US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - US to QF using Dividend Miles - CONNECTING

I emailed and received a polite response from USAirways reservations regarding rules for Qantas travel on dividend miles (info on open jaws, stop-overs, etc).

Could anyone who has used Dividend miles for Qantas flights that connected in LAX tell me this...does USAirways provide a connecting flight from home (in USA) to LAX (Qantas gateway)? If so, with Qantas Business class tickets, did you get coach or First class USAirways connecting tickets? I'd appreciate hearing about anyone's experience with this type of scenario. They told me I would not get First Class USAirways tickets with Business Class Qantas tickets and were not specific as to whether I would get ANY USAirways tickets at all to LAX.

[quote]<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Origi

US will fly you to LAX in First if you have a First or Biz ticket on QF.

Correct.

I just did this last month from PVD and it is nearly effortless, except for having to check-in with QF on the way out of LAX and US on the way back in. This is because they are not codeshare or alliance partners. The US staff I encountered at PVD, PIT, and LAX are used to this and it is very ordinary for them. Your bags are checked through, so long as you present your entire ticket to the airline you are checking in with. It seems to be a pretty popular thing, as when I was at the US Club at LAX upon arrival, there were several other of my QF flying mates shaving, changing, etc. as they awaited for their connections like I was. And, yes, you are solidly in F class on US for any aircraft that has it. They will even open inventory that is not available in F (D) when the QF flights are and the US ones are not. This is because they can't send you on another option, since there are only 5 flights a day from the USA to Australia. Keep in mind that QF 12 (10:30 PM) for SYD is often packed while QF 108 (11:45) from JFK and then LAX is often much quieter. I was on it on a non-JFK day and there were 20 people in Business Class. As for the lounges, the ones in Australia will trump anything in the USA (arguably), but the QF-accessible lounges at LAX are shared with BA and/or JL, so they are second rate, but still decent. Please feel free to send any other questions on this my way. I am a big fan of QF now and this trip with US was the best I have ever had.

[This message has been edited by hilton-gold (edited 06-13-2002).]

Thanks for your responses. I emailed USAirways reservations for clarification...and this time, they explained that if I acquired First or Business Class Tickets on Qantas, I would receive First Class tickets on USAirways to the Qantas North American Gateway.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by royster747:
I emailed and received a polite response from USAirways reservations regarding rules for Qantas travel on dividend miles (info on open jaws, stop-overs, etc).
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Royster,

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I was wondering if you could post the open jaw and stopover rules here for everyone's benefit.

Thanks,

Sandeep.

Here's the reply I received from USAirways:

When redeeming Dividend Miles for travel on our partner airline Quantas the
following applies:
- one stopover is permitted
- a simple open-jaw itinerary is permitted
- a simple open-jaw and one stopover would be permitted
- connections must be within 24 hours or the next offered flight, if
available, stopover fee not charged
- Business class awards on Quantas do provide for First class seats on US
Airways to Los Angeles, CA

The above rules are current and of course subject to change. Additional
information may be obtained by
contacting our International Award office directly at 1-800-442-2784.

Hope this helps!