Dan1113

I have a multi city ticket, Sydney > Cairns, Cairns > Uluru, Melbourne > Sydney, all in economy. I'd like to upgrade to business (and pay the difference in cash) but was told that Cairns > Uluru doesn't have business so I can't do it because I have to upgrade all the flights on my ticket rather than individually.

I can't cancel and rebook either because the ticket is non-refundable. My OW miles are with BA so can't use Qantas miles to upgrade.

Do I have any other options at all? I can't think of any but figured I'd check here before giving up.

Thanks.

Globaliser

I don't know enough about QF change rules to offer a definitive solution, but my experience of QF economy tickets is that they are cancellable for credit. If that applies to your ticket, might one option be to cancel the existing ticket, use the credit to book SYD-CNS // MEL-SYD in business, and then book a separate CNS-AYQ in economy?

Dan1113

Oh I'll phone and ask - they didn't mention a credit, just said it was non-refundable. They said it would be much more expensive to book the flights individually as they would be one ways rather than a return to Sydney, but I didn't think 3 separate flights in one ticket like this really counted as a 'return' in the proper sense anyway.

Globaliser

Just to try it out, here's the summary of the fare rules from the QF website at the start of a dummy booking for SYD-MEL using a red e-deal (AUD 145, so a pretty deeply discounted fare):-One other thing that might be worth exploring, depending on the cost of the additional one-way ticket: If you have BAEC Avios, redeeming them for short flights on QF can be a very good value way of using them. For example, I think that MEL-SYD one-way in business class is something like 9,000 Avios and Ł10.60. So depending on what you've paid for it and whether you can actually flex your ticket in the way that some tickets can be, it could be that it's better value for you to turn the existing ticket into a one-way CNS-AYQ and then redeem Avios for the business class sectors. Playing with the permutations could be an interesting exercise.

Dan1113

Thanks. I tried finding the specific conditions for my ticket but it's not in the original confirmation email and I can't find it in the manage booking page either. The 'change' button is also inactive, it says to call my local Qantas office.

In your avios scenario you mention, I guess it'd just be a case of losing out on the cost of 2 of the 3 flights?

Just checked and there's no avios departures available for rewards on my dates.

Globaliser

What I was thinking was along these lines (having no idea of the numbers actually involved): If you originally paid $500 for the ticket, you could cancel the ticket and get $500 credit. You'd then use the credit to rebook a new cash ticket for (say) CNS-AYQ alone, and then you'd make two new Avios bookings for SYD-CNS and MEL-SYD. There would be change costs associated with booking the new cash ticket, as well as the Avios costs for the SYD-CNS and MEL-SYD, so you'd have to work out carefully what the best way of doing this actually is.

Is your travel in the near future? Otherwise, I'd be surprised if there is absolutely no award availability even for MEL-SYD on your travel date. That's seldom difficult to get a seat on if you're booking a reasonable way in advance. Although it has to be said that flying that in economy is no hardship; it's basically a short bus ride.