AONE5 Maximisation Tips & Tricks
 

Planning an AA issued ex-JNB AONE5 and looking for any extra tips and tricks
you good peeps can come up with. Current thinking is:

JNB-HKG CX A (A346 service) Intercontinental
HKG-NRT CX or JL A Asia 1
NRT-SIN JL A Asia 2
SIN-NRT JL A Asia 3
NRT-SIN JL A Asia 4
SIN-SYD QF A Intercontinental (See note 1)
SYD-PER QF D SWP1 (See note 2)
PER-DRW QF D SWP2
DRW-SYD QF D SWP3
SYD-JFK QF A Intercontinental
JFK-YVR CX A NA1
YVR-DFW AA D NA2
DFW-LHR AA A Intercontinetal (See note 3)
LHR-DXB BA A Eur1
DXB-LHR BA A Eur2
LHR-JNB BA A Intercontinental

Mileage Monkey approves the route at 59,426 miles - but would really like
to get this momma through the 60,000 barrier ^

Note 1 - Flightstats.com shows A inventory open on QF32 A380 flights in
late Jan/Feb 09 so would want to use SIN-SYD as the Intercontinental
flight here.

Note 2 - SYD-PER-DRW-SYD or vv needs to be included so three sectors
in D are unavoidable.

Note 3 - Want to go to YVR and YVR-xDFW-LHR would get a trans-oceanic
sector on AA metal. Having one D sector YVR-DFW seems to be unavoidable
here.

All to post to QF FQTV unless anybody can advise advantages of joining
other programmes.

Thanks in advance.....

VH-EAB

Try JNB-HKG-NRT-DPS-NRT-SIN-SYD-PER-DRW-SYD-JFK-YVR-DFW-LHR-MCT-LHR-JNB for 60160 miles or change JNB at the end to CPT for a total of 60537 miles.

Personally I think MCT is much more interesting than DXB, and CPT is well worth seeing. Bali is a good alternative to SIN, to save doing the SIN ping-pong-ping.

Edited to add:
Oops - No First NRT-DPS-NRT. so back to SIN, which loses a few miles. To exceed the 60K, you have to finish in CPT (60,221 miles).

would LHR-MCT-LHR get you to the 60000miles level ifsubstituted for LHR-DXB-LHR. Is YVR-MEX on JAL still available then MEX-LHR on BA?

uuuuuuuuu

The PER exemption only applies when originating in PER (or in NZ), so is not open to the OP.

On QF program, MCT is better than DXB for SC earning, as it is an extra zone.

I support that. More miles and more interesting destinations - win-win.

I also noticed this and am considering re-jigging what's left of my AONE5 to get this flight. Just worried they may later decide to exclude it the way SQ does and also that there could be lots of craft substitution in the early months of operation.

Oneworld T&Cs seem to indicate;

Only one flight PER-SYD/MEL/BNE/CNS & vv and
Only one flight BME/DRW-SYD/MEL & vv.

The two conditions seem to read as seperate entities.

Mileage Monkey flags an error on SYD-PER-MEL and flags an error
on SYD-DRW-SYD but does not flag an error on my SYD-PER-DRW-
SYD.

I guess I'll need a Plan B if AA RTW desk rejects it.......

I think SYD-PER-DRW-SYD is possible but I might be wrong. My guess is that it means only one flight each and not one flight in total. So if this is true, here is an itinerary reasonably optimized for QF SC earning:

JNB-HKG-NRT-CGK-NRT-SIN-SYD-PER-DRW-SYD-JFK-YVR-MEX-LHR-MCT-LHR-CPT.

Total is 61715 miles and enough SCs for WP and Partner Gold (easy). 5 of those and you have lifetime Gold....

Some have reported booking agencies taking the separate lines as the one rule and prohibiting routings like -SYD-PAR-DRW-SYD-.

In other cases booking agencies have considered the lines to be separate rules and permitted such a routing.

Be prepared to have such a routing denied ...

YMMV.

Just thought I'd post this for the comedy value....

Called QF for clarification. Call transferred through to Australia.
I asked the very helpful lady if she was familiar with the OWE
rules for itineraries originating outside Australia which she said
she was, so I posed the SYD-PER-DRW-SYD question.

After ten minutes on hold she came back to say that no this
wasn't allowed and if she was me she'd go to Broome. So I
asked, given that I intended entering/exiting SWP through
SYD and would've flown SYD-BME how she proposed I got back
from BME to SYD.

Another ten minutes and she comes back to say 'Yeah, you
can fly back from BME to SYD. We wouldn't just leave you
there!'

Pure Genius.

You cannot fly the QF A380 on an AONEx ticket. The booking class for First on that flight is actually R (suites) and no matter how much you beg you will not get on with an A ticket.

To (partially) answer my own musings above: I see that QF31/32 has a new class of service - "R". On loads of dates well into the new year it's still shown as a 747 service.

On many days where the craft is the A380, the availability on KVS shows as R9, F0, A0. On others there can be as much as R9, F9, A9. So I guess the idea would be to book an A seat asap - and hope like hell you don't get an aircraft change.

Really, the A380 is out of the question on a AONEx. I asked multiple times and with different sources. If it shows A it is a mistake. There is no A on an A380, only R. They should call it the R380. :)

Are you sure about this? I can see R, F and A for multiple dates. I can even see F (not A) for MEL-LAX on an A380. So unlike SQ there are certainly other booking classes than just R.

I also used Frequent Flyer, found the same availability and I tried to get seats on the A380 on a AONE5. You will get waitlisted. Unfortunately you will never get confirmed. They ONLY book R in the A380 (according to BA, QF and AA). Possibly because the "R" fare is relatively new (and most certainly for QF) they show A and F too in the system. Could be a glitch, could be necessary in case of an aircraft change. Don't know. What I do know: no way you are getting on an A380 in first with an AONEx.

When I asked there was no information about possible surcharges like with SQ. You cannot fly their A380 on a First class RTW either.

Surely if there is A inventory, it's bookable? If I tell my TA to nab me an A seat what part of the system will prevent her doing it? (I would try it right away but it would mean re-issuing my ticket first and I'm not ready to do that yet.)

If true then it is pathetic. From what I can tell off the web site nothing about the QF A380 seat makes it seem superior to CX's new F seat and CX hasn't created a new class or stopped allowing their use on RTW tickets. And it will be quite a while before QF can guarantee that you will fly an A380 on any single route. What happens if you have an R ticket and there's a substitution or you change your flight date and get a 747?

As I said: there is no A inventory. If it shows A, it is wrong. Probably a glitch because not all systems are fully adapted. QF, AA and BA all told me that QF A380 is all R and nothing but R. I would love to be wrong.

I believe all airlines will assign the first class on their A380 as R. Given the popularity of the plane, who can blame them?

Actually, the tariff for the A380 in R is higher than the same route on an 747 (about $2500) so that sort of tells you, doesnt it? Resistence is futile... :)

With an aircraft change the same happens as with SQ: nothing.

And no, its not fair.

Well I must be seeing things since there is (sometimes excellent) A inventory showing on all the GDS's I can see on KVS. This is for the SIN/SYD route; I believe there is no/very patchy availability trans pac.

When I asked on the QF forum the response was that A was bookable if shown.

My TA has now booked me into A on the A380 on the SIN/SYD route using the BA code share (since that is my preference for mileage earning purposes). I see that inventory on my flight has now reduced from A9 to A8. The booking shows on MMB on BA and I have even been able to change my seat. I now need to re-issue my AONE since this is a route change.

At what point do you think QF will intervene to prevent my flying the A380 in A class? When I re-issue? At the airport?

I take it that this is no more than a guess - or do you have information to back this up?

How about "never"?

Just the answer I was looking for! :D

There is also "A" class availability on the LHR-SIN on many other days as well according to EF on both the QF and BA codeshares ( for the A380)

When I look (KVS or ExpertFlyer) for LAX/SYD I get:
QF 12 LAX 22:30 SYD 08:10 +2 388 0 R9 F2 A0 J9 C0 D0 W9 T4 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L0 V0 S0 N0 Q0 O0

When I search using BA I don't even get the 388.

I called my TA (BA itself) and they still confirm that QF only books there 388 in R and F, not A.

So I guess it is only on that route. Bummer.

"A" class availability from LHR-SIN and SIN-SYD on the 380 is now COMPLETELY gone from EF... Seems like QF is watching......

I noticed but didn't want to say anything in case it was me wot broke it. :(

Guess you were wrong... :(

:confused: Are you saying they will prevent me from flying on my existing A booking?

Frankly I think QF is just going practise ordinary revenue management on the A380: i.e. wait and see how the R and F (there is still F) sells. If after the first flurry of curiosity the demand is weak we will see A seats return. A number of factors make me optimistic:

• the new product doesn't seem to be in a whole new class the way that the SQ (and CX, which aren't marketed as R) suites are; they have a significantly smaller footprint (it looks to be only 3/4 the size of the SQ suite)
• some people may prefer the alternative scheduling anyway
• people may not want to divvy up if they can't be guaranteed the new product
• there are other viable alternatives, especially on the routes to SE Asia, and folks might avoid QF entirely rather than pay for R

If I am wrong and QF finds that they can consistently sustain sufficient demand in R and F, then good on them and I would expect them to black out A availability despite our bleating. Time will tell.

Hopefully not you, but as I read here they now corrected their mistake so at least everyone after you.