nickperkz

Hi appreciate that this thread is slanted towards the use of award points and is focused on an Oz - UK direction. But, family relocated Downunder leaving me to start a long distance commute from PRG to MEL . Recently flew everyone down Business with SQ via LHR / SIN on A 380 and new fit 777 W at own expense and have now been spoilt!

Would appreciate any advice to get started on joining / utilising award schemes Have read many of the previous posts but seem none the wiser as to where to start in this direction of travel.

Tnx

Koolcat

HELP!!!!

So today i downloaded KVS to try and find availability for OneWorld flights using Dividend Airways Miles - but im finding it really hard to play about with...

We ( 2 pax & 1 infant on knee) trying to get to the UK leaving Brisbane on 29th April. Happy to fly into any UK airport but NCL would be 1st choice where possible.

I just dont know how to start searching the segments - does anyone know of common routes??

I spent over 1 hour on phone to US Airways earlier and they had no suggestions

Would Brisbane - Hong Kong - Dubai - Newcastle work on these dates?? I dont mind doing the last leg in economy

Thanks heaps & heaps if anyone can help save my sanity

bcworld

Emirates is not in oneworld so you can't fly DXB-NCL...BNE-HKG is a good start though.

Koolcat

Argh An Ek flight number came up when i searched what i thought was OneWorld psrtners. I wonder if it is a Qantas code share flight??

spouse of scouse

Sounds right to me (code share), I get the same when wanting to fly from PER - DXB, first leg (Perth to Sydney) is Qantas, SYD - DXB is EK.

bcworld

You can't book a QF codeshare operated by EK either. It sounds like you are using the oneworld method which is based on QFF - that's why it shows EK. Use the BA/oneworld method for pure OW availability.

spouse of scouse

Cheers BC.

bcworld

So you're booking a oneway at roundtrip prices?

There are at least 4 seats in business on the 0055 Cathay flight departing on the 29th (CX156). Then it seems to get very difficult. I can't find onward seats to anywhere.

Similarly there are 2 seats to KL on MH and it gets difficult again.

Tonyc88

Hey all, I have not kept up to date with the current merger and latest info.

Can we use miles to book flights on British Airways? If so what's the latest process with confirming availability?

Did we lose out on the transfer to Oneworld?

louie

If you can find availability, yes. Check BA's own website for availability. And the bonus is it is rumoured that US are not presently charging BA's outrageous fuel surcharge, unlike AA.

Tonyc88

So is it still the usual? Call up US Airways with the exact flight details?

A few questions:

- Can the BA website be trusted to give award availability? Is it a case of 'as long as they have seats'? i can't find an availability area for anything other than Avios.
- Some people mentioned using aa.com? Is that an option or best to just call?
- Is there an accurate way to find out the taxes I will pay? I'm going LHR > WDH (Africa! Namibia via South Africa) and the BA website says i'll pay about £700 in taxes and fees!!

bcworld

Not necessarily. There are reports it shows Cathay availability that doesn't actually exist. As does Qantas.

AA.com has a limited set of airlines for which it will show results. It shows AA, QF, BA, AY and a few other minor airlines. BA shows almost everyone.

What else are you expecting to see??

Plug your full itinerary into the site here:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

It will give you a full breakdown of taxes and fares. Take the total amount and deduct the fare - the rest is the taxes. Any taxes identified as 'YQ' are fuel surcharges and US would not ordinarily charge you these...HOWEVER, they should be doing so for BA or Iberia as they are forced to. So if you fly BA to WDH yes, you are likely to be charged £700 in taxes and fees assuming the US agents do their jobs properly. As Louie mentioned to date people don't seem to be getting charged, but they should be for BA/IB.

Koolcat

Thanks heaps BC World!!
Ive been playing about with BA and KVS tool for the last few days and it looks like availability might be a lot tighter in general. We were so spoilt with Thai!!

I managed to find a business class routing to UK but it was a bit too crazy to do with an infant - BNE -HKG-SIN-DOH -FRA-LHR-NCL!!!! Dont think i would have been allowed to do that many stops anyway...

So looks like a cattle class booking for us!!!

bcworld

The other thing that happens is that CX releases seats close to departure...so from about 2 weeks out they start to release unsold seats...that's the best thing I can suggest looking out for.

So say you took those seats out of BNE on the 29th. There are 6 flights you can choose from to LHR...CX and BA. Many of those are currently showing quite a light load in business so they may open up.

bcworld

US is running a 100% share promo - the holy grail of promos! Get your credit cards out!