please go over what I have come up with to help me figure out where the error is?
Flight 1
Melbourne (MEL) – Johannesburg (JNB) via Doha (Qatar Qirways)
I have to be at a Wedding on the 1st of April in Cape Town and so just get a separate return flight to and from the wedding.
Flight 2
Johannesburg (JNB) – Athens (ATH) via Heathrow (British Airways).
I plan to visit Malta, Rome, Florence, Venice, Barcelona, Paris and some time in the UK using my own modes of transport in between.
Flight 3
London (LHR) – New York (JFK) direct (British Airways)
We may spend some time in Chicago, Orlando, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Austin using all my own domestic flights.
Flight 4
New York (JFK) – Tokyo (HND) via Los Angeles (Japan Airlines)
own flight from Tokyo – Ho Chi Minh City
Flight 5
Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) – Melbourne (MEL) via Hong Kong (Cathay Pacific).
Appreciate a second set of eyes to see where I have gone wrong.
Thanks in advance
Joey
Hi Joey, I’m wondering whether the two surface sectors in there (between Athens and London, and between Tokyo and Ho Chi Minh City) are confusing the Qantas website. Surface sectors should be okay provided the entire distance flown combined with the distance of any surface sectors doesn’t exceed the cap. With the GCMap website being down at the moment though, it’s a bit tricky for us to quickly measure the total distance of your reward itinerary (including those surface sectors) to see whether this stretches beyond the cap. I notice you’re also departing Heathrow twice (once on BA to Athens, and again on BA to JFK). While again, that should be okay given you can transit a city once and depart that city again on the same ticket, this could also be causing an issue with the site. If you’ve found all the availability and are ready to book, it could be best to call Qantas to book this one over the phone, and remind them of the correct pricing.
Hi, we just booked our RTW Business Class (Brisbane -> Hong Kong (transit) -> DoHa ->London -> New York, Log Angeles – > Doha (transit) -> Perth (transit) -> Brisbane) for March 2023 over 8 weeks.
There was no business class availability from Brisbane -> Hong Kong when I booked (few days ago) so it is on Premium Economy. Now I can see Brisbane -> Perth (transit) – > Hong Kong Business class availability on the same day I want to travel when I look through multi city search but when I contact Qantas for changing they say they cannot see those flights in their system, which I found very strange. They cannot do multi city search apparently and have to look at individual flights for availability but do not see the flights I see. The last agent told me that those business rewards seats maybe available for new bookings but not for changing existing bookings (which they call a voluntary change).. It is very frustrating…have you come across this before ?. Also I am keeping an eye out for New York – > Vancouver – > Los Angeles as they are not available as yet. I hope I will have no trouble adding those in the future as seats become available. Also our tax (for two) was just under 6K which I thought was a bit insane. We booked this in 2020 which we had to cancel and the tax for both was just over 3k. 🙁
I think I may figured out the reason for this. If I book Brisbane – > Perth -> Hong Kong for the first leg, total miles including the distance between New York and Los Angeles which is personal travel according to the current itinerary, goes just over 35K miles. Ouch…. that return trip of Los Angeles – > Doha -> Perth – > Brisbane is really killing me miles wise but I really want to try the Qatar Q suite so will leave it as is.
Hi, Recently I booked business RTW flights & have found the Qantas back end booking system to be faulty at times. One tip is that even if the system shows an individual flight is available, contine to the final payments page (but do not pay). If you can make it to this page, you can then argue that the seat is certainly 100% available even if the staff can not see that on their side (this happened to me several times & they arranged the booking). If this page is unreachable, even though the site was stating the seat was available, it is unlikely it can be booked & is best you search for another available flight. Of course, flight availability changes daily or hourly even, so once you have a fair idea of a working itinerary, check each segment to the payment page & call to book straight away.
Thanks Fred for the tip.
Hi Brandon,
Just read your piece about RTW costing 318,000 FF points updated March 25, 2022. But no matter how much I search Qantas multi cities calculator tells me it’ll cost over 1 million points!
Sydney – Heathrow – Boston – LA – Sydney. Not very controversial surely? Can’t be right.
Hi Judy, can you please let us know what your intended route and airlines are? I suspect there is a mistake somewhere which is causing the pricing.
Hi Brandon,
I’m having a hard time finding RTW trips costing only 318,000 as well. In your article, did you use 318,00 as an example of the minimum number of points you need in case you find the best flights, but that price can be way higher? Or should it be capped to 318,000 no matter what itinerary you choose (assuming I’m fulfilling the requirements)?
Hi Renan, if you’re doing everything right, it should cap at 318,000 Qantas Points. Feel free to post your proposed itinerary on the Point Hacks Community, in case there is a mistake somewhere. A common mistake is including Emirates.
From my experience the reason for this is, in your booking there is at least one non one world carrier. When you book through Qantas multi search it will show you other air lines which are not one world. You need to only pick one world air lines if you want the points to be capped at 318K
Hi All,
I am busy planning a Business Class RTW trip with my Qantas points. It is similar to Mark’s trip in that I intend to do a lot of travel around Europe – mainly with trains & local airlines – and want to fly Business for the long haul flights.
My questions are:
> do the stopovers in cities count if you’re flying with local airlines or using ground transport?
> does the connection between cities count towards your total mileage if you reach those cities with local airlines or ground transport.
Below is my preliminary itinerary. Maybe someone can let me know if it’s possible with this Points Hack or if I’m misunderstanding something? This itinerary currently only has 3 Stops in Business with Qantas/partners, so I could potentially change 2 local flights to Business.
Sydney -> Dubai (Stop) Business
Dubai -> London (Stop) Business
London -> Dublin – local flight
Dublin -> Edinburgh – local flight
Edinburgh -> Amsterdam – local flight
Amsterdam -> Copenhagen – train
Copenhagen -> Oslo – train
Oslo -> Stockholm – train
Stockholm -> Helsinki – local flight
Helsinki -> Ivalo – local flight
Ivalo -> Helsink -> Warsaw – local flight
Warsaw -> Katowice – train
Katowice -> Prague – train
Prague -> Munich – train
Munich -> Zurich – train
Zurich -> Singapore (Stop) Business
Singapore -> Sydney (Business)
Your time & feedback is greatly appreciated.
Kind Regards,
Andreas Britz
Hi Andreas, I can see an issue with your Sydney-Dubai-London routing, as Emirates flights can’t be used in a oneworld Classic Reward. You would need to change it to Qatar Airways through Doha, or Qantas through Singapore, for example. Zurich-Singapore isn’t possible on a oneworld airline direct, so perhaps you might want to use British Airways or Finnair via London or Helsinki on that leg.
Could you please post your revised itinerary to the Point Hacks Community page (https://community.pointhacks.com/) and more people will also be able to help you with advice 🙂
Hi, I would like to ask about Mark’s journey on RTW with extra time in Europe
since RTW only allowed 5 stopovers, I don’t understand what’s going on in the Europe part. I’m guessing the 5 stopovers would be long haul: Johannesburg – Madrid/Barcelona – London/Rome/Berlin – Chicago/Miami – Rio/Buenos Aires
Looking at the map, how did Mark travel in Europe. Is it just transit? or he actually explore the city as well?
Thank you
Hi Ron, here is a copy of Mark’s original comment back in 2011:
Hi again,
I’m a little confused on one point. If a flight is ticketed Qantas, but is operated by a non-oneworld airline e.g. Fiji Airlines, does it count for this award? I.e. is it the ticketed or operating airline that counts (or both)?
Many thanks!
Hi Clodagh, the flight must also be operated by a full Oneworld member airline. Fiji Airways and Emirates are two common carriers which can’t be part of a Oneworld reward.
I’ve done many of these bookings and QF will enforce Rule 14.3.5 A Classic Flight Reward Itinerary must contain no more than one departure from the city or country of first departure on that Itinerary.
This is not listed as a rule in rules 14.5 Classic Flight Rewards – oneworld Classic Flight Rewards booking conditions, as you state, but none the less it is built into their software
Hi Brandon,
Wanting to know (if you know) if I can book flights for RTW when they become available or do I need to book all RTW flights at once. We are looking at flying out OS in Nov 2022 and will be wanting to lock in our flights BNE – HKG, transit HKG to SING then SING to LHR in Nov 2022. We then want to organise flights back through to BNE (havent worked these exactly yet) around Jan 2023. What we want to do is book the Nov 2022 flights, then book the Jan 2023 flights when available. We want to know though does the system allow you to do this so that we can max/cap out the 318k points or will the earlier flights need to be cancelled and then the whole lot rebooked in Jan 2022 ish? Hope that makes sense.
Cheers
Hi Ryan, you sure can book the start of the trip and add more segments later. THe trip won’t price properly until all the rules are met, and you usually need to pay change fees each time, which is 5,000 pts per person. But that fee is temporarily waived.
Brandon, thanks for updating the story.
I am trying to book a not particularly taxing itinerary (MEL – HKG – LAX – BNA – MSY – MXP – MEL) in April of 22 (not school holidays).
I have bazillions of QFFs and have been able to ‘price’ an itinerary and get a cash price, but it’s still not clear where to book and pay with points. Do I have to call QF? Or is there somewhere else I can do this online – the multi city booking thingy on the QF website didn’t show up the same availability …
Help!
Having similar issues. In the Qantas site using multi-city and Rewards Only selection it applies full rewards points (more than one million) rather than applying a cap at 318000 each for me an my wife. On the Qantas One-World site it similarly comes up with a cash amount of over $27k with no-where I can see where I can use my points. Feedback on what I might be doing wrong!?
Hi Sandy, you should be using the Qantas site multi-city tool (as you say you’ve been doing), not the Qantas oneworld site. Can you post your itinerary in the Point Hacks Community? That way everyone can help figure out what’s not right with your routing.
Did you manage to get anything? I am trying the same here to but I feel the cap it’s no working ATM right?
Hi Silvia, feel free to post your itinerary in the Point Hacks Community so we can help figure out what’s going on.
Ive facing the same issue.
Brandon, Ive created a thread on the forum please take a look here
https://community.pointhacks.com/t/qantas-multi-city-rtw-bookings-points-much-higher-than-capped-ammount/22371
Can i book a RTW ticket if i have no qantas status (eg qantas bronze or below)? Will having no status make finding available flights harder?
Hi Charlie, you certainly can book this ticket with no status. Having no status will make it harder to find Qantas’ own business class flights, but it shouldn’t affect partner airline availability.
I’m perplexed as to why on the one hand you repeatedly use the terminology “round the world” and “around the world” to (incorrectly) describe this product then in a couple of places state “well you don’t actually need to travel around the world”. Talk about trying to confuse people with simple language.
People who then try to book this product with the incorrect product description/terminology in mind typically end up making a myriad of mistakes, or short changing themselves of options and opportunities because they have effectively been misled.
Hi Kerrod, thanks for your comment. If you search “Qantas round the world award” you’ll find that we – along with all of our closest competitors and other major points/travel outlets – use this phrasing because it’s the biggest drawcard for people who are seeking to maximise the use of your points. Sure, you don’t have to fly around the world, and it can be used for more complex itineraries such as nesting multiple trips. But it’s the easiest way to describe the benefits of the Qantas oneworld award, and all the relevant rules are clearly explained.
Hey there.
I’ve got a RTW fare booked for the end of this year and with all the Coronavirus travel drama at the moment, I’m wondering if you have any experience/knowledge on what the cancellation procedures are for this? i.e. if i cancel, do I get my 318k points back, etc. Not at the point where I want to cancel just yet, but still weighing up my options.
Jack
Hi Jack
Currently, if you cancel, you will have your 318,000 Qantas points returned to your account, less 6,000 Qantas Points cancellation fee per passenger. The taxes, fees and charges will be returned to your original form of payment. The cancellation fees apply in this case, as your travel is not before 31 July 2020, which is the period where this fee is waived.
The waiver period may change as time passes though, so you may wish to wait to cancel.
Hi there!
I am currently partway through a RTW trip using the Qantas oneworld Classic Flight Rewards (Economy).
My itiniary is as follows:
22 Nov 2019: PER – SIN — completed
30 Jan 2020:SIN – HND — completed
29 Feb HND – LIM — completed
28 Apr 2020: LIM – JFK
31 Jul 2020: JFK – LHR
30 Aug 2020: LHR – PER
I am currently in lockdown in Peru and awaiting rescue flights back to Australia and highly likely I will not be able to complete my RTW trip.
My question is what is the best thing to do with the remainder of the flights? Should I cancel them and get the points back that I spent — will I get any points back / how many points? I read somewhere that it would cost 6000 points to cancel my booking?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks! 🙂
Hi Michael
Firstly, I hope you are safe and that you can back to Australia shortly.
Normally, if you were to cut your RTW trip short, you would forgo all your remaining flights. But of course, these are not normal times! Qantas has not provided specific direction on what happens in this scenario but would expect some form of flexibility in line with greater flexibility being offered on non-RTW tickets.
Unfortunately, my advice is that you will need to contact Qantas to determine the status of your ticket. Please note that Qantas is requesting that you do not call at the moment unless you have urgent travel in the next few days.
Hi Michael,
I’m in a similar situation as you were.
Are you able to shed light of whether you had points refunded (if so, how was it calculated), or were vouchers provided for future flights or others?
Thanks,
Jessica
Hi Matt
Im in the process of making a one world classic flight reward booking . There is no availaibily of reward flights for some of the legs i want, eg PER-LHR, but there are ample reward flights to get around this eg PER- Tokyo (via SYD on qantas) , and then separate reward flights for Tokyo to LHR (JAL). so ive dummied it all into the multi city search using everything ive learnt on your great site and it works, happy days. Only question is – If my Per-syd-tokyo qantas flight is delayed and this causes me to miss my tokyo to LHR flight with JAL whats the deal. I recall reading somewhere on your site that if I miss a leg it voids my whole itiniery. Ive done a qantas chat and i got a very generic sounding response ie ‘if your flight has been delayed you may chat with us to arrange your next flight or or coordinate with airportstaff to organise next available flight’ i suspect trying to get that across the line at the JAL counter in HND if i miss the JAL flight wont be as easy as they say. so i called qantas and got a similar response that i dont trust. ive been at pains to explain what im talking about but they just say if its their fault theyll put me on the next flight with qantas or a partner airline. But all over the site are disclaimers about no guarantees on shedules etc. My concern is that technically its not a connecting flight, and technically I miss the flight so its my fault. So where do i stand if this happens, where do i find the fine print about all this? Ive looked buts cannot find it. I dont really want to stay 20 hrs in a transit city just to minimise this risk. any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Anthony
Hi Anthony, a valid concern that you have. Given that Qantas ‘owns’ your ticket, i.e. you are making your round-the-world redemption through them, they have the responsibility to make sure that they book you on the next available partner flight if you are delayed from Australia. So no need to worry too much! If there is a delay, just contact Qantas via phone or Twitter direct message to discuss your options. Happy travels!
I am trying to change my RTW flight, but the contact center tells me that the ticket is only valid 12 months from when the ticket is issued rather than 12 months from when the first journey – I can’t seem to find terms and conditions. Can anyone help?
Hi Jessica
The terms and conditions can be found here https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/discover-and-join/terms-and-conditions.html#reward-flights, but they are silent in regards to your question.
We are looking into this for you and will get back to you when we have an answer. Thanks!
Hi Jessica
We have reached out to Qantas and this is their response:
We can confirm that Classic Flight Rewards are valid for one year from the original ticketed departure date, as stipulated in 14.6.1 of our Terms and Conditions. This applies to all Classic Flight Rewards.
14.6.1 Classic Flight Rewards will be valid for one year from the original ticketed departure date, unless otherwise specified. Some promotional Classic Flight Rewards (such as Classic Flight Rewards offered for a reduced number of Points) may be valid for a lesser period. Classic Flight Reward tickets on a JAL domestic Itinerary will be valid for three months from the date of issue.
Therefore it is based on your first departure date and not when your ticket is issued.
Qantas advised that they encourage you to reach back out to their contact centre team, who have been alerted to your query and will be able to assist with your request.
Hi Jessica and Daniel,
Thanks so much for asking the question and thanks Daniel for the response.
Jessica, can you please share how you went? May I ask how much fees or points charged for the change if you have made the change?
I have a similar issue. I booked the RTW classic flight rewards back in 2018. We started the trip in 29 Sep 2019 to Europe and our next 2 final flights are SYD-Haneda on JAL in Apr and Osaka Kensai to SYD on Cathay Pacific in Apr.
Given the current coronavirus situation, we do not want to take the risk travelling with our 2 small children and want to reschedule the flight to later in the year.
I have contacted the call centre. After 2 hours wait, the person I spoke to did not seem to know the rules either. She said my ticket was issued in July 19, therefore I have till July 2020 to complete my travel. I thought I have till end of Sep 2020 as the travel validity should be 12 months from the first departure date.
Also, I asked if I can change airline from Cathay Pacific to JAL if there is availability, I was told I could, and that any change I made would cost me 5000 points change fees plus 7000 points service fees per person (ie 12000 points per person). Is this correct? It was 5000 points per person only when I called up to add these segments of the flights. Is the 7000 points service fee a new thing they just implement?
Thanks for all the great posts and for all the information you have shared. I have followed your guides for a few years now and managed to book a trip of a lifetime for our family of 4 on business class before the points inflation kicked in.
I will try to call Qantas again, but would love to hear your opinion.
Rattana
Hi Rattana
Thanks for the feedback.
Firstly, I did get confirmation from Qantas that the ticket validity is based on your first flight’s departure date for your specific PNR, therefore it is valid for travel until September 2020 and not July 2020. Tell the customer service agent to refer to clause 14.6.1 of the Frequent Flyer Terms and Conditions, as follows:
14.6.1 Classic Flight Rewards will be valid for one year from the original ticketed departure date, unless otherwise specified. Some promotional Classic Flight Rewards (such as Classic Flight Rewards offered for a reduced number of Points) may be valid for a lesser period. Classic Flight Reward tickets on a JAL domestic Itinerary will be valid for three months from the date of issue.
In terms of the 7,000 Qantas Points service fee, this should be waived for Business and First Class redemptions.
Hi Daniel and Rattana,
Yes – I managed to change my ticket to fly from one year from the original departure date.
Though due to the coronavirus situation, it is unlikely that I’ll be able to fly from the new (or old departure) date.
I’m in the same situation as Michael, whereby part of my journey has already been flown, and am unsure how Qantas will process the refund. The contact centre was also unable to provide an answer unless I went ahead with it. My preference in this situation is to delay it further, but will be good to know how Qantas calculates the refund.
Hi Matt,
A couple of observations.
I managed to book a business RTW ticket starting in September 2019 and with the last leg locked in on 10 Jan 2020. It cost me 27000 points per person in changes.
In addition to the other reasons for avoiding BA, remember you will have to pay up to $160pp AUD for seat selection in business. I cancelled SIN-LHR because I only found this after I booked the ticket. 12000 points down the drain.
The Qantas SMS service is a waste of time. The staff are inadequately trained and have no idea what “put a supervisor on please” means, let alone the RTW rules. I spend almost 8 hours one day and in the end they abandoned the thread.
You cannot get a copy of the rules. I asked on the phone several times and by email. This is particularly poor, offering such a valuable reward, yet the consumer cannot get a copy of the rules. Peculiar, (or deliberate so they can feed you BS and maybe you won’t argue).
I have been told I couldn’t book the ticket because there wasn’t a Qantas flight in the itinerary. On another occasion, “that I need 318000 more points to change the itinerary”, seriously deranged Qantas agent.
Here’s my route.
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=per-hkg-ams-mad-gig-gru-mia-phl-lga-bos-nrt-tpe-hkg-pen-sin-per
The RTW ticket cost about $1150 in taxes. You have to be prepared to argue with Qantas about that too. I have been quoted ridiculous taxes on some of the legs. Have a idea what you should pay (from the booking engine).
Be prepared to spend hours searching for a suitable flight, I lost track of the hours on the internet and on the phone to Qantas.
One thing when searching for award space, ExpertFlyer does not show award availability for some airlines like Cathay Pacific as they advised me “not all airlines share their award data”.
Was it worth the effort? Hugely rewarding when you finally get the tickets, but hugely frustrating waiting and searching and being fed BS by Qantas. Some really helpful like James from Tasmania. Some who need a little more guidance from James (he’s a supervisor).
Thanks to your valuable advice Point Hacks, we have the trip of a lifetime planned.
Great article thanks.
I was just reading another article on how to find awards flights, and the main recommendation is to book as early as possible. How do I reconcile that with needing to book all legs of a 6 month RTW trip in advance (meaning that the earlier flights in the itinerary can only be booked a max 6 months in advance?).
Thanks Clodagh
In relation to oneworld Classic Flight Rewards, the recommendation is to book your flights as early as possible to maximise your chances of finding award availability in your desired cabin class. There is no strict requirement that you must book all of your flights in a certain timeframe before your departure, but obviously, all flights will need to be booked before the departure date of your first flight in order to benefit from the excellent oneworld Classic Flight Reward pricing.
What some members do is book as many flights as they possibly can availability in, and as more availability opens up for the remaining desired flights, add them onto to the itinerary at that time. For Business and First redemptions, this comes at a cost of 5,000 points per amendment to the booking, but this approach increases the chances of finding all your flights for your itinerary, as you lock in those flights that you can find, and then only a small number of other flights are left to find.
Thanks for your reply Daniel, that does help. I’ll start looking into flights soon then!
I’ve also been wondering, if I fly into one city and out of another is the departure airport counted as one of the 5 stop cities? E.g. if I fly SYD-CDG, then DUB-JFK I know that the mileage between CDG-DUB is included, but does DUB count as a stop or do I still have 3 left (counting CDG and JFK as 2)?
Hi Clodagh
Great question. In your example, DUB would not count as a stopover, as that requires a landing into that city, a stay of 24 hours more, and then a departure from that city.
In July 2019 I booked a OW Classic Reward itinerary for 2 people in Business for travel across April -June 2020, with all 11 flights confirmed. Then in late December Qantas re-sent the eticket but with the second flight being dated before our first departing flight…Clearly that isn’t possible and even Cathay Pacific yesterday acknowledged this is a major error by Qantas and can only be fixed by Qantas re-issuing the eticket.
We’ve been in touch with Qantas 3 times over SMS support and last night on hold for over 2hrs (not exaggerating) without success. What we have since last week is a re-issued itinerary from Qantas showing two identical flights with the correct date (Class U & I, 4 seats) but Cathay Pacific confirm that while they see this, the itinerary Qantas recently issued is not valid for checkin and still shows the messed-up date for the first flight.
What’s the best contact for getting through to someone competent at Qantas that can rectify their error, for what seems to be a complex issue?
Hi Adam
I think your best bet here is to call them (try and utilise their call back option if it’s offered) and then explain that this is the 4th time calling to rectify an error from their end involving a complex oneworld Classic Reward flight itinerary. Then kindly request to speak to a Manager, highlighting that the previous attempts to rectify the issue through the normal customer service line were unsuccessful.
I also try to call during business hours as I have found that the staff working on customer service at that time are usually a bit more knowledgeable.
I’ve booked a business class 14 flight trip, basically going from Aus to Japan to the UK and back with stops on the way. I booked the day before the price hike and snuck in for the 280k business class all the way reward, except for a quick SG – KL hop, which I had to do in Economy.
Is there a process to try upgrade this flight if availability becomes available and if so, do I talk to Qantas or Malaysia Air?
Also, is there an option to upgrade the BA HND-LHR to first (or any other leg where first is available) and if so, what’s the best way? Anyone with info or experience with this chiming in would be greatly appreciated.
Hi guys, hope all is well I have around 600000 points and want to book an around world on Business. Just a question around how to book online.
So I use the multi city to search from Rewards flights, but use the RTW to book? Is that how it works? Thanks for you help. I always use your site to apply for my next credit card! Appreciate all the info you guys put out!
Hi Ranui
Yes, it can be confusing. You book through the multi-city if you are looking to redeem frequent flyer points for a oneworld classic flight reward. If you meet the conditions of this specific award, it prices accordingly and you then book. You only use the RTW option if you are looking to pay in cash.
Wow, thanks for the quick response and just trying to clarify one more thing. I can only book 5 stops using the multi-city to stay with in 318000 point, is that right? Because the Mark example in the above article has 15 stops. Thanks again for all your help!
Never mind I read the article over and over, finally understood. RTW can have up to 15 if paying cash. Classic rewards book through multi-city, book up to 5 cities and a 6th if its a stopover less than 23.59hrs.
Hi there,
Just wanting to know does status impact your availability when booking a RTW award flight.
If you are Qantas Bronze booking 2 x First class Qantas RTW Award, would this make booking more difficult ?
Hi AC
The availability is no different to if you were looking for each sector individually through the Qantas website. That is, availability can be better for Gold or higher Qantas members.
Good Day,
Thank you so much for this guide, it has been tremendously helpful.
Can I please enquire about baggage allowances?-
1. If I am booked in business class for most of the trip, and will have the extra baggage allowance, will this be affected if one of the sectors is in economy?
2.I see that different airlines within Oneworld also offer different baggage allowances. Baggage allowances also vary depending on destinations. eg US typically has allowances of 3 x 32 in business, but 2 x 20kg from/to other destinations. How does this work if one is flying from :-
Australia to the US, then to Europe
Europe to Qatar
Qatar to Australia (direct or via an Asian destination)
Thank you for your assistance.
Hi bkw
Your baggage allowance is determined by the operating carrier for the travel class that you are booked in. For example, if you are flying AA in Business between Europe and US, the AA, Business to USA baggage limits apply.
In regards to your Economy sector, the Economy baggage rules for your airline will apply if it is a standalone sector. The exception is if your Economy leg is tagged on as a transit (<24 hours) with a Business sector on the same airline. In that case, the Business baggage rules will apply.
Hi Matt,
I understand if you fly into one city and leave from another after more than 24hrs you need to count this as a sector. Does the same rule apply if you fly into/out of a different airport in the same city (LGW/LHR or LAX/SNA for example)?
Hi smilemonster
There are a number rules to consider here:
Up to five free Stopovers (ie stays >24 hours) are permitted; and
Only one Stopover is permitted in any one city in the Itinerary
Surface Segments are permitted as part of oneworld Classic Flight Reward Itineraries, but the distance between the disembarkation point and the next embarkation point will be included in the Reward Point zone calculation for that Itinerary
So arriving at say LGW and leaving LHR 25 hours later will be counted as a Stopover and use up your Stopover in any one city condition for London. Also, the distance between LGW and LHR will be added on as a Surface Segment when calculating the overall miles for your itinerary.
Hi guys, quick question on searching for award availability.
With not much luck finding any kind of business class availability on a few routes through the QF or BA websites, I tried using the AA search engine to seek business class availability to find that there are abundance of seats available for the same flights which showed no seats through the QF or BA websites.
I am not just talking about AA flights either. This is particularly the case for JL and QR flights.
Could I book via the QF call centre based on the availability I am seeing on the AA website searches and not QF’s website?
Hi Scott, technically, AAdvantage members shouldn’t have access to any more Japan Airlines or Qatar Airways award space than Qantas Frequent Flyer or British Airways Executive Club members. It sounds like AA is showing phantom (non-existent) award space. That’s why it’s good to cross-check across a number of programs.
So, short answer, no—the Qantas phone agents will only be able to book what they can see on their system, not on AA’s.
Thank you!
A quick follow up question. Am I able to add Fiji Airways as part of the itinerary? Thanks heaps again for your help.
Hi Scott
This is a good question. The oneworld classic flight reward extends to all oneworld members and their affiliates (eg Qantaslink), but does not extend to oneworld connect members. Therefore you will not be able to add Fiji Airways.
Last day and chance for rtw business class 280000 per person trip before the changes are made to new program. Anyone having any luck finding flights (east or west out of Melb) that come in at that number of points. WHile I can find flights business class all the way they are coming in at 380000 or more! I have tried mlb-singapore-paris-new york-honolulu-mlb (and variations via HK) and mlb-honolulu-lax-ny-paris-melb.
Can anyone advise why booking Brisbane-Tokyo-Helsinki-Chicago-Brisbane is incurring 316,000 points instead of 280,000?
Hi Alison
Could you please let us know which airlines you are using for each sector? Thanks.
I’ve booked an OWA itinerary with a first leg that is from Melbourne to Adelaide – mainly due to the unavailability of flights to Europe (via Doha) out of Melbourne. For similar reasons our return to Australia is to Adelaide. I’ve been trying to add a final segment from Adelaide back to Melbourne to bring us home but a couple of Qantas agents now have told me it can’t be done despite it seemingly not breaking any rules (total miles, number of sectors, number of transits etc). The Qantas agents couldn’t advise any reason just that the booking system wouldn’t accept it.
Can anyone suggest why it can’t be done? It’s not a crisis as it’s easy (and not that expensive) to buy domestic fares home but it would be nice to maximise the benefit of our award booking.
Hi Adam
We have been having similar problem with Qantas booked 14 flights around the world
With 4 different airlines in business class and had no problem but when trying to get business class seats on Qantas even when the seats are on the website the consultant can not book better than economy.
Consultants don’t know the rules or they seem to make them up in my opinion Qantas is holding back as many business class seats as they can until the chanjege of rules with the Qantas of points is enacted.
As for the rules can someone clarify all of them???
Does anyone know how soon after making the booking via calling their call centre does Qantas deduct the points and charge your credit card?
Hi Matt
I am planning; hopefully, a 10 week long business class classic flight reward itinerary that commences July next year. As a bronze FF I know my availability will be limited and therefore am thinking I will start booking the trip in segments as flights become available rather than wait and book the whole trip at once. To do this, do I have to make my first booking with two different oneworld partners to qualify as a one world reward itinerary? Or can I book a business class trip with cathay and then ring up qantas two weeks later and add a trip with qatar and then convert it to a oneworld Reward. Any info or tips greatly appreciated
This is a great guide! I still have one question though – If I make a booking before 18/9 but change the dates (but not routing) of my sectors in December, will I be charged the difference of 38k points between the old and new rates in addition to the change fees?
Hi Duncan
If you need to make changes to your booking after 18 September 2019, you will be subject to 5000 points change fee, an 8000 points service fee (which is waived for Business and First class redemptions) + any fare difference per passenger.
Therefore, you will be subject to the new rates due to the inclusion of “any fare difference per passenger”.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for your consistently great content!
Would you be able to help answer,
If one leg is changed of a multi leg award booking to a different arrival and depature city,
will the taxes and surcharges be refuded for the orginal leg?
Cheers!
Hi Tristan, thanks for the feedback. I’ve done some research on this and don’t have a 100% certain answer, however, my educated guess is that yes, the taxes and surcharges would be refunded on the original leg (and then the new taxes and surcharges applied to the new leg). Just remember you will incur a 5,000-point change fee in doing so.
It’s incorrect to refer to this product as Qantas’s “round the world classic award”. No such product exists and using that nomenclature gives rise to confusion. The product you’re referring to is the Qantas oneworld classic award that CAN be used to travel around the world but absolutely does NOT require it.
Hi Daniel/Dan,
If booking this one flight at a time, I understand I’ll incur change fees, but how do I make sure it is booked in accordance with the Oneworld Classic Flight Reward that caps out at 35,000 miles, rather than it just being booked as a Partner Classic Flight Reward. I noticed these have separate tables for the number of points required, and whilst the Partner Classic Flight Reward table provides lower points for individual flights, I want to make sure I actually get the Oneworld Classic Flight Reward to go round the world.
Thanks for all your help!
What would have been useful is a comparison of the before and after taxes.
Hi Rick
Taxes won’t be changing as a result of the change. It is only the carrier charge that Qantas levies that has changed.
thanks daniel and dan for your replies.
I am just about to commence making a booking for the following: Melbourne-Tokyo-Rome-NYC-Santiago-Melbourne and want to be certain if this week’s announcement will change the points required for this in Economy or Business as an increase may tip me back in to the Economy cabin which will suck… Is there any details published that can provide certainty?
Hi Kane
Please see the following for changes to oneworld classic flight redemptions: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/use-points/classic-flight-rewards/tables.html
Business oneworld classic flight redemptions (in zone 10) will be increasing from 280,000 to 318,000 points on 18 September 2019, while in Economy class, this has decreased from 140,000 to 132,400 from Thursday 20 June 2019.
FYI all – it looks like the “Improvements” that Qantas has made includes changes to the Oneworld RTW option. Instead of it costing 280k it will now cost 318k. Improvement my arse.
Hi Nelson. Great site. Do you know if the just announced Qantas FF changes will impact the 280 k RTW biz option?
Dear gurus …
Can you please help with two questions regarding RTW award flights?
how far ahead does Qantas release the reward availability? I’m looking to travel around (US & Europe) during July 2020. Looking at the article & comments here it seems I could book up to a year (353 days?) ahead, but that sounds extreme to me and doesn’t give me any flexibility to change my travel plans. What do you think? Is the availability better a year out?
to what extent does QF status make a difference when booking a RTW reward flight. I’ll get to Gold by the time my membership year ends in October, but if I need to book a year ahead in July (see question 1), I may have to do a few extra flights so I can get to Gold before I book. Is it worth the effort – is the availability better if you’re Gold compared to Bronze/Silver?
Thanks very much!
Doug
Dear gurus … I should have been more specific with my original request:
Can you please help with two questions regarding OneWorld Classic reward flights (business class, two people)?
how far ahead does Qantas release the reward availability? I’m looking to travel around (US & Europe) during July 2020. Looking at the article & comments here it seems I could book up to a year (353 days?) ahead, but that sounds extreme to me and doesn’t give me any flexibility to change my travel plans. What do you think? Is the availability better a year out?
to what extent does QF status make a difference when booking a RTW reward flight. I’ll get to Gold by the time my membership year ends in October, but if I need to book a year ahead in July (see question 1), I may have to do a few extra flights so I can get to Gold before I book. Is it worth the effort – is the availability better if you’re Gold compared to Bronze/Silver?
Thanks very much!
Doug
Hi,
I have a question regarding availability for an economy ticket. It is mentioned many times for business you typically need to book close to a year in advance to get availability for reward flights.
But what about economy?
I am looking to do a trip from March 2020 to August 2020 but may not have enough points for my partner and I until approximately end of November 2019. So if I am looking to make the booking around then, or early December, will I struggle with award seat availability in economy?
Thanks!
Hi Will
Thanks for your question.
Firstly with Business, while it is advisable to book around a year out to maximise the chances of seat availability, I managed to construct an itinarary with approximately 18 flights only 5 months out, so it is possible, albeit harder.
Economy redemptions are generally easier to find, but the same rule generally applies in that the earlier you book, the greater your chances for finding award seats.
Hi there!
Im planning a trip that would involve cities like Santiago de Chile, Sydney, Manila, London, Santiago de Chile (and lots of internal flights like PPQ, DUB, BFS, possible MAD).
The issue I have is that I want to do as much as possible in business, but a lot of flights don’t have business seats availability.
Can I book those legs in Economy (to save the business seats for other legs), and if new seats are released closer to the departure date, update them, and still have the 280,000 cap?
And also, if the previous is possible, would changing/updating flights incur in a 5,000 points fee PER flight/leg that I update, or per call?
Hi Leonardo
What you propose is possible to maintain the 280,000 points cap, assuming you meet all the other requirements of a oneworld Classic reward itinerary, as Economy class is a lower cabin class than Business. Of course, if you substitute a Business seat to First for example for one leg, than the cost will jump to 420,000 Qantas points.
The change fee is applied per ticket reissue. So if you change 2 flights segments which are part of one ticket, then you should only be charged 5,000 points.
I am going to try to book economy seats for an itinerary using the oneworld Qantas Classic Flight Reward 140,000 QFF points option. It is likely to require use of American Airline international and domestic flights and of its American Eagle (Piedmont) subsidiary.
Has anyone any info for me about whether I’ll:
a. need to pay for a checked in bag, and if so when and how?
b. be able to include any Piedmont flights eg from Phiadelphia to Ottawa?
BTW you may be interested to know that:
Earlier in the year, after the usual massive amounts of time and effort, I booked (but later had to cancel) a multi flight 140,000 QFF points itinerary via the call centre (because I could not book all flights online myself) and
• After I complained to the Airline Customer Advocate, Qantas agreed to refund the 6,000 point booking fee.
• Months later my seat on one flight was cancelled but Qantas did not advise me of this. I only discovered it by accident. So, it pays to regularly check yourself that all your bookings are still OK. Fortunately, Qantas got me another seat on the same flight.
Thank you Nelson for this highly valuable information! We have just had success in booking with this option, and without this guide it would’ve made it much more challenging.
The itinerary we went with for the OneWorld reward in Economy class, coming in at 33,472 miles:
AKL-SYD-HND-PEK-LHR-YYZ-LGA-MIA-GIG-EZE-SCL-LIM-CUZ-LIM-SCL-AKL
Five stopovers in Tokyo (HND), London (LHR), Toronto (YYZ), Rio De Janeiro (GIG) & Lima (LIM), with a total of 12 flight segments. We have a 23h30m “transfer” in Beijing, as well as some overland travel segments in North America & South America.
It took three phone conversations, plus a chat session with Qantas on Facebook with about eight different contacts. I have to say that dealing with them through the Facebook page is quite a nice option. I found that none of the Qantas staff understood the rules of this type of booking, and so it was useful to be able to paste in the T&Cs back to them to help them learn (they actually apologised at one point for not understanding the rules). It then meant that the next person you dealt with was up to speed and you didn’t need to keep repeating yourself. It does take them a few hours to respond to each message though.
Something else that I found is that even if you find a reward seat when searching yourself, it didn’t mean that it would show as available for the Qantas booking agents – this seemed to mostly happen for LATAM, so there’s perhaps some lag in the timing of information being updated.
Thank you for the article! Using your advice, I’ve managed to book what I consider a fairly awesome itinerary for 7.5 weeks with my husband on business class for all my long haul flights. SYD-HKG-KIX-PVG-DOH-LHR-JFK-LIM-MEX-DFW-MSY-SFO-SYD 🙂
34,844 miles on Great Circle Mapper! It did require a significant amount of patience, planning and flexibility but was worth it in the end.
Hi,
Does anyone know if it is possible to change a segment or route once you have commenced one of the legs of the around the world ticket? e.g. changing a segment from Rio to Barcelona (with Iberia) to Rio to London (with British Airways).
Can this be done? if so, should it just incur the 5,000/8,000 point fee and any other ticket re-issue fees.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Mike
The following condition appears for all Classic Flight Reward bookings, which includes Classic oneworld bookings:
Once any travel has commenced on a Classic Flight Reward, the Reward is considered used, even if the remaining travel is not completed. Points will not be re-credited to the Member’s account for unused ticket coupons.
Hi Mike,
I have spoken to Qantas about this and some airline partners permit it. It is best you double check with Qantas, AFAIK Malaysian Airlines is the only partner that will not allow Qantas to amend bookings once the journey as started.
However that advice was from 2 years ago and things could have changed.
@ Paul. Your problem is Fiji Airways. It is not a Oneworld member airline.
Hi,
Anyone know why points aren’t being capped for this itinerary:
SYD>SIN (BA)
SIN>LHR (BA)
LHR>YYC (BA)
SFO>NAN (Fiji Airways)
NAN>SYD (Fiji Airways)
Thanks.
Thanks to all points hackers for the article and comments. I would never have believed an ordinary person like me could fly business class around the world. You do need to be very organised and committed but it is well worth it.
My journey is Sydney – Hong Kong – Doha – Venice. Own flights from Croatia to Oslo. Oslo – Helsinki -Prague – London – Miami. Own return flight to Cuba. Key West – Miami -San Francisco. Finally LAX – Melbourne – Sydney.
I’m looking forward to every part of it, particularly my cheeky Key West – Miami sector, $5 taxes and a birds eye view of the Keys as opposed to $100 car hire battling Miami traffic!
Thats fantastic to read MissyT. Your itinerary looks very adventurous and I hope you enjoy every minute of it.
And thanks for dropping by and letting us know, I love reading about the creative routings and trips people go on. Have a glass or more of bubbles! enjoy 🙂
Thanks so much to all the great information – I finally booked one! I am stoked. It certainly took an incredible amount of planning using all of the tools listed. I booked as much as I could using the multi-city tool, and then booked subsequent flights as they became available by phoning Qantas (lasting 2hrs on average). The third call ended badly as the operator was booking me a One World RTW flight which has different rules which did not match my itinerary. It was my fault for not specifically requesting a “oneworld Classic Flight Reward” booking. I phoned through again, miraculously connected to an operator in a matter of minutes who knew exactly what I was asking for and booked it within 15 minutes.
A couple of tips:
Specify “oneworld Classic Flight Reward”, not RTW.
I WAS able to make ONE change to my booking using the multi-city tool. Apparently, you are allowed just ONE change, from then on you need to phone.
When searching for availability on the Qantas site there were a few airports I could not enter into the first “From” field of my plan (ie “LCA” and “DOH”). I got around this by using the Multi-City tool and starting with a random first leg (eg MEL-SYD) and then entering the flight from LCA or DOH that I was after.
In case you are interested, this my booking: MEL-SYD-SCL . SCL-CUZ . UIO-MAD . MAD-LHR-KEF . BCN-LHR-LCA . LCA-DOH-HKG-MEL. $1065 in taxes.
Hi Esther, great that you booked it. It is a challenge and definitely requires a lot of planning and hours on the phone. hope you enjoy your trip!
Hi Nelson fanatstic article. Once again.
How do I check without making bookings and spending 30mins filling in he schedule to find or get a gauge of how much the surcharges or taxes are?
Is there such thing as a table that shows main destinations and points requirements?
Hi Joe, fuel surcharges are hard to gauge but on these redemption you are probably looking at anyway between $800 to $1200, that’s from my previous 2 booking experiences. Hope that helps.
Thank you for a great article. I’ve learned a great deal.
I have read all your post and also the questions and answers. Sorry, but I’m still a little confused. I have enough points to get the business class trip for both my husband and me. If I want to book my first leg 353 days out, when I have the best chance of getting a business class flight out of Brisbane, it will mean that my other legs of the multi trip will not be available. I believe that is correct. If I then book further legs as they become available how do I make sure they are linked together so that I only pay the 280k points for each person and it will eventually (with all bookings) be considered a multi-trip? Won’t each leg be considered a different booking if they are booked weeks apart? I’m happy to be on the ball and try and secure the bookings as they become available and add them to the booking but I’m confused as to how that actually happens. Am I to quote a booking number and ask them to add to that? I read in a reply of yours, Nelson, this:
“If you booked them as single leg flights one at a time, they will be ticketed separately, so you will be charged multiple awards, which could easily add up and the redemptions would end up costing more than the rate for 140,000 economy, 280,000 business or 420,000 first class.”
The thing is, if I wait until all the flights have become available there’s a good chance the first one out of Australia for business class will be gone. How can I avoid this? How can I book one at a time so that they are all treated as the one booking even though the legs are booked separately? If I can book them separately and somehow add them is there a fee for adding another business class booking? I read your reply for economy but how does that work equate for business class:
“If you book the flights separately, you would need to call Qantas and add them as they become available.
That doesn’t sound so bad if you were booking a business/first award.
But…. for Economy class redemption, Qantas will charge you a service fee of 8000 points per passenger every time you make changes.
On top of that, there is a 3500 points to “change” the award.
So every time you call to add a city, you are getting hit with 11,500 points charge per person.”
I’ve read so much of this now I’m wondering whether I’m reading out of date information. I’d much appreciate you clearing this up for me. I know it is a pain to ring Qantas but if that’s the way to go then I’ll do it.
Once again, thank you for your invaluable information and I hope you’ll be able to set me on the straight and narrow. 🙂
Hi Lor, my advice is to book as many flights as possible so that when you need to tact on more flights in the end, you keep it minimal.
You can chance it and wait for all the travel dates to open up, but in my experience, sometimes the award seats might have disappeared, so you are stuck.
For business class, each change is 6,000 points per passenger.
I’m having the same problem as Alex Y-J:
I’ve run a test booking of SYD-LON-MIA-LAX-SYD each a week apart, all economy: 160,000 points.
My actual plan is more detailed than that but still under 35,000mi – comes to much more than 160,000 points.
What am I doing wrong? Has Qantas changed its system?
Hi Nelson, it seems to be working correctly now … so all good. Thanks again for your awesome article!
Anyone know what happened to the US to South America flights? They don’t come up on the Qantas website anymore 🙁 they were just there last month and poof, all gone. The qantas routes page doesn’t have routes from US – South America either…
Hi Nelson,
Thank you so much for this article! I found it very informative and used the information provided as a basis to map out our honeymoon. We are looking at going from
I just would like to ask when is the best time to book Qantas business flights? Every time I have looked, they are all not available even a year out in advance, not sure if this is based on FF tiers. Looking at Sydney to Singapore around beginning of June and Honolulu to Sydney mid July next year.
Thanks,
Jacinta
Hi Jacinta, Honolulu is probably one of, if it not the hardest business award seat to come by. Unfortunately I’ve never had any success redeeming on that route.
Sydney to Singapore, if there are no direct flights, you could try looking at Brisbane or Melbourne to Singapore.
Hi Nelson,
Thanks for coming back to me!
We are going from Sydney to Johannesburg, Madrid, Frankfurt to Austin, Hawaii then Singapore or reverse travelling around the 1st of June to 13th of July 2019 and already 2 or 3 of the legs dont have business class available :(.The Sydney to Singapore or reverse leg, every business and premium economy is already booked out, even through Brisbane or Melbourne, could it be to do with my FF status? As I read on the pointhacks page that lower tiered members have access to premium cabins on long haul flights after 308 days.
Hi team I have had a good read of the FAQs and the comments but still have a question!
I am looking at a flight I can see on the QF booking engine for HEL-DUB. It is a AY flight operated by Nordic Regional Airlines. Is that flight eligible for the OW Award booking?
I am hoping someone can help – I keep getting this error message:
Up to DATA(LIMIT) flight interruptions (ground transportation between one arriving city and the next departing city) can be defined in your itinerary. Please modify and resubmit your request.(#7122)
My itinerary is as follows
MEL – LAX (via BNE)
JFK – KEF (via LHR)
ARN – AMM (via DOH)
AMM – ATH
CDG – DOH
DOH – MEL (via KUL)
Any ideas what I did wrong? I have mapped out every surface and it is still below 35K miles
Great Circle Mapper
I have even added every single transit into the calculation and is still below 35K miles
Great Circle Mapper
I have tried calling the Qantas helpline – but it’s an hour plus expected wait …
Thanks all
Hi, I’ve never encountered that error message before so I don’t know.
It would appear the problem could be around the surface sectors.
Because there are fewer than 16 segments in that itinerary.
If you call Qantas, see if there an option for a call back service.
Hi Nelson,
Great article!
I’m hoping you can answer something for me. Can you return to your home city and have it count as a stopover? I haven’t been able to find any info on this.
I’d like to split up my travel throughout the year and visit Japan early in the year, head home, then head to the UK a few months later.
My plan is ADL-NRT-ADL then a few months later ADL-LHR-ADL. With transits it comes in under 32k miles. Although it may not be the most efficient use of a RTW redemption it still seems a lot better value than separate return redemptions.
Thank you.
@Corey
I just read in the terms and conditions “14.3.5 – A Classic Reward Flight itinerary must contain no more than one departure from the city or country of first departure on that itinerary.”
So I would say no, not possible.
You could probably fly into a city near your home and then fly out of another to make that possible. You could fly back into Melbourne from the first one, catch your own flight home. Then fly the next leg out of Perth. Have to pay for a few little flights, but might be worth it…
Great article Nelson! So helpful, along with the comments.
Can anyone see why this itinerary would not price at 140,000 QFF points?
PER-HKG-JFK-ground leg-LGA-YYZ
stop Toronto
YYZ-LHR-HEL
stop Helsinki
HEL-ICN
stop Seoul
ICN-HKG-PER
It’s not even 30,000 miles, and the stops are all on different continents with no transits more than 8 hours all the way along. Any help?!
Thanks for your help Nelson. Just one more question (I hope ). I cannot get any flights from UK or Madrid to Havana. Any ideas why? When I look on Skyscanner there are loads of options.
Hi Rachel, probably the airlines don’t release any award seats for that route.
The only airline that I ever looked at to fly to Havana on award points was Virgin Atlantic. I never looked at the One World alliance partners.
Hey guys,
As others have said – this article is very informative.
I’ve been trying to work out a way to book my itinerary on the Qantas multi-city tool but it literally crashes every time I try to work it. Wondering if anyone has done something similar to my idea.
I’m wanting to visit all the wonders of the world (excluding Great Wall as I’ve already been there). I know there are too many stops – but surely it can be achieved with a little magic. I think it would be amazing if I could pull it off.
The example itinerary is follows:
SYD – Cancun
Cancun – Lima
Lima – Rio
Rio – Rome
Rome – Amman
Amman – Cairo
Cairo – Delhi
Delhi – Syd
Is anyone able to lend their expertise re the above? Perhaps I could leave Amman & Cairo out and do this externally?
Any help to brainstorm is appreciated 🙂
Hi Kyah,
The engine crashes for a number of unknown reasons, I would write down the Error Code that it generates, and speak to a Qantas phone agent.
They should waive the phone booking fee if you prove to them that you made an effort to book online however the website keeps generating an error.
Question on AA domestic sectors. If I am arranging a business class RTW trip, what class can I book on 2 class (economy&’first’, i.e. 737’s) domestic sectors on AA?
Hi CR, that is one of the quirky things about USA airlines that they call their business class product “First”.
However, for the purposes of a Qantas redemption, as long as the flight you selected is listed under the Business column, then it will be classified as a business class redemption.
So the Qantas engine will not reprice the redemption as First Class.
Excellent article!
Trying to book our first RTW using multi city tool but the website doesn’t seems to recognize its RTW booking. Using Great Circle Mapper website our total miles is less 35K miles including surface sector. Can anyone please help what I’m doing wrong? Qantas wants me to charge 414K for business class
PER DOH 5,789 mi QATAR
DOH WAW 2,451 mi QATAR
WAW CDG 837 mi Surface Sector
CDG GRU 5,829 mi LATAM
GRU LIM 2,160 mi LATAM
LIM SCL 1,524 mi Surface Sector
SCL LAX 5,569 mi FIJI
LAX NAN 5,519 mi FIJI
NAN MEL 2,403 mi FIJI
MEL PER 1,681 m QANTAS
This is an easy one – you can only have 5 major stops. You have 9. What I did was use 5 main stops as bases and then pay for separate side trips or use other airlines points for flights.
Thanks for your quick response but I thought I only have less. It may look like I have more but those are just layover which is less than 24hrs. PER-DOH-WAW// Surface sector WAW-CDG// CDG-GRU-LIM//Surface Sector LIM-SCL// SCL-LAX-NAN//NAN-MEL-PER
Just want to thank again this site! The articles I found from this site helped me a lot in preparing my upcoming 2 x RTW Business class trip for next year using QFF. We successfully booked our target destination of South America PER-MEL-MCO//MCO-MIA-LIM//LPB-SCL//SCL-MIA-LGA//JFK-HKG-MNL//MNL-HKG-PER with a total of 34,900 miles using QF/AA/LATAM/CX Airlines. Thank you.
Hi Melay, 34900 miles! wow you really maximised your redemption, I love it! haha
That trip sounds like its going to be a hoot, thanks for sharing.
Hi Nelson, thanks for the brilliant article!
I stumbled across this quite a while ago and decided that i would save up our points for my husband and i to do a business or first class RTW trip for my 40th which is in 2 years.
Even though it’s 2 years out i’m starting the planning (half the fun hey!) and had a few questions i was hoping you might be able to help with?
I have never flown business or first class, not even domestically, so for me part of the excitement of this trip is the actual flights, so i want to include the best airlines available to make it the trip of a lifetime.
I haven’t done too much research at this point as far as the exact legs but i think i would like to take in New York, London, France, Italy, Portugal & Spain.
Given that is too many stops, i was thinking about not flying to London and instead travelling there from perhaps France. Your advice on not flying out of London due to cost has been noted!. I would find other means of travelling between Spain & Portugal also.
Do you have any advice or reccommendations on the airlines that have the best business/first class experiences that i could start researching? And on what type of plane ?
I understand that some of the more premium airlines have higher taxes, but depending on cost, i think i’m willing to pay for the ‘experience’
As the flights is part of the experience i don’t mind getting to destinations in a round about manner to capitalise on flying with a great airline.
The idea of having an extra leg (under 24 hours) in a city to experience a little of it would be fun too.
I’ve had zero experience in booking reward flights as we’ve always paid for our overseas travel, so any tips, advice or ideas would be VERY much appreciated!!
Thanks Nelson, look forward to your expert input!
Cheers,
Cath
Hi Nelson,
Thanks for your great article. You have inspired me to start planning a trip for next year.
I’ve read most of the comments but can’t find the answer to my query so…. I know I can’t book Emirates but can I book a QF flight that is operated by Emirates or will that void the 280K points?
Thanks very much for your help,
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
Any flights Emirates, whether it is a codeshare with QF (so it has a QF flight number) in your itinerary will reprice the award and you’ll end up paying much more than 280k because the engine will price it as two or more awards.
Hi Cath, this is one of the best use of Qantas points. 280k points and you get to fly around the world in Business.
Most of the airlines in the One World alliance are great, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Qatar, you can’t go wrong with them.
I have flown only first class on British Airways and I liked it, but their business class product looks really crap in my opinion, plus the taxes are high and British Airways charges you a fee, up to $120 to select your seat in Business!!! the audacity.
Planning these itineraries are frustrating but at the same time, exciting.
If you must fly out of London, try transit through by originating out of another European city (which is great if you are already in Europe) to save yourself paying the high London departure tax.
This is a great article and I’ve used it to book a multi-stop business class trip through Europe and Africa later in the year. What I am stuck with, and am hoping others might have a solution for, is that when I used the Qantas website to view Finn Air flights from Singapore to Helsinki and then Helsinki onto Vienna (a flight that’s three hours after the first), there are business class seats available for each leg individually, but Qantas told me the flights had to be booked together, and there was no business class availability for the combined route. The operator said it wasn’t related to timing between flights, just that some routes have to be booked together. The same applied if I tried to fly out of Helsinki to a number of other European destinations, unless I chose flights that were approximately 8 hours after arriving in Helsinki. Has anyone else found a way around this? It’s very frustrating that there is availability when separated out but not combined together.
Hi Tori,
That is one of those strange quirks in the system, the same thing happens with Singapore Airlines.
Unfortunately there is no way around it, unless you try and call again and speak to another agent who can try to piece it together.
Ive had issues in the past before and one QF agent couldn’t solve it but when I called again, I got a different agent and she booked it without any issues.
As this is a multi-city booking and not really a rtw, is there actually a requirement to return to the original departure airport?
Hi Chris
I just read in the terms and conditions:
“14.5.3 – ….Oneworld Classic Flight Reward itineraries finishing in a port other than the port of origin must include the distance to return directly to the port of origin when calculating the number of points required to redeem the flight reward and the maximum distance for the itinerary.”
So I would say, yes, this would be possible.
Thank you for a great article.
So in a nutshell
Keep under 35k
Use same cabin class
Book in advance
Max 5 stop overs.
Avoid the high tax carrriers.
No emirates
I flew malaysia airline from syd to paris business class and used almist 300k points plus 1100 in tax. Great experience but felt a bit ripped off by the 1100 tax.
Is there a way to pay absolute minimun tax.
I have accumulated 1.7m points. And want to takr me and partner for 1st class bliss. One this year and another one the year after
Are there any other advanced tips?
Adding in 5 stops for less than 24 hours. Can i arrange a daytrip at various countries.
Also i dont want to go on a crappy first xlass. Obviously emirates would be up there but is unavaialablrm what other airlines are up there in paradise?
Also as per your example. Eg first class
420k points to go around the world and multiole stops. But if you used your points to do a return trip via airlines its 408k ppints for a single destination.
Seems like the value of the rtw is magnitutes better for points redemption. I csnt think of a better points to dollar ratio. Am l missing something
Hi Joe,
I think there is just no way to compare the One World airlines First class product to Emirates, in terms of food, beverage, service, shower etc.
The closest for me, would be Japan Airlines but they stopped flying First Class to Sydney last year.
With the One World alliance, I’ve flown First Class on British Airways, Qantas, Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific.
They were all good in their own ways and some where better than others, but no one compares to Emirates.
If you have 1.7 million points, I’d try First Class at least once, because the difference in taxes between First and Business are not much, probably $20 or $80.
I cannot seem to find any economy rewards flights with AA (American Airlines), they only appear for Alaska which is not part of one world. I am using the qantas search tool. Am I doing something wrong?
Qantas has had some issues with finding AA space in the past few months. I’d suggest searching on the AA and/or BA websites and then calling Qantas to confirm.
is it just me or is the qantas website super buggy and almost impossible to use to get this done? i’ve tried 5 times but can’t get past the 4th flight without timing out – unresponsive. my internet is fine. used chrome and edge to no avail
HI Jeremy,
It is. For me even simple Melbourne to Paris flights i have trouble booking sometimes.
It is frustrating.
This probably won’t help. but scroll right to the bottom on your page and see “Viewing Tips”
click on that and make sure that all your browser status “passed”.
Not sure if it will help, but worth a shot.
SO this seems like a silly question but you never know!
Does Qantas have any issue with you booking additional flights outside of this ticket through them but on separate itineraries?
Basically, I would like to use my stopovers as hubs to travel from, but at the same time I still have my loyalty to the program and would like to claim the additional credits from flight I would pay for!
Has anyone ever done this?
Actually seems like this isn’t possible anyway! Seems I will have to go direct through the domestic carrier
I cannot see any problem in doing so.
Hi,
Great and informative article, I’ve been researching the RTW for a while and only recently have I started making attempts at booking.
I’ve constructed a business class itinerary that fits into the criteria <35k miles, etc.
ADL-AEP (via SYD/SCL) [Qantas/LATAM]
AEP-BOG (via GRU) [LATAM]
BOG-MEX (via LIM) [LATAM]
MEX-MAD [Iberia]
MAD-HKG [Cathay]
HKG-ADL [Cathay]
Flights between Nov ’18 and Dec ’18.
All hunky dory capping at the 280k points, but at the final step to calculate the fares and taxes the Qantas website returns a “We could not find fare for the requested itinerary (5685 UI)” error.
Has anyone else experienced this issue? Or is there something I’m doing wrong?
Thanks in advance,
Tom
Hi Tom,
That is a great itinerary. Wonderful way to maximise your points!
And unfortunately the Qantas website has been buggy lately.
I tried to book my flights and have had a lot of issues trying to reach the payment page.
I would suggest calling the agent and booking via the phone, but also letting them know of the website problem so they dont charge you a phone booking fee.
Regards,
Nelson
Hi Tom,
We had the same problem and was never able to resolve. Qantas advised that it was actually a problem with LATAM, the flights you were seeing were actually not available.
We ended up booking completely different business class itinerary SYD-NRT-LAX-MIA-BOG-JFK-MAD-DOH-SYD (a few indirect flights not listed).
We only wanted to go to BOG though at one stage were looking at other South American destinations and there did seem to be more availability with AA rather than LAN
Hope that helps
Hi Nelson and Nic,
Thanks for the replies, agreed that it was both the website being buggy and an issue with LATAM.
However, 3 months after my first attempt I finally got a working itinerary albeit via a slightly different route. Somehow the LATAM system was playing ball with the Qantas Multi-city search and managed to book everything.
ADL-MEX (via SYD/LAX) [Qantas/AA]
MEX-BOG (via DFW) [LATAM]
BOG-SCL [LATAM]
SCL-MAD (via GRU) [LATAM]
MAD-HKG (via BRU) [Iberia/Cathay (on the A350)]
HKG-ADL [Cathay]
33,490 miles, Business class – 280k pts $744 in taxes.
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=adl-syd-Lax-mex-dfw-bog-scl-gru-mad-bru-hkg-adl
Fantastic article.
I have a few basic questions.
I have been saving points aggressively for years now and have a nice little pile
I want to go all out at minimal cost of course
Years ago I used my qff points to do return business class to a single European country for personal reasons. The trip cost me about 280k points and $1100 on taxes and fuel. At this time there were sale fares to the same destination via economy for about $1200. So I felt I got a free business upgrade for 280k points. Rather than a full trip. I I would have liked to pay very little tax
Your article mentions which airlines have high taxes but is there a way to work out the cheapest taxes. Or how much tax can I possibly pay the least for and do one of the examples posted on the article.
I understand a rtw trip. Via business would cost 6k and above however If I’m using 280k points via rtw and having to pay 2k in taxes feels a bit silly.
Also. Second question. You can have multiple 24 he stopovers without counting as a stop. What’s the point of a 24 hour stopover? I suppose some stops may be a transit and you can’t leave the airport or if you can 24 hours isn’t much to do anything
Hi John,
Any itinerary that involves Qantas, Qatar and British Airways is guaranteed to have high fuel surcharges. Thats from my experience. Cathay Pacific doesn’t charge as much.
The 24h stopover is not technically 24 hours, you are transiting for 23 hours and 59 minutes.
If it is 24 hours or 24 hour and 1 minute, the airline will count that as a stopover.
I’m wondering anyone have difficulties trying to redeem QF classic rewards for MH flights? I’m cannot find any MH flights listed on any MH routes but only KUL – SIN route. It’s showing BA flights only; or QF via SIN then MH to KUL. Not sure what are their deals behind these but I’m find it weird under “One World” policies.
Reason why I’m asking because I’m interested to try their new A350 for my trips from LHR – KUL next year.
Anyone?
Qantas.com just introduced online searching and booking capabilities for Malaysia Airlines a few months ago but maybe it’s having problems—try searching on the BA website instead. More info here.
Thanks Matt. Will check it out
I did this the a few months ago.
Around the world in 30 days it was a blast. My Itinerary was Sydney Shanghai, Cruise to Kochi Japan, Osaka London, London Milan, Milan London, London NYC, NYC Vancouver, Vancouver San Fran, San Fran Sydney.
All booked through Qantas. I highly recommend this!
Doing my next trip in August!
Thats a great use of points Bryon.
The planning process wouldn’t be easy but the end result is worth it, crisscrossing the world in the lap of luxury.
Hi
In 2015 I flew economy RTW
Melbourne- Sydney- Dallas – Huntsville-Washington DC-London then by high speed train to Paris-Ashford-Brussels-Bruges-Brussels-Amsterdam then back on the plane for Amsterdam-Hong Kong – Melbourne.
In that trip I visited the grassy knoll in Dallas (where JFK was killed), Huntsville Space Centre, Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Lincoln Memorial, British Museum, Hyde Park, Montmartre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Palace of Versailles, War Museum, Sacre Coeur, Atomium, Bruges town centre, the Rijkesmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Kinderdyke, Dysneyladn Hong Kong, The Peak and the Star Ferry and various other attractions. on top of that I also got to steer aq tourist boat down the canals of Amsterdam. Best 140,000 points I ever spent.
Sounds like a great trip!
Thanks for sharing Peter, were the taxes and fuel surcharge high?
They will vary depending on who you fly with and from where. I got mine down to about $900.
Nelson, Thanks so much for this awesome article I just booked a RWT using the Qantas search engine, as you mention you have to have a fair amount of patience. I booked my flights 300 days out to get the flights I wanted the entire trip is Business class. Also to get the business flights I wanted I decided to fly for example via KUL it gave me more options on my flight home. I’m really excited to be going on such a great trip. I know it takes time to write informative articles like this but with out your help I may not have had such and easy booking journey.
For those interested my itinerary is:
MEL-HKG,/HKG-LHR,/LHR-YVR,/YVR-JFK,/JFK-BNA,/JFK-HKG/HKG-BKK/BKK-KUL/KUL-MEL
all up 32.316 miles
Hi Steve,
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
That is a great itinerary and really wonderful use of your points. You really maximized it with 32,000 miles. What was the taxes on it?
Yes I know, having planned a number of RTWs myself over the years, I know how difficult it is. But it is worth it in the end.
Glad to have helped and I really appreciate the feedback from readers who have found it useful.
Let me know how you go with your trip when its completed.
Regards,
Nelson Yap
Best thing was the total cash cost at the end of the day for 4 weeks came to $8,000 including spending money. So very good value for a rtw trip.
.
Hi Nelson,
Thanks for your article and also to the other contributors on the site. I’m new to this but have a Q Amex card for private and business. I’m planning a trip for 2 years away and plan on having enough QFF points for 2 Business RTW flights. Just as well I’m planning this far ahead as there is a lot to learn I am finding out. Not sure how anyone would do it without the help of this site.
Anyway my question (which was sort of answered earlier but I’m still a bit confused):
I am planning a 6 week trip basically Melb/Oslo/Paris/London/New York/ Toronto/ Vancouver/Melb. Probably a surface sector or 2 in there. Obviously it’s best to book 353 days in advance however over 6 weeks from first flight to last how do I do this? I’ve checked Melb/Oslo 6 weeks ago and there are no Business seats left so I can’t leave booking until 6 weeks prior to my last leg.
Hi Ian,
Thanks for commenting.
In these cases, you will have to book the flights as availability opens up.
Some readers have had success booking 300 days out, and you can take that risk and try to do it then. But it would mean you have given other people 50 days head start.
The only problem with booking it one at a time with qantas is that they will charge you an amendment fee each time,
So if you do that, try to lock in as many flights as possible, so the “amendments” are minimal.
Regards,
Nelson
Is it possible to redeem it in economy now, and then in half a years time upgrade to business? Or will I cop a change fee? Don’t have the 280k points now, but want to lock in the flights ASAP. Thanks.
Daniel, there’s no point in doing what you want. You want to book a Y RTW award now, and then change it to a J RTW later on when you have the points… but in 6 months time when you have the points, you’d be incredibly unlikely to have availability in J for the flights you want. Best to just wait until you have the points you need to a J RTW and then book it 350-ish days out from travel. Sad, but that’s really the only way to redeem points these days (for J cabin anyway)
Has anyone info about which, airlines that are affiliates of oneworld airlines can be used in a RTW itinerary booked with QFF points as a oneworld Classic Flight Reward?
After a couple of calls to the QFF call centre (which fortunately now seems to operate 24/7) I have the impression that only some affiliates (non budget) can be used, for example Qantaslink but not Jetstar. Also that American Eagle (an AA affiliate) and Cathay Dragon (a Cathay affiliate) are OK.
The full list of oneword affiliate airlines is here:
http://www.oneworld.com/member-airlines/oneworld-airline-affiliates
Also, I am I correct in assuming that, even if there is oneworld airline code sharing, flights on non oneworld airlines can not be used?
It’s a few years since I used points for this type of itinerary and am keen to have accurate up to date info before I invest more time into exploring my options.
Thanks
Hi,
That is correct, those affiliates are excluded from the RTW.
If you flew Jetstar, even just for a 1 hour flight, you will automatically trigger the ticket to be repriced and it will cost extra.
Non-one world airlines are also excluded, such as Emirates and Alaska airlines or China Eastern.
I’ve just got to 300,000 points. Thanks for the great guide. I’m finding the QF booking engine a little buggy, am just looking at possibilities now but quite a few times I’ve had Q surcharge in the range of $6,000 to $8,000 dollars, meaning a trip in J is $8k to $10k. Then almost the same itinerary, there is no Q surcharge. I called Qantas who just confirmed that must be the case!. Anyway I’ll just keep playing, using your tips, hardest thing is making a decision, I’ve got a shortlist of 10 cities ahaha. Thanks again.
That is awfully high, what airlines are you looking at because fuel surcharges between $6000-8000 sounds crazy.
Are you choosing Emirates? or Pay + Points?
Thanks for all the helpful responses, does anyone know the applicable cancellation fees (points/dollars?) when booking an entire business class (280,000 points) ticket online?
Hi Robert, the fees are the standard QF cancellation fees,
https://www.pointhacks.com.au/qantas-change-cancellation-fee-increase-dec-2016/
Hi all,
Am trying an itinerary, can’t get it down to the 140,000 points. Looking for Feb / March, using Qantas site, all flights have availability on desired dates but showing 197500 points required
bne-hkg (Cathay)
hkg-lax (AA)
Lax-sea-lax-den-dfw-was-ord (all on AA)
overland from ORD – LAX
Lax-hnl (AA)
Hnl-syd-bne (QF)
The distance is 26614 miles, only using oneworld (Qantas, Cathay, American). Am I breaking a rule somewhere?
Am just trying to get all those USA cities and Honolulu for 140k points – only included Hong Kong stopover to get a third OW airline. Any other ideas without the Hong Kong extra also appreciated
Oh – now I see that the stopovers are the problem. But I can’t see anywhere on this page that the stopover limits / rules are explained. I just noticed in some comments that there is some stopover rule. What is the rule? max five stopovers? Can’t see the rule anywhere. Sorry.
Yep – 5 max destinations BUT you can have a stopover in a city for less than 24 hours that doesn’t count (it’s seen as a transfer).
I.e. In my itinerary below, I am travelling from Melb to Rio but travelling via Aukland (stopping there for 23 hours) and Santiago (stopping there to 6 hours) and onto Rio. Both are transfers and the main stop is Rio.
Happy planning – it’s half the fun of travelling 🙂
I am currently trying to book a round the world trip for mid next-year. I have had no trouble seeing the flights for Qantas, Cathay, American & British Airways but a lot of the legs don’t fit in with my dates. I wanted to look in to connecting flight to the US and Europe by flying Malaysia Airlines and Japan Airlines but those two airlines never show up for me on the Qantas multi-city booking tool, any suggestions?
“…the British Airways search engine…[provides]…results for partners like Japan Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, which do not show up on the Qantas website.” Read more here.
Hi, i booked my RTW trip with 280k qantas points but some segments i’m not flying business and i know some open up closer to the date. Are changed permitted after starting the journey?
Hi Nelson, thanks for the guide. Wanted to share our itinerary also, we went on this trip last year and sites like points hacks, and aus frequent flyer forum were invaluable resources. We firstly flew a positioning flight to Auckland as we wanted to spend time there on both ends of the trip.
Stop 1: AKL – SYD – LAX – LAS
Qantas, Qantas, American
Overland: LAS – PHL
Stop 2: PHL – FRA – TXL
American, Air Berlin
Overland: TXL – MAD
Stop 3: MAD – MEX
Iberia
Stop 4: MEX – LIM – BOG
LAN Airlines
Overland: BOG – SCL
Stop 5: SCL – AKL
LAN Airlines
Total miles travelled: 34,695
Hi Nelson
Thanks so much for an incredibly useful article.
My partner and I are looking to take a year off traveling and use our points balance to book RTW business class flights for the bulk of our trip’s major legs, roughly: BNE SCL EZE LIM SJO YYC JFK CIA DEL KUL DPS BNE, starting March next year.
However, as reward flights are only published about a year before scheduling we can’t book the entire trip now and/or run the risk that some business seats won’t be available if we book closer to departure. Based on the comments on here I see two options and wanted to get people’s thoughts:
1) Book the entire trip at once, probably about six months before travel, compressing the back end flights into the final weeks of the ~355 day period. Then rebook the later half of the flights to the later actual desired dates almost a year later, wearing the 3,500 points/change on the final 4 legs or so. Total cost = about 294k points / seat.
2) Start booking the trip now and add the other flights sequentially, hoping the rules don’t change and the points balance will be righted once RTW rules are met. Total cost = 280k (but might be higher intially)
I’m leaning towards option 1 in around Sept (as I’ll have silver status by then) as I think this would provide greater certainty in case the RTW rules change. What do others think?
Really appreciate everyone’s input,
Tam
Option 1 is what I did when I used the RTW, it is fine to change routing if no availability comes up. You only pay to change the itinerary not each leg, and you will lock in the flights you want to take earlier in the booking.
Thank you for this guide Nelson! It is the best resource on Qantas RTW points that I found.
I’ve just booked my honeymoon (Iceland, Paris, Kenya, Tanzania, Maldives, HongKong) travelling in November in business, and would like to share a few additional tips
Syd>[Doha]>Paris (Qatar)
Paris>[London]>Nairobi (BA…unavoidable unfortunately)
Nairobi>[Doha]>Male (Qatar)
Male>[HongKong]>Melb (Cathay)
Melb>Syd (Qantas)
Incremental Tips:
– Book using a Platinum or Platinum One friend’s account! Practically speaking there is no risk or cost in borrowing a friend/relative’s status in booking. This gave much more seat availability than my poor 0 status credit Bronze. Given I booked only 4 months out from my trip, I was lucky to get all legs in business except HK to Melb, which is in premium economy on Cathay – not possible with my on QFF account.
– A previous reader asked this too – You CANNOT have 3 stopovers at the same location. I had to use BA rather than Qatar because 3 transits through DOHA was not eligible for the 280K award.
– Augment your trip with additional non-Oneworld flights. I have separately booked Paris to Iceland return, and Nairobi to Tanzania return flights, as trying to find schedules that worked using points is almost impossible. Given they are short distances, booking them in economy did not add much cost to the overall booking
– As mentioned, avoid BA if possible… expensive taxes and charges.
– Use an excel spreadsheet – whenever you find a good potential flight, record the flight number and time onto your spreadsheet. After a few goes (hours) on the multi-city search tool, you’ll have a built up a database that you can mix and match
Hi
Does Cairns- Hong Kong- New York (with Cathay) – New York – Toronto (American) -Toronto- Hong Kong – Cairns (Cathay) meet all the rules for around the world ?
Thanks
I got to say a HUGE thank you for this page. I really didn’t think it was possible, I’ve just booked a trip of a lifetime using the advice provided here.
It started with a friend recommending the Amex Velocity Card (long story short, applied and I now have 150k points). Then applied for the Amex Explorer Card (I know it says you’re not eligible if you have had an Amex card within the past 18 months. I just ticked the box ‘I haven’t had a previous card’, it was approved and before you know it I’ve got 120k points). So, it worked with Explorer card, so why not the Amex Qantas card? (Yep – it did and got 130k points from it).
Then I read this page and it got me thinking – so I applied and got the NAB Qantas Card (65k Qantas points there) and ANZ Black card (95k points in that one). So I’ve ended up with around 150k Virgin points, 295k Qantas points, 120k Explorer points and already have about 30k Qatar points.
So it got me thinking, if I could go anywhere in the world flying Business Class – where would I go? So I designed my bucket list tour – going to continents and places I’ve never been before. It’ll be grueling, but a lot of fun.
First, the One World itinerary and then I’ll go into more detail about the extra’s.
Melbourne to Rio de Janeiro (via Auckland and Santiago)
Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town (via London)
Cape Town to Doha – Hong Kong
Dubai to Hong Kong
Hong Kong to Melbourne
All this come in at just under 35,000 miles (34,340!)
But the actual trip starts in Australia (using the free Virgin flights with the Amex Velocity card) to fly to the Gold Coast (and climb Australia’s tallest residential tower, QV1), then to Sydney to climb the Harbour bridge, then to Darwin to jump in the Croc cage), then to Uluru and skydive over the rock, then back to Melbourne (all this using the Virgin Velocity points).
Then from Melbourne to Auckland (there for less than 24 hours – enough time to jump off the Sky Tower), then to Santiago (6 hours to quickly explore the city) then to Rio! In Rio I will be paragliding over Ipanema beach (and a side trip to Buenos Aires and Montevideo) then off to Cape Town (via London – 8 hours to get to check out the city). Half the trip is the journey and enjoying all that Business Class has to offer.
Cape Town is about getting up and close with great white sharks and then off to Doha. Now you can change your Amex Explorer points to Emirates points. So I’ll use my Qatar points to get to Cairo (great Pyramids), and then jump onto Emirates to get to Petra, Jordan and Agra, India. Then to Dubai and flying Cathy Pacific to Hong Kong. I’ll use that base to get to Beijing (Great Wall) and Seoul. By that stage, my 7 weeks annual leave will be over and time to head back to Hong Kong to fly back to Melbourne.
Trip of a lifetime – thanks to PointsHacks!
What an amazing trip you have planned there John! Hope you’ll be having a wonderful time. Although can I ask in regards to credit card applications, did you leave any gap in between applying these cards? Like how often did you apply for those credit cards. As I’ve read, it’s not recommended to apply too many credit card at once as it will significantly affect the credit rating. Also well done on getting all 3 Amex cards!
Cheers,
Tania
Thanks Tania!
I was lucky where I dont have any debt; a stable job and income and a clear credit history. You’re right – it isn’t advisable to apply to a lot of credit too soon. I checked my credit history with Veda and my score hasnt changed too much.
With Amex – even though I applied for 3 credit cards, only one credit check was done on my file (they already had performed the check so didn’t need to do it again). the application and successful outcome literally took 3 minutes. This may be different for each person depending on your situation. But I applied and received the cards within a 8 month period. I had read that Amex had tightened up people getting the into 100k point bonus offer if they already had the card in the previous 18months – but then also read of a guy who wrote that he flies business every year by applying for the cards every year, getting the points and then closing the account.
Good luck!
Hi
Im trying to travel Cairns to Toronto return. The return points flying direct using Cathay Business (Qantas Points) are much higher then 280000. As such can I go Cairns- Hong Kong- New York (with Cathay) – New York – Toronto (American) Toronto- Hong Kong – Cairns (Cathay) and meet all the rules.
Thanks
Thanks Nelson for this guide. I used it for the following 280k RTW redemption in biz class:
SYD-MNL on QF
MNL-SFO (via NRT) on JAL
LAX-DUS on Air Berlin
LHR-SIN on MH
PEK-SYD
Individually pricing up all of the flights (not that anyone would pay the individual rates necessarily) came out at close to $40k USD.
I’m now ready to do my next RTW redemption. I’m a little confused as to what constitutes a ‘stop’ and when the backtracking rule kicks in.
E.g.
MEL-KUL
MNL-WAW (via DOH)
DUS-MNL (via HKG)
MNL-SFO (via HKG)
SFO-MEL (via SYD)
Are the stops counted as KUL, MNL, WAW, DUS, MNL, SFO (hence exceeding the 5 stops rule)?
Or are the stops counted as KUL, WAW, MNL, SFO only? (effectively taking the right column of the listed flights)?
Thanks!
Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been away on my Singapore Airlines first class flight 🙂
That is a great redemption and even better when you know you saved $40k!
A stopover is when it is over 24 hours in a city. If you are in a city for 23 hours and 59 minutes, it is considered a transit.
QF doesn’t really have an official backtracking rule and they are quite flexible, so it is possible to zig zag around.
Just wondering why this doesnt seem to cap at the 280,000 points when searching using https://www.qantas.com/fflyer/do/dyns/InitialPointsRedeemed
My trip was as follows, can anyone see if i missed anything… Total was 401,000
Qantas/QantasLink Brisbane – Los Angeles (stop) 96000 8 (7166) Business Qantas
Qantas/QantasLink Los Angeles – New York (stop) 50000 4 (2467) Business Qantas
British Airways New York – London (stop) 53000 4 (3440) Business Partner
British Airways London – Athens (stop) 38000 3 (1500) Business Partner
British Airways Athens – London – Hong Kong (stop) 104000 8 (7491) Business Partner
Qantas/QantasLink Hong Kong – Brisbane (stop) 60000 5 (4315) Business Qantas
Thanks all 🙂
Hi Jonathan,
Did you use gcmap.com to tally up?
the Qantas website is a bit glitchy at the moment, so you might need to ticket that via the telephone.
I noticed it the other day when I try to price QF and EK business, it was well within the maximum miles, but QF priced it as 2 awards, from Melbourne to Sydney with QF and Sydney to London via Dubai with Emirates, all up wanted to charge me around 150k points, rather than 128k.
QF seems to be pricing multiple awards when you try online and the glitch isnt going away right now, so our best hope is call and price the itinerary via the telephone and explain that there is a glitch on the website so the agent can waive the phone booking fee.
I know this post is a bit old and the number of miles required might have changed, but I see there are recent comments which say that they have been able to get a RTW priced within the miles specified.
I am just using this tool: https://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/multi-city-flight-search/global/en and no amount of date swapping gets me a fare that takes 280000 miles only for business. The best I could get was 475K with a few economy flights to boot.
I have tried all the examples given in this post, including the ones in the comments. There are no Emirates, Malaysia Airlines or Japan Airlines in my bookings.
So I am wondering if I am doing something wrong 🙂 Is that still the right tool?
Hi Vikram,
Yes the post is old but the rates are still current.
Is Jetstar included in any flights or other non One World airlines?
Can you list city pairs (to and from) and airline flying that route.
Hey Nelson,
I tried the same route as Alpha Yankee (for example):
Sydney – Singapore – Helsinki on Qantas and Finnair;
Helsinki – New York on Finnair;
New York – San Francisco on American Airlines;
San Francisco – Phoenix – Honolulu on American Airlines;
Honolulu – Nagoya – Tokyo on Japan Airlines; (with the 1 hour Nagoya – Tokyo flight in economy)
Tokyo – Sydney on Qantas.
No there is no Jetstar option. I get the same airlines as Alpha Yankee, but my total is coming much higher. Further, the option from Tokyo – Sydney doesn’t allow me Business at all.
I don’t know what is going on then, it might be a glitch in Qantas system.
if that is the case, you probably have to call Qantas once you find the award seats one by one.
You can’t book Japan Airlines with Qantas, that has to be done over the telephone.
Thanks for a really useful article.
Keen to know if I am doing something wrong – I’m having a play around with a RTW trip via the mutli-city booking tool, using classic rewards. I’m keen to do a RTW trip in economy with the 140,000 cap (no potential for extra points).
I’ve put in SYD-HKG-DXB-BCN-JFK-LAX-SYD – comes in at 174,000 – should it be capping out at 140,000? Only 25,000 miles. Let me know if I’m doing something wrong!
Cheers,
Luke
Is it becauase the HKG-DXB leg is Emirates?
Yes, Emirates is not one world.
Hi Luke,
What airlines have you selected?
Thank you Nelson for such a comprehensive guide. After almost 18 months of points saving, we’ve finally taken the plunge, and 560,000 points later we have our 2 X Oneworld business class RTW tickets booked. Our trip starts next Australia Day long weekend until early March. Your guide was of enormous help.
We monitored and researched all flights through the Qantas and BA search engines (only used BA to search for JAL flights) online before we called Qantas. By the time I picked up the phone, all flights’ availability were researched and written down – the phone call took no more than 15 minutes.
Distance wise it’s not pushing the boundary – a total of 28,978 miles (46,636km) according to Great Circle Mapper, but it takes us to exactly where we want to be:
Sydney – Singapore – Helsinki on Qantas and Finnair;
Helsinki – New York on Finnair;
New York – San Francisco on American Airlines;
San Francisco – Phoenix – Honolulu on American Airlines;
Honolulu – Nagoya – Tokyo on Japan Airlines; (with the 1 hour Nagoya – Tokyo flight in economy)
Tokyo – Sydney on Qantas.
Hay Alpha,
Great redemption and great use of points, truly well worth the 18 months month.
Multi-city and RTW are my favorite redemptions.
I always look forward to reading about readers taking advantage of this redemption and maximising their points.
Why visit only one city when you can visit a number of cities for only slightly more points.
Now we just have to wait patiently for our trip to start. =)
Thanks for the tips Nelson – particularly on the dumplings! 🙂
No worries 🙂 I’m not sure if you have been to Spain, but I love it, although I’ve only ever been to Barcelona, not Madrid.
Barcelona was fantastic, 1.50 euro margaritas, 3.0 euro tapas dinners, washed down with 2 litre sangria for only 4 euros, it is wonderful! Just be prepared to have dinner at 9-10PM haha
The Cathay Pacific noodle bar has delicious succulent prawn dumplings, made fresh and on demand, definitely a great way to end your trip on your way back to Melbourne.
The Qantas lounge in Hong Kong also has yum cha too but only operates when there are Qantas flights operating, so worth checking to see if your departure is timed with a Qantas flight departure.
But obviously the lounge food can’t beat the real delicious food in Hong Kong.
I have and I love Spain but haven’t been to Hong Kong before. Can’t wait to feast on all the good food! And check out the Cathay lounges 🙂
I first came across this article a long time ago and it inspired me to save up my QFF points for a RTW business class redemption. It’s taken time but I finally had enough points come through to my account on Friday and over the weekend I booked two business class fares for March 2018 as follows:
Melbourne to Santiago (overnight but not more than 23h55m) on to Lima and then Cusco
Cusco-Lima-Miami
Miami-Madrid
Madrid-Johannesburg
Johannesburg-Hong Kong
Hong Kong-Melbourne
This article has been so helpful. I have known what route I wanted for a while and checked seat availability on BA first so as soon as the points went on I was able to ring and score the seats. I had to book via the call centre as I couldn’t access the flights on the Qantas website. They charged me 6000 points per seat for assisting.
I’ll echo other comments here and say the call centre can be good, but it does depend on who you get. The first person I got I had to really step through the process. It required about three further phone calls as they were having trouble calculating the taxes but finally it all went through yesterday. (One of the calls was to get most of the flights back as they’d been cancelled by other airlines because Qantas hadn’t sorted the fees out in time).
I’m flying LATAM, Iberia and Cathay Pacific and the taxes came to $1400 each (of which $950 was fuel surcharges). Thanks to everyone for all the helpful comments – this is such a great way to use points and I can’t wait!
Thanks for posting Cathy, this is a wonderful itinerary, it is really creative!
The taxes and surcharges are stinging but when you consider that $1400 is not even enough to fly one-way economy class to USA, I think you have done really well to do this entire trip in Business Class!!!
A retail fare on One World for your itinerary would have cost at least $10,000, so this is a bargain.
By the way if you had trouble with Qantas website, normally the agent is supposed to waive the 6,000 points booking fee.
It is up to you, you can probably chase it up and get it refunded, although the thought of being on hold for 2 hours on QF (I don’t have status), probably not worth it for 6,000 points haha.
Enjoy your trip, I’ve never been to Madrid, but I heard great things about it.
If you have time, take the high speed rail to Barcelona, it is around 2 hours 30mins, and Barcelona is a beautiful city – one of the favorite destinations in Europe.
From Barcelona you can also take high speed trail to Paris, only 5 hours! haha sorry I’m getting carried away.
Anyway, don’t forget to enjoy the multiple Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges in Hong Kong, they are my favorite places to get dumplings and won tons.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experiences!
http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/your-questions/35k-mile-routing-challenge-f-82164.html#post1617644
I’m trying to do this, but it’s really hard… check out my challenge on the link above…
Hi Timmy,
Unfortunately it is first come first serve.
And trying to book First class 4 months out will be difficult.
When i booked my RTW F class award three years ago, I booked it 11 months out.
My advice is to keep looking, revenue management could release more seats.
Yes it works if you are prepared to be flexible and book rewards flights as early as possible.
Booked 2 x business class flight reward seats for 280,000 QF points each, in all the sectors in July 2016 for travel in June 2017 for:
Sydney – Stockholm (Sydney-Adelaide QF, Adelaide-Stockholm via Doha Qatar, Stockholm-Lisbon BA via London, Lisbon-Barcelona Iberia via Madrid, Barcelona-Hong Kong Qatar via Doha and Hong Kong-Sydney with Cathay.
Since it was an early booking there were some flight changes that caused connecting flight problems, but calls to Qantas fixed the issues – they were very helpful – and was not charged any additional points.
Hi Ian, thanks for sharing. I’m always keen to see how our readers maximise the value of their points.
That is a great redemption Ian, and great value out of the points when you consider that QF charges 139,000 points one-way for redemption flying One World partner airlines.
So your Sydney to Europe trip, would have cost 278,000 points booked as two one-way journeys, and you would have to pay extra $$$ for the internal Europe flights.
But for an extra 2,000 points, you have been able to secure all the internal flights within Europe as well, which has saved you between $1000-$3000, assuming you are flying business within Europe.
I know business class intra-europe is nothing special but lounge access is a godsend.
If you are going via London, you can probably stop by the new Cathay Pacific lounge, it looks fantastic or try out the new Cathay Pacific Hong Kong lounges.
Hi just curious, trying to book a business RTW reward, found all the international legs fine but looking for some internal Us flights and there is nothing on the Qantas sight (travel in jan 18). Based on the article, AA flights should be visible? Any idea why they’re not appearing or how I can book internal flights as part of this reward flight? Thanks!
Hi Tim,
Can you only see Economy seats?
Normally internal US flights, they call their business class as “first class”. so be careful when selecting, because you don’t want to pay First class award rates.
You may need to book without the AA flights and see if availability opens up later. AA availability does show reliably on Qantas.com so if you can’t see any, you’re probably out of luck at least for now.
Hi Thank you so much for the great article. Im currently trying to figure out our RTW itinerary business class. We are hoping to do: Melbourne -> Cairo, Cairo -> Helsinki, Helsinki -> Caymans, Caymans -> New York, New York -> Las Vagas, Las Vagas to home (Melbourne). Im already having issues trying to find flights for the first leg that are not emirates, does anyone know if I can get to Cairo in anyway without using emirates? Any other issues you see with my very draft RTW plan?
I’d check MEL or SYD to Doha and then Cairo with Qatar. Good luck!
Oh that worked! Thank you so much, I tried to google it but couldnt find an answer. Just to confirm I do select Search Classic Flight Reward flight in the Multi City option, don’t I?
Hi Kitty,
Yes correct, select classic flight reward.
Hi Nelson,
Your guide has been so helpful, thanks greatly for writing it!
I’m a little confused about the five stopover rule. Your “example two” has Sydney as origin plus 12 cities. Does this mean 7 of those cities had under 24 hours of tourism time in each?
When does it make sense to make something a “surface sector”?
If you don’t wish to change counties every 24 hours is the trick then to pick the six most expensive flights (Origin – City 1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5 – Origin) to include in capped amount, and fill anything else in with “surface sectors” paid out of pocket?
Hi Craig, correct if you are transiting in a city under 24 hours it does not count as a stopover.
It depends on your itinerary, a surface sector gets added into the total mileage.
But in my mind, I suppose if you are in some random European town and you want to drive to another European town/city but don’t want to head back to the airport which is 600km away, get on a plane and fly to the another city, then you just drive or take the train.
I dont understand you last question? This itinerary does allow you stop in each city you are visiting and could be more than 24 hours.
I.e. If you want to fly into Paris and take the train to Barcelona and fly out of Barcelona, the distance between Paris and Barcelona is added towards your mileage allowance.
Otherwise you can take the train Paris to Barcelona and back, and fly out of Paris, and no extra mileage will be added to your itinerary.
I managed to book this flight today and am quite pleased. The Qantas call centre staff member was very patient and helpful, especially in finding other flight alternatives when two of the award flights I’d found online no longer showed availability at her end.
ADL-KUL-BKK (Adelaide to Bangkok)
BKK-HKG-DFW-CUN (Bangkok to Cancun, Mexico) + make own way to Austin
AUS-LGA (Austin Texas to New York)
JFK-TXL (New York to Berlin)
TXL-ZUR-MAD (Berlin to Madrid, with transit layover in Zurich) + make own way to Dublin
DUB-LHR-HKG-ADL (Dublin to Adelaide)
140,000 points for economy + $1021 taxes
FYI: It took a little over 2 hours on the phone, which did include trying to find alternatives to two legs as mentioned (I’d been on hold for 25 min before getting answered, Monday 9.15am AEST approx).
Very nice itinerary. Yes it is always good to get helpful agents who can find seats for you.
Also doing it via the phone means you can redeem on One World partners not searchable via the QF online search engine. Partners like Japan Airlines and Malaysia Airlines just to name a few.
Looking at booking the following in Business Class for 2 people when bookings open 353 days ahead but wondered if you have any suggestions to minimise the taxes and surcharges. I have tried to remember all the info in point hacks but all suggestions will be gratefully accepted as I’m sure I have forgotten something. Do I also have to include 2 Qantas flights? I haven’t done that.
Melbourne to Tokyo. Japan Airlines. 4 nights
Tokyo to Hong Kong(transit) to San Francisco. 6 nights.Cathay Pacific. First leg may be Japan Airlines?
San Francisco to New York. American Airlines 7 nights
New York to London…..Are taxes less at Gatwick or Heathrow and do all one world airlines fly into both (Need to stay here for a couple of weeks ) Not sure who best to fly with as It is suggested that BA have high taxes?? American Airlines?
London to Copenhagen, again staying for a month or so .. Who will be cheapest with taxes and surcharges in Europe? Air Berlin? Cathay Pacific?
Copenhagen back to Melbourne. Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong.
Sorry for so many questions but I am trying to get it right the first time so I have less changes to make. We are flexible with where we fly into or transit through.Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions of alternatives from anyone are welcome.
Nanette
The airlines you are planning to fly on have minimal surcharges.
The One World airlines to avoid are British Airways, Qantas and Qatar. Although Qatar is not as bad as BA and QF.
Unless the flights originate from Hong Kong where the surcharges are lower due to government regulations. But because your flight originates from Australia, that won’t apply.
If you depart from London and your flight distance is less than 2000 miles, you won’t pay a huge Advanced Passenger Departure (APD) tax.
From April 01 2017, APD taxes for business/first class passengers departing is up to 150 pounds per passenger compared to 13 pounds if you fly out of UK to a country less than 2000 miles.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-air-passenger-duty/rates-and-allowances-excise-duty-air-passenger-duty
However you can avoid that APD, if you are transiting
Noting that you don’t need to return to the city of departure… but the mileage will calculate back to departing city, regardless of where you finish.
Is there a way of booking stopovers (less than 24hrs) when booking the itinerary online with the multi-city function?
Also, I’m likely to end my trip in Europe before home to Adelaide, and my searches keep throwing up Emirates as the only option on the final leg, which means the points don’t get capped with the inclusion of Emirates. Any thoughts on alternatives?
Suggestion on the Adelaide options – take a look at Cathay Pacific via HK, or Malaysia Airlines via Kuala Lumpur (which wouldn’t show online).
Managed a really good itinerary for 3 following this guide…
Mel – dubai
Dubai – london
London – paris
Paris – berlin
Berlin – London – New york
New York – LA
La – mel
All around Easter in 2016, but booked a full year in advance.
Taxes about $1000 but a great use of points.
That’s a really good itinerary. Real good value for money.
Wonderful article.
Could you clarify one thing for me? “Avoid flying out of the UK”… does this mean only LHR? Say, does London City still charge the same surcharges/taxes/fees, whatever they may be?
Unfortunately, yes. There are two exceptions which I learnt from the Head for Points site in the UK this week – Newquay (not relevant for Qantas redemption as Newquay – LGW is only flown by flybe who are not a Qantas partner) and Inverness (which can work as BA fly Inverness -> London).
Oh well. Thanks Keith!
Well that’s a bit of good news! So, what’s the easiest way to see seat availability (on line) for those other airlines?
Thanks, Deb
The best bet is to use the one-way or multi-city search tool.
Cathay Pacific, British Airways (Sin-Syd) and Qatar are all searchable on Qantas engine.
Just wondering if you can start and end an Qantas points RTW journey in another country – say, Singapore or Malaysia. Given the difficulty in obtaining reward seats in business class between Aus and USA just thought of picking up a separate cheap flight in and out of Asia. We have been saving points for a few years to do the RTW in business class only to find it’s not that easy, plus you have to book soooo far in advance.
Di Deb,
Yes you can.
I would suggest having a look at Cathay Pacific, Qantas, British Airways, Qatar flights across all capital cities.
Cathay flies to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns and they typically open up unsold seats 2 weeks out from desired travel date.
And the cost to tag that flight with QF at the call centre would be 3500 QF points if you are booked in Business Class or First. Costs more if its an economy class redemption.
We just have to be flexible.
In my upcoming trip, I couldn’t get any seats out of Melbourne, so I’m transiting via Sydney instead.
I was considering using Qantas points for an economy reward fare from NCL UK to PER AU but after reviewing it was better to buy a ticket.
Economy Reward 110,000 Qantas points
Carrier charges and taxes £529
Economy Fare £38
Carrier charges and taxes £529
Valuing 110,000 points @ £38 seems a bit rubbish.
Hi Alex,
I’ve never been a fan of using points for economy class redemptions, particularly with carriers which charge a hefty surcharge.
It is not good value for money in my opinion, since economy class tickets are so cheap.
IMHO you are absolutely right. For this reason it is usually best to use points to redeem business or first class and onto airlines/ routes where the carrier charges are not levied.
Great article. I’ve finally reached the required number of points, so the timing was perfect.
Can I clarify infants charges though?
Infant is 22 months at the date of the first flight.
Trip is 6 months long, so the child will be over 2 years at the conclusion.
Aside from the infant taxes, will they be charged all, some or none of the points for the trip?
Obviously, the entire trip would need to be booked on the single booking number.
Best to check with Qantas directly on this one. Would love to know the answer, please report back!
can do exactly the same thing for 220,000 asia miles and much less in taxes.
I agree, this article is geared towards FF who earn only earn QF points.
If you are an AMEX cardholder or hold another card which transfer to Asiamiles, i would look at Asiamiles because a similar itinerary costs 190,000 miles (5 stops and up to 35,000 miles) in business or 270,000 miles in first class, vs 420,000 QF points.
However some people will argue that QF points is easier for them to earn.
For anyone else interested, we have covered the comparable Asia Miles multi carrier award here.
you can do the exact same thing for 220,000 asia miles and likely pay half the taxes.
Hi Thanks for the great article.
Is there a similar option to RTW fare using velocity points?
Thanks
Eyal
Hi Eyal,
Thanks very much. Unfortunately velocity doesn’t allow it. however you could look at transferring velocity to Krisflyer which does allow RTW redemptions on Singapore Airlines and Star Alliance partners.
With krisflyer you can also to multi-city trips on the one itinerary with Singapore airlines,
https://www.pointhacks.com.au/maximising-krisflyer-redemptions-using-free-additional-stopovers/
Routing through HKG may save $100’s in fuel (oops-carrier) charges – in which case using BA from HKG-LHR may be a useful option (especially if you get A380 flight…)
I did have one of these RTW itineraries booked up a couple of years ago, but the additional charges were off the scale – in the region of $2,000, so I cancelled, simplified the itinerary and saved a sh-t load of cash.
At that time QF were collecting fees for flights on AA, which didn’t even qualify for a surcharge (QF seems to have stopped that outrightly unethical practice).
If I used Alaskan points to go RTW in first class (SYD-HKG (bus)-LHR (first)- LAX (first) – SYD (first)) I could do that for 30,000 + 70,000 + 70,000, +70,000 = 240,000 pts and fly CX for the SYD-HKG-LHR to minimise surcharges: in that context the 280,000 pts plus big cash from QF to fly business is not a very good deal: sure you can get more flights, but for each extra flight add another sector surcharge (which can be around $300 per sector)….
Yep – if you already have the QF points it might take sense – but then if that’s the case you most likely haven’t got your frequent flyer strategy optimised in the first place…(read more Point Hacks articles!!!).
You make very good points.
I agree people should definitely read more Point Hacks articles on other programs!
This guide is definitely for Qantas FF who are sitting on a mountain of points.
Also in Aus, everyone defaults to QF or VA.
But I prefer to keep my points in AMEX and transfer to whichever program gives me the best value of money at the time.
Yep – I keep my points in AMEX wherever possible! IMHO I agree people tend to default to QF and VA, but that’s not necessarily a good thing and whereas the article is very good in addressing the topic at hand a few links at the end of the article to alternatives (as covered by Points Hacks) would be the icing on the cake! Good job!
We’ll take that into consideration and see what other guides we can link.
This guide was geared to Qantas FF and we didn’t want to confuse people by providing different links because they might think they can transfer QF points to those other programs, because the most common question we get asked is “Can I transfer my frequent flyer points between different airline programs?”.
Personally I keep my points balance in AMEX and transfer them to different programs.
I’ve got to admit that RTW or multi-city trips are my favourite redemptions, I like the concept of getting more value out of your points, like using Singapore Airlines Krisflyer stopover to fly to Europe as well as the USA, for an extra $100 USD and 12,500 miles in Business and 5,000 miles in First Class.
What a great article and questions/responses.
I may have missed it but could you confirm how points are deducted when you have to dribble book.
Do points get deducted from your account in excess of 280K and then get refunded when you meet all the requirements and qualify for award? If this is the case then would certainly have to have an excess of 280K.
Thanks & regards
Michael
Hi Michael,
It won’t exceed the 280k cap as long as 1. you don’t mix Emirates
2. include a first class leg in your itinerary.
3. exceed 35,000 km
what you will find is, when you book as many flights as possible at the beginning, the number of points required is 280k.
You can add more flights later on by calling Qantas but they will charge you 3500 points to amend the booking each time, so you end up paying more than 280k points if you did it that way, particularly if you make many changes.
What a fabulous article and thread!! I have been saving QFF points for some years now and have 614,000 for my husband and I to do a RTW in April 2018. So this thread was very timely and had so much info. It’s a bit scary for me to do it all on line so if I book with the Qantas gurus who do this all the time is the total cost per passenger (in points) to do this booking for us 3500 points?? And of course the 280,000 each for our business class 5 stopovers. If you can only book 353days out from the first sector, are you charged the 3500 points each time you ring and get them to do the next flights? If that’s the case I may just have to put on my big girl pants and try to do it myself.
Yes, Qantas would probably like to sting you the change fee each time you call up and make a change – however that may be necessary to get some of the flights as they come available at the ‘edge’ of the calendar.
thanks Nelson for that. Just one more thing. if I am going from Perth to Honolulu into the US mainland can I go first to Washington and then to New Orleans or Houston or is that BACKTRACKING and not allowed? Before I move on to Europe?
There are no specific back-tracking rules but agents do apply some geographical sense to itineraries and may deny them. Back tracking to Honolulu may not be allowed if flying across the Atlantic from the US to Europe.
I am in the process of booking this fare and was hoping you could clarify the stopover/transfer rules.
As part of the flight I want to take the following legs:
COK – DOH – CDG
BOS – DOH – DXB (stopover)
DXB – DOH – ADL
Does this exceed the maximum transfers in DOH?
If so can I just pay the DXB – DOH legs separately which would then give 1 stop and 1 transfer.
Also if I take an AA flight with AA number but it is operated as Envoy Air as American Eagle does this comply.
Thanks a lot for your help
I’ve never tried transiting in one city three times, so I won’t be able to help you out.
Hi Nelson
I’ve just had a qantas rep who seemed to know what they were talking about tell me that we cannot transfer thru hong kong twice.
I was under the impression you could transfer in each city twice if it was under 24hrs??
Thanks Nelson for that advice.
I also had a chat with an online agent who told me that it is 8000 per passenger for service fee plus another 5000 points for a change when booking economy multi city. Now THAT may be news to some of the readers here. However booking on the phone will cost 3500 points per passenger. I think it used to be 6000.
I guess I will just have to wait for the return fights, to be available and then try my luck. I am flexible with dates and airlines (an to some extent even destinations) so that might serve me in good stead.
Yes Andy the Qantas 5,000 points change fees applies to all classes.
And Qantas recently raised the cost of award fees.
https://www.pointhacks.com.au/qantas-change-cancellation-fee-increase-dec-2016/
The biggest sting is for economy class award bookings where Qantas charges a service fee of 8,000 points + 5,000 points change fee.
The 8,000 points service fee is waived for premium cabins.
So people who book an Economy award have to be aware and keep changes to a minimal because each change will cost you 13,000 points.
Otherwise if you book an economy class multi-city or RTW award for 140,000, every time you call up and make changes, it could easily add up to and before you know it, you could have just booked a 280,000 Business Class award instead.
Hi Nelso
Great info.
I am waiting to book RTW on Qantas economy for four persons leaving Perth around 10 Dec 2017 returning end Jan 2018 and am a bit confused how this can be done in bits and pieces. I thought it cud only be done on the phone and one go. Are you saying I can already book my flights out which are now “open through the Qantas multi city option: and then add the inbound flights into Perth when they open later next month. Wont that take me over the 140,000 FF points for a RTW?
My IT is Perth-Tokyo-Honolulu-New Orleans (surface to Houston) -Dublin, -Johannesburg and back to Perth.
Also somewhere on this thread the advice is to select/tick “use point-classic awards only”. Is that on the Qantas website in which case you will need to select a multi city itinerary and not a RTW. I can’t seem to find such a tick box on the one world site. Or do all RTW trips have to be booked on the phone.
All advice/tips welcome thanks
Hi Andy,
You can complete most of the itinerary online via the multi-city search tool on the Qantas site.
You can all the flights in one go or book whatever you can now and add more flights as you go along.
However if you book as you go along, you won’t be able to complete the itinerary online, you will need to call Qantas and make changes to the booking.
Each change to an economy class booking is 8,000 points per passenger, so you could end up with a very hefty award.
So my advice is to book it in one go to avoid paying 8,000 points per passenger each time you want to change the flight.
Hi Neilson – great article and helped reshape some travel plans for Dec-Jan 2017/18.
A couple questions as I start the planning:
(1) guessing I will only be able to book all legs around 330days prior to my last leg (which would be late Jan 2018 – hence booking for that leg will only open Feb/Mar 2017). Alternative is to book incrementally as outlined above? Please confirm if that’s correct….
(2) re: suggestion to avoid BA/LHR. I am looking to do a leg from Europe to Cape Town….Given member airlines, was looking at Finnair HEL-CPT (which goes via LHR and might code share with BA). Question if a if operating under a Finnair code, would I still get slugged the equivalent BA/LHR fees etc which I would try to avoid and if so, any idea how might get to CPT from Europe (within 15-20hrs)?
W
Thanks I’m glad it you found it useful.
You can book Classic Awards up to 353 days in advance, so if you are able to piece together your itinerary then, I would go ahead and do it.
Yes you can book it incrementally using the online multi-city tool if you are flying on the one world partners found on Qantas search engine. Some One World partners do not show up on Qantas engine.
If you do decide to use the multi-city tool to book, I would try and book as many segments/cities/stopovers as possible and minimise changes to the award/itinerary because Qantas charges 5,000 Qantas Points per person per booking to make changes.
I.e. for your return flight to Australia, the award calendar has not opened and you need to wait for the 353 days to book it via the phone with the agent.
Answer to second question, if you book Finnair and transit via LHR on your way to CPT, then you do not pay the LHR Advanced Passenger Departure Tax as long as you keep your transit in London under 23 hours and 59 minutes.
But if you fly on BA metal, you will pay BA’s hefty fuel surcharge, that cannot be avoided.
The alternative is to fly Qatar Airways from Europe/LHR to CPT via Doha. It is a bit of a hassle, 5-6 hour hop between EU and Doha, followed by a 9hr 45 minute flight to CPT.
Whereas LHR to CPT is a direct 11 hr 30 mins flight.
Was wondering if open jaws are allowed ?
Hi Stephen, yes it is possible
thanks nelson just did my around the world trip! some are in economy and premium however but hopefully award seats appear prior. lady reminded me change before 15th Dec otherwise its 5k per passenger.
Glad to hear that. Hopefully more premium space appears so you can change to premium.
I am in the process of booking an award flight and am a little bit confused about the allowed number of stops.
I have left out the complying connecting flights from the flights below
Currently I have
Melbourne – Shanghai
Kochi – Atlanta
Boston – London
Rome – Melbourne
Is this considered three or four stops for the conditions of the ticket? I am not sure if Melbourne is considered a stop or a final destination.
Thanks
Alex
melbourne is the originating and end city, so its not counted as stopover.
a stopover is when you are in one city for over 24 hours.
Thanks for that.
I am going to book
MEL – SYD – SHA
PEK – HKG – MNL
MNL – HKG – CMB
COK – DOH – DFW
BOS – LHR
FRA – DOH – MEL
Comes in at 56,109 km against a maximum of 56,237 km with 14 flights/surface sectors so should just sneak in. Thanks for your article and help – it is much appreciated.
You’re welcome Alex.
As long as it falls within the 35,000 miles, you’ll be alright, you can do it all for 280,000 points, which is amazing value when you consider that Qantas charges 128,000 (QF/EK/AA) and 132,000 points (One World Partners) for one-way redemption and you aren’t allowed to stopover.
Thanks Nelson, when I priced the itinerary it came to over $12k each so definitely worth it! Can’t wait!
I booked myself and my partner for June 2017 Business class Brisbane – Hong Kong – Johannesburg – Cathay Pacific (internal cheap flight to Krueger and onto Cape Town) – London and washington DC on BA, New York to San Francisco on American. Some American trans continental flights now have a proper business class but only out of certain cities, then final leg Qantas los Angeles to Brisbane.
I used the RTW planner to get an idea of which flights/dates and airlines to use then called Qantas for advice 6 months before starting to book. Each flight was booked separately and charged accordingly until the cap was reached.
We only had seven weeks in which to complete the trip and ended up adding an eighth as we couldn’t get home in business class with Qantas.
Couple of tips: if one of you has silver FF and above use this account as you get first dibs on reward seats, some may not be available to bronze members until later and may have all gone. (Only found out 3/4 of the way through the bookings and you can’t change over accounts without cancelling everything prior!). I thought Qantas club also got priority but alas no!
One flight in first class automatically defaults the points to the full RTW first class fare despite being booked into business so if you are going to book one sector in first class then book the lot!
Also silver FF and above are dealt with by the Hobart call centre who seem to have a more experienced team with more knowledge on the dos and Donts.
Finally check and double check the advice given, we tried to book Los Angeles back to Brisbane with transit in Hong Kong and were told this counted as a double back, I checked 3 times after getting told originally that we could, hence the extra week!
Booking this is not for the feint hearted, it can be stressful when your ducks don’t line up, but perseverance and a good attitude to the call centre agents go a long way. If you need to, book an economy seat and change it when a business class seat becomes available, it will cost 2 change fees but may be worth it for peace of mind that you won’t have to pay for a flight home! Total $$$ were 1.5k each taxes and charges!
Great redemption, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Stephanie for sharing your experience. sounded like a great itinerary.
Having planned my own RTW first class with One World, I know your experience of booking these flights.
Having said that, we are saving $8000 and over $20,000 in First class, so patience and perseverance pays off in the end.
And it is stressful during the planning process, but once you get to the airport, no queuing, enjoy the lounge, get on board and you are sitting in the front, sipping champagne and dining on a lovely meal, its all worth it!
Hi Nelson
Are there conditions on the 140000, 280,000, 440,000 points cap that you must fly out of and into Australia using QF flights or can you use another one world flight?
Hi Adrian, Nope you don’t need to fly Qantas in and out of Australia, any One World partner flight will do.
Cathay Pacific out of Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Perth.
Japan Airlines out of Sydney
British Airlines out of Sydney
Qantas out of Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney
Qatar Airways out of Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
Just depends on availability, but you can tag on a domestic leg if you can’t find a flight departing from your home city.
Hi
I have a Qantas points flight to Hong Kong with Cathay and a connecting Qantas points flight to Milan on Cathay but different reference numbers as the Qantas website would not let me book as one flight. Can I now link them to start to form a RTW flight. ?
You can link the reference numbers to enable the airlines to know what flights you are connecting to and from in case of any issues, but beyond that, there’s no way of combining the itineraries to save points / change the method of booking.
I believe you could cancel one of them if you can find an alternative flight that you know would be available to book – for example, say you can find a seat for HKG-Milan now before you cancel your HKG-Milan redemption, you could add that hypothetical HKG-Milan flight into your existing SYD-HKG Qantas redemption (paying the 3,500 point change fee) – along with any other flights you wanted to add into your itinerary to turn it into a round the world award. You’d want to do all your research first to ensure all the flights you wanted to book were available before cancelling one of the itineraries you already have, of course. Hope that makes sense.
In short, no way of combining two existing reservations, but you can absolutely make changes to one of the existing reservations if you can find the availability to suit your plans.
“Spoke” to a Qantas agent online today regarding the OW classic redemption. I’m afraid the knowledgable people seem to be missing in action. The above sample itineray via Hongkong on the way out and back wasn’t OK she said, because it “backtracked”. I made it clear my enquiry was a redemption, not a OW RTW, but she insisted, can’t be done. Next she said, I can only do, say, Denver-LAX-SYD if the total flight time is under 24hrs. She did not understand the transit time rules at an airport, to me clearly misunderstanding the transit rule thinking it means flight time. Whilst I can get around this silliness because I’ve done these ropes a few times before, it is a sad day for Qantas. Their call centre staff used to be spot-on for interpreting the rules, now it is clear why some of the other posters above are so disgruntled. Given that I will need to run the gauntlet of the call centre to complete my booking, I am a bit concerned I will have trouble completing a OW booking as the agents are not well informed.
Hi Peter,
I’ve encountered problems with booking with Qantas, Cathay and US Airways now American Airlines.
Normally I would thank the agent, hang up and call again, and hopefully the different agent has a better idea.
But if the rules are strict that means you will need to tweak your itinerary. It doesn’t mean your entire trip cannot go ahead now, you would need to look at alternative routes and work within the airline rules.
Is it possible to purchase one leg of a return flight on points and the other leg with cash? I know you could just purchase two separate one-way flights, but it would be nice to take advantage of the cheaper prices offered when purchasing return flights.
No, this is not possible – one of the downsides of using points and stitching together mixed-payment method itineraries.
Hi Nelson,
I recently booked a RTW Business class ticket using points, which had one sector in the USA. I booked the US domestic sector as Economy and thought I would be able to change it to First class by calling Qantas. Do you have any experience regarding this. i.e. should I be able to use US domestic First class with a Business class RTW ticket?
Cheers,
Wazza
Hi Wazza,
Use the qantas search engine and search for that specific flight and see if it falls under the Business Class or First class award category.
That should be a good start.
I’d call them and check anyway. Qantas agents can be helpful, I haven’t had a bad experience with Qantas frequent flyer agent.
Hi, has anyone looked at booking the RTW business class during the peak season (Nov/Dec/Jan) and what the availability is like? We are looking to book one for our honeymoon but a bit nervous about the timing.
Thanks
Irene
Hi Irene, the rule about booking awards is to get in as soon as possible.
Particularly for peak season, seats do tend to get snapped up really quickly.
Thanks for your fast reply Nelson. Could I not book these flights as single leg flights over the internet rather than getting Qantas to include them on the one multi city booking?
Hi Greg,
If you booked them as single leg flights one at a time, they will be ticketed separately, so you will be charged multiple awards, which could easily add up and the redemptions would end up costing more than the rate for 140,000 economy, 280,000 business or 420,000 first class.
A multi-city booking allows you to string all the flights on Qantas and One World partners in the one itinerary and the maximum points is capped at 280,000 business or 420,000 first class, as long as your total travel distance (including surface sectors) is under 35,000 miles.
One mile over, 35,001 and you will trigger a new award.
Thanks Nelson. I’ve ended up booking the flights as a multicity fare. I was astounded at the ‘charges’ that Qantas adds to the booking over and above the points for the flights. It ended up costing me more than $1200 over and above the points for the two of us just in their extra charges!! They’re far and away the most expensive airline I’ve come across for added charges! I doubt I’ll book them again because of it. It devalues their points so that 1 Qantas point is worth around .7 cents!!!
Hi Greg,
I have an American Express card and if you have one, the other option is to look at Cathay Pacific Asia Miles for One World multi-city fares.
Asiamiles is an Amex transfer partner at a 1:1 ratio.
Keith wrote a guide on it, and for 275,000 miles you can redeem a First Class multi-city award compared to Qantas’ 420,000 points.
Hi. I’m about to book a number of flights starting May 2017 from Syd to San Fran then to Calgary. Then Anchorage to LA and back to Syd. I have enough rewards points for myself and my wife to do the lot but only in economy unfortunately 🙁
My question is this: Should I book separate flights as they become available or wait and try to book the lot in one hit with their multi city booking? Do you pay the same fees and taxes (which I think are VERY high) if you book legs separately as you would by booking a multi or is it dearer?
Hi Greg,
If you book the flights separately, you would need to call Qantas and add them as they become available.
That doesn’t sound so bad if you were booking a business/first award.
But…. for Economy class redemption, Qantas will charge you a service fee of 8000 points per passenger every time you make changes.
On top of that, there is a 3500 points to “change” the award.
So every time you call to add a city, you are getting hit with 11,500 points charge per person.
Before you know, you could have used those points to book a business class redemption instead.
Taxes depend on the airline carrier and airport fees depend on the country, regardless of whether you book the flights all at the same time or separately, because every time you make a change, the ticket gets repriced.
So if you book the legs one by one, each time you add a city, the ticket gets repriced.
And different airlines charge different fees.
I.e. flying British Airways or QF is dearer than flying Cathay Pacific, which charges like $78 for Paris to Sydney compared to $300-600 for QF I think.
Hi Nelson,
The article and responses are extremely helpful for redeeming FF points. I am in the process of redeeming a RTW business class with my Qantas points. However, it can take all day to get any answers waiting online for Qantas.
So far I have booked Sydney (via Doha) Johannesburg -> surface segment, Nairobi -> Lisbon BA -> surface segment, Rome -> New York (via London BA). These are the next legs I want to book. -> San Francisco -> Miami surface segment, Mexico -> Sydney. I calculate the stops are within the miles (I could be wrong) but I am unsure if I have gone over stops. Any suggestions?
Hi Vicky,
I’m not sure how Qantas goes about calculating the surface sectors.
Perhaps they calculate the surface sector the same way they would calculate the flight distance, so you could use gcmap.com to calculate the distance between the cities.
Hi,
Each time I go onto the Qantas website and search reward flights + RTW it keeps taking me to the oneworld website RTW planner so I don’t have any idea how to investigate how many points my planned trip is. I’m only getting a US dollar figure.
I want to go Sydney-Santiago-New York-London-Jo’Burg-Sydney in April 2017 in Business class x 2.
Any ideas as to how I can check how many points this would cost as a round the world ticket on the Qantas website?
Hi Nick,
You can book the RTW online, by using the multi-city tool, not the RTW tool.
However, you would not be able to book flights on some airlines such as Japan Airlines or Malaysia Airlines, because they are searchable on Qantas online tool.
Using the multi-city tool, you can piece together the flights and the total will be capped at the 280,000 points for business or 420,000 for first, as long as the maximum distance is 35,000 miles.
if you go over, it will cost more.
And do not include emirates in your itinerary.
Thanks! What a seriously cool resource.
We are travelling from Sydney – Cape Town (via Jo’Burg) – Athens (via Jo’burg and London) – London – Hong Kong – Sydney.
All business class. Yes, you are right that significant taxes are incurred with BA, but sometimes that’s just unavoidable…and ultimately a fraction of the price to pay compared to paying for the whole thing in actual money!!!
Nice work Nick, the “rtw” is one of the best benefits of the QF FF program and the millions of QF members rarely take advantage of it, thats why we wrote the guide on Point Hacks.
Yep the BA taxes are high, I think last time I got slugged $480 for BA First Class between JFK and LHR.
$480 is a lot of money but when you consider that Economy class costs $600 between JFK and LHR, its not a bad deal to pay $480 to fly First Class, enjoy the Concorde Room in JFK and LHR and sip $300 bottles of champagne. Pity there was no caviar though.
Qantas a pretty sneaky in this respect. I don’t think they want you to take advantage of this. It is a staggeringly good value use of points.
When you click on the round the world tab, it takes you to the oneworld website, which is frankly useless. If it wasn’t for this website, I’d highly doubt I would have known to click multi-city, and I’d wager nor would 90% of the rest of us either.
So, thanks thanks thanks!!!
Yes thats right Nick, when you click on the round the world link, it doesn’t let you take advantage of this “rtw” ticket.
You can call the desk and book via the phone but I don’t have a status with QF and that means waiting on hold for a long time, so the online option is the way to go if you can find all the flights.
The only reason you would call QF is if you wanted to fly on Japan Airlines, Malaysia Etc which the Qantas search engine doesn’t show up.
“Yes you have to be careful, because in the USA, they call their business class “First Class”, so if you select one leg in their so called “first class”, even if it is just a short 40 minute flight, Qantas will automatically price this redemption cost higher.”
So, to clarify, if you are booking legs in the USA, which category do you book to keep it all a RTW Business points redemption? Thank you
Hi Simon,
After the calendar, the next page is the available award seat page.
On that page, there are 4 columns, or sometimes 3.
Economy, Premium Eco, Business and First.
If the seat you are after is under the First column, that means it has been classified as First class award seat, so you will be charged for First class instead.
Hi Nelson,
Thanks mate. I knew you would have a simple explanation.
No worries, Point Hacks is here to make it easier for everyone to learn how to get the most value out of our points.
Hi Nelson,
Thanks again. You mentioned not to included Emirates in the multi-city booking. Can you please explain why?
Cheers,
Wazza
Emirates is not part of the One World alliance, so when you combine Emirates with any One World partner, Qantas will price it as two or more awards depending on how many flights you are taking.
Emirates can only be combined with Qantas.
Thanks Nelson. I had already tried the multi-city tool but it didn’t cap the booking as I hoped it would. Now that you have explained, I think this may have been due to one leg in the U.S. where business class wasn’t available, so I chose First class. That probably negated the RTW cap.
Thanks again for your insight.
Yes you have to be careful, because in the USA, they call their business class “First Class”, so if you select one leg in their so called “first class”, even if it is just a short 40 minute flight, Qantas will automatically price this redemption cost higher.
Thanks for the great article Nelson, and to Bhut84 for the additional insight.
Can you book a RTW award online using Qantas FF points? I can’t see anywhere during the RTW process to select ‘award only’ when you choose the cities or flights. Also, the RTW planner is a oneworld website, so I can’t see how they would be able to use Qantas points.
Sorry if this is a silly question.
Hi Wazza,
Thanks, answer to your question. Its yes and no.
You can book the RTW online, by using the multi-city tool, not the RTW tool.
However, you would not be able to book flights on some airlines such as Japan Airlines or Malaysia Airlines, because they are searchable on Qantas online tool.
Using the multi-city tool, you can piece together the flights and the total will be capped at the 280,000 points for business or 420,000 for first, as long as the maximum distance is 35,000 miles.
if you go over, it will cost more.
And do not include emirates in your itinerary.
Great article. Just to clarify, you would qualify for the award if using at least 2 one world airlines other than qantas. Does that mean you are not required to fly qantas at all if using say JAL, CX and AA or does qantas have to be included?
Reason for asking is that Asia miles have similar one world award (better rates) but CX must be included if 3 or more airlines used.
Hi Illya, you can find out by piecing it together using the multi-city tool and no select Qantas flights.
But if you need to book Japan Airlines, you would need to ring QF.
It mentions that one does not have to return to the port of origin to redeem this type of ticket. However, is the caveat that you have to have spare miles left over to return to the port of origin?
Also, are surface sectors included as one of the 5 cities you can fly to. e.g. say you fly in to Berlin but surface to Paris. Would both Berlin and Paris be a stop over city, or only Paris?
Great article and website by the way.
Hi Ultan,
Yes that’s right, you do not need to return to the port of origin to complete this ticket, you had decide you want to stop somewhere for several months before flying back. But I would probably book it anyway, since its like 10,000 points only to fly business class. see example below.
I did a mock itinerary, Melbourne – Hong Kong – London – New York JFK – Paris (stay for 4 months) and the total was 270,000 points.
And then I did the itinerary all over again, added Paris to Melbourne 4 months later, and it was 280,000 points.
So thats flying Paris back to Melbourne in business class for an extra 10,000 points!
Yes surface sectors will be counted towards your 35,000 mileage cap.
So if you flew into Berlin and took a train or drove to Paris, or even fly a random airline, QF will count Berlin and Paris as stopover cities as well as calculate the mileage towards that 35,000 mileage cap.
Thanks for the speedy reply. The amount of miles you get with this ticket is great. 35,000 miles is a hell of a lot to use and has plenty of room to fly many places.
The sticking point though is the 5 stopover cities. You say that if a one does a surface leg then both cities are included as a stop over. Is that really the case? Millage between them I understand but to classify them both as stopovers? E.g. if one fly’s into London from Sydney, and then onto New York etc.., London would be one stop-over (as well as New York of course). if one arrived in to London but flew out of say Paris by surfacing from London to Paris, then both London AND Paris would be deemed as a stop over city? If this is the case then the 5 stop over limit using surface sectors would be quite restrictive as your entry and exit points are included separately as stop overs. Would be best to not use surface sectors so to get the most out of it, or exit the place as you enter.
(Sorry my previous post was less than clear hence I want to confirm this, Marks post above seem to suggest that surface sectors are not deemed as multiple stop overs)
Ah oops, sorry I misunderstood your question. No if you fly in Berlin and leave from Paris, they aren’t count as stopover cities.
But its easy, if you wanted to avoid the mileage calculator ticking up, you can base yourself out London for example and just buy intra-europe flights and fly back to london to depart.
Ah ok. Perfect! Thanks for that. Time to do some more research.
Hi there
Im looking at booking a trip Adelaide to Cancun to Las Vegas and home all on classic reward flights. Just wondering what happens if any of your flights are cancelled before travelling or delayed and you miss conecting flights. Does your insurance cover this and/or do you get points refunded.
Thanks Felicity
Felicity – that all depends on your specific insurance and their level of cover. Best to check with them.
Hello! I have 300,000 Qantas points and my husband has 180,000 points. What are the chances of us being able to book 3 RTW fares between us, for him, me and our 5 year old? It would just be in economy.. Is this doable? I just tried via the website for a test return flight to LA, it was going to be 135000 points and $4k.. or $3,200 to just book directly and pay full fare (!?!??!?!)
Hi Sarah,
While I’m not familiar with a child redemption rules, because different airlines have their own rules and I don’t have any kids, so I’ve never had to redeem an infant ticket.
But I looked at the website and it says “Children aged two years and older will need to redeem the full number of Points required for a Classic Flight Reward.”
I can provide some insight into using your points for a round the world in economy.
Yes a return flight to LA costs already 135,000 points but if you use the multi-city tool, you can add more cities and build a round-the-world itinerary and the cost will not rise above 140,000 points.
On top of that, you have to look at the cost of fuel surcharges, which could be in excess of $1000 per person.
So depending on how many cities you want to visit, I have seeing retail RTW fares as low as $2000 per person in economy. If you went down this road, you can save your points for business class.
Hi all! I’m fairly new to point hacks but my husband and I have just realised we both have enough points to do an economy rtw with oneworld. (I have 170k he has 150k points at the moment and will probably rack up another 30k collectively by the time we want to leave). We will have a 13month old though when we want to travel (mid august for 12 weeks) so does anyone know how they calculate the infant fare? Can we pay cash for him or can we use points and will we have enough points?
Infant fare with Qantas is just the infant taxes, alongside the cost of your adult points redemption (points + taxes). One of the best policies that Qantas has, other programs charge 10% of full adult fare, others change 10% of points.
Hi,
Thanks for the article, I just have a quick query on calculating mileage.
We are looking for a round the world booking but i’m not sure how to calculate the mileage? For instance our first flight we are aiming to take Sydney to Cancun, but we will have to go via Dallas. Does the mileage calculate as Sydney to Cancun, or are the two legs calculated separately?
Thanks
Ian
Hi Ian,
one of the most accurate mileage calculators is at http://www.gcmap.com.
please refer to the article above on how to input airport codes to calculate your total mileage.
Regards,
nelson
Hi Ian,
Sorry I just read your question again and realised my answer wasn’t sufficient.
The answer to calculating mileage for that award is that you need to add the connecting stops too.
So Sydney to Dallas to Cancun.
Unless it is one of those flights with the same flight number like QF1 Sydney/London or QF10, where they make an exception because it is deemed as a technical stop, unless you had a stopover holiday in Dubai, then assume that all routes with different flight numbers are calculated separately.
Recently I flew to New York from Melbourne, via Manila, Hong Kong and Tokyo because there were no award flights to LAX or Dallas.
The 3 transit cities were calculated as part of total mileage flown.
Qantas and “good value’ is an oxymoron to me. Yesterday I tried for a New York-Dublin round trip, J ticket. They wanted 100,000 points ( ok ) but they were going to charge an absolutely world-leading high charge of AUD 1390. Absolutely outrageous. So I went onto Delta, they wanted 80,000 and $14.45 USD. Yes folks, you read it right. $14.45. So why are Qantas continuing to rip-off their loyal flyers. Like Australia, they are the most expensive carrier in the world and the service is shite anyway. Although this flight had I gone ahead been American thank goodness.
Earlier this year, after another rip-off incident with this suspect airline, I opened up a QR privilege account and have since been depositing all my miles in their. Much better value than those thieving bastards at Qantas.
I have 130,000 points left to get rid of and as soon as they are gone, bye bye Qantas. I’m tired of being ripped off by those mongrels.
One of the first tricks i learnt when I joined a frequent flyer forum back in 2010… Did a 140k Y redemption SYD-EZE//GIG-MIA-ORF//ORD-LHR-ARN//TXL-LHR-FCO//NAP-MAD-BCN-MAD-JNB//JNB-SYD…
Used it as the backbone for continent to continent RTW and then road trips, buses and cheap flights booked separately in each continent…
Is anyone hasn’t seen
35% off Classic Reward Flights – Qantas. 20% off Classic Reward Flights – Jetstar
Book an eligible Economy international Qantas or Jetstar Classic Flight Reward* between 16 December and 11.59pm (AEDT) 22 December 2015. Your discount will be automatically applied to the points required. Taxes, fees and carrier charges payable in addition to points required.
Travel on Qantas between 13 January and 2 December 2016 or travel on Jetstar between 13 January and 30 September 2016.
Love this article! As always, it informative and very practical for those Aussies trying to get a bigger bang for their buck.
Thanks for your feedback Adrianne. Its certainly worth knowing this, because for a little bit extra points, you get a lot of value in return.
Thanks for the summary. Perfectly timed article as I am looking to book a oneworld round the world ticket in the next few weeks.
I do have a couple of questions though…
1. Can I include two cities in the same country (eg LA and NY) or am I better of booking a cheap internal flight?
2. Is it possible to mix and match travel classes? Or will I need to ( be able to) request an upgrade via the Qantas site… I would ideally like to squeeze in a business segment or even a first class segment if my points stretch that far.
Thanks in advance
Thanks Keith
Yes thats the great thing about this award redemption, because normally between LA and NYC, Qantas charges an extra 50,000 points for business class.
Airlines have a habit of charging the higher award rate. I played around with the system a bit and once I added 1 first class leg, London to Dubai on QF, the points redemption immediately jumped to 320,000 or 302,000 I think.
But when I selected the London to Doha to Melbourne in business, the points was recalculated and went back to 280,000.
Great article and hits all the high points. We did this in Business class three years ago and took a year to make the trip. The Qantas staff are incredibly helpful – but some are more knowledgeable on making this fare work than others – so call back if you aren’t making progress. We also made various date changes along the way which included phoning up the European call centre from deepest Africa. Whole itinerary has to be locked in prior to first flight – and since we were going for a year, that meant a couple of flights near the end of the trip had to be booked a month or two earlier than we were planning to travel… Then a phone call to Qantas as soon as bookings opened to snaffle seats – hence the date changes. We went Sydney to Capetown (via Jo-burg), surface sectors and separate flights all the way to Istanbul then IST to Marrakech (via Madrid). Berlin to Vancouver (via London) – in First as only Economy/First avail, San Fran to Cusco, Peru (via Lima), Lima to Iguassu, Brazil, Finally Santiago, Chile to Sydney (via Auckland). Due to the first class sector and all the massive surface sectors where we bought our own cheap internet flights or travelled overland, came to closer to 450,000 points each and about $2,500 taxes in total for the two of us. But incredible RTW itinerary and we visited loads of cities along the way.
Nice, thanks for sharing!
wow Vivienne, That read like an amazing journey and I love RTW.
450,000 points is a lot, having said that, points are meant to be earned and burned – not for hoarding, because you never know when the airlines will change the rules or award redemptions.
This is probably the best way to use Qantas points, seeing 5 cities for an extra 14-24k points, which is equivalent to flying between Melbourne and Brisbane in business class.
It’s incorrect to call it a ’round-the-world’ award. There is NO requirement to actually go around the world with this type of award.
That’s true, I thought we had left that open enough in the article. But the focus for this piece was maximising the Reward as a round the world itinerary.
I have recently booked a business Oneworld award ticket. A couple of things to keep in mind:
this is not strictly a round the world product. It is a mileage award. You do not need to go around the world. You may still plenty of value out of this ticket even on a return to europe with a sidetrip.
Due to restricted seats and the timeframes that the airlines release seats, the chances of being able to book this ticket in a single phone call to Qantas (when redeeming in premium cabins) is unlikely…particularly if your trip is longer. In my case I booked each of my legs the day the award seat became available (so around 360days out – dependent on the various airlines).
Generally, you book the first leg (or as many legs as possible) online as a normal one way award ticket. When the next leg becomes available, you call up Qantas, give them your booking reference, add another flight and pay the applicable taxes. Once your booking becomes a complying booking (2 non qantas, oneworld airlines etc etc) it will cap at 280,000pts (for business).
Note, you will be charged a 3,500pts change fee for each additional flight you add. But the phone service fee is waived for premium cabins. So you would not want to be taking the above approach for economy… as it would get expensive very quickly. Book the whole economy ticket online in one swoop if possible (which generally should be okay as economy award seats tend to be more readily available).
Be flexible and patient. I have spent a lot of time on the phone. Don’t expect to be able to get everything you want… ie you want to fly SYD-HNL on QF in business? Good luck! But you might be able to go via Tokyo (as someone on another site just did).
As stated, avoid BA. But also avoid departing from the UK as it has higher taxes (like, you’ll notice it).
After you book and before you receive your e-ticket, make it a habit to check your booking via qantas.com or other sites (like qatar airlines site or checkmy trip). Flights drop off (it has happened to me and to a friend) and you can’t always get them back.
Thanks for adding this, appreciated.
Great tips!
Although recently, I’ve been charged 3,500 points 3 times, to amend my QF bookings and they were first class flights. Maybe I was unlucky.
The 3500 charge is correct. It’s the change fee. I incurred 4 of them, but had planned for it.
The service fee (for using a human via the qantas call centre) is the fee waived for business and first. I believe it’s 6,000 or 8,000 pts (can’t remember off my head).
The 3500 charge is correct. It’s the change fee. I incurred 4/5 of them, but had planned for it.
The service fee (for using a human via the qantas call centre) is the fee waived for business and first. I believe it’s 6,000 or 8,000 pts (can’t remember off my head). It’s not waived for economy (so if you were paying a change fee AND a service fee each time, it would get expensive quickly)
Ah yes, I read it wrong. I thought you meant the change fee was waived and i was though “How did you do that?” 🙂
But you are totally correct, service fee + change fee for every change can add up very quickly, and probably better to book J or F award in the first place.
Hi Bhut84,
You mentioned with an economy ticket to book the whole trip online, how do you book it online? All I get is a dollar value through the Qantas one world planner.
Another question for anyone who knows, in the 5 cities stopover, does the origin city count? I’d like to fly Sydney – Athens – Oslo – Halifax(making own way to here from Oslo) – Vancouver – Bangkok – Ho Chi Min(making own way to here from Bangkok) – Sydney. Is this a viable option? Could I add another city if origin city does not count?
I haven’t done much redeeming in the past so am unsure how to try these online and see it in points value whether it works or not.
Thanks for your help, Wez
Hi Wez,
When you are searching for cities make sure you tick the “use points – classic rewards only”. so you only see award redemption seats rather than the $$$ value seats.
No the origin city does not count as a stopover.
just remember that when you make your own way Qantas will count that towards your 35,000 miles threshold.
best way to calculate is use http://www.gcmap.com so you can work out what distance they would add to your itinerary.