I tried to buy top up points but Qantas will not credit them to my account.

[sinophile888]

I received an email from Qantas on March 20 offering a 50% bonus for top up points. On March 22, I tried to buy 150000 + 75000 bonus points for $3999.
The points have not been credited to my account, but the $3999 has appeared on my Qantas AMEX bill.
I rang Qantas twice on March 21 and was told to forward proof of purchase, which I did. On March 22 I rang a further 5 times and was cut off for all except one call. The gentleman told me that me that he could not open the file I sent as it had to be in PDF or jpeg. I then sent the forms in both jpeg and pdf.
I left it a couple of days then tried again on March 27. I was then told that they cannot open the files I sent.
I know I could do a charge back but I really want the points as I like to book early and fly Business on points.
Any suggestions?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Nothing I can think of but to send a new fresh email to Qantas Frequent Flyer. Hopefully someone who knows what they’re doing can help.

 

[Hampton Mike]

Keep persisting. You gain nothing by getting your money back (except to fill a hole in your bank account you were prepared to have); by persisting you’ll get the extra 75,000 points

 

[Dijidoo]

I have having the same problem. Money out of my account instantly however the points were not credited. I am on my 5th phone call to qantas with a hold wait of 2 hours before I even get to speak to anyone with no outcome. I have also emailed with no result and sent a screen shot showing money has been taken from my account. Did you find a resolution with your missing points?

 

[sinophile888]

Dijidoo, sorry to hear that you're having a similar problem to mine.
My issue was finally sorted out after 12 or so phone calls over 3 weeks. Very frustrating as there was a large amount of money involved.
The delays were two fold. One was that after I explained the situation to the operator, they said they would look into it but instead cut me off almost immediately. This happened on about half of the calls.
The second problem was that they asked for proof of purchase which I emailed to Qantas. But I was told that Qantas could not open my email with the proof, then they wanted PDF or csv format which I sent them.
Finally, I asked for the issue to be escalated to a supervisor who immediately opened all my emails.
The original 150000 points went into my account on 12/04, but my account said 23/03, the day of purchase. The 75000 bonus points were credited on 13/04.
I was thinking seriously about buying another 150000 + 50% bonus, but I will now think very seriously about buying anymore points in future.

 

[Hampton Mike]

I’ve bought +50% bonus points twice, and had no problem. I wouldn’t be put off by what is hopefully an outlier experience (although I acknowledge that others have had a similar experience).

And if you want/need the points, you know they’ll come eventually.

 

[sinophile888]

I can only fly Business these days. So I am happy buying points as that way it costs around $750 per flight rather than $1750 or more. My recent purchase of $3999 for 225000 points gets me 5.4 flights. Plus I can't travel without my daughter due to health and mobility considerations. So I also pay for her flights. When I have settled down, I may try buying more points if QF have another 50% bonus offer.
I always book well ahead as the A330 flights sell out of FF upgrades very fast.
A friend has offered to sell points to his family member as he has plenty of points but can't find any Business FF seats to Europe to use his points.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I can only fly Business these days. So I am happy buying points as that way it costs around $750 per flight rather than $1750 or more. My recent purchase of $3999 for 225000 points gets me 5.4 flights. Plus I can't travel without my daughter due to health and mobility considerations. So I also pay for her flights. When I have settled down, I may try buying more points if QF have another 50% bonus offer.
I always book well ahead as the A330 flights sell out of FF upgrades very fast.
A friend has offered to sell points to his family member as he has plenty of points but can't find any Business FF seats to Europe to use his points.

Not good for upgrades, but for outright ticket purchases you might also want to consider something like Alaska Airlines to buy points, or even the - possibly annual - Finnair promotion where you can get points fairly cheaply *and* gold or platinum status.

 

[sinophile888]

Not good for upgrades, but for outright ticket purchases you might also want to consider something like Alaska Airlines to buy points, or even the - possibly annual - Finnair promotion where you can get points fairly cheaply *and* gold or platinum status.

Thank you for the very interesting tips about Alaskan Airlines and Finnair. Do their points convert to QFF points?
I mostly travel domestically these days due to health and mobility problems. I flew to Melbourne for Easter, it was my first flight for over 3 years and I had a great time. But as the mobility issues have recently been addressed, maybe Singapore or New Zealand could be possible in the future.
But I think FF seats are very difficult to book for international flights.
I must say that Qantas went a long way to redeeming themselves with my recent trip East. They were very cooperative with regards to my using an oxygen concentrator and needing wheelchair access from checkin to the lounge to the gate. They even wheeled me outside the terminal in Melbourne to get picked up.

 

[RichardMEL]

A friend has offered to sell points to his family member as he has plenty of points but can't find any Business FF seats to Europe to use his points.

Your friend probably should be aware that selling points is against the QC T&C. Now sure, if it's intra-family it's hardly like QF will know and he would redeem seats for the elgiible family members (as opposed to "Distant Cousin RichardMEL") but still... I wouldn't really condone this behavour.

JUst thinking about your need for Business Class - without trying to assume too much here - have you considered either Premium Economy (depending on what routes you fly - I get the impression possibly transcon which do not have PE) or even economy class with a "comfort seat" next to you to provide more space?

 

[sinophile888]

RichardMEL, thank you for your excellent suggestions.

I need to fly in an A330 in seat 7E as I require oxygen during flight. I take a hired oxygen concentrator but also pay for Qantas to provide oxygen at $110 per flight. I do this as a backup in case the flight has to be rerouted or the concentrator has a malfunction. If I booked a B737 Business, I would need to buy an extra seat. Which would be rather prohibitive. I try to book flights earlier in the day on an A330 which have the option of later flights on an A330. My next flight leaves Melbourne at 8:00.

I would not be able to sit in an Economy seat due to mobility issues.

In the past, I have taken advantage of Premium Economy on QF9/10 transcon. Also buying a comfort seat in Economy if the layout is at least one bank of 3. An extra seat was good when we used it, but there was a lot of problems with assuring the extra seat was adjacent to the booked seats (and not in another row).

I didn't fly anywhere for over 3 years, due to covid.

Now 5 flights and a cruise this year.

 

[cove]

If you send me a message I can help with QF points to a 250,000 limit.

 

[sinophile888]

How do I send a message?

 

[cove]

Look for the envelope up by your log in code. @serfty may be able to guide you.

 

[RichardMEL]

@sinophile888 - thanks for the explanations.

I am truly glad you are able to get out and live your life as best you can despite some clear challenges. Bravo!

(back in the day my mum needed to fly with Oxygen to the UK and she actually did do it in Y - but probably a different situation to yours and I'm in no way suggesting that means you can or should go in Y at all.. just that I remembered the effort she had to go to to get that sorted, but it all worked well and she had a wonderful trip doing what she loved even as her health declined and that pleased me that she was able to).

 

[Dijidoo]

Dijidoo, sorry to hear that you're having a similar problem to mine.
My issue was finally sorted out after 12 or so phone calls over 3 weeks. Very frustrating as there was a large amount of money involved.
The delays were two fold. One was that after I explained the situation to the operator, they said they would look into it but instead cut me off almost immediately. This happened on about half of the calls.
The second problem was that they asked for proof of purchase which I emailed to Qantas. But I was told that Qantas could not open my email with the proof, then they wanted PDF or csv format which I sent them.
Finally, I asked for the issue to be escalated to a supervisor who immediately opened all my emails.
The original 150000 points went into my account on 12/04, but my account said 23/03, the day of purchase. The 75000 bonus points were credited on 13/04.
I was thinking seriously about buying another 150000 + 50% bonus, but I will now think very seriously about buying anymore points in future.

Thanks for replying sinophile888. I have made another four phone calls with two being disconnected. Tomorrow I will escalate like you did to a supervisor and see if that helps solve my issue. Communication also plays a huge part in trying to resolve issues. Todays mail delivered a letter "Tax Invoice" that I apparently requested for the amount spent buying top up points that I have never received LOL. Fingers crossed I have a successful outcome like yourself. Once bitten twice shy.

 

[sinophile888]

I wish you the very best of luck, Dijidoo.

 

[AdelaideFF]

Dijidoo, sorry to hear that you're having a similar problem to mine.
My issue was finally sorted out after 12 or so phone calls over 3 weeks. Very frustrating as there was a large amount of money involved.
The delays were two fold. One was that after I explained the situation to the operator, they said they would look into it but instead cut me off almost immediately. This happened on about half of the calls.
The second problem was that they asked for proof of purchase which I emailed to Qantas. But I was told that Qantas could not open my email with the proof, then they wanted PDF or csv format which I sent them.
Finally, I asked for the issue to be escalated to a supervisor who immediately opened all my emails.
The original 150000 points went into my account on 12/04, but my account said 23/03, the day of purchase. The 75000 bonus points were credited on 13/04.
I was thinking seriously about buying another 150000 + 50% bonus, but I will now think very seriously about buying anymore points in future.

I had a similar experience last October after purchasing TUP: after 10 days the points had not been credited to my account (which meant I missed out on classic reward seats I wanted). Rang to complain and was told I had to produce proof of my credit card payment! So had to submit a credit card statement showing the transaction. What a joke! As if customers who buy a plane ticket on a credit card have to produce proof of the payment before being allowed to board the plane!! As noted above, by the time the points were credited to my account I’d missed out on the classic reward seats I wanted 🗯.
Note that 4 months later I’m still waiting for the TUP to be credited to my Points Club account (and that’s after 3 complaints).