hi everyone

i was just curious what the success rate was with getting QF rewards in J/F was like with OP miles. i know it's very difficult using AA miles.

cheers
ffr.

First of all, as an AA frequently flyer, your definition of "difficult" is probably different than ours. For you, "difficult" prolly means not getting your first choice date. OTOH, for a CO flyer, "difficult" means getting any flight without resorting to an EasyExtortion Reward.

That being said, QF rewards in J/F require some advance planning and flexibility, but are definitely doable. I'm currently in Australia now on a QF FC reward ticket, returning next Monday.

Feb. thru May is the easiest time of the year to get a QF reward, Christmastime is the toughest. Remember, not only do you have the usual Christmas traffic, but it's also summer in the southern hemisphere so nice weather and school holidays make it even more difficult.

Obviously getting an F ticket is quite a bit more difficult than a J seat. There are only 17 F seats on a 747-400 vs. 50-60 J seats and over 250 Y seats. However, you can usually get an F seat if you book 3 or more months in advance in off-season, and are flexible as to travel days and are willing to consider a connection through Melbourne. Obviously, allow much longer in high season. And you may not be able to get them at all. Also, getting two tickets together might be more difficult. QF only allots two F tickets per flight to CO.

I would strongly suggest that you hold out for the F seats if you can flex on your travel times. It's only 30,000 miles more for F, and well worth it! J is comfortable and pleasant, but not as nice as CO's BusinessFirst. OTOH, QF's FC blows CO's BusinessFirst right out of the water!!! A true flat bed, Qantas jammies provided, quality Champagne upon boarding, better food and booze, DVD library in addition to J-class choice of movies, great snacks (steak sandwich is best) upon request.

------------------
Think of how stupid the "average person" is, then consider that half of them are dumber than that! -George Carlin

SemiElite is right--Go for F. Much better product and just a few more miles needed.

Having done QF awards in F and C, my suggestion for finding availability is this:

Enroll in the QF frequent flyer program, so you can check availability online at qantas.com. The key flights are the tranpac ones--so search those first and by themselves.

NOTE: The CO OnePass and AA reward ticket inventory is not exactly the same as what you see on the QF website for redemption of QF miles, but I can tell you from experience that what you see is pretty darned close so it is a good place to start and the free seat you see if probably available for you using CO or AA mileage.

Good luck.

About a month ago, used CO miles for a QF trip in Feb 2004 to NZ and OZ. Went with J for two reasons: 1) Better chance of getting the itinerary I wanted and 2) QF non-stop to Auckland will be on two-class 747-400's (Business and Coach, no First). Whether the new SkyBeds will be installed versus the Dreamtime business seats at that time remains to be seen.

Itinerary is EWR-LAX, LAX-AKL, within NZ on my own, CHC-MEL, MEL-CNS via BNE, CNS-SYD, SYD-LAX, and LAX-EWR. R/T in J is 105,000 miles with one free stopover and one open jaw on either end. My itinerary has two additional stopovers, which are 20,000 miles apiece. My total deduction should have been 145,000. One day after my itinerary became official, I checked the CO website to see the deduction. When I looked, it showed only a 105,000 mile deduction. I thought to myself do I call them and point out the mistake or keep quiet. Since I was willing to spend the 145K anyway and I didn't want this itinerary cancelled because "full payment", 145,000 miles, weren't deducted, I called. The woman I spoke to said she saw the same discrepancy. She put me on hold to ask a supervisor, came back after a minute and told me it was "your lucky day". They would honor the 105,000 deduction.

So CO Domestic First EWR-LAX and back, QF International Business from LAX-AKL and SYD-LAX, and QF Domestic Business between NZ and OZ and within OZ. Not bad for 105,000.

[This message has been edited by JerseySlime (edited 05-22-2003).]

Confirming a point previously made and adding two others:

1) AA and CO award inventory is almost always identical.

2) AA, however, can make an award reservation in real time, since they have a direct patch into QF's reservation system. If AA can see the seat, they can reserve it. Theoretically, that means that if a CO and AA frequent flyer had eyes on the same seat at the same time the AA frequent flyer would win out.

3) Something to think about for the future. If any of you are collecting OnePass miles with the hopes of redeeming them for a QF seat in any class, you have to be aware of the fact that QF has no incentive to maintain this arrangement with Continental after it expires. Continental and QF are not alliance partners. AA and QF, however, are founding members of oneworld alliance and work quite closely together at LAX.

I just returned from a trip to Australia using OnePass miles for 2 F seats on QF. I had no trouble securing 2 F seats, but you have to be reasonable and flexible. For example, I called about 9 months ahead of the window I wanted to travel during, I was flexible on specific dates and days of the week, and I was willing to fly into one city and return from another in OZ (e.g., into Sydney and out of Melbourne). My only criteria: I wanted 14 days in Australia. OnePass partner desk took a few days and then called me with an itinerary.

P.S. F is definitely worth the extra miles! It was the best international service I've ever had - and even contrary to popular opinion, was even better than a flight in SQ F I had a couple of years ago. Have fun in OZ!

thanks to everyone who replied

how long does the agreement with continental last for?

also - i live in sydney for part of the year. would it be possible to get a reward ex-SYD?

Scion, when does the arrangement expire?

9 months ahead is EXCEEDINGLY flexible! Wow. Fortuntely, I have found a handful of F seats with far less advance notice, but finding TWO F seats on the same flight <6 months away requires a fair bit of praying.

I have notices that 2-3 weeks prior to departure QF revenue management seems to release a lot of seats when they're available.

Sadly, no! I tried to get reward tickets for my in-laws who live on the Central Coast, just north of Sydney. But QF reward tickets from CO required a flight of U.S. origination.

Your only other alternative would be to book a CO flight from CNS-GUM-HNL-LAX, and purchase a ticket SYD-CNS. Reward tickets on CO metal can be booked from any origination city. However, you will be dealing with the usual CO crap trying to get a BusinessFirst Standard Reward, which is nearly impossible! Be prepared to fork over double miles for an EasyExtortion Reward.



------------------
Think of how stupid the "average person" is, then consider that half of them are dumber than that! -George Carlin