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Consolidated Qantas (QF) Awards Availability/Booking/Routing Thread

Old Sep 26, 2019, 6:52 pm
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Last edit by: Mwenenzi
Qantas routes Australia to/from USA Canada
Looking for awards only on LAX-SYD route restricts your options.
AS award chart:---> https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...s/award-charts

Note these routes and/or aircraft type may change. Not all routes have flights every day.
May not be up to date
BNE-LAX B330
MEL-DFW B787
MEL-LAX B787 (was the first A380 route for Qantas on 21 October 2008)
MEL-DFW B787
SYD-DFW B787 A380
SYD-HNL
SYD-AKL-JFK B787 (from June 2023)
SYD-LAX A380 B787
SYD-SFO
SYD-YVR
General
The QF A380 have first, business, premium economy & economy classes. Only the A380 has first class.
The QF B787's have, business, premium economy & economy classes. The B787s do not have first class.
All QF B747's have been retired and sent to the Mojave desert. (July 2020)

QF starts to release their awards 353 days out to QF frequent flyers. But awards can be released any time out to departure. Anyone can join the QF ffp and then search for award availability. Be careful about mixed economy/business QF awards. These have an identifying symbol on the award flight.

A business class flight will give access to the Qantas Club or Qantas Business lounge. Major domestic airports have both a Qantas Club lounge, for mid level Oneworld status holders and paid QF club members, and a better Business lounge, with access by business class of service or top level Oneworld status. Domestic lounges can get very busy at morning and late afternoon peaks.

From QF web site QF seat maps

Qantas Australia domestic
Award availability on QF domestic routes in both business & economy is usually OK. Can be harder on longer routes (say 3~ 4 hour flights).

The workhorse of QF Mainline domestic fleet is the B737-800. QF have 75 of these in a 12J162Y configuration. Some schedules have a A330, some of which have international style business seats. These 2 aircraft types are also used on trans Tasman routes (Australia to New Zealand).
General Qantas information Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas

The QantasLink brand is used on regional routes to smaller cities and towns. The aircraft used are Dash 8's (de Havilland Canada DHC-8-200, Bombardier Dash 8 Q300 & Q400) in all an Y configuration, Foker 100 in all 105Y configuration and B717's in 12JY98 or 125Y configuration.
General QantasLink information Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QantasLink

Qantas information Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QantasLink

AA sub forum thread They have the same problems getting awards on QF and to AU/NZ & South Pacific--->
AA miles awards: using / redeeming AA miles on Qantas (QF) & related (consolidated)
AA MileSAAver award to / from Australia, New Zealand (master thread)
FJ / Fiji Airways (ex-Air Pacific) and AA, miles, awards, etc. (consolidated)
AA Miles Award: TN / Air Tahiti Nui award redemptions (master thread)

Revisions
11 Jun 2022 QF announcements removed (except for 2) as AU is open and QF is flying AU<--->USA
15 Jun 2022 Deleted some dead links
11 Dec 2022 Remove redundant links. Revise routes
27 Dec 2022 MEL DFW added
25 Feb 2023 Formatting
13 Aug 2023 Added SYD-SFO
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Consolidated Qantas (QF) Awards Availability/Booking/Routing Thread

Old Feb 25, 2019, 7:48 pm
  #166  
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: NZ
Posts: 1,540
Originally Posted by skimthetrees
I have noticed that QF awards via AS are not available further out but did not calculate a days out number, so it's 253. This is either a severe IT bug or a conscious decision by AS to limit value to its members. Someone needs to hold AS's feet to the fire on issues like this. I have not been looking for QF awards or I would be very angry. I am upset at the way they either have incompetent IT staff with no intention of correcting the situation or they hide their shady behavior behind a veil of ignorance. Which is it? I wish I knew.

Oh, BTW, last time I checked there were literally no USA to Australia J awards on QF -- EVER -- even when other partners have space! Is this still a thing?
I don't know the reason for this, but it could be part of the agreement between AS and QF that longhaul award bookings are only available 100 days after everybody else. With such low redemption rates QF may have wanted to make it much harder for AS MP people to get award seats.

Yes, never seen J. It is actually easier to get F, but that's a matter of luck too.
minz56 is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2019, 9:33 pm
  #167  
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Programs: IHG Diamond, HH Diamond, BW Diamond Select, Accor Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4,220
[QUOTE=skimthetrees;30821821This is either a severe IT bug or a conscious decision by AS to limit value to its members.[/QUOTE]

Pretty obviously the latter. They have gutted CX similarly. AS is running a scam and just waiting for a class-action law suit, IMHO. (Yes, I know what the T&Cs say about availability, but AS has unilaterally manipulated availability to make sure there isn't any on partners which offer the best value.)
Kremmen is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2019, 10:30 pm
  #168  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,386
Originally Posted by Kremmen
Pretty obviously the latter. They have gutted CX similarly. AS is running a scam and just waiting for a class-action law suit, IMHO. (Yes, I know what the T&Cs say about availability, but AS has unilaterally manipulated availability to make sure there isn't any on partners which offer the best value.)
CX gutted CX. I think most of the problems people have booking CX on AS is the poorly trained agents. Availability was gutted by CX.
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Old Feb 26, 2019, 2:42 am
  #169  
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Programs: IHG Diamond, HH Diamond, BW Diamond Select, Accor Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4,220
Originally Posted by skimthetrees
CX gutted CX. I think most of the problems people have booking CX on AS is the poorly trained agents. Availability was gutted by CX.
CX's massive drop in availability generally is a separate issue. Even when others partners can see 4 or 5 premium class seats, AS doesn't see it. (If it's "poorly trained agents", that's an awfully convenient excuse and one that AS has obviously done nothing to correct.)
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Old Feb 26, 2019, 3:21 am
  #170  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
Originally Posted by Kremmen
Pretty obviously the latter. They have gutted CX similarly. AS is running a scam and just waiting for a class-action law suit, IMHO. (Yes, I know what the T&Cs say about availability, but AS has unilaterally manipulated availability to make sure there isn't any on partners which offer the best value.)
Hilarious! What are your specific data points to substantiate that AS is running a scam?

I guess the 21 F&J awards I have booked on QF, CX & JL in the last 18 months are only a figment of my imagination.

James on the Oceania Marina enroute to Bora Bora.
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Flying for Fun is online now  
Old Feb 26, 2019, 9:22 am
  #171  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,386
Originally Posted by Flying for Fun
I guess the 21 F&J awards I have booked on QF, CX & JL in the last 18 months are only a figment of my imagination.
In the last 6 months have you booked a J award on QF from USA to Australia? AS blocks them all. Show me one example - ONE - of a J award USA to Australia or Australia to USA in J available on the AS website for any date in the schedule - all year long. I have not found any and I do not think they exist. F, yes. J, no.
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skimthetrees is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2019, 8:59 am
  #172  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 123
Originally Posted by skimthetrees
In the last 6 months have you booked a J award on QF from USA to Australia? AS blocks them all. Show me one example - ONE - of a J award USA to Australia or Australia to USA in J available on the AS website for any date in the schedule - all year long. I have not found any and I do not think they exist. F, yes. J, no.

Does AS block them all only from the website and you have to call in and book them over the phone if you see them on BA? Or are they no longer available moving forward? I will be looking for J or F flights for early 2020. In years past I have had no problem securing both F and J seats to and from SYD/MEL out of LAX. If we have to take CX, that is fine but nonstop is always a good option.
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Old Feb 27, 2019, 9:02 am
  #173  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 123
[QUOTE=

James on the Oceania Marina enroute to Bora Bora.[/QUOTE]

Enjoy! We just got off the Marina in PPT a few weeks ago. Great trip and amazing food. Go snorkeling with the rays and sharks in Bora Bora! So much fun.
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Old Feb 27, 2019, 9:19 am
  #174  
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: CA, USA.
Programs: AA, AS, BA, QF
Posts: 58
The agents on the phone do no see them either. I agree that up until about a year ago AS allowed to book QF awards about a year out (perhaps 330 days out). QF award booking through AS has now changed qualitatively, and this discussion has not yet determined whether it is an IT bug, or a conscious policy/decision.

Does anyone have an idea of how to move forward? If it is an IT bug, it can be fixed, but how? And if it is a conscious policy/decision, can it be reversed?
qgpv is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2019, 10:50 am
  #175  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 123
Originally Posted by qgpv
The agents on the phone do no see them either. I agree that up until about a year ago AS allowed to book QF awards about a year out (perhaps 330 days out). QF award booking through AS has now changed qualitatively, and this discussion has not yet determined whether it is an IT bug, or a conscious policy/decision.

Does anyone have an idea of how to move forward? If it is an IT bug, it can be fixed, but how? And if it is a conscious policy/decision, can it be reversed?
Thanks for clarifying.

I guess time will tell as to whether or not J becomes available again. I see plenty of Premium Economy availability on multiple US-AUS routes for an almost unlimited amount of dates over the next 300 days.

FYI I did see a random F seat on an LAX-SYD flight in July the other day. It was gone the next day.
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Old Feb 27, 2019, 12:13 pm
  #176  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,386
Originally Posted by jonnyz1245
I guess time will tell as to whether or not J becomes available again.
Time has already told. It has been this way for at least 6 months and probably closer to a year. Nothing will be changing unless someone can get AS's attention on this matter to either admit it is a bug and fix it or admit it is a policy decision and change it.
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Old Feb 27, 2019, 1:34 pm
  #177  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Between SFO and STS
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold, United Serf, Delta Gold
Posts: 731
Originally Posted by skimthetrees
Time has already told. It has been this way for at least 6 months and probably closer to a year. Nothing will be changing unless someone can get AS's attention on this matter to either admit it is a bug and fix it or admit it is a policy decision and change it.
Maybe a Chris McGinnis expos?
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DrAlex is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2019, 6:09 pm
  #178  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 123
Originally Posted by skimthetrees
Time has already told. It has been this way for at least 6 months and probably closer to a year. Nothing will be changing unless someone can get AS's attention on this matter to either admit it is a bug and fix it or admit it is a policy decision and change it.

Got it! Thanks
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Old Feb 28, 2019, 5:13 am
  #179  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,386
Originally Posted by DrAlex
Maybe a Chris McGinnis expos?
A popular well respected journalist or blogger would be most helpful. Do you have any contacts?
skimthetrees is offline  
Old Feb 28, 2019, 12:20 pm
  #180  
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Between SFO and STS
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold, United Serf, Delta Gold
Posts: 731
Originally Posted by skimthetrees
A popular well respected journalist or blogger would be most helpful. Do you have any contacts?
LOL. No... I thought someone else might happen by this thread and know someone. I suppose there's always the news 7 on your side if someone wants to go for broke.
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