Qantas Frequent Flyer - ASA "Business" seat - what fare basis / change penalties?

I have seen a few times, a "Business" seat (i.e. not "Business Saver") show up as ASA for around the same points as a "Classic" award.

My question is - what inventory / fare basis is this? I.e. if I want to change the date - will there be a massive change fee, even though I purportedly have a fully flex seat?

I thought that when you went through the process of booking a ASA it shows you the underlining fare rules for any change. Is this no longer the case?

I am just worried about the "any fare difference" bit - which I admit is only listed under "itinerary changes" - does this mean that a revalidate is OK but a reissue requires a reprice?

* Before and after departure:
o One-way and return booking changes can be made online at qantas.com/yourbooking. To make changes to multi-city bookings, or to make changes via phone, call 13 13 13. For changes made over the phone you must pay the service fee applicable as at the date of the change.
o Itinerary changes permitted. At the time of making the change, you must pay (per person per change):
+ any fare difference

I have seen a few times, a "Business" seat (i.e. not "Business Saver") show up as ASA for around the same points as a "Classic" award.

My question is - what inventory / fare basis is this? I.e. if I want to change the date - will there be a massive change fee, even though I purportedly have a fully flex seat?

When the cost of a classic and any seat award are close to each other, it is normally a sign that the Any Seat Award is coming from Classic Inventory - so in this case, it is likely that it will be from 'U'.

My one experience using JASA was that inventory rapidly dries up and changes become very expensive. In my case 7 days before travel it would cost a minimum of 500% of the original JASA to change to any other flight the same day, or the next day. No idea how typical this is, but basically it is not a flexible award by any definition (you can redeposit the points but not get a different flight, even the same day, for a reasonable cost that approaches the change fee for paid tickets). JASA is a highly restricted award, not "fully flexible" unless you are willing to pay the sky-high costs :)

More to the point; the most 'points cost effective' JASA's book into U class (i.e. Award Business); so any late change would generally be afflicted with little or no availability.

More to the point; the most 'points cost effective' JASA's book into U class (i.e. Award Business); so any late change would generally be afflicted with little or no availability.

I thought it looked too good to be true - it's just a pain they don't show the inventory/fare basis on the website so you can make a call.

Thanks for the info - it looks like there is still some value in those seats though (assuming these do earn SC) so long as an inflexible ticket is OK.

I thought it looked too good to be true - it's just a pain they don't show the inventory/fare basis on the website so you can make a call.

Thanks for the info - it looks like there is still some value in those seats though (assuming these do earn SC) so long as an inflexible ticket is OK.

Just do a search for a classic award, that is U class.

And yes they do earn SC's and FF points.

I recently changed a J ASA award. I found the flight i wanted by searching the classic awards then phoned up and changed it. without penalty I might add too

I've made changes to JASA bookings to flights that don't show up on the ASA search engine. No problem, and always hit with a 3,500 point fee.

The key is that you must have unlimited flexibility in dates and flight times in order to be able to change without cost; if you need to switch to the next available flight, for example (because you missed the flight), then it will generally be quite expensive, or switching to a specific date is equally problematic. It is great for mileage runs but not for business travel on a schedule -- QF is clever that way. Soaks up unsold inventory without eating into revenue.

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Thanks for the info - it looks like there is still some value in those seats though (assuming these do earn SC) so long as an inflexible ticket is OK.In that respect they are not that much different to many I class fares.