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Reply With QuoteHow have you managed to get a oneway award on QF using AAdvantage?Originally Posted by QF009
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"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;
Brown paper packages tied up with strings;
These are a few of my favorite things.
...
When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad."
-- My Favourite Things, Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers
Later this week, I will be continuing my DONE4 which now takes me to NZ, the Middle East and Europe. All part of what-was-then a superb value oneworld 4 continents RTW ticket I'd commenced out of MNL in July, with the exception of the QF F flight which is an AAdvantage redemption to position me back to MEL at the end of the trip to "suspend" the DONE in Europe.
However, due to forseeable time constraints, this TR will unfortunately have to be scaled down and I will not have the time to write up long, rambling prose like the few I did last year. Instead, I'd be selective, and hope to present to you, dear reader, my eagerly anticipated experiences on 2 of my all time favourite carriers: Qantas and British Airways.
Flights:
SYD-(SIN)-LHR, Qantas, Business
LHR-(AUH)-MCT, BA, Club World
MCT-(AUH)-LHR, BA, Club World
LHR-(HKG)-MEL, Qantas, First
The QF A380 experience most unexpected, as I didn't think QF would open up the A380 for RTW ticketing (which isn't the most lucrative source of revenue). I'm holding out for New Generation Club World for the BA 777 flights between London and Muscat, but even then, its predecessor, New New Club World is still an experience to savour. And the QF F experience, a treat to be had after giving up my precious AAdvantage miles, a reward to be cherished after hours of scouring Sabre, qantas.com and ba.com for Award availability in First on QF - F availability was easy, but F availability on QF the whole way through without having to combine with the other oneworld carriers was tough and involved some tweaks to my itinerary.
As always I also hope to provide some insights into some of the accommodation I'd experience along the way.
Hotels:
Starwood:
Westin Auckland
W Istanbul
Sheraton Belgravia, London
Westin Grand Berlin
Le Meridien Munich
Westin Palace Madrid
Sheraton Diana Majestic, Milan
Le Meridien Budapest
Others:
Shangri La Muscat
Hotel Josef, Prague
Look out for these reviews in the appropriate hotel sub-forums.
Next: QF31 SYD-(SIN)-LHR J
How have you managed to get a oneway award on QF using AAdvantage?
Rock On Corporate Corporate Account managers
One ways are possible on a oneworld award rather than All Partners so long as there are 2 OW carriers other than AA in the aaward (i also have BA PRG-LHR). This was ticketed as a OW100F under pre-Sept 08 rules.
Just got in from AKL. I'm sitting in the SYD Flounge now.
I can also see the plane I'm meant to board from the Flounge - VH-OQC, "Paul McGinness" if any of our resident aviation enthusiasts are interested.
The brand new one
Should still be nice and shiny with that "new plane" smell!I can also see the plane I'm meant to board from the Flounge - VH-OQC, "Paul McGinness" if any of our resident aviation enthusiasts are interested.
NM aka Nelly Mobbs
Ah I think your scaled down report will be better than my non existent trip report from my RTW from the end of last year.
On the AAwards I think business travel has dropped so the awards for everyone has opened up.
Inaugural Qantas A380 Service to Singapore and London Heathrow
Sector - SYD-SIN-LHR
Flight number - QF31
Class - Business
Equipment - A380 ("VH-OQC/Paul McGinness")
Seat - 25B
To be back on the airline which offers an experience that's second to none? Ace.
To sample a brand new product on the same airline? Double Ace.
To be on an inaugural service for the first time in my life? W00t!
[flashback]
So it was back in October that I noticed the 16 January launch date of the Qantas A380 service on the LHR route, and this coincided with my trip. I had to decide between losing a day in Istanbul and giving up the rare opportunity to sample the Skybed mk 2. I concluded that whilst Istanbul will always be there (bar Armagedon *knocks on wood*), D or award availability on the Qantas A380 isn’t as much of a certainty. The flight was showing only a single seat available in D as it was. So carpe diem as they say – a quick call to the AA Around The World desk to change my itinerary and I was all booked on the Big Fella.
[/flashback]
The first hint of something special was when the cheerful ladies at the SYD Flounge congratulated me and everyone else on the same flight for joining the inaugural. We were also told that we had a vantage point from the Flounge if we wanted to take pictures of the plane, as our departure gate was simply below us and our birdy was already parked there. Sure enough, the Flounge was indeed spotters galore and even a member of the media filmed the plane from the Flounge restaurant.
I’d arranged to meet up with adrian of AFF, so it was nice to have someone to share the Flounge experience with. A visit to the Flounge is not complete without pigging out at the restaurant, though I was going to take it easy after having had a full meal on the trans tasman (I’d originated the journey in AKL), and I wanted to save some room for the onboard meal. So a fruit platter for me it was.
my attempt at being a quasi health nut
OTOH poor adrian was flying onwards to HNL with the Big Orange Star and was determined to fill himself up prior to departure – it was only fitting that his onestar experience be preceded by a five star experience a fellow oneworld emerald is accustomed to.
I decided to leave for the gate a little earlier in case there was something special going on there, but alas the only form of celebration was a private function in the QP. Took a few pics of the rather well-organised boarding area.
Not much movement at the gate and boarding doesn’t seem to be anytime soon, so I headed back to the Flounge for more champers. After downing a few glasses of the rather yummy Devaux Blanc de Noir, the boarding call for QF31 finally came and the lovely SYD First Host encouraged us all to “keep the cameras rolling.”
A handful of actual FCL pax were whisked off to the boarding gate by one of the First Hosts, whilst us second class Floungers tried our best to keep up. It seems like half the plane enjoys priority boarding these days, since whY+ pax also get that privilege. The First Host escorted the FCL pax past the queue and got them boarded ahead of everyone else, whilst the rest of us were left to fend for ourselves; this is a great perk for actual FCL pax I reckon, after all the rest of us who got into the Flounge via status are only entitled to the oneworld/QFF priority lanes.
whY+ pax boarded with J pax, as these cabins are located on the upper deck. Despite the very full aircraft, boarding was v orderly and efficient. There were also a fair few peeps stopping to take pics with/of the aircraft on the aerobridge; it was evident that a significant number of pax had no idea that they’d be riding the Qantas A380 (let alone its inaugural service on the Kangaroo route) - judging by the surprised reactions both at the Flounge and at the gate. The ushers on the jetway were only too happy to assist with photo requests.
To be continued...
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