Hi All, I’ll be taking the family to Europe at the end of ‘19 and have plans to fly PE to London’s from Melbourne with one stop. I’ll have about 700k of QF points by the time to booking engine opens for QF, so my mind goes straight to booking with them. However I thought I’d get views on other options that I should be considering. Has anyone done the same trip using QF points on another OW carrier? Going via Tokyo or Colombo carries some interest, but have new flown Sri Lankan and it has been two decades since I was on JAL. Open to all suggestions.
PE on points is 75% of the points for J if flying QF, 80% on partners such as CX and JAL. Clearly PE is better than Y, but J is far better value for your points.
Your biggest problem will be getting 4 classic award seats on the same flight, unless you are a QFF P1.
If you are looking at return travel on points you need more like 768k on QF, 900k on partners.
As a suggestion, if the kids are old enough, use points to get there, kids in PE and mum and dad in J. On most carriers the cabins are adjacent. This gets around availability issues. To come back you can often buy one way PE on CX at reasonable prices. Not necessarily from LHR, but look at other EU options.
I have done this twice to the US but ended up with the kids in J. Once by upgrading the kids later in the year and once by travelling on 2 flights, only a few hours apart. Worked out at about $2k per person plus points.
Thanks for the responses guys, sorry should have mentioned we have one kid only, so on QF at least I think we will have enough for PE but not enough for J (damn). With one kid who will be 11 at the time we definitely need to be in the same cabin too.
Why not use points to BKK or CMB I am sure you would get UL tickets. Then wait for QR sale Ex Colombo and buy J tickets. You can get 40/50% off quite often. I just came back CMB CDG FCO CMB 3700 Aud for two in J. Alternativelynd use Finnair ex BKK.
can one redeem QF points on non-QF OW flights? if so how - by only calling QF, or is there an online website which shows availabilities? I always thought it must include a QF leg (on QF metal).
When does the booking engine open up, 12 months in advance?
I got four Y seats MEL - Europe return for 640,000 points, eight months out from flying. Mostly flying CX, but with a leg on AY - only QF leg is SYD - MEL on the return. It was difficult to work out a return route as it is the end of the school holidays and so seats were sparse (and I needed four), but it's meant we get a couple of days in Helsinki, which can't be a bad thing. Took about 60 minutes on the phone to sort it all out.
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Oneworld one-stop flight options, Melbourne-London
Steve987
Steve987
Member since 23 Feb 2015
Total posts 268
Hi All, I’ll be taking the family to Europe at the end of ‘19 and have plans to fly PE to London’s from Melbourne with one stop. I’ll have about 700k of QF points by the time to booking engine opens for QF, so my mind goes straight to booking with them. However I thought I’d get views on other options that I should be considering. Has anyone done the same trip using QF points on another OW carrier? Going via Tokyo or Colombo carries some interest, but have new flown Sri Lankan and it has been two decades since I was on JAL. Open to all suggestions.
British Airways
Cathay Pacific Airways
Japan Airlines
Malaysia Airlines
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Royal Jordanian
SriLankan Airlines
ajstubbs
ajstubbs
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 15 Mar 2016
Total posts 117
Not all of the above offer PE. If you're set on that, CX, QF or JAL are probably your best options.
GregXL
GregXL
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 26 May 2014
Total posts 320
PE on points is 75% of the points for J if flying QF, 80% on partners such as CX and JAL. Clearly PE is better than Y, but J is far better value for your points.
Your biggest problem will be getting 4 classic award seats on the same flight, unless you are a QFF P1.
If you are looking at return travel on points you need more like 768k on QF, 900k on partners.
As a suggestion, if the kids are old enough, use points to get there, kids in PE and mum and dad in J. On most carriers the cabins are adjacent. This gets around availability issues. To come back you can often buy one way PE on CX at reasonable prices. Not necessarily from LHR, but look at other EU options.
I have done this twice to the US but ended up with the kids in J. Once by upgrading the kids later in the year and once by travelling on 2 flights, only a few hours apart. Worked out at about $2k per person plus points.
Steve987
Steve987
Member since 23 Feb 2015
Total posts 268
Thanks for the responses guys, sorry should have mentioned we have one kid only, so on QF at least I think we will have enough for PE but not enough for J (damn). With one kid who will be 11 at the time we definitely need to be in the same cabin too.
freshthoughts
freshthoughts
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 08 Aug 2016
Total posts 112
its 768,000 points for J return for 3 people. If I were you id just buy a top up of 60,000 if you have at least 708,000
Doubleplatinum Banned
Doubleplatinum Banned
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum
Member since 07 Feb 2013
Total posts 431
You have no chance getting 4 reward seats on that route, like Greg mentioned if you are P1 you may get lucky, anything lower chances are pretty much 0
Anjan
Anjan
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 25 Feb 2014
Total posts 11
Why not use points to BKK or CMB I am sure you would get UL tickets. Then wait for QR sale Ex Colombo and buy J tickets. You can get 40/50% off quite often. I just came back CMB CDG FCO CMB 3700 Aud for two in J. Alternativelynd use Finnair ex BKK.
pjflyer
pjflyer
Member since 15 Nov 2017
Total posts 2
HOW ABOUT AY EX SIN OR HKG...WE'VE FLOWN THEM AND ENJOY THE FOOD, SERVICE AND THE COMFORT OF THE A350
flychrisfly
flychrisfly
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 09 Jun 2011
Total posts 40
You can also go the long way via LAX, SFO, DFW or YVR then BA to LHR for Premier Eco. Probably cost more points though
Johnny9
Johnny9
Member since 05 Aug 2017
Total posts 54
just some general topic-related questions:
Sk4nder
Sk4nder
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 11 May 2015
Total posts 13
I got four Y seats MEL - Europe return for 640,000 points, eight months out from flying. Mostly flying CX, but with a leg on AY - only QF leg is SYD - MEL on the return. It was difficult to work out a return route as it is the end of the school holidays and so seats were sparse (and I needed four), but it's meant we get a couple of days in Helsinki, which can't be a bad thing. Took about 60 minutes on the phone to sort it all out.