Perth J Award options
Apr 29, 2019, 7:06 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 286
Perth J Award options
Have been fortunate enough to book international flights in J using QFF award points to and from Perth to Europe over the past 8 years.
it comes down to significant forward planning and continual watching of award allocations, despite being a lowly bronze member we have always found J award redemptions as a couple as long as we are slightly flexible and diligent with search options.
These long haul QFF award J flights have mostly been with Emirates and Qatar.
i have noticed for our next proposed trip in 2020 that the flight options in J back to Perth appear to have disappeared significantly. Emirates’ previous offers for Milan-Dubai-Perth are now Milan-Dubai-Singapore in J only, nothing through to Perth. They have axed one of the flights to and from Perth and Dubai which obviously leaves one much sought after option but with no J awards appearing at all. Qatar is not showing QFF J award flight options Perth-Doha-PERTH so it really appears that this long haul leg of 11+ hours is not going to be found in J in the foreseeable future with these airlines.
Our next option would be to fly in and out of Singapore in domestic (paid Qantas fare) as there are plenty of J award flights to and from Singapore on either Qatar or Emirates. This is also an option via Hong Kong but the flight is longer and Cathay awards require more points.
Cathay appears to be the only option for us if choosing to fly the whole distance in J awards, however the points are far more and leaves us always with an eight hour layover in Hong Kong.
These search options appear to have only recently come into play, it makes planning the long haul trip in J very difficult to and from Perth. Would appreciate any suggestions if I am not utilising all search options.
it comes down to significant forward planning and continual watching of award allocations, despite being a lowly bronze member we have always found J award redemptions as a couple as long as we are slightly flexible and diligent with search options.
These long haul QFF award J flights have mostly been with Emirates and Qatar.
i have noticed for our next proposed trip in 2020 that the flight options in J back to Perth appear to have disappeared significantly. Emirates’ previous offers for Milan-Dubai-Perth are now Milan-Dubai-Singapore in J only, nothing through to Perth. They have axed one of the flights to and from Perth and Dubai which obviously leaves one much sought after option but with no J awards appearing at all. Qatar is not showing QFF J award flight options Perth-Doha-PERTH so it really appears that this long haul leg of 11+ hours is not going to be found in J in the foreseeable future with these airlines.
Our next option would be to fly in and out of Singapore in domestic (paid Qantas fare) as there are plenty of J award flights to and from Singapore on either Qatar or Emirates. This is also an option via Hong Kong but the flight is longer and Cathay awards require more points.
Cathay appears to be the only option for us if choosing to fly the whole distance in J awards, however the points are far more and leaves us always with an eight hour layover in Hong Kong.
These search options appear to have only recently come into play, it makes planning the long haul trip in J very difficult to and from Perth. Would appreciate any suggestions if I am not utilising all search options.
Apr 30, 2019, 5:43 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Perth Aust
Programs: LifeQP LTS, Avis
Posts: 307
Have you looked at Malaysian Airlines for award seats? These seem to be readily available. Also have you asked the friendly Qantas folks to see what they can find for you - they seem to be pretty good at locating award seats, and I believe it's worth the money having them help you.
Apr 30, 2019, 8:13 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 286
Thanks grow, I just noticed MA had award seats but not so keen to fly with them.
Good option to call Qantas, I do like to see all the options online in front of me so I can take my time looking at which aircraft, transit time, connections etc before choosing .... not an instant decision.
appreciate the reply.
Good option to call Qantas, I do like to see all the options online in front of me so I can take my time looking at which aircraft, transit time, connections etc before choosing .... not an instant decision.
appreciate the reply.