Jan 14, 2015, 5:58 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
AA miles awards: using / redeeming AA miles on Qantas (QF)
The basics:
QF releases their awards from 353 days out to QF FF's and some ffp's (Amadeus CRS). So at the 331 days (~Sabre CRS) AA for award release there are scant seats left. They tend to add more much closer to the day of flight, if there are seats available.
2017.07.08 edit by FlyerTalkUserName: For US flights it has been my recent, but limited experience that QF releases award availability around 10-11 months from departure. Consider searching for one seat in F and one in J as well.
Consider alternate cities. E.g. Flights to BNE might be easier to book with AA miles than SYD or MEL, so adding a segment from BNE might give you a trip denied by connecting in SYD. You might have to remind AA reservationists, because they might not consider BNE.
Consider alternate airlines, such as HA from HNL, TN via PPT, FJ via NAN, etc.
N.B. Travel via Honolulu, or Asia (e.g. HKG or NRT), will require two awards.
aa.com occasionally may report "phantom availability" of premium awards on Qantas.
2017.07.08 edit by FlyerTalkUserName: Conversely, aa.com occasionally may not show available Qantas awards. Use BA's search tool, QF's search tool, or service like ExpertFlyer to see availability. Call in to ticket.
The aa.com oneworld and Other Airline Award Chart may be seen here, for required miles and restrictions on connections.
Note: Reservation speculating, or tying up award space to "flip" in (or out of) Coupon Connection will not be tolerated. If you have an "extra" reservation, simply cancel or refund it. This will not be allowed in this forum either.
Qantas Routes
To be updated
SYD to LAX, DFW, HNL and YVR. SYD SFO restart delayed
BNE to LAX
MEL to LAX and DFW
SYD AKL JFK from 14 June 2023
Notes
Routes can change, so please check the schedule.
During low seasons some routes may not have flights every day.
Not all flights/routes have first class. Only the QF A380 aircraft have has first class.
QF have retired all B747's and sent them to the Mojave desert (July 2020)
+++++++++++++++++
/Moderator
Older posts have been archived to ARCHIVE: AA miles awards: using / redeeming AA miles on Qantas (QF)
Note: Older posts have been archived off to this thread
Updates & edits
20 May 2016 - JDiver
23 Sept 2019 - Mwenenzi QF routes added
11 Mar 2020 - Mwenenzi QF route changes
31 Jul 2020 - Mwenenzi QF B747 retired. More Covid-19 announcements from QF
07 Aug 2020 - Mwenenzi QF B787 to storage
12 Nov 2021 - Mwenenzi QF announcements 3 off
05 Mar 2022 - Mwenenzi QF announcements
12 Jun 2022 - Mwenenzi QF announcements removed (except 2) as AU fully open & QF flying AU<--->USA
24 Dec 2022 - Mwenenzi QF post CV19 announcements removed. MELDFW route added
THIS WIKI IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD VALUE.
The basics:
QF releases their awards from 353 days out to QF FF's and some ffp's (Amadeus CRS). So at the 331 days (~Sabre CRS) AA for award release there are scant seats left. They tend to add more much closer to the day of flight, if there are seats available.
2017.07.08 edit by FlyerTalkUserName: For US flights it has been my recent, but limited experience that QF releases award availability around 10-11 months from departure. Consider searching for one seat in F and one in J as well.
Consider alternate cities. E.g. Flights to BNE might be easier to book with AA miles than SYD or MEL, so adding a segment from BNE might give you a trip denied by connecting in SYD. You might have to remind AA reservationists, because they might not consider BNE.
Consider alternate airlines, such as HA from HNL, TN via PPT, FJ via NAN, etc.
N.B. Travel via Honolulu, or Asia (e.g. HKG or NRT), will require two awards.
aa.com occasionally may report "phantom availability" of premium awards on Qantas.
2017.07.08 edit by FlyerTalkUserName: Conversely, aa.com occasionally may not show available Qantas awards. Use BA's search tool, QF's search tool, or service like ExpertFlyer to see availability. Call in to ticket.
BA only shows 3 cabins in output. When searching for award seats, make sure to select 1st class as cabin and it will show premium economy, business and 1st rather than economy, premium economy and business
It only displays flights where there is a seat in at least one cabin. If there is no availability on the flight in any cabin, then the flight will not be displayed.
It only displays flights where there is a seat in at least one cabin. If there is no availability on the flight in any cabin, then the flight will not be displayed.
Note: Reservation speculating, or tying up award space to "flip" in (or out of) Coupon Connection will not be tolerated. If you have an "extra" reservation, simply cancel or refund it. This will not be allowed in this forum either.
Qantas Routes
To be updated
SYD to LAX, DFW, HNL and YVR. SYD SFO restart delayed
BNE to LAX
MEL to LAX and DFW
SYD AKL JFK from 14 June 2023
Notes
Routes can change, so please check the schedule.
During low seasons some routes may not have flights every day.
Not all flights/routes have first class. Only the QF A380 aircraft have has first class.
QF have retired all B747's and sent them to the Mojave desert (July 2020)
+++++++++++++++++
/Moderator
Older posts have been archived to ARCHIVE: AA miles awards: using / redeeming AA miles on Qantas (QF)
Note: Older posts have been archived off to this thread
Updates & edits
20 May 2016 - JDiver
23 Sept 2019 - Mwenenzi QF routes added
11 Mar 2020 - Mwenenzi QF route changes
31 Jul 2020 - Mwenenzi QF B747 retired. More Covid-19 announcements from QF
07 Aug 2020 - Mwenenzi QF B787 to storage
12 Nov 2021 - Mwenenzi QF announcements 3 off
05 Mar 2022 - Mwenenzi QF announcements
12 Jun 2022 - Mwenenzi QF announcements removed (except 2) as AU fully open & QF flying AU<--->USA
24 Dec 2022 - Mwenenzi QF post CV19 announcements removed. MELDFW route added
THIS WIKI IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD VALUE.
AA miles awards: using / redeeming AA miles on Qantas (QF) & related (consolidated)
Jan 18, 2016, 1:16 pm
#406
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA EXP (LT Plat 2MM), Marriott Plat, IHG Plat, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat, SPG Plat75, UA1K
Posts: 1,248
Just booked two F award seats DXB-SYD on QF2 for early May. Availability was showing up on EF and AA.com. Had trouble finding connecting space in J between SYD-BNE so we opted for a downgrade to Y and set an alert in case two U seats open up. Now the waiting game to make sure that they ticket correctly!
Jan 18, 2016, 1:37 pm
#408
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: YYC, SFO, OAK
Programs: AS MVP 75K, AA Platinum, IHG Platinum, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 734
I called back to EXP today about my friends' itineraries, SFO-SYD-MEL. Agent said they were still unconfirmed. I asked if the QF liaison had gotten back to them, as another EXP agent on Friday night sent them a note.
Agent said no response yet from QF. She offered to my put friends in Y on SFO-SYD, but I politely said that would sort of be a non-starter.
I asked if there was some way she could contact QF right now. She said she'd check and put me on hold. About 10 minutes later, she came back on the line and said she spoke to her help desk which "found similar flights on AA, via LAX." In other words, AA opened up space on their own metal. I thanked her profusely and ticketed instantly.
Oddly enough, my friends return on QF, SYD-SFO, had no problem staying confirmed, just the outbound.
This was resolved much to my satisfaction - and I think pushing your agent a bit for a resolution helps
Agent said no response yet from QF. She offered to my put friends in Y on SFO-SYD, but I politely said that would sort of be a non-starter.
I asked if there was some way she could contact QF right now. She said she'd check and put me on hold. About 10 minutes later, she came back on the line and said she spoke to her help desk which "found similar flights on AA, via LAX." In other words, AA opened up space on their own metal. I thanked her profusely and ticketed instantly.
Oddly enough, my friends return on QF, SYD-SFO, had no problem staying confirmed, just the outbound.
This was resolved much to my satisfaction - and I think pushing your agent a bit for a resolution helps
Jan 18, 2016, 6:52 pm
#409
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,963
Sigh ... I have had bad luck with the agents lately. Called today too and was told that there was nothing AA could do since its QF's problem not confirming the space. Asked about the liaison and agent pretty rudely told me that its not AA's problem so there was nothing she could do. OK bad agent ... call back and got a nicer agent, but she said that QF liaison was already off for the day.
Hope I have better luck tomorrow.
Hope I have better luck tomorrow.
Last edited by olouie; Jan 18, 2016 at 7:30 pm
Jan 18, 2016, 7:12 pm
#410
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: YYC, SFO, OAK
Programs: AS MVP 75K, AA Platinum, IHG Platinum, Club Carlson Gold
Posts: 734
Sigh ... I have had bad luck with the agents lately. Called today too and was told that there was thing AA could do since its QF's problem not confirming the space. Asked about the liaison and agent pretty rudely told me that its not AA's problem so there was nothing she could do. OK bad agent ... call back and got a nicer agent, but she said that QF liaison was already off for the day.
Hope I have better luck tomorrow.
Hope I have better luck tomorrow.
Jan 19, 2016, 5:49 pm
#411
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
FWIW, made changes yesterday to the two F awards I put on hold Friday that didn't come back confirmed until yesterday - just called in to ticket both and I received the ticket number confirmations ~30 minutes later, so QF awards are definitely possible right now.
Jan 19, 2016, 5:54 pm
#413
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
Jan 19, 2016, 6:24 pm
#414
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,963
Make sure to keep checking. I got the ticket number and confirmations (was able to log into QF site to verify) then my reservation disappeared a day later. AA and QF are working to see if they can fix it now.
Jan 19, 2016, 6:31 pm
#415
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
Jan 20, 2016, 12:59 am
#416
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,963
This is kind of funny and kind of sad. I got AA to finally put me on the SFO-LAX-SYD-AKL flights since they claimed that QF would not confirm my reservation. Everything looked fine and then a few hours later the booking suddenly changes to the QF flights I booked.
Similar thing happened to me last time when QF cancelled the flights on my original booking date. My guess is that AA and QF don't have things ironed out yet. In any case it looks like my reservation is back (fingers crossed).
Similar thing happened to me last time when QF cancelled the flights on my original booking date. My guess is that AA and QF don't have things ironed out yet. In any case it looks like my reservation is back (fingers crossed).
Jan 20, 2016, 1:17 am
#418
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,963
US to Asia 2 chart is here: https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/r...tner-chart.jsp so 35,000 for econ, 55,000 for business, and 67,500 for first.
Taxes and fees for my business class booking were about $20-30 each person.
Jan 20, 2016, 7:29 am
#419
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: DCA
Programs: MR Plat; AA Gold; UA Silver
Posts: 352
Thanks to this message board I was able to book a rt flight to Australia last night for only 67,500 miles (it was 75,000 but I got 10% with the credit card)! Plus about $102 in taxes of course. DCA-DFW-SYD, then MEL-LAX-DCA in September. All in economy (I'm short so I don't mind). It's AA from DCA-DFW, then Quantas from DFW to SYD, and also from MEL to LAX. Weirdly I was put on Alaska from LAX to DCA.
My question is about seat assignments on Quantas. Do I really have to pay $30 per seat? It looks like I have "requested" seats but they are not guaranteed. Weird.
Unlike some others above, my booking was confirmed within about 30 mins. I even logged onto the Quantas site using my AA confirmation number and everything shows up.
I have never left North America before so I am excited for this trip.
My question is about seat assignments on Quantas. Do I really have to pay $30 per seat? It looks like I have "requested" seats but they are not guaranteed. Weird.
Unlike some others above, my booking was confirmed within about 30 mins. I even logged onto the Quantas site using my AA confirmation number and everything shows up.
I have never left North America before so I am excited for this trip.
Jan 20, 2016, 7:43 am
#420
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 315
I believe you have to pay for seat reservations on Qantas in economy depending on fare class, unless holding OneWorld Ruby status or higher. But since your AA Gold = OW Ruby, this should be complimentary for you, unless a 'preferred seat'. BTW it's and it's "Qantas" not "Quantas".
Most the the problems upthread seem to be with premium-class redemptions - not sure if that's a factor or not in the current AA redemption woes on QF.
Most the the problems upthread seem to be with premium-class redemptions - not sure if that's a factor or not in the current AA redemption woes on QF.