Advice needed: How do I best use of my points?

[ozafflyer]

Hi all,

I am planning to fly the family from Perth to Orlando this December 2019. Would love to bring the kids to Disney World during the Christmas period. A bit of summary below:

Family: 2 adults + 2 kids(4 year old + 6 year old).
Qantas status: Gold.
Qantas points: 130k.
Velocity points: 27k.
Credit card points: about 500+k which can be converted to be about 200k Velocity points.

Ideally, I would really love to be able to upgrade the whole family to Premium Economy or Business but I am not sure if I have enough points. Should I be

1) Swapping velocity points with someone and convert them all to Qantas points. Then book and pay for Economy flights for whole family and use points for upgrade? Even then, am I guaranteed an upgrade? What are my chances?

2) Save both my money and points and just forget about points and book the cheapest flight which is currently Air NZ to Orlando. Also, I believe that the cheapest flight on Qantas might not even allow an upgrade.

I am bit lost of what I can do or should do as I have never upgraded a flight using points or cash before.

Thanks in advance!

 

[opusman]

I would go with option 2 The chances of getting four award tickets for Christmas this year are almost non-existent.

 

[FrankP]

I would go with option 2

Agreed. Even 2 seats on an u/g would be wishful. Best chance for using points would be to hunt “classic awards” seats, or use points+pay (which I’ve still found a bit expensive due to the taxes and charges).
Those 2 would at least guarantee a seat.
I thought disc econ would allow points u/g, but def no guarantees. My last u/g happened at the gate (I selected that option) when they called me back to give me a new boarding pass. Travelling alone. Could not have opted for that option with family. Imagine the gate fight for the u/g seat!!

 

[Silvia]

Unfortunately Dec is a busy period, so if you wanted reward seats, you best bid is 11-10 months prior.
I'd suggest to fly with Air NZ to Orlando.

 

[RichardMEL]

Sorry agree with the others - you're WAY too late to have any hope for a family of 4 for upgrades and the like in peak periods like this.

Book cheapest, prepare for long flights and hopefully not too many grizzles and hopefully a great time in MCO.

btw if it were me, I'd try and break up the trips over and back a bit if possible just because of the stress on anyone if possible... eg PER-SYD/MEL-LAX/DFW(stop overnight/recover)-MCO type thing... it's going to be a SUPER long day for all concern getting there and back no matter what class!

 

[goldenhorn]

Sorry, but I think you've missed the bus. You need to be looking 10-11 months out, and there is SO much less availability in holidays, so I agree with others - just pay for NZ.

@RichardMEL also suggested what I would do with a young family. Break up the segments and have fun at a stopover. Then you can make it more of an adventure without 30+ hours of flying in Economy and arriving absolutely shattered!

 

[ozafflyer]

Thanks everyone for your prompt replies. I guess Air New Zealand would be best as mentioned. On the plus side, I can fly international out of Perth rather than a domestic/international transit at Sydney.

 

[RichardMEL]

NZ would be a nice option out of PER I reckon. 7 or so hours to AKL. A decent place to transit and you could fly on to say IAH and connect to MCO. I just flew to IAH with them a few weeks ago and it was a nice way to go (I admit I was in J).

They seem to have a sale to the US on constantly which may also help you in terms of PE...

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Yes direct out if PER on AirNZ is best.
I just flew premY on Air NZ yesterday AKL back to ADL, Aust.
AKL airport is a very easy airport to transit.
Or overnight at Novotel next to AKL.
PremY no lounge access but can buy Priority Pass to Strata Lounge and other lounges.
AB CD seats at row 23 on 777-200 has only 1 set of windows and near bulkhead.
Have to transfer at LAX though to United Air domestic.

 

[ozafflyer]

Agreed. Even 2 seats on an u/g would be wishful. Best chance for using points would be to hunt “classic awards” seats, or use points+pay (which I’ve still found a bit expensive due to the taxes and charges).
Those 2 would at least guarantee a seat.
I thought disc econ would allow points u/g, but def no guarantees. My last u/g happened at the gate (I selected that option) when they called me back to give me a new boarding pass. Travelling alone. Could not have opted for that option with family. Imagine the gate fight for the u/g seat!!

Just for future reference, sounds like there are 3 ways to book flights using points.

1. Classic awards.
2. Buy ticket first then click on upgrade.
3. Pay plus points.

Only option 1 and 3 is guaranteed a seat since I am basically buying the ticket outright for the class of seat that I want.

With option 2, I will have to bid and outbid other people and I won't know until just before I travel. And it sounds like it's easier to get an upgrade with 1 person than a family of 4?

Is my understanding of the above correct?

Thanks!

 

[ozafflyer]

Yes direct out if PER on AirNZ is best.
I just flew premY on Air NZ yesterday AKL back to ADL, Aust.
AKL airport is a very easy airport to transit.
Or overnight at Novotel next to AKL.
PremY no lounge access but can buy Priority Pass to Strata Lounge and other lounges.
AB CD seats at row 23 on 777-200 has only 1 set of windows and near bulkhead.
Have to transfer at LAX though to United Air domestic.

Is PremY premium economy? I also saw that they have a SkyCouch option. What do you think of that? Sounds like a good compromise compared to other classes.

 

[ozafflyer]

Another question I have, does being a Qantas Gold and Virgin Silver give me any benefits at all such as lounge access, luggage limits etc?

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

QF SG if you do pick to fly with QF, yes, you do get lounge access, but going to the US has a lot of demand from those of higher grade status holders with QF, so your chances of getting an upgrade with points are slim.
If you choose to pay for the whole family to fly J business, then its all good, $$$$$.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Yes, PremY is premium economy is my speak, lots of others disagree.
Skycouch tends to be against the window side, as there are 4 of you, its going to be a tight fit, might work, I don't know, never tried, maybe one adult against the window, and one on the aisle, and the 2 kids in the middle might work.
27k VFF points won't get you much, they can be transferred to FB, and you can do FB bookings for something, but at 27k, its not much good.
Playing with tranferring points to strangers, ie, you send them your VFF and they send you QFF points, is playing with fire, there is a chance if QF finds out, you might loose your whole kit and kaboodle, ideally, I would not consider transferring points or trading points.
Some people sell points too.
VFF PS is useless too, as your points level is not that high, and your status still is below VFF WP, or VFF SG.
Your QFF SG is good, but still below others.
Points + pay, others say its not a good usage of points.
Upgrade bids, your chances are quite low, other higher grade status members with QF/VA will have higher chances than you.
But, if you can save the $ from the upcoming tax refunds, and if you can hold on going for say, next year, or 2 years, I do realise by then the kids would be older, you could put each tax refund into savings, and then in 2020/2021/2022, pay to go with ANZ/(Air NZ) in PremY.
PS, yes, I waffle a lot, and I am not a real expert, there are others more knowledgeable and experienced than me, so see what others say.
Good that you are asking now, and preparing, I fly a lot to NZ, (no visa and we use the same plugs/same language, they have their a bit different pronounciations), ... nice country that one.
Ok, will give others a chance to add their bit now.

 

[trooper]

The Skycouch is on a bank of THREE seats...so for 2 Adults and 2 Children you'd need (at minimum) One Skycouch and one other seat. I would suggest the best Skycouch arrangement would be TWO Skycouches with 1 Adult/1 Child in each... if the budget allows. The kids would pretty much be able to curl up and sleep... Otherwise perhaps a middle bank of 4 seats with the kids in the middle two?

 

[opusman]

And it sounds like it's easier to get an upgrade with 1 person than a family of 4?

There are a number of ways to maximize your upgrade changes. If you have no status with the FF program then it's a lot harder. The more seats you want the harder it will get, of course. Also the route matters; e.g. upgrades from SYD-LAX are much harder to score than BNE-LAX. And of course you have to book an upgradable fare class in the first place.

 

[BriarFlyer]

Another note for future reference: on long-haul international, only Velocity Gold and Platinum status holders can upgrade with points.

 

[RichardMEL]

QF and VA status have no benefits with NZ on the long haul international flying (since NZ was being discussed). The limited trans tasman codeshare arrangements between QF and NZ would not seem to be very applicibale in this situation.

 

[ozafflyer]

The Skycouch is on a bank of THREE seats...so for 2 Adults and 2 Children you'd need (at minimum) One Skycouch and one other seat. I would suggest the best Skycouch arrangement would be TWO Skycouches with 1 Adult/1 Child in each... if the budget allows. The kids would pretty much be able to curl up and sleep... Otherwise perhaps a middle bank of 4 seats with the kids in the middle two?

Makes sense. Thanks for the advice.

 

[ozafflyer]

Thanks everyone for your replies!