Can I ask for some help from the more seasoned veterans on this forum? I am trying to reconcile the following:

- the OneWorld Award sticky indicates that business class awards come from U inventory.

- ExpertFlyer does not seem to show U inventory in any Qantas or Cathay flights that I have looked at.

- On ExpertFlyer, Cathay has some flights which show I inventory, and Qantas has very little, if any, I inventory. This is consistent with evidence on this forum that long haul Qantas business class seats are very difficult to secure (if I inventory is an award inventory)


Can I get some guidance in terms of how I should be using ExpertFlyer in looking at award inventory for a OneWorld award? I am looking at tweaking an existing reservation for Mrs. BdaDiver and I. We have a reservation for travel from YVR to ADL (via HKG on CX), some domestic flights in OZ, and a return BNE to YVR (via NRT on JL). I am trying to find alternatives for the return, preferring to fly via HKG on CX and/or Qantas. Australian gateway city on the way out does not matter. In-bound flights are currently booked for late August.

Thanks in advance for guiding me in the right direction.

BdaDiver

Sign up for the QF FF program and you can see award availability on most OW carriers. Same goes for BAEC, but joining is not as easy.

Basically, you don't, because EF does not show OW award inventory, with the exception of AA and, IIRC, QF economy.

In order to get the info you need you will have to use one or more of the QF, BA, LA, IB, etc. websites. There is no tool that will give you the information for all of them, and for all routes, in one convenient place.

I already have a Qantas FF account with a few orpahned miles. I take it that the Qantas site is more accurate/relevant than ExperFlyer?

BdaDiver

Well, if EF does not show any inventory, except as noted, it cannot be said it is less accurate than QF.

The upcoming version of the KVS Availability Tool will feature OW award availability for QF/BA/AA/AY/IB/MA: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...74#post2804874

Good to know. Thanks for the update.

Here is a complete list of airlines and codes for which award and upgrade inventory is viewable on ExpertFlyer:

http://www.expertflyer.com/popup/classes.jsp

Thank you,
EFV