Booking with points - 2 seats one way

[T Davies]

We are looking to fly to Europe in April 2026. question is, given need to book points flights as soon as they appear, l assume it is best to book say 2 x 1 way bus flights ( given 2 of us ) to Europe and pay for the return leg with cash ( given won't have enough for points return flights )? Any comments?

 

[Hunter4vr]

We are looking to fly to Europe in April 2026. Q is, given need to book points flights as soon as they appear, l assume it is best to book say 2 x 1 way bus flights ( given 2 of us ) to Europe and pay for the return leg with cash ( given won't have enough for points return flights )? Any comments?

It'll probably be cheaper to do points return for one person and buy a return ticket for the other, rather than buying 2x J fares to Australia.

Book the revenue fare after you find and book the departure and return one-way flights for the other person.

 

[T Davies]

It'll probably be cheaper to do points return for one person and buy a return ticket for the other, rather than buying 2x J fares to Australia.

Book the revenue fare after you find and book the departure and return one-way flights for the other person.

Thx. I was thinking that ie deals for return flights at sale time.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

One way fares are generally going to be more that half a return. So the advice to get one whole ticket on points and the other cash is probably going to be the way to go.

Option 2 is to buy 2 x award return tickets to say jakarta or manila, and then pick up paid fares from there to Europe.

Ex JKT or MNL can often be had for around $3000 per person return. So $6k all up.

 

[SYD]

In theory you can book a return trip points one way (CR) and cash the other way but with limited award seats and even those not being released to the old pattern, it’s a method that can longer be relied on.

Ex JKT or MNL can often be had for around $3000 per person return. So $6k all up.

This would be my recommendation. I’ve done three Oz-Euro J return trips post COVID via CGK on QF and then once on CX and 2x QR. The last trip was about 115k points pp and ~A$3,500 (including Indonesia visa each way* and 2 nights hotel).

If you’re flexible where in Europe you can fly into, you could save $’000s. Use some of those savings to get to your final destination.

*it’s wise to break the journey when travelling on seperate tickets but not essential. CGK hotels are very cheap.