I am planning to book a World Discovery ticket including a leg from Santiago to Auckland. Trailfinders have told me that the availability on this leg is very small since there are only 3 flights a week and only a certain number of seats are allocated to this type of ticket. I am looking to fly in February 2005 but the only flight around that time is in March. Also I am looking for flexibility to change the flight date as I know from previous travels that It is very unlikely I will keep to the flight date. What is my best option? Should I book the leg and then hope to change my flight date whilst in S America (is it possible to pay extra to upgrade my ticket to get a seat?), consider purchasing the more expensive One World ticket or backtrack to LA (serious hassle) and fly from there to Auckland. Thanks.

Based on my exp. the reality might not be that bad as people tend to make more than 1 reserv. e.g. 2 cfm + 2 waiting under my name. My mid-late Sep seat was cfm on spot around late May, don't even need to wait. Re the upgrade option, reply fm Qantas was "won't help that much - better book in advance"

Here's some world discovery change fees I found on the web, not sure if they are accurate.

Before departure (through westernair.co.uk) - �50 per ticket to change dates. �150 per ticket to change route. (Subject to availability).
After departure (through airline) - �50 to change dates of remaining sectors after the first intercontinental flight. $100 USD per ticket to change route. (Subject to availability).

I'd ask the travel agent exactly how to change the date after departure and who you should contact in south america.

Nellag: you may find availability on this route is better under the LA flight # than the QF codeshare #.

Perhaps someone can help to clarify something that's bugging me:

Although I've got two D class seats booked on this flight under the LA designator, I'd prefer to use the QF designator because of mileage bonuses. However, D class availability has for the QF flight # has been at a steady nil ever since booking a few months back.

Now here's where it gets a little muddier... AA (which ticketed this itinerary) has waitlisted me for the QF flight #. I had assumed that QF top-tier status would help with expediting the freeing up of seats. But on each enquiry I get the runaround from both QF and LA: the former claims that LA controls seating allocation, while the latter states that the nature of its commercial agreement with QF decrees that it is QF which controls this.

Now LA are telling me that for as long as I've got the D class seats booked under its designator, the waitlist for QF will not clear

Any ideas who really is responsible for this?

It is quite possible that QF is not intending to offer any D on their codeshare flight number. Since most D is for RTW type multi-carrier fares (not all, but certainly a lot of it), QF may not make enough money out of selling D seats on their codeshare service to warrant it. So they may just leave the D up to LAN for those services.

For example, QF has to buy the seats from LAN in order to sell them as their codeshare flight number. The total cost of a DONE4 is $9169 less any discounts/commissions offered. So if we assume a DONE4 incremental revenue to QF on a D sector of a DONE4 is likely to be something in the order of $1000 for an inter-continental sector. They can sell a J seat for more like $4000. So they may well lose money by gaining the $1000 for your D seat, paying LAN whatever is owed as part of the codeshare agreement, and also paying you out the FF points.

Thanks NM, seems to make sense. But does QF not have a duty to make all reasonable endeavours to find seats for its top tier FF's?

And who ultimately is accountable for this? [per my earlier question]

No, I don't believe they do have any such duty, especially as you already have a seat on the desired flight - albeit with the revenue going to LAN and not QF.

Accountability I guess lies with QF's revenue control department that works out how many of each class is to be offered at any time on any QF flight.

Note that D on the QF codeshare is not impossible to find on these flights, just very limited. They may start off with 1 or 2 offered and not release any more later. Fares line DONx are good for incremental revenue, but not big money spinners for the airlines - especially the way we make the most of them . Great value for us, however ^ .

Thanx but what if I wanted to change my flight only a few weeks before scheduled departure, what would my chances be?

Always nice to report back with a happy ending: I took up this issue with both QF and LA. Got absolutely nowhere talking to frontline call centre staff, but emails to the customer relations depts. of both seemed to work a treat.

As if by magic, I've been re-booked into D class under the QF flight # even though availability is still showing as zero. Furthermore I've been given seats 5A & 5C which don't even show up on the seatmap (past experience of these flights and the seating config has allayed my fears that I'll be sitting outside on the wing )

I know not whether it was QF's seating dept. looking after a Plat FF'er, LA sorting it out or a combo of the two carriers talking to eachother.

Advice for anyone else who comes up against the same thing is persevere: both airlines will tell you the other is wrong.

My thanks to the seating fairy, wherever she may be.

I think you have to be careful assuming that the seating fairy is female. There are quite a few "fairies" who are male in the airline business.

Remember that if you are a status chaser, sometimes you do not want to get the mileage bonuses and it is better to split the flight into two sectors if it is longhaul. I used to go LHR to SYD all the time and book BA off LHR to SIN and then the QF codeshare of the same flight to SYD this would be classed by the FFPs as two longhaul flights and not one long direct. This was worth about 10% in terms of status points, cutting out the need for several extra status chaser domestic/european business class fares to I could save more money by travelling discounted economy having assured my status for another year...

The flight in Feb run direct four days a week. 1,3,4 and 6. Might be a better idea than getting off at PPT and spending a couple of days on the beach in the name of status points. (Can you use the QF 3344 on the one world explorer fare anyone?)

No. You can use it on a Global Explorer ticket only. Frustrating, isn't it...

Oh well, back through LAX again for me as I can do that on the xONEx fares. Just in case I needed the practice. Who the hell was Tom Bradley anyway? If I wanted to be immortalised for the next generation, I am not sure that naming an airport terminal at LAX after me would say alot about what I achieved.