In an article in 2021 Brandon Lee wrote that it is possible to do both Europe and Asia on one trip if the journey starts outside Australia. In his case from Bali.
Perks of starting your Qantas oneworld Classic Reward overseas
Has anybody been able to replicate such a trip and if so how do you book it?
I did ask Points Hack Concierge Service and they were unable to assist.
Also how do you book a trip now which may contain legs much later.
Any assistance would be appreciated
Thanks
Jeff
It’s technically possible to achieve. Unfortunately, I’m not one who can claim having booked a Qantas OneWorld Classic Flight (RTW) Reward before.
The main reason for starting overseas vs starting in Australia to achieve this is because of this rule “You cannot stop over in the country where you start your trip mid-way through the itinerary (only at the start or end)”.
Since the article was written, Qatar (premium cabin) flights have stopped showing up on Qantas award searches so that’s the most obvious point that stops you from doing an exact copy of the itinerary mentioned in the article. Hence, you’ll have to replace with other OneWorld airlines.
As for your final question, the article covered this too.
“You don’t have to lock in every single flight at the start, though we highly recommend you do if possible. If you make any changes to the booking (including adding extra legs), you may be up for a change fee of 5,000 points per change.” The advice I’ve often given others is to lock in as many flights as possible at the start when booking via multicity search on the Qantas website. Then ring up Qantas to add flights to the same itinerary.
Thanks for your prompt and informative reply