quick question - if you see a reward seat via british airways search engine (eg cathay seats) can you call qantas to book them even if they dont appear on the qantas search engine for reward seats?
TIA
It depends – sometimes yes, but usually no. Some seats are given preferential access to members of other programs so Qantas might not be able to see them.
Using your example of Cathay seats, if you saw seats on British Airways but not Qantas, I would try another OneWorld airline (e.g. American Airlines). If 2 out of 3 OneWorld airlines shows award space, I would be half confident to push Qantas with the expectation that Qantas should see a similar award space. However, Qantas might still say they don’t see the seats.
Worth checking 2/3 OneWorld airlines before calling Qantas (since it is mostly a frustrating experience).
Common exceptions to the rule are:
Qatar Airways (who don’t like Qantas) and British Airways and Iberia (same owner, often release more seats to their own members).
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