Newbie - familiar question??

[Love to travel]

OK I know this has probably been asked a thousand times (this is my first ever thread, but how on earth do you actually get a QFF seat?? I keep trying online, but have no luck I would love either -
3 tickets from Sydney from Honolulu (Sep 17 2011) and /or
3 tickets from Honolulu to San Diego (Sep 23).

As I am so far out from the travel I thought it would be easy - how many seats do they actually release 2 per flight??

I would take whatever I can get!!

If I have missed them do they ever release more?

 

[samh004]

Re: Newbie - familair question??

Welcome to AFF!

What status of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program are you?

Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum?

What class do you want the seats in?

I can see some Y seats on August 30th 2011, that’s the latest date.

 

[Love to travel]

Only Bronze unfortunately and after economy like everyone else I guess

What are Y seats?

 

[samh004]

What are Y seats?

Economy, sorry.

FYI the flight on August 30th is QF283, a Jetstar codeshare. You might be best waiting, or in the future just booking the Jetstar flight instead, hopefully it’ll come up in a sale.



There don’t seem to be any seats from HNL to SAN on the 23rd either past August 30th, so perhaps they haven’t been released yet?

And finally, the Any Seat Award prices for your selected dates, and in fact most dates around it, are incredibly large and not worth considering.

 

[Love to travel]

So basically if you want to use ff points for a flight on a popular route around a school holiday period you might as well forget it?

Disappointing hey

 

[james4321]

Hi love to travel and welcome to AFF. As you will find from various threads on this subject as a Bronze member you have virtually ZERO chance of an award seat. In my experience Qantas will not award a points upgrade to a NB (nothing bronze) even if there are spare seats in Business. Essentially the FF programme is designed for frequent flyers (emphasis on frequent) - anyone who is a casual flyer is basically just paying their membership fees for (almost literally) nothing. Unless you fly a number of times a year then there is little, if any, value in being a QFF member.

 

[blueflamenco]

OK I know this has probably been asked a thousand times (this is my first ever thread, but how on earth do you actually get a QFF seat?? I keep trying online, but have no luck I would love either -
3 tickets from Sydney from Honolulu (Sep 17 2011) and /or
3 tickets from Honolulu to San Diego (Sep 23).

As I am so far out from the travel I thought it would be easy - how many seats do they actually release 2 per flight??

I would take whatever I can get!!

If I have missed them do they ever release more?

I don't think there are a lot of award flights to Honolulu.

Do you have an event on in Honolulu that you need to attend?

If not, I would suggest a different plan that might maximize your ability to use your points.

I don't think Bronze frequent flyers have zero chance of using points for award travel, I think it depends on the route and the number of passengers.

 

[blueflamenco]

Eg. If you wanted to visit both Honolulu and San Diego

Sept 17 - SYD-LAX is available for 3 passengers (using points)

You could then make your way from LAX down to San Diego

And from there you find a flight to HNL

And then purchase a Jetstar flight from HNL to SYD

 

[lovetravellingoz]

. Essentially the FF programme is designed for frequent flyers (emphasis on frequent) - anyone who is a casual flyer is basically just paying their membership fees for (almost literally) nothing. Unless you fly a number of times a year then there is little, if any, value in being a QFF member.

That may be a little harsh.

However yes if looking to travel on a very popular route at a peak time like School Holidays when many are looking for exactly the same date it can be a fuitless search simply because there are so many people that want those same dates, and more so the two week breaks where everyone literally wants the same dates. Redeeming at Xmas can be easier as it is longer break with departure dates more spread out..

However outside of the peak periods those with no status can get Y seats.

I have however redeemed at Easter in two different years for a family of 5 on QF to and from Thailand, and return to New Caledonia.

Having said that I now mainly use Singpore Airlines to get my points to as it offers better Award availibity (redeeming for Singapore Airline as well as other Star Aliance Carrioers like Thai) than Qantas at a cheaper point cost.

PS: With Qantas there is no yearly membership fee. There is once off fee but this can be gained for free via Woolworths Everyday Rewards.

 

[samh004]

So basically if you want to use ff points for a flight on a popular route around a school holiday period you might as well forget it?

Disappointing hey

See the thing is, school holiday periods are always going to be busy, for an obvious reason. Now, I’m not sure if seats have been released yet and are simply already taken, or haven’t been released and you should wait a bit longer, but as you point out, it’s not like they have a lot of capacity on that route, you’d have a better chance with other routes.

Luckily that’s not the end of the story, as Jetstar flies there and they’re cheap, so you could wait for a sale or hope to find a good deal anytime up to mid-next year. You’d be paying, but probably not a whole load.

Also, you’re a Bronze frequent flyer, so of course Qantas is going to look after it’s more frequent flyers first. Recently they announced Silver and above would have priority for award seats, so there’s some incentive, but it’s probably not worth getting Silver just to try get an award seat.

It’s not disappointing so much as it’s obvious that getting 3 seats on such a route will be hard. I wouldn’t even try that, because I know the odds, especially during a school holiday period… even though you may only be able to fly then!

Hi love to travel and welcome to AFF. As you will find from various threads on this subject as a Bronze member you have virtually ZERO chance of an award seat. In my experience Qantas will not award a points upgrade to a NB (nothing bronze) even if there are spare seats in Business. Essentially the FF programme is designed for frequent flyers (emphasis on frequent) - anyone who is a casual flyer is basically just paying their membership fees for (almost literally) nothing. Unless you fly a number of times a year then there is little, if any, value in being a QFF member.

That’s a rather bleak view… and what membership fees are you talking about here? Most people get their Qantas memberships for free these days.

I don't think Bronze frequent flyers have zero chance of using points for award travel, I think it depends on the route and the number of passengers.

Agree.

Oh and if I look at Jetstar for your dates in September SYD to HNL I can check luggage for 3 adults for $609 each, $1827 all up. Slightly more through Qantas, but it’s the same flight.

 

[james4321]

If your QFF points are coming mostly from credit card spend (rather than actual flights) then the annual fees will cost you more than the value of an award which you might eventually get. Unless you are a frequent flyer then being a member of QFF is pretty much a waste of money.

 

[Love to travel]

Wow - thanks for all this info - you guys are great!!!!

 

[samh004]

If your QFF points are coming mostly from credit card spend (rather than actual flights) then the annual fees will cost you more than the value of an award which you might eventually get. Unless you are a frequent flyer then being a member of QFF is pretty much a waste of money.

Maybe you’re getting ripped off on your credit card, but not everyone else is. You get your annual fee waived, if there even is one, transferring the points is free, the membership is free, and then you use the points to redeem a free flight, maybe not in a school holiday period, but most have no troubles redeeming free flights… so where’s the waste of money?

 

[straitman]

If your QFF points are coming mostly from credit card spend (rather than actual flights) then the annual fees will cost you more than the value of an award which you might eventually get. Unless you are a frequent flyer then being a member of QFF is pretty much a waste of money.

A little harsh perhaps and I do not entirely agree with you :!:

This will depend largely upon your spending patterns. Someone with moderate to high spending will earn many points, particularly if they have been careful with picking their credit cards.

The real problem, as pointed out, will be with getting FF tickets during a busy period. As a Bronze it will be nearly impossible and if you have status it is still very difficult.

 

[pauly7]

If your QFF points are coming mostly from credit card spend (rather than actual flights) then the annual fees will cost you more than the value of an award which you might eventually get. Unless you are a frequent flyer then being a member of QFF is pretty much a waste of money.

Sounds like you need a new credit card! And read up a bit more on here on how to maximize use of QFF even as a NB

 

[lovetravellingoz]

If your QFF points are coming mostly from credit card spend (rather than actual flights) then the annual fees will cost you more than the value of an award which you might eventually get. Unless you are a frequent flyer then being a member of QFF is pretty much a waste of money.

As written this is wildly inaccurate.

If you $$ spend is low then yes.

If you $$ spend is moderate to high then there is good value to be had, even if you never pay for a flight, and even on Qantas (though I prefer SQ and some prefer AA).

On fees many get their fees waived or reduced.

For example I currently have fee free:
* Citibank gold free for life
* Westpac krisflyer Amex and Visa; Fees refunded for the each of the two years to date
* Westpac Earth, Platinum Amex and Visa, Fee refunded
* Amex plat: fee refunded

So in my case I am 100% fee free.

I also have the non-point earning Wizard card used for cheaper cash access when overseas.

 

[cove]

If you can be more flexible and not go 3 on the same flight your opportunities rise dramatically. Now if you can get over not holding hands the suggestion of going to LAX then you can do San Diego or Honolulu quite easily as has been suggested.
Using your points can become a beautiful experience as long as you remove all unnecessary hurdles like it must be a particular day and time or a three,four or five travellers at a time.
Those two side trips should be a snap as long as you avoid American special holiday
periods.
If it is two adults and two young children split up into two lots of two.

 

[grussellt]

You may be trying to book a little early for these flights. Try a dummy booking in June/July/August for these flights (flexible with dates will show you which dates are available). Also you will have to be persistent and the occasional call to Qantas might help. I generally book a couple of award tickets from Sydney to Europe every two years and have never failed to get seats as long as I book around 11 months in advance. That included a recent SYD-DUB trip (via LAX and ORD) which I found a very good use of 64000 points.

 

[cove]

Yes it is 355 days forward limit and typically the update on the internet occurs around 11 am Melbourne time.The phone booking desk does seem to get the update a little earlier but it will cost you some extra points to use them.Sometimes that can be the best value if you are trying to do something challenging.
I book one way at a time to avoid the outgoing offers disappearing before the return date comes to 355 day opening.QF site has a lot of activity due to so many frequent flyers looking.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Eg. If you wanted to visit both Honolulu and San Diego

Sept 17 - SYD-LAX is available for 3 passengers (using points)

You could then make your way from LAX down to San Diego

And from there you find a flight to HNL

And then purchase a Jetstar flight from HNL to SYD

Yes good advice here. Also look at YUPP and KUPP instant upgrade fares on AA American if you quickly want to advance from NB.

Spruce