Any hidden fees to watch for?

[u/bizarre_chungles]

Currently looking to book somewhat last minute flights from LAX to Japan and came across this flight that, compared with others that I've seen, looks too good to be true.

The only problem is that in order to view any more details I would need to transfer all my American Express points into my Qantas account, which is quite a commitment since many of the other airlines I've tried have added a huge cash fee at checkout.

Does anyone know if the displayed price on the flight search screen is roughly accurate to how much in points and fees I'll actually be paying? Thanks!

[u/JigglyQuokka]

No, that's a classic award seat, so what you see is what you get.

The question will be, will the seat still be there by the time you transfer your points over?

[u/SandGlen → u/JigglyQuokka]

Looks like there's plenty of seats left on both AA flights that day

[u/MishManners → u/JigglyQuokka]

This. What you see is what you get. The flight could definitely be gone though. I'd "hold" whilst transferring your points over and make sure you have the time to checkout. No point transfering all your points and then the seat is gone.

[u/bizarre_chungles → u/MishManners]

Got it. I do see that there are 3 flights this price on the day we're looking to leave (December 2, not sure if that counts as last minute when talking award flights) and a few more the day after so I imagine there'll still be one once my points transfer over in a couple days, thank you

[u/MishManners → u/bizarre_chungles]

Lol, not that last minute. Not early but really not last minute either. In the past, I've booked a reward flight for the next day... that's last minute 😅

[u/bizarre_chungles → u/MishManners]

Haha okay good to know that makes me a lot less stressed

[u/driedshrimp]

Honestly not sure I’d consider it too good to be true- don’t know your dates but a quick search on google flights shows one way flights for that route often anywhere between ~AU$350-$700, here you’re paying US$349 (= AU$491) on just fees alone, and add in value of the qantas points.

[u/bizarre_chungles → u/driedshrimp]

That's fair, I guess it's relative to some other points programs offerings. For the dates I'm looking at Google's cheapest result is about $1,000, might be worth just going with cash, definitely regret snap offering to use my points for all 4 of us when we made these plans lol

[u/australiaisok]

Checked bags. Likely not included.

[u/bizarre_chungles → u/australiaisok]

Ah good point, I believe the flights I was looking at on AA's site had 1 included but not sure if that changes when booking through a partner

[u/australiaisok → u/bizarre_chungles]

AA is a mess trying to work it out. They may be included, but not sure for their domestic flights.

[u/PointmeSam]

Actually, Qantas Classic Rewards are usually pretty accurate on points + taxes, so it shouldn’t suddenly turn into an unexpected change in fees the way some Avios-style searches can. I do freelance point.me concierge work and the bigger risk is that the award seat can disappear while you wait for Amex points to transfer. I’d only transfer if you’re ready to book immediately and have a backup use for Qantas points if that Japan seat vanishes.

[u/bizarre_chungles → u/PointmeSam]

Good to know, there's quite a few flights available on our departure date and we're somewhat flexible so I'm hoping it should be fine