I've been searching for flights from both Melbourne and Sydney to Shanghai on 2 consecutive days later this month, in business, PE, and economy. On that total of 12 searches there was not 1 China Eastern (MU) flight offerred. There were many connections/flights on Cathay. Not 1 direct option from Melbourne. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the codeshare but I expected a direct flight from Melbourne to be offerred?
I can see these flights in the GDS and many have tickets still for sale, but some are appearing as full on the QF code. It's likely that Qantas' fares and availability are tied to its own Sydney-Shanghai service (to avoid undercutting itself by releasing low-cost seats on China Eastern when their first preference of sale could be Qantas metal), or, that China Eastern doesn't release every single seat on the aircraft to Qantas customers, depending on how the codeshare agreement has been implemented.
However, keep in mind that the price paid for Qantas-coded flights operated by China Eastern can often be significantly higher than when booking direct with China Eastern. Take a look at this story (albeit from 2014), where it was observed that on the same Melbourne-Shanghai return flight itinerary (same dates and operating flights), Qantas was charging over $3,000 more per return passenger on the codeshare numbers than what China Eastern was charging passengers to book on the 'native' MU code.
The only real difference is that Qantas Frequent Flyers can earn both points and status credits on the QF flight number, versus points only (no status credits) on the MU code. For the difference on that one return trip, you could buy about eight years of Qantas Club membership during one of the many discounted offers, so the price difference isn't likely worth paying.
i think if you book directly with China eastern, you can even get the complicated limo transfer, which is not available for QF code share flights. QF knows how to milk $$ from codeshares, even if they do not fly a particular sector.
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China Eastern QF codeshares missing
hakkinen5
hakkinen5
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 20 Aug 2014
Total posts 200
I've been searching for flights from both Melbourne and Sydney to Shanghai on 2 consecutive days later this month, in business, PE, and economy. On that total of 12 searches there was not 1 China Eastern (MU) flight offerred. There were many connections/flights on Cathay. Not 1 direct option from Melbourne. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the codeshare but I expected a direct flight from Melbourne to be offerred?
Chris C.
Chris C.
Member since 24 Apr 2012
Total posts 1,116
I can see these flights in the GDS and many have tickets still for sale, but some are appearing as full on the QF code. It's likely that Qantas' fares and availability are tied to its own Sydney-Shanghai service (to avoid undercutting itself by releasing low-cost seats on China Eastern when their first preference of sale could be Qantas metal), or, that China Eastern doesn't release every single seat on the aircraft to Qantas customers, depending on how the codeshare agreement has been implemented.
However, keep in mind that the price paid for Qantas-coded flights operated by China Eastern can often be significantly higher than when booking direct with China Eastern. Take a look at this story (albeit from 2014), where it was observed that on the same Melbourne-Shanghai return flight itinerary (same dates and operating flights), Qantas was charging over $3,000 more per return passenger on the codeshare numbers than what China Eastern was charging passengers to book on the 'native' MU code.
The only real difference is that Qantas Frequent Flyers can earn both points and status credits on the QF flight number, versus points only (no status credits) on the MU code. For the difference on that one return trip, you could buy about eight years of Qantas Club membership during one of the many discounted offers, so the price difference isn't likely worth paying.
mspcooper
mspcooper
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 09 May 2013
Total posts 447
Very true.
i think if you book directly with China eastern, you can even get the complicated limo transfer, which is not available for QF code share flights. QF knows how to milk $$ from codeshares, even if they do not fly a particular sector.