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Getting to Aust/NZ


oceanview585

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We are booked Jan 2008 on a Sydney to Auckland cruise. We are debating using frequent flyer miles to be able to get business class. Haven't made that call yet to the airline but does anyone know if they would allow you to fly into Sydney then fly back to San Francisco from Auckland? Also are these seats hard to get? How far out do you need to book? Any first hand info appreciated.

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I can only tell you what happens here when we use Qantas F.F. points to go to the U.S.

 

We went twice in 2006, once going First Class and once going Business. We would have been able to fly into one city and out of another though we went both times just to L.A. but used the Qantas partners within the U.S.

 

I always book right on the day that the seats become available. In the case of Qantas, it is 355 days before you travel. I think in the U.S. it is a year less 6 weeks but am not sure of that. We have always got the seats that we requested.

 

Jennie

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We are debating using frequent flyer miles to be able to get business class. Haven't made that call yet to the airline but does anyone know if they would allow you to fly into Sydney then fly back to San Francisco from Auckland? Also are these seats hard to get? How far out do you need to book?
Which airline are you thinking of flying with?

 

If it's Qantas, award seats are very scarce on the trans-Pacific routes, so book as early as you possibly can.

 

There should be no technical difficulty, though, with the open jaw itinerary. That's permissible, if there's availability.

 

Your best bet is to be flexible. If there's no availability, try different routes, dates etc. You can always add extra sectors for relatively small amounts of cash later - for example, if you can only get seats to Auckland, then you could just fly there and buy an extra Auckland-Sydney ticket to get you to the start of your cruise.

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most airlines only book 330 days ahead. You Aussie must get an extra 3 weeks on us if you can book 355 days ahead. And as far as I know there is absolutely no problem booking reward flights that are open jaw (into one city and out of another).

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I'm hoping you'll check back on this thread! I have some questions you might be able to help with.

 

We are doing the NZ/AU voyage on Celebrity's Mercury departing Auckland on 12/9/07.

 

Our dilemma......We want to use ff miles on AA utilizing Qantas for the LA/Auckland and return Sydney/LA. We have sufficient miles to fly Business Class for this trip. AA has opened up the 12/6 date (the date we would fly from the U.S.) but states that Qantas hasn't opened any business class seats, doesn't know when they will or even if they ever will. All they would do for us is put 3 economy seats on hold for the outgoing flight......not even the return (said we have to wait until 329 days out from that date which will be 1/2/08). Said to just keep calling, "every hour if necessary" on the chance something will open up. I have talked to 5 agents to date and all sound somewhat confused but end up giving me the same answer.

 

(Note: I began calling minutes after midnight on the first day AA opened up for Dec. 6th......the best thing I knew to do.)

 

So my question....have you ever had to deal with a situation such as this? Is there something else I could be doing? Are there any *tricks* to accomplish our goal?

 

We have flown R/T to Sydney many a time, but this is the first time we have wanted to use ff miles.

 

Thanks for listening.....:).....and thanks for any help you might be able to offer.

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Our Alaska air also uses Qantas. They did tell us we can book the outgoing but then have to wait again the 330 day limit and book the return flight. She said if we can't get the return flight the cancellataion fee would be $10. Did not know the part about Qantas not opeining business class seats yet for FF miles. That could be a little glitch for us. This is a learning expirience. Your trip is several weeks before ours so you should find out first. Let us know.

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oceanview:

 

Just got off the phone with AA again......the word from all agents has remained consistent......we don't know when or if Qantas will open up business class. No one here knows that. You'll just have to keep calling (and too bad if someone else happens to call the moment they open up and they get the few available.....:eek: )

 

So.....since we don't know if we can get Qantas business class, we can only get AA economy from Tulsa to LA (or to "lock it in" they would have to book in separate segments......45,000 for Tulsa to LA and 75,000 LA to Auckland as opposed to 125,000 if done at the same time).

 

I will let you know if I find out any more. :)

 

Guess I'll be spending a lot of time on the phone. ;)

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Good luck getting any FF seats on Qantas trans-Pacific. This is their most lucrative (and protected) market and very difficult to get seats on (let alone FF seats). You also have United and Air New Zealand flying trans-Pacific; both Star Alliance carriers (Air NZ flies via New Zealand). Air Tahiti Nui also flies tran-Pacific (via Tahiti) from LA (I think) into Sydney (I don't know which FF program they are associated with). Air Canada (Star Alliance) flies daily from Vancouver to Sydney via Honolulu.

 

Another option is Jetstar International. They are Qantas's low cost carrier offshoot and have just started international services, one of which is Sydney to Honolulu (where you can get an AA connection). Although Jetstar is a low cost carrier, they do have a business class section. And I think you can use oneworld points on JQ.

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Thanks for your post!

 

Here's our situation....we need to fly to Auckland to board the ship but will be returning to the US from Sydney. We do have the outgoing ff economy seats on hold with Qantas (booked through AA) but return hasn't opened up as yet so don't know availability. We would like to return on Jan. 2nd but could do Jan. 1st. I know from past trips that the 1st was more open than the 2nd.

 

Since we have approx. 600,000 ff miles we have more than enough to fly business.....in fact, we have sufficient to do first class....but it looks as if we'll either have to settle for economy or pay for business. We would want to book through AA if we pay for the flights so we could get credit for the many miles flown.

 

More than anything, the aggravation comes from having to call *almost constantly* just in case something opens up. It would be so much easier if they just said they wouldn't be releasing any seats (as in a black out period) or notify of the date they will open a few seats, then make it a first come, first served situation. The *carrot dangling* causes the frustration.

 

Oh well, there are a lot more serious problems in life and I know we are very fortunate to be able to travel. We will just count our blessings and be happy whichever way it turns out. :)

 

Thanks again for the information.

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Maybe get AA to also try Qantas FF out of Brisbane or Melbourne. Both these cities have direct non-stop services to LAX and all you need is a domestic connection from SYD to either city on Qantas (domestic). I live in Brisbane (BNE) and Qantas has a non stop LAX service (175 or 176, I can't remember which) 5 days a week. My guess is that it would be more frequent out of MEL. One of your challenges is time of year - you are travelling in our peak summer period, although this shouldn't affect business or first class.

 

It may also be worth trying Qantas direct. Although AA and QF are both oneworld members, they use different reservation systems (I'm in the travel industry) and AA may not be able to "see" QF frequent flyer inventory?

 

Good luck.

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Another option is Jetstar International. They are Qantas's low cost carrier offshoot and have just started international services, one of which is Sydney to Honolulu (where you can get an AA connection). Although Jetstar is a low cost carrier, they do have a business class section. And I think you can use oneworld points on JQ.

 

Trust me Jetstar aka One Star do NOT have a Business Class compartment. It is only just premium economy. It is miles removed from the QF Skybed product that ops on the LAXSYD flights. It is the domestic Business Class configuration that operated on the 332 when they were flying with QF I work for Qantas and would not set foot on JQ. This is of course IMHO!!

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Here's our situation....we need to fly to Auckland to board the ship but will be returning to the US from Sydney. We do have the outgoing ff economy seats on hold with Qantas (booked through AA) but return hasn't opened up as yet so don't know availability. We would like to return on Jan. 2nd but could do Jan. 1st. I know from past trips that the 1st was more open than the 2nd.
As I said before, be flexible. If you can get business class seats from Auckland back to the US (at a time when you can connect from Sydney), take those. If you can get back from Melbourne or Brisbane, take those. If you can get seats to San Francisco, take those. You can sort out the connections later, at either end (if they're not actually included in the award). Business class award seats for the long sectors are as rare as hen's teeth, particularly for time-critical travel (as air travel to/from a cruise usually is) - so that's your priority. It's even better if you're permitted to hold the return seats for a while and keep trying to see if you can change the booking, even if you'd need to pay a fee.
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As I mentioned above, Qantas lets Australian F.F. members book 355 days out from the date of departure. I know from experience that these seats go very quickly, especially in First or Business Class as I booked two different trips last year and I was watching for the seats to come out a day or so beforehand. They usually are snapped up within a few hours.

 

Obviously, they do not release the seats (if at all any are still available which I very much doubt, especially in January) to A.A. until the 330 days or whatever. The same applied to us when we had to book our air throughout the U.S., A.A. wasn't available until six weeks from the time of departure.

 

I would try for economy as there are a lot more seats available. Also as Ransome mentioned try for Melbourne. We have a direct flight to L.A. every day leaving around 10.30am and getting into L.A. at 7am the same day. It is an awful flight, one of the worst I have been on as it is daylight all the way and as the shades came down just after lunch which was at 12 noon our time you are expected to sleep two hours after boarding in the middle of the day!! Mind you I had the best meal ever on a plane, we had the most wonderful fillet steak, I can still taste it, it was delicious.

 

By the way, when we went to L.A. last January, we tried for Qantas First Class going over to L.A. and had to take Cathay Pacific (a member of One World) to Hong Kong and then fly from there to L.A. There were no seats available on Qantas as we were leaving on the 30th December. It is a very popular time here for travel.

 

Good luck.

 

Jennie

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Thank you for all the replies.

 

My understanding is 1) be flexible and 2) find a good agent at AA who is willing to devote the time to finding alternative routes for us. So far, we do have the three ff economy flights on hold....but just until the 22nd. These are for both the domestic with AA and LAX/SYD with Qantas. Too soon for return flights to open up....and they still won't be open when our *hold* expires.

 

I am so grateful and appreciative to you all for the valuable advice you are sending my way! I am printing everything and making up a list, route by route, of my alternatives so I will be armed and ready when I get on the phone. Of the 7 agents I have talked with to date, none was very helping/willing but I will keep trying until I find one. :)

 

P.S. To all who are in Australia.....be so thankful.....we are socked in in a massive three day ice/sleet storm. Predicted to last through tomorrow night with temps as low as 5 degrees F. The next *above freezing* day will be next Thursday, at 35 degrees F.

 

Thanks again!

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ozland,

 

If only you would send some of that rain and snow to us. We are in the middle of the worst drought with huge bushfires that have been raging out of control since the beginning of December. The firefighters just about have them controlled and then we have another Electrical Storm which starts them off again.

 

We have not had a decent rain shower since October and that was only on one day!! The whole country is praying for good rains.

 

Jennie

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Jennie:

 

It does seem to be one extreme or the other, doesn't it?

 

My sister lives in Sydney and I hear the same from her. The last time we were there for Christmas the bush fires were really bad too. We even had ash falling on our hotel balcony on Manly Beach.

 

I will try to send some south......;)

 

Gail

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wondering if anyone has experience using FF miles to fly business from San Francisco to Sydney? We are doing a r/t cruise out of Sydney in November. We switched to this cruise from a December itinerary, and although I called shortly after we made the switch (early this month), I was told there were no award business class seats available. There were however, upgradable coach seats, so I purchased two coach seats and used ff miles to upgrade to business. I was dismayed to learn that the "upgradable coach seats" cost $1000 more (per ticket) than a regular coach ticket--for a total of $5000+ 120k miles to upgrade! :eek: Is this typical, or a quirk of United? Ihad no problems using ff miles to purchase 2 business class tickets to Italy for our October 2005 trip. Have things changed that much in a year and a half? At this rate, I wondering what good my frequent flier miles are!

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Wondering if anyone has experience using FF miles to fly business from San Francisco to Sydney? We are doing a r/t cruise out of Sydney in November. We switched to this cruise from a December itinerary, and although I called shortly after we made the switch (early this month), I was told there were no award business class seats available. There were however, upgradable coach seats, so I purchased two coach seats and used ff miles to upgrade to business. I was dismayed to learn that the "upgradable coach seats" cost $1000 more (per ticket) than a regular coach ticket--for a total of $5000+ 120k miles to upgrade! :eek: Is this typical, or a quirk of United? Ihad no problems using ff miles to purchase 2 business class tickets to Italy for our October 2005 trip. Have things changed that much in a year and a half? At this rate, I wondering what good my frequent flier miles are!

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bbqbear:

 

Welcome to the club! We're facing a similar dilemma with AA/Qantas. Haven't had any success as yet.....have 500,000 FF miles and no way to use them. :(

 

The December time frame probably comes into play as well. (Although we've done the US/Australia trip many times at Christmas and this is the first time we've had such difficulty.)

 

Several cc members have offered advice on this thread and we're working on all angles.

 

Will update if we have any success. :)

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Thanks for the quick reply, Ozland. Also of note is that the UAL person was not the least bit friendly or helpful when I tried to engage her in coming up with alternative strategies. Another first. Sad commentary on the airlines. Hope you are more successful.

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bbqbears:

 

We've just had some success! Found an agent who was willing to work with us. We have our outbound flights booked with Air Tahiti using ff miles in business class! Have to wait for a couple more weeks to try for a return.....but at least we are half way there. Will have a 20 hour layover in Papeete but, hey, we can handle that!

 

Hang in there!

 

Thanks to everyone for your advice.

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Cathay Pacific is a partner in One World as well, so perhaps ask your lady how many miles are needed to use Cathay to take you home.

 

We used Cathay last year on 30th December to take us to L.A and it only took 5000 more points. We spent 2 nights enroute in Hong Kong which was great.

 

That is another way of going home. I know that Qantas Business Class seats are very popular as I have explained earlier on this topic, Australians can book them 355 days out from the date of travel and they actually are taken up more or less within a day or two of that date so there would be very few left for any of the other airline partners such as A.A.

 

If you had any United points you try using Air New Zealand or Singapore Airlines as they are partners in Star Alliance.

 

Jennie

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Thanks Jennie.

 

Yes, we have Cathay Pacific on our list of options for the return from Sydney to LAX (or New York).

 

We don't have points with United, just American. Just hard to grasp the fact that one has to start working on this a year in advance! Gone are the days of *flying by the seat of pants* ....if you'll forgive the pun... ;)

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We are booked Jan 2008 on a Sydney to Auckland cruise. We are debating using frequent flyer miles to be able to get business class. Haven't made that call yet to the airline but does anyone know if they would allow you to fly into Sydney then fly back to San Francisco from Auckland? Also are these seats hard to get? How far out do you need to book? Any first hand info appreciated.

 

Nancy

Thanks for bringing to surface, has been very interesting, although we are flying from London between a week and two weeks prior to cruise, are problem at the moment is we also have christmas and new year holiday makers to contend with

see you January 2008

David

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