Qantas Frequent Flyer - Indonesia <-> Brazil on QF/LA... impossible to find on qantas.com

I'm trying to find a business-class fare from Jakarta to Sao Paulo, but the user interface on the Indonesian version of Qantas.com won't accept Sao Paulo (or even Santiago) as a destination city.

Likewise, from the Brazilian version of Qantas.com, Jakarta isn't accepted as a valid destination.

Am I doing something wrong...or does Qantas simply not publish any fares for that route? The latter would be a pity, as the flight times aren't bad at all.

Results from ExpertFlyer.com (http://www.expertflyer.com/?a=s)Fare Information Search:

Departing CGK on 16/08/12 for SAO
Returning on 25/09/12
Flying QF
Purchasing at MEL
Viewing in currency AUD
Validated Results

Fare Basis Airline Booking Trip Type Fare Cabin Effective Expiration Min/Max Advanced
Class Date Date Stay Purchase Req
YHPX3M1 YY Y Round-Trip 4815.00 (AUD) E 29/05/12 30/08/12 10 / 3M
YHEE6M YY Y Round-Trip 5521.00 (AUD) E 05/06/12 06/09/12 10 / 6M
YHEE6M1 YY Y Round-Trip 5521.00 (AUD) E 05/06/12 06/09/12 10 / 6M
YHEE6M YY Y Round-Trip 6379.00 (AUD) E 05/06/12 06/09/12 07 / 6M
Y YY Y Round-Trip 9397.00 (AUD) E
Y YY Y Round-Trip 9417.00 (AUD) E
YR YY Y Round-Trip 9417.00 (AUD) E -- / 12M
YR YY Y Round-Trip 11060.00 (AUD) E -- / 12M
C YY C Round-Trip 14558.00 (AUD) B
CR YY C Round-Trip 14558.00 (AUD) B
CR YY C Round-Trip 15345.00 (AUD) B
C YY C Round-Trip 16262.00 (AUD) B
F YY F Round-Trip 20853.00 (AUD) F
FR YY F Round-Trip 20853.00 (AUD) F
FR YY F Round-Trip 20853.00 (AUD) F
F YY F Round-Trip 27079.00 (AUD) F


These are all generic IATA fares which you'd probably have to book through a travel agent's GDS system.

Wow, thanks.

With prices like those, I can understand why they don't bother selling them on the website.

Since these fares are around double what QR, EK or TK are charging, I'll either have to give up on OneWorld for these trips or find a local agent that can offer unpublished discounts. Obviously, if anyone here has any tips for the latter, I'd be grateful for their contacts.

-Checkerboard

As for potential routings:

Results from ExpertFlyer.com (http://www.expertflyer.com/?a=s)Flight Availability Search
Departing CGK on 16/08/12 12:00 AM for SAO
Returning on 26/09/12 12:00 AM
Flying QF


Frequency
Flight Stops Depart Arrive Aircraft Reliability Available Classes
2 Connections
QF 42 0 CGK SYD 333 Unavailable J1 C1 D0 I0 Y9 G0 E0
17/08/12 8:30 PM 18/08/12 6:30 AM 88% / 14m
QF 27 0 SYD SCL 744 Unavailable J9 C9 D0 I0 W9 R9 T2 Z1 Y9 B9 H3 K1 M2 L1 V2 S1 N1 G0 E0
18/08/12 10:45 AM 18/08/12 9:55 AM 96% / 37m
JJ 8027 0 SCL GRU 773 Unavailable F0 C2 D2 J2 Z2 Y0 B0 E0 U0 S0 M0 H0 N0
18/08/12 12:40 PM 18/08/12 5:15 PM 59% / 20m

2 Connections
QF 42 0 CGK SYD 333 Unavailable J1 C1 D0 I0 Y9 G0 E0
17/08/12 8:30 PM 18/08/12 6:30 AM 88% / 14m
QF 321 1 SYD SCL 343 Unavailable J9 C9 D7 I5 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0 X4 E0
18/08/12 9:25 AM 18/08/12 11:30 AM NA / NA
LA 752 0 SCL GRU 319 Unavailable W9 P5 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 V9 G0
18/08/12 12:50 PM 18/08/12 5:40 PM 87% / 11m

2 Connections
QF 42 0 CGK SYD 333 Unavailable J1 C1 D0 I0 Y9 G0 E0
17/08/12 8:30 PM 18/08/12 6:30 AM 88% / 14m
QF 27 0 SYD SCL 744 Unavailable J9 C9 D0 I0 W9 R9 T2 Z1 Y9 B9 H3 K1 M2 L1 V2 S1 N1 G0 E0
18/08/12 10:45 AM 18/08/12 9:55 AM 96% / 37m
JJ 8218 0 SCL GRU 319 Unavailable Y9 B9 E9 U9 S9 M9 H9 K9 G9 Q9 V0 L0 W0
18/08/12 12:50 PM 18/08/12 5:40 PM 87% / 11m



Your travel agent will be able to tell on which of these routings the listed fares are available according to the fare rules etc. etc.

If you don't have access to Expertflyer I find http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ is pretty good. It won't show you seat availability but you can put in all types of complex destinations and it will merrily find combinations. The advanced fare codes are a bit hard to work with but the filters are a much better way of finding the flight you need. Then just email the itinerary you want to yourself (or your travel agent) and see if they can get the routing and fares you've found!

You hear so much from QF about it being an "end of the line" carrier on the Kanagaroo route, but this an example of where QF are overlooking their geographical advantage which you see sometimes on routes between Asia and South America.

Apparently completely overlooked by QF, who are apparently focused on being an Australian carrier for Australians, and missing other markets they could be servicing.

You hear so much from QF about it being an "end of the line" carrier on the Kanagaroo route, but this an example of where QF are overlooking their geographical advantage which you see sometimes on routes between Asia and South America.

Apparently completely overlooked by QF, who are apparently focused on being an Australian carrier for Australians, and missing other markets they could be servicing.

A few people have pointed that out over the last couple of years. Quite a bit of resources industry traffic between Asia and SAm, which they appear to be losing out on.

I'm trying to find a business-class fare from Jakarta to Sao Paulo, but the user interface on the Indonesian version of Qantas.com won't accept Sao Paulo (or even Santiago) as a destination city.

Likewise, from the Brazilian version of Qantas.com, Jakarta isn't accepted as a valid destination.

Am I doing something wrong...or does Qantas simply not publish any fares for that route? The latter would be a pity, as the flight times aren't bad at all.

This may be slightly OT but I note that there is currently a business class sale on the QF Australian website for long haul destinations including Santiago ~ I believe that the sale finishes tomorrow 18 July, but the fares are much lower than the usual offerings as quoted below. I priced an itinerary SYD-GRU return for later in the year and it came in at under AUD $7k. YMMV.

I priced an itinerary SYD-GRU return for later in the year and it came in at under AUD $7k. YMMV.Slightly OT - there's a one-way LA business fare to SYD from regional Brazil cities like SSA or IGU Around $2,200, less than the GRU or SCL fares. Stopover SCL OK. Can choose the QF codeshare SCL-SYD. On Expedia, better prices on the .com version though it is on the .com.au. [Flying on this next month.]

Slightly OT - there's a one-way LA business fare to SYD from regional Brazil cities like SSA or IGU Around $2,200, less than the GRU or SCL fares. Stopover SCL OK. Can choose the QF codeshare SCL-SYD. On Expedia, better prices on the .com version though it is on the .com.au. [Flying on this next month.]

Can also stop in BUE on these fares and also extend your trip to CNS