New to collecting points - not so new to long haul :/

[AussieJasmine]

Hi all,

Just to introduce myself. I've flown long haul a lot as I've got family in the UK (and currently in the UK too as was caught out by covid!). As a result I've flown a lot of long haul and domestic but have always just hunted the cheapest possible fares rather than maximum points. However, my partner and I are settling down and so want to book holidays together and whatnot and as my booked flight home with QF included the option of a ton of points, we decided to try and maximise them to use for trips in future

All the best - and hopefully we can all be flying again soon!

Jasmine

 

[Dr Ralph]

Hi all,

Just to introduce myself. I've flown long haul a lot as I've got family in the UK (and currently in the UK too as was caught out by covid!). As a result I've flown a lot of long haul and domestic but have always just hunted the cheapest possible fares rather than maximum points. However, my partner and I are settling down and so want to book holidays together and whatnot and as my booked flight home with QF included the option of a ton of points, we decided to try and maximise them to use for trips in future

All the best - and hopefully we can all be flying again soon!

Jasmine

Welcome to AFF.

 

[snabbu]

Welcome aboard @AussieJasmine

 

[Steady]

Welcome aboard @AussieJasmine

snap….

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all,

Just to introduce myself. I've flown long haul a lot as I've got family in the UK (and currently in the UK too as was caught out by covid!). As a result I've flown a lot of long haul and domestic but have always just hunted the cheapest possible fares rather than maximum points. However, my partner and I are settling down and so want to book holidays together and whatnot and as my booked flight home with QF included the option of a ton of points, we decided to try and maximise them to use for trips in future

All the best - and hopefully we can all be flying again soon!

Jasmine

I think you've hit the nail on the head... cheapest fares or accruing points. Sometimes they align, but often they don't, when it comes to value.

You could pay $8000 for a Qantas business class fare to Europe vs $5500 on Cathay or British Airways. Or you could pay $799 for a Qantas business class one way MEL-SYD vs $299 on Rex. The extra cost in fares need to be balanced against the points you earn, how many points you need for your desired holiday booking, whether or not there will be two award seats available when you want them, and the hefty fuel surcharges imposed by QF on those bookings.

If you always fly one airline domestically it may make sense to join their frequent flyer program and get status, but that needs to be weighed up against frequency of travel and overall cost.

FF programs can be leveraged in different ways other than earning by flying. For example buying miles in several programs gives business class return tickets to Europe from Australia for as little as AUD3100, or First class for $4000 (plus actual government taxes of a few hundred dollars)

 

[prozac]

Welcome aboard AussieJasmine. Points can be earned in many ways, not just air miles. Both major supermarkets have points schemes that transfer across to airlines. Credit card application bonus points and ongoing earn rates is another. With Amex this can be leveraged via targeted promotions so don't neglect to sign up for promotional emails.

 

[AussieJasmine]

Thanks for the replies, all - We normally fly on either QF/JQ at home, and our local servo is BP as well, so that does align. We almost always fly Y, but my partner is quite big so we always get a comfort seat and book into a 3 seat row so we get the whole row to make it all easier (one reason we always avoid exit rows and prem economy is the fixed arm rests). We normally fly out of SYD. NTL is technically more convenient, but isn't exactly brimming with choice for direct routes so we usually go with SYD and just sob quietly when paying the parking, as is the tradition!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for the replies, all - We normally fly on either QF/JQ at home, and our local servo is BP as well, so that does align. We almost always fly Y, but my partner is quite big so we always get a comfort seat and book into a 3 seat row so we get the whole row to make it all easier (one reason we always avoid exit rows and prem economy is the fixed arm rests). We normally fly out of SYD. NTL is technically more convenient, but isn't exactly brimming with choice for direct routes so we usually go with SYD and just sob quietly when paying the parking, as is the tradition!

It certainly makes sense to join the Qantas frequent flyer program and put all your routine flights on that program. You also earn points and status credits for the comfort seat, so make sure that always gets assigned to the same one of you so it builds up status quickly.

For 'non-routine' travel, such as big overseas flights, the points-v-value needs to be weighed up. Other non-flight activity also needs to be carefully considered... Qantas partners with many providers such as insurance, phone plans and shopping. The value of any points that come with that may be outweighed by a competitive quote from another provider without points.