2009..the year to NOT redeem points???

[futaris]

I challenge anyone to try to get $19,800 worth out of 560,000 points any other way. This is by far the best value points redemption IMO. Would have been 512,000 just from SYD to JFK or LHR in J! :mrgreen:

There are a few other better "value" options in QFF. Here's a quick example.

e.g. SYD-LHW is 16k QFF return in Y, but $700 to buy. 35 x 16k = 560k QFF. 35 x $700 = $24,500. Even if you reduce it by say $100 per ticket for the taxes, 35 x $600 = $21,000.

If we assume that these points didn't come directly from QANTAS and came via a credit card then there are a few more better "value" options, and a few others with similar options.

e.g. 560000 Amex MR = 560,000 Krisflyer. 480k for 2 Business RTW. Or 600k for 1 Business, 1 First RTW.

560k Amex MR = 230k AA (via SPG at 1000:330). 230k AA will get you a 25k Oneworld Award in F, with no fuel surcharges. 240k AA will get 6 x PER-PPT in Y or 4 x PER-PPT in J. 260k AA will get two 20k Oneworld Awards in J, with no fuel surcharges.

Anyway, value is relative anyway, and only worth $xx,xx_ if you were prepared to pay that much in the first place, assuming that you didn't have the points. e.g. for some people, a RTW for two in economy is worth more than a RTW for one in Business. For others, they want F or J rewards. For others, upgrades are worth the most.

 

[JohnK]

Anyway, value is relative anyway, and only worth $xx,xx_ if you were prepared to pay that much in the first place, assuming that you didn't have the points. e.g. for some people, a RTW for two in economy is worth more than a RTW for one in Business. For others, they want F or J rewards. For others, upgrades are worth the most.

Interesting statement and I definitely agree that value is relative but what sort of value do you place on a redemption when you do you have the points sitting around?

A WHY return airfare SYD-ATH for July/August is ~$2,500 per person. I would not go to Greece this year if I did not have the QFF points accumulating steadily in my QFF account. Other factors to consider is that my father would not have gone on a trip on his own and we are also going to the USA and Canada for 4-5 nights. At 71 years of age, and with issues on the previous trip, he thought he was never going back to his birthplace again.

He is really excited now asking what seats we will have on the aircraft and I explained that more than likely we will have exit rows, but he will be in the middle seat, and telling me that if I happen to get upgraded, not likely on an award but you never know, to take the upgrade and he will be in economy on his own.

So how much value am I getting from 2 x 140,000 Oneworld awards? Even though we are paying ~$820 per person in taxes and surcharges it is worth a lot more than the $2,500 airfare SYD-ATH and worth a lot more than a 280,000 business class Oneworld award. And yes I have enough for 2 business class Oneworld awards but my father is happy to travel in WHY and who knows I may be able to convince him to take another trip in a few years time....

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I challenge anyone to try to get $19,800 worth out of 560,000 points any other way. This is by far the best value points redemption IMO. Would have been 512,000 just from SYD to JFK or LHR in J! :mrgreen:

I assume you mean just on QF??


ie 4 Savers in J on SQ to Europe would be 510,000.

Or 560,000 would give you 16 J Returns to Tahiti via NZ. Not sure I need to go there 16 times though!!!!

However a RTW has great appeal to me as well...and I am tossing up sucha trip with QF.

So out of interest what was your routing and total taxes charged per ticket?

Thank you.

 

[simongr]

A tip for newbies - QFF members can only redeem CX segments over the phone (QF - are we in 2009 here?). A compelling argument may get the booking fee waived as this is the only option.

This is no longer correct.

 

[JohnK]

A tip for newbies - QFF members can only redeem CX segments over the phone (QF - are we in 2009 here?). A compelling argument may get the booking fee waived as this is the only option.

This is no longer correct.

Availability on CX flights appeared for a couple of days but has disappeared again....

 

[NM]

I challenge anyone to try to get $19,800 worth out of 560,000 points any other way. This is by far the best value points redemption IMO. Would have been 512,000 just from SYD to JFK or LHR in J! :mrgreen:

I'll take the challenge. Since I earn AA miles at a faster rate than I would otherwise earn QF FF points, and I earn significantly more miles/points from flying than from Credit Card transfers, redeeming 560,000 AA miles will gets me 2 x ATW awards in First Class, which I think is better value that QF's redemption in J (with AA 2-class domestic flights in Y).

Or for just 10,000 more points (ie 570,000), I would redeem for 3 x ATW in J (with AA 2-class domestic flights in F).

Both of those are significantly better value than QF OneWorld awards when the earn rate is similar (actually better earn rate with AA for my historic travel patterns).

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

I was purely referring to value within the QFF program, and this is just my opinion considering availability of the awards within the QFF scheme that interest me.

I agree it is different for everyone. I guess it depends where you want to go and in what class. While you could probably get more $ value from the points, it largely depends on where you are going. As the points were accrued mainly on my c/c over the past 12 months, they cost me nothing, so $19,800 value for nothing seems like a good deal to me.

I wouldn't bother doing RTW in whY unless I had 12 months to do it in. Plenty of time then to recover from uncomforable seats, bad food and bad service. It would be highly unlikely to get Op-Ups on redemption seats in whY unless you knew someone . Also as many of you know the J product varies dramatically across operators. On some carriers you'd swear you were in a 'premium economy' product at best.

CX is not available online at present - this was confirmed by QF. You have to phone to check avail or book. They seem to have good availability at the moment - a point highlighted by the QF staff member I spoke to also.

lovetravellingoz: our routing is SYD/LAX/JFK/LHR/BUD/VCE/surface sector/FCO/HKG/SYD. Taxes and charges came out a little over $1k each. We could have done many more segments but can't get the time off work!

 

[futaris]

As the points were accrued mainly on my c/c over the past 12 months, they cost me nothing, so $19,800 value for nothing seems like a good deal to me.

As long as you paid your card in full each month, then the only real cost was your annual fee. Not exactly nothing, but probably close enough, particularly if you earnt 560k QFF points in 12 months.

If you're earning on Diners or Amex, there are a number of other options, which may have better "value", particularly if you're after F class rewards rather than J.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

As long as you paid your card in full each month, then the only real cost was your annual fee. Not exactly nothing, but probably close enough, particularly if you earnt 560k QFF points in 12 months.

If you're earning on Diners or Amex, there are a number of other options, which may have better "value", particularly if you're after F class rewards rather than J.

Yep, don't pay a cent of interest - cost for first year $125 and got 20,000 bonus points.

I will be reviewing it all now since the Earth Platinum 3-for-1 finishes this month (and the double annual fee will be due soon). I will take a look at the Amex MR (I am already enrolled on another card, just don't use it) - thanks for the tip.