goodo

Hi everyone,
I'm not so knowlegable of QF awards, being a UA guy myself, so I'm hoping I can get some help here. My brother is getting married in NY on Feb 9, and my family is flying in on cheap UA fares with 25% off coupons.

My uncle has asked me to help him find a flight. He has lots and lots of QF miles, but he said QF told him there's no availability. But I'm sure someone here can help. He'd like to fly out of MEL on 8th of Feb, and depart JFK on the 13th, in coach. Is there any hope either using partners, and/or OW awards, via other cities in the pacific or Asia?

thanks a million!
good

number_6

It should be trivial to find some inventory if you don't care about the cost. Some routings that cost more QFF points but would have more availability to try are:
MEL-JFK: MEL-HGK-LHR-JFK on BA or CX
MEL-NRT-JFK on AA
NRT-LAX/SJC/DFW/ORD on AA
MEL-BKK-HEL-JFK on AY (but their coach is very uncomfortable!)
MEL-SYD-SCL-JFK on LA
MEL-SYD-JNB-LHR-JFK
MEL-BOM-LHR-JFK on BA

Think you get the idea for some of the alternative routings. Trans-pacific to LAX tends to be the hardest route to redeem QF awards on. I would try going via NRT first (you can also go MEL-HKG-NRT on CX, or from ADL etc. to get award seats). There should be tons of space available ex-NRT on AA this time of year.

tinkybelle

Why not give him a UA ticket and get him to transfer the Q miles to you.

also I just logged in with a gold members account and there was availability to lax.then he could probably get one of many AA flights
qantas doesnt fly to ny that day but there was availability all the way on 9th and there is also availability coming from JFK-MEL on 13th.

I also checked normal availability on the website but didnt find anything but maybe if you can try to find someone who is gold to order the award for you.

honu

Another possibility is to get him as far as HNL on QF (MEL-SYD-HNL) and go on from there on AA (e.g., HNL-LAX-JFK, where you could substitute LAX with SFO or DFW - not sure about SJC). It's a 4-segment connection, so an exhausting trip in coach, but if he's up for it... SYD-HNL doesn't fly every day of the week, though.

Alternatively, if he doesn't mind connecting in NAN, he could try MEL-NAN-LAX on FJ, then connect to JFK on AA. Not sure if NAN-LAX is flying every day of the week, though.

jrk1998

I just went round & round (unsuccessfully) with them re: routing MEL - JFK through both HNL & LAX.

What worked for me was MEL - HKG on Qantas and Cathay from HKG to JFK. Hopefully you'll have some luck as well...

JDiver

Good day,

I'm bringing my mates from the Adelaide area to Mexico for a 3 - 4 week trip November - December, and wanted to book them in J cabin. So far, I've succeeded as so:

Wed 16 Nov 2005:
QF 670 ADL - Ar MEL
QF 93 MEL - LAX
MX 929 LAX - MEX

Wed 07 Dec 2005:
MX 908 MEX - LAX (A320, Dnr)
QF 176 LAX - (744, Dnr, Bfs)
Fri 09 Dec 2005 due to IDL issues, no layover):
QF 661 BNE - ADL (744, Bfs)

Nothing wrong with that, just had to keep my nose to the grindstone to find inventory - but I really wanted to send them back a bit later, though they did call us "septic" when they introduced us to their friends and family... the maron, crays and abs they laid on softened the blow, but I expect them to bring some Coopers to iron that out.

but I'm having problems determining when the inventory posts. Checking the proverbial 330 days out, I began at 23:55 (Sydeny time) 331 days out and am still checking at 03:35 - still, nothing showing, I can not get any seat inventory of any kind LAX - ADL (via MEL, SYD or BNE.)

Any suggestions, recommendations or assistance will be more than welcome here... Now that the AUD is higher, perhaps we can help fix our trade balance deficits by importing more Aus big spenders to North America. (Well, it won't work with them, as they are neither big spenders, nor will they be spending more than a few hours at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX... too used to eating crows, I guess. )

number_6

It posts at 355 days out, when QF allows award redemption using QF miles. Thus if there is none at 330 days, when other airlines get access, it means that it has been acquired by QF flyers and is all gone. Your choice at that point is to wait for more availability to occur later, or use QF miles to redeem awards on QF during the month of grace.

JDiver

Thanks, number_06!

I think it's the system I am accessing then, as I can't see QF or other airlines either, 331 days out. I'll scavenge some more as the day sgo by to see if there's anything - I sometimes see seats LAX - BNE when nothing else is available, or maybe use FJ via NAN. If not...

Can't complain at all then, having made the above bookings using QF flyers' leftovers... My friends will just have to enjoy 21 days in Mexico, that's all. And I don't suspect they will be too sad in J with the Skysleeper seats, as opposed to the 31" hell they did when they visited us a couple of years ago. (That's the real reason they still hand out booze on interational flights - anaesthetic.) I only wish the number of miles hadn't been "enhanced" for us; we used QF J ourselves at the old rate, some time ago.

(Too bad QF isn't flying to MEX anymore - remember being in awe of the B707 at MEX! Was flying on Comet IV-Cs MEX - LAX in those days, I recall.)

og

I suspect QF crew are the ones who are really sad the "Fiesta" route is no longer on the books. The irregular schedule ensured long stop overs in wonderful places! I have a photo somewhere from the aircraft window as we crossed the Mexican coast on approach to Acapulco - quite exciting really (I was on the "big trip" and in Primary School). Never got a ride in the Comets though. But I did have a ride in a BOAC VC10 HNL-NAN - lovely aircraft - sooooo quiet (Hushpower IIRC).

JDiver

VC10, that would have been a nice one! I never had the pleasure.

Another one long gone undoubtedly is B747-SP38, I flew in LAX - PPT a few years ago, in "Australia Asia" marks, VH-EAB as I recall, titled for the Taiwan - China issue flights.

NM

Ahh, yes, the VC-10 is still one of my favourite aircraft. My first flight experience over 30 years ago was a 7-sector VC-10 milk-run from Brisbane to London. I love to visit Duxford Air Musium near Cambridge and walk through their static display VC-10 whenever I have a spare day in London.

I almost missed out on the 747-SP, but managed a MEL-PER domestic flight on VH-EAB just before she retired. I have a 1:200 scale model of EAA on my desk . Have not found an affordable scale model of the VC-10 to add to my collection, so all I have is a postcard and photos (from Duxford).

og

I too just snuck in on EAB before she went "away". I remember sitting down the back looking out the window at two guys removing wing panels and "doing something" in the wing for 2 hrs before we got going (to SIN via DRW). That flight across the Gulf of Carpentaria with a perfect view is one of the nicest ways of spending an afternoon.

And isn't the 74SP like riding a rocket for a short haul compared with a fully loaded 744 struggling to get airborne..

willyroo

Ahh that was a nice flight.

BNE-SIN-BNE was one of the last routes for this old bird, and I had the privilege of not just sitting in 1K - the old F seats used for J - but also in the jumpseat for an early morning landing in BNE. 3 flight crew, more knobs and dials than you would believe, and seriously good performance. Those 4 RRs at full noise with a light pax and fuel load in a little (comparatively!) 'plane really made that thing go.

Remember the spiral staircase?

og

The new VS 346 went over my place on Saturday and it was so quiet! Is this a taste of things to come? One gets used to progressive loss of noise from the later generation of engines (or is this progressive loss of hearing).

As for the staircase, I remember AA's marketing for their 741s into SYD where they had a piano in the upper lounge. How they ever got it in beats me (I can just imagine some poor b@stard trying to push it up the staircase), but I could think of nothing worse than listening some drunk 1st class SLF bashing away at that thing in flight.

JDiver

I visited Dux last year - what a toy chest of aircraft! We also had a ride in a DeHavilland DH89 Dragon Rapide; thank goodness, no long sectors on those. OTOH, no need for an exit row, merely use anything with a sharp edge and peel back the fabric (or put your foot in it, literally.)

Do I recall correctly the SPs seemed to love flying at considerable altitudes - or at least a bit higher than some of the 744s seem to? (Certaily more than the 747-123 - the 100's started out underpowered. At least -123 is flying for NASA, carrying the Space Shuttle piggyback. No piano.)