No, you cannot buy a ticket exclusively for the sector between JFK and LAX: QF do not have cabotage rights to carry domestic traffic in the US, so sectors between JFK and LAX must be part of a ticket for travel to and/or from Australia.
As for the status credits I'm guessing you mean for travel on AA? That would be because of the JV that got rejected by the USDOT so Qantas have reduced the status credit earn on AA transcon flights, but ORD is not considered to be East Coast so earns more status credits even though the flight is shorter.
So if you don't care about flying in the (relative) comfort of AA A321T transcon flights between JFK and LAX you can go JFK/LGA to ORD to LAX for 110 status credits in Domestic First, compared to 50 in Business and 75 in First on the direct route.
Miss the days when Dom F tickets actually earned at F rates..
It is possible to buy QF JFK-LAX and then QF SYD-MEL on the same ticket (on a different date) and then throw away the SYD-MEL flight.
A one-way business class ticket will set you back AU$6940 (no joke) in Business or AU$1368 in Economy (these prices are based on dates in the middle of Feburary.
QF, not being a US flagged airline, does not have traffic rights for US domestic sectors. As such, the LAX-JFK sector must be booked as part of an international ticket. A trip such as NRT-LAX-JFK-NRT (with or without a stop at LA) would meet the USDOT requirement.
However, it is easier for QF to prove they are following the rules when queried if they further restrict the LAX-JFK sector to on QF pax to/from AU with pax not meeting that extra QF requirement getting moved to AA operated transcons.
I read somewhere (prob on OMAAT) that it doesn’t have to be necessarily ticket to/from AUS as long as it’s part of international travel on same itinerary. Apparently travel agents could book LAX-JFK-LHR on BA/OW or part of some RTW ticket. Not sure if true though.
BTW I booked recently for my wife a one way QF12 from JFK-LAX-SYD with a 2day layover in LAX. I wasn’t sure upfront if pax would need to clear immigration at LAX TBIT in order to access luggage as QF operates only from TB. The answer is NO - thank god. Pax that get off in LAX from QF12 (not too many as most continue onwards to AUS) are collected by QF agent at gate and go through some “back door” to collect luggage, avoiding immigration - this must be a special arrangement bw LAX airport and QF.
FYI: if you don’t have luggage you could use the TBIT-T4 connector to exit airport at T4/5 without going through immigration, assuming you exit aircraft at departure level (which QF12 from JFK does).
I read somewhere (prob on OMAAT) that it doesn’t have to be necessarily ticket to/from AUS as long as it’s part of international travel on same itinerary. Apparently travel agents could book LAX-JFK-LHR on BA/OW or part of some RTW ticket. Not sure if true though.
BTW I booked recently for my wife a one way QF12 from JFK-LAX-SYD with a 2day layover in LAX. I wasn’t sure upfront if pax would need to clear immigration at LAX TBIT in order to access luggage as QF operates only from TB. The answer is NO - thank god. Pax that get off in LAX from QF12 (not too many as most continue onwards to AUS) are collected by QF agent at gate and go through some “back door” to collect luggage, avoiding immigration - this must be a special arrangement bw LAX airport and QF.
FYI: if you don’t have luggage you could use the TBIT-T4 connector to exit airport at T4/5 without going through immigration, assuming you exit aircraft at departure level (which QF12 from JFK does).
Yes, agents can book the JFK sectors of QF11/12 without having a QF sector to/from Australia, as long as the same ticket has a flight in/out of the US. That is all USDOT requires. QF chooses to add the additional requirement of QF AU pax only as they can prove they are following the rules more easily when someone complains (historically UA).
There is a domestic baggage claim belt outside Immigration at TBIT (on the T3 side of the arrivals level) and TBIT is used for other US domestic flights. AA has first right to 4 gates at TBIT and many of those flights are domestic flights. Arriving domestic flights such as the AA flights and QF12 get let out into the departure area then head to domestic baggage claim. It isn't a "back door", but given the amount of domestic flights at TBIT, the door might only be open when a domestic flight is arriving.
I believe QF flights from AU to LAX arrive in TBIT, so the QF leg from LAX to JFK also leaves from the same terminal? And on the return, again it lands in TBIT from JFK?
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Qantas' New York JFK-Los Angeles LAX flights
mspcooper
mspcooper
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 09 May 2013
Total posts 457
Can you buy/fly the sector between JFK-LAX on QF flights or does it have to be part of travel to Aus?
watson374
watson374
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 17 Aug 2012
Total posts 1,285
No, you cannot buy a ticket exclusively for the sector between JFK and LAX: QF do not have cabotage rights to carry domestic traffic in the US, so sectors between JFK and LAX must be part of a ticket for travel to and/or from Australia.
alansu
alansu
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 22 Jan 2015
Total posts 88
As for the status credits I'm guessing you mean for travel on AA? That would be because of the JV that got rejected by the USDOT so Qantas have reduced the status credit earn on AA transcon flights, but ORD is not considered to be East Coast so earns more status credits even though the flight is shorter.
henrus
henrus
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 23 Oct 2013
Total posts 765
It is possible to buy QF JFK-LAX and then QF SYD-MEL on the same ticket (on a different date) and then throw away the SYD-MEL flight.
Himeno
Himeno
Member since 12 Dec 2012
Total posts 295
QF, not being a US flagged airline, does not have traffic rights for US domestic sectors. As such, the LAX-JFK sector must be booked as part of an international ticket. A trip such as NRT-LAX-JFK-NRT (with or without a stop at LA) would meet the USDOT requirement.
However, it is easier for QF to prove they are following the rules when queried if they further restrict the LAX-JFK sector to on QF pax to/from AU with pax not meeting that extra QF requirement getting moved to AA operated transcons.
Johnny9
Johnny9
Member since 05 Aug 2017
Total posts 55
I read somewhere (prob on OMAAT) that it doesn’t have to be necessarily ticket to/from AUS as long as it’s part of international travel on same itinerary. Apparently travel agents could book LAX-JFK-LHR on BA/OW or part of some RTW ticket. Not sure if true though.
Himeno
Himeno
Member since 12 Dec 2012
Total posts 295
Yes, agents can book the JFK sectors of QF11/12 without having a QF sector to/from Australia, as long as the same ticket has a flight in/out of the US. That is all USDOT requires. QF chooses to add the additional requirement of QF AU pax only as they can prove they are following the rules more easily when someone complains (historically UA).
There is a domestic baggage claim belt outside Immigration at TBIT (on the T3 side of the arrivals level) and TBIT is used for other US domestic flights. AA has first right to 4 gates at TBIT and many of those flights are domestic flights.
Arriving domestic flights such as the AA flights and QF12 get let out into the departure area then head to domestic baggage claim. It isn't a "back door", but given the amount of domestic flights at TBIT, the door might only be open when a domestic flight is arriving.
DOJJB
DOJJB
Member since 22 Dec 2017
Total posts 1
I believe QF flights from AU to LAX arrive in TBIT, so the QF leg from LAX to JFK also leaves from the same terminal? And on the return, again it lands in TBIT from JFK?