Commonwealth awards points ratio vs QFF points

[SOPOOR]

for the record, ive got a CBA amex plat and CBA MC and a Citibank Plat Visa

I am opted into the QFF direct thing since day 1, and I never took notice of the CBA points as I assumed they suck.

however, i was just having a look today and thought, maybe I can get a better deal via CBA points.

for example, a trip from melb QFF to Bali is 50,000 points, thailand 72,000, japan 72,000

BUT! I get 3 points per $1 on the amex which is where 99% I do purchases. I logged onto the CBA awards site and it says $1000 flight centre gift cards 168,000 points, so it costs me $56,000 to get this, while the qff option to bali costs me $40,000, however, I go the flights centre site and they have flights to bali for $568 return (i think its tax included), so for $56000 in spend I can almost go twice to bali return, while if I spend $40,000 via the QFF option, I get 1 return trip PLUS i have to pay for taxes,

am I missing something here??? seems like the CBA awards via flight centre is 10 times better???

Im hoping that I am proven wrong!

 

[Willibre]

I am also a CBA AMEX/MC cardholders and you are much better off with the Flight Centre deal. You also have a choice of airlines and no blackouts etc. You can even go in and talk to one of their consultants, if you like.

For me - much better deal than QF

 

[SOPOOR]

yes, im starting to think the same as well,

the only draw back I can think of for those that are wanting to use their points to upgrade from economy to business class,

is everyone else simply enrolled in the QFF program or do some people actually use their points for flight centre vouchers?

 

[jukebox333]

If you look at the more complex flights, or J seats, the balance shifts, I think.

Oneworld RTW in Y at 140,000 QFF miles is 420,000 "spend" points, or $2,500 in Flight Centre voucher equivalence. Looking on their web site, you can do RTW for that, but routing is limited.

RTW business is double that via QFF, but Flight Centre's RTW J starts at $6,500+ for just three stops, almost $7,000 for five. Taxes etc on the QFF seats would bring that difference a bit closer, but still put the points ahead of the voucher.

It probably comes down to how you plan to use the points as which path is best to take.

 

[SOPOOR]

yeah you are probably right

however, i only intend to (at this point in time) to do return trips economy to asia and maybe europe/UK
at this stage I probably wont do upgrades to business class

eg I can go to japan for $600 return in june via jetstar,

with QFF its 72,000 points + $225 odd in taxes so my 72000 points are worth $375 whereas $56,000 in spend on my amex gets me $1000 in vouchers from flight centre
so im trying to do the maths on which is better,

is it possible to opt back out of the QFF direct thing?

 

[Willibre]

I am pretty sure you can opt out with the CBA. Have you given it a go yet?

 

[SOPOOR]

im sure you can but but before I do take the plunge, Im just researchign a few sample flights on flightcetnre vs qff points,

I probably will not do the points upgrade to biz class

and im just trying to balance, trips to asia, US, UK, rtw and south america as a comparison,

its not easy, especailly when it says Fares to xx_X from YYY$

 

[Willibre]

Fyi CBA Awards have 10% off Flight Centre gift cards this month, which makes it an even better rate. I've just ordered myself a few. Not sure how long it would take to process the opt out?

 

[Moopere]

I have a CBA Gold which I've used for years. Tons of CBA rewards points and I've never felt tempted to spend a single one. Opted this year to go over to QFF and we'll see where that leads.

Others posting in this thread are quite right though, Y seats are not going to reap you the most value from a QFF point. I can't really make a Y redemption stretch to more than about 1c of value / point and even then, only after careful hunting. J seats however, easily get 3-4c / point and F similarly or sometimes better.

I had a look at the example in the OP. As we're talking QFF points I looked at Jetstar for the cheapest flight, other brands are cheaper, but then you can't use QFF points

From the OP, Flight centre $568 return (probably with tax included)

I chose a random date, MEL-DPS, 30/6/2011:

I went to flight centre and the best I could find was $1039 return with jetstar, taxes included. Perhaps there are some specials which can be accessed in another way. There is an advertised special with an unknown airline (TT??? Garuda???) for $607 return

One way std fare via flight centre $780 one way with jetstar.

Classic award seat to Bali return from MEL is 50,000 points in Y, 100,000 points in J (JQ/QF)

Any Seat Award seat is 104,000 return with JQ in Y (I had to fiddle the dates to the cheapest available, 14/6->1/7) and 194K with JQ in their 'Max' seating, supposedly business class like though I wouldn't bother personally.

I must admit, its been a while since I checked the CBA rewards program. Last time I did I struggled to get 0.5c/point of value from their rewards.

 

[samillionaire]

Hi guys on this topic

just checked my CBA awards and have about 120k~ points can this be swept into qff / is it worth it?
planning a trip in Jan 12 to KL and Hongkong. or should i do the flight centre deal as well prob going to axe my card after all the points are spent

 

[Moopere]

Hi guys on this topic

just checked my CBA awards and have about 120k~ points can this be swept into qff / is it worth it?

No, I don't believe we can move our points to QFF now. You can "opt in" to QFF for $10 a year and all future points earned will sweep direct to QFF, but at 1:0.5 value.

planning a trip in Jan 12 to KL and Hongkong. or should i do the flight centre deal as well prob going to axe my card after all the points are spent

Sounds like folk feel they are getting value from Flightcentre. For me, I'm quite probably going to sweep my points into Velocity around November (if no deals pop up before then) and cancel the card afterwards.

 

[samillionaire]

oo thanks moo
can you sweep them into velocity then? whats the conversion on that

 

[SOPOOR]

well I must admit, im feeling quite jibbed at the moment

just looked at booking a flight using my QFF points to Tokyo Japan from Melb

72,000 points + $422 in tax

until last week you could fly to Tokyo return for $590

ADmiteddly, I am looking at Dec which is peak,

how friggin ridiculous!

 

[Buck]

I've just been pondering this same issue -- is it better to stay with Qantas FF, or revert back to Commonwealth Awards.

We've got 500,000 QFF's that have been accumulated by both flights and Points comming across from Commonwealth (Just got offered Diamond at no extra cost!!).

Have gone to use these points for family trip to Singapore in the new year ... and low and behold, seems to be a blackout period. Great having the points -- but useless if you can't actually use them. Pretty darn annoyed.

The benefit with the Flight Centre vouchers is that its any flight, any time.

Complicating matters though is that I still travel lots with work, have our Woolworths and now Optus accounts also tied to the same Qantas FF ... so its difficult to know whether these additional point feeders outweigh a move back to Commonwealth. We seem to snag the Woolworths bonus points pretty regularly -- 500 bonus QFF points for buying a bottle of rum seems a great deal!

Sure you could run both systems -- but that has a potential to get messy.

Mathematically, Diamand Amex + Woolworths + Optus + Travel with work means the QFF balance will likely accumulate quicker -- but you have to be willing to modify your travel patterns to fit into Qantas view of the world.

I think QANTAS is great if you have flexibility for travel -- retirees ect -- but if you are locked into school holidays etc, bit painful.

 

[Stephen65]

Using QFF points for Y redemptions is never the most cost-effective way of spending points. The reason is that while a J redemption costs you double the points of a Y redemption a J fare usually costs you multiple times the cost of the best discounted Y fare you can buy. So you get best value for your points redeeming points for J (or F) travel. That's assuming of course that you care about flying J instead of Y. If your aim is to get the cheapest Y fares then redeeming via Flight Centre may be a better option than redeeming directly for Y award flights.

The other option to consider is using QF YASA and JASA awards instead of classic awards. You can often find YASAs and JASAs that are only slightly more expensive (in points) than a Classic Award and the YASA/JASA will include taxes, fees and charges AND give you FF points and status credits.

 

[straitman]

Have gone to use these points for family trip to Singapore in the new year ... and low and behold, seems to be a blackout period. Great having the points -- but useless if you can't actually use them. Pretty darn annoyed.

Depending upon your Qantas status you can often ring and get rewards bookings that do not show on line.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Have gone to use these points for family trip to Singapore in the new year ... and low and behold, seems to be a blackout period. Great having the points -- but useless if you can't actually use them. Pretty darn annoyed.

While sometimes certain flights may not have any award seats available, it's often the case that during peak times, others have simply snapped them all up before you!

I should also point out that when redeeming classic awards, the system isn't too great at pointing out connection possibilities. I'm not sure which city you live in, but Qantas fly to Singapore from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, so if one is showing no seats, try a multi-city award booking (to firstly get you to one of the cities above, and then from that city to Singapore)... having said that, if you tell me which capital city you're closest to, I can use ExpertFlyer to find which exact flights to Singapore have award availability, and if a connection is required, those that show award seats. I'm not sure about the ages of your family, but if you can also live with getting there on different flights, that would be another big possibility. If you want me to check any of this for you (it's a lot faster than the Qantas website, you just search for awards from a city to a city and it spits out the exact flights along with the number of A/V award seats (much better than searching on Qantas for 4, only to be told that nothing's available haha), then do provide your closest capital city, the number of people you intend to take to Singapore, and I'll let you know what I can find!

 

[SOPOOR]

well, Ive just returend from holiday, had a good holiday, but feeling a little jibbed at the moment

used 72,000 points + $450 odd in taxes to get from Melb to Japan, way up with qantas fleet, all was good, food/drink provided, had screens

on the way back, jetstar planes, the last time I did the same thing, even on jetstar, meals/tv pack were included,

this time nothing was included, and whats more to add salt into the wound, is that my friends have booked a flight via jetstar leaving next week for $600,

so I had to spend $72000 points +$450 in taxes, while my friends have booked about 1 month ago for $600 inclusive of taxes via jetstar

end of selfish rant/

 

[Moopere]

well, Ive just returend from holiday, had a good holiday, but feeling a little jibbed at the moment

used 72,000 points + $450 odd in taxes to get from Melb to Japan, way up with qantas fleet, all was good, food/drink provided, had screens

Ouch. In my world thats equivalent to a $2610 fare. I'd be annoyed if I ended up on JQ as well.

I transferred all my CBA rewards to velocity during their recent bonus 20% sale and even though it was a 2:1 swap I haven't looked back. Velocity rewards, right now anyway, are great!

 

[SOPOOR]

Ouch. In my world thats equivalent to a $2610 fare. I'd be annoyed if I ended up on JQ as well.

I transferred all my CBA rewards to velocity during their recent bonus 20% sale and even though it was a 2:1 swap I haven't looked back. Velocity rewards, right now anyway, are great!

heya! im looking for better alternatives, im not CBA or qFF loyal in any way,,

what sort of spending do you need for trips to say asia?

the only reason I did QFF was because many years ago when I compared it to the flight options via comm awards QFF was far better

since then they ahve introduced flight centre vouchers which seems to work out better in some situations,

can anybody recommend alterntaives??

for the record, I have CBA Diamon Visa+amex, AND Citibank Visa Plat

I currently use CBA AMex for 1.5 point/$ and Citibank Visa Plat for $1/1 point