Buying Qantas top-up points with a bonus: Worth it?

[DejaBrew]

First time buying from Qantas Wines and have PCP with the $50 vouchers. I'm also missing approximately 45,000QF points to meet the PCP requirements for next year.

Any recommendations on which wine to buy? I see there are some bonus points from purchasing the box sets but I can't imagine most of them are any good to drink. Maybe good for cooking?

Looking for value more than anything....

Check this out for the best current deals -:

Qantas Wine Tracker | FlightFormula

Track live Qantas Wine bonus point deals with points-per-dollar and cents-per-point comparisons.

www.flightformula.com

$479.20 is the best deal going for PC+ using the $50 to get 26K bonus points.

 

[Vee711]

Check this out for the best current deals -:

Qantas Wine Tracker | FlightFormula

Track live Qantas Wine bonus point deals with points-per-dollar and cents-per-point comparisons.

www.flightformula.com

$479.20 is the best deal going for PC+ using the $50 to get 26K bonus points.

Thanks. This site is great!

 

[Flyerwin]

I just got the following email offer:

No matter how you choose to reward yourself, points make it possible.

And for a limited time only, you can unlock even more possibilities when you purchase Top-up Points:
Get 25% more Qantas Points when you top-up with 15,000 - 55,000 points
Get 50% more Qantas Points when you top-up with 60,000 - 150,000 points

With your choice of millions of reward seats when and where you want to fly, where will you go?

Hurry, offer ends 6 April 2025.

See how many bonus Qantas Points you could unlock:


I checked it out:

I could buy 225,000 (150,000 + bonus 75,000) points for $4k. That's about 1.8 cents per point.




Is this ever worth it?

Anyone here buy top-up points?

 

[fletty]

I have bought points before through United and VA when I had
1. A guaranteed upgrade request available (UA)
2. A specific redemption in mind (VA had SQ J CR availability) and I needed to make up a reasonable gap.

In these circumstances there was value to me to pay for the points (at about 2c a point). I don't think there's any value in buying them just to hoard though.

In your example, if you were WP/P1 and could release F seats on a route that you would've paid cash for J anyway - maybe spending $4k on the points and doing that is 'good value'.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

The last time I bought points was on AA when you could buy the full amount needed for an international F redemption for 20% of what a revenue fare would have cost. The good old days.

There may be edge cases now where it is worth it but fundamentally it comes down to whether you can immediately redeem them for more than you paid for them. Buying them to stockpile for later use makes no sense, especially as Classic Rewards have dried up.

Personally, I also refuse to respond to marketing emails that tell me to "hurry". I don't appreciate artificial urgency around arbitrary deadlines at work, let alone in situations where I am the customer!

 

[CaptJCool]

Thread '40% bonus on Top-up Points'

Oct 12, 2022

Was in the recent newsletter


Ends 15 October

• CaptJCool
• Replies: 18
• Forum: Qantas | Frequent Flyer

• 
• 

Some background stuff here

 

[Dmac59]

“With your choice of millions of reward seats when and where you want to fly, where will you go?”

Hmmmm !!!

 

[equus]

If you look at Qantas Wines, and the bonus point offers you can buy points for as low as 2.3c per point, and get bonus wine as well.

 

[DejaBrew]

Anyone here buy top-up points?

I've done it before, but I had a specific need/purpose at that time and the Qantas Wine options weren't great. In my case, it had the bonus effect of tipping me over the line into PC+.

Is this ever worth it?

Short answer? Generally not on the average day, but sometimes yes when they run a bonus promo like this one.

Longer answer? It depends on the circumstances and the individual's needs at that point in time. Qantas Wine is often the cheaper option (with the bonus of wine as has been mentioned above), but there may not be a reasonable bonus offer available at the time you need the points, or you may need a greater number of points hitting your account immediately so you can snatch those available J seats. Ultimately, it's up to the individual to consider their circumstance and need to determine whether buying points directly is a better offer than going the Qantas Wine route (or other similar bonus points-paying options).

 

[PaulyB]

I came looking for some expert input too. I am 30000 points away from Level 1 of the points club (150,000 points) and my membership year ends on May. I have done little flying this year but will do an overseas trip next year and could use the extra benefits that come with membership of the Points Club.

I had resigned myself to missing out but this seems to be a good benefit. I know I could buy wine etc but we don’t drink THAT much!

It seems a good opportunity as there is a specific need but I would love to hear any ‘better’, alternatives. Thanks!

 

[SYD]

I came looking for some expert input too. I am 30000 points away from Level 1 of the points club (150,000 points) and my membership year ends on May. I have done little flying this year but will do an overseas trip next year and could use the extra benefits that come with membership of the Points Club.

I had resigned myself to missing out but this seems to be a good benefit. I know I could buy wine etc but we don’t drink THAT much!

It seems a good opportunity as there is a specific need but I would love to hear any ‘better’, alternatives. Thanks!

What benefit are you expecting from PC? The main one is earning SCs on QF CR flights - which is why I do it!

Other than that - some vouchers.

There is (or was?) a big QF Hotels promo underway that could earn big if you can time it. But those points take ~4wks after checkout to post.

 

[serfty]

It seems a good opportunity as there is a specific need but I would love to hear any ‘better’, alternatives. Thanks!

If you travel a lot on awards it can be worthwhile. Myself as a WP, PC is OK but I see little benefit in PC+. I do not 'churn'.

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What do you get for that $747? Maybe consider after May - If you earn it in before the end of May you'd have it until May 2026. For the last few years, I have hit points on ground earning hard in the first month or so of my new "year" to earn PC. and so have it for another (up to) 24 months.

 

[DejaBrew]

I know I could buy wine etc but we don’t drink THAT much!

If you’re only 30K points shy, then you could score those points via Qantas Wine with offers requiring you to purchase half a dozen bottles, through to about 2 dozen max (depending on the deals). Even if you don’t drink that much wine, you can always use them for gifts, take them to dinners, donate them etc etc.

 

[NM]

I buy QFF points quite regularly. Mine always come with a free case of wine . I have never seen value in using the QFF Top Up points purchase.

If buying at the right time, and with Point Club Plus membership, it can be quite reasonable value, and usually better than the Top Up options from Qantas FF. For example, my most recent QFF point purchase was $398* for which I received 27,584 QFF points (plus additional for using my QFF points earning credit card).

So based on the initial example in this thread, where $4,000 buys 225,000 QFF points, ten Qantas Wine purchases can earn around 280,000 points for the $4,000 spend, plus receive 10 cases of wine . Cost would be higher without sufficient discount vouchers. The points earned would achieve Points Club membership and go a long way towards Points Club Plus membership which triggers discount vouchers and purchase discount with free shipping.

Points value from Qantas Wines does vary depending on their current offers, and the offers do change regularly. So it worth watching the site closely if looking for the good points/$ value options.

* note this includes 10% discount for Points Club Plus membership and using a $50 Qantas Wines voucher.

 

[PaulyB]

Thnx @serfty
I am at the completely opposite end to WP! Not having a business or job that requires extensive travel it is more for pleasure these days and depends on life and the budget!

PC is a good way for us to gain some extra benefit if we are thinking a year ahead so having it is a nice bonus. 3 years ago (in the middle of the call centre crisis) we successfully booked our second OWA flights with much gnashing of teeth, in J and on points. Business expenses paid for the first trip several years before and renovations paid for the second!

Anyway since the last trip we have only accumulated 375,000 points so in the old money that would have been enough for one J OWA. But that's OK there are alternatives.

Anyway, this is by way of an explanation that the PC is useful to us and, as I am so close it is a shame to miss out. This offer will get me over the line.

and @NM and @DejaBrew, you are quite right. I had a quick look and there isn't really anything that quite will completely fill the gap in the next month but I can add it into the mix and, I think as a strategy from May ( we will still need points!) jumping from Laithwaites back to QANTAS Wine will be a good plan.

 

[DejaBrew]

@PaulyB - Also worth taking advantage of gift card promos via Woolworths if you can make them work for you. They’re an effective way of helping boost your points earn towards PC. Even better if you can combine your purchases with a points earning credit card.

 

[PaulyB]

@PaulyB - Also worth taking advantage of gift card promos via Woolworths if you can make them work for you. They’re an effective way of helping boost your points earn towards PC. Even better if you can combine your purchases with a points earning credit card.

Yes - we use HSBC & Amex and I have a Q Business Money A/c for work stuff which contributes 20k points a year to the PC. We use the supermarkets enough so yes - thanks. Good thinking

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Would I bother? No I wouldn't. As others have pointed out, if there is a Qantas Wine sale you can often buy wine (and points) at a cost less than the 1.77 cents per point (particularly if you have a Qantas Wine voucher or Qantas Points Club Plus status which gets you an additional 10% off). Keep in mind too that with the wine you can also recoup some of the cost by either selling the wine at an auction or alternatively collecting the alcohol excise tax back via TRS provided you are leaving Australia soon.

And then of course there is my favourite strategy: buying Choice Hotel points and then waiting for a double point transfer promotion to occur (in which case you can effectively buy points for as little as 1.24 cents per point).

-RooFlyer88

 

[PaulyB]

Well for me at least it all seems moot. I have tried 3 times with 3 different cars and keep getting an error message:

You should receive an email with your tax invoice within 24 hours, but if you don't, please try again. Your Qantas Points will be updated once the payment is confirmed. If you need further assistance contact the Frequent Flyer Service Centre (error code: QEPP102).

Ringing them gets me hanging on for 30mins (til now when I hung up) and an online message has me receive no conf email with a ref number which was promised. So something is not happening. I think I have reached my tolerance level.

Bummer. Means I miss out on PC in the next 12 months but its not so significant for the sheer frustration... This experience has reignited my frustration from the trauma of booking OWA back in the middle of 2023...

 

[burneracc]

Debatable value but there’s a promo for topping up points currently. Just got an email but it’s also detailed here, so it’s not targeted:

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/use-points/top-up-points.html