Reward flights vs time

[Himeno]

I just won an event ticket lotto for a show in Japan. Now looking at flights to get there.

I normally get QF25/26 for my Japan trips due to the departure times meaning I need to use less leave, can use the whole day before flying home and QF25/26 uses HND (with the downside of SYD...)

For the dates I need, the website pops up an award flight via BNE.
Only, this goes to NRT and is during the day, meaning requiring an extra day of leave, extra hotel and longer transfers. (I normally book W, this award is for J. Only Y awards available to HND)

Would you take a award if available, even if it meant more problems in other areas of the trip arrangements?

 

[Mattg]

I think that only you can answer this. But for me it would depend on what the alternative is. If flying Y on QF25 is not an option, then the alternative is paying full price for a J ticket, is it not?

 

[Denali]

Rugby tickets?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think that only you can answer this.

Agree. How does the OP manage in economy? If short and thin and yuo can sleep or snooze sitting upgright, economy is a perfectly good product. For those of us who don't meet those criteria, economy is likely not an option except for short flights.

 

[offshore171]

For the dates I need, the website pops up an award flight via BNE.
Only, this goes to NRT and is during the day, meaning requiring an extra day of leave, extra hotel and longer transfers. (I normally book W, this award is for J. Only Y awards available to HND)

Would you take a award if available, even if it meant more problems in other areas of the trip arrangements?

Yes absolutely. I'm prepared to be flexible and adjust my plans based on long haul award seat availability.

It can be hard to redeem points at the best of times, so if you find something remotely workable, seize it, especially if it's a J seat.

In this case, it's the same city, same day, just a different airport and arrival time. In the scheme of things, that's pretty close.

I actually prefer the day flights up to Japan. The Haneda flight is a redeye that lands at 5am, and they use a clapped out 747. Not my preference.

 

[Himeno]

I think that only you can answer this. But for me it would depend on what the alternative is. If flying Y on QF25 is not an option, then the alternative is paying full price for a J ticket, is it not?

No. There are normal W seats on QF25. If I want an award, it's either Y on QF25 or J on QF61.
I stopped flying Y on flights over ~3 hours years ago because my knees don't like it.
The other award options it gave for the dates I'm looking at were J on the JL overnight flights, with the little note saying MEL-NRT/NRT-SYD in Y.

 

[Himeno]

Rugby tickets?

Nope. I find sport extremely boring. Wouldn't even use 1 QF point on it.

 

[love_the_life]

I think if it were me, I’d just stump up the money to get the flights I wanted. But...everyone is different.

 

[Himeno]

I managed to get the site to give me a J reward for CBR-xSYD-HND paired with a HND-xSYD-CBR W sale fare (on the same PNR/ticket).
Had to reset and do it over because it dropped the reward and replaced it with a return W fare with a different CBR-SYD flight when I clicked through to confirm flights.

Used points to lower the $ price a bit more and left enough to put in a T>J upgrade for QF26.
Saved $800 on the current W return sale fare or $3000+ on the current J fares.
Means I have 2 extra days in Tokyo.