Points for Goods

[redrat]

Did anyone read the Financial Review's Smart Money section for the weekend of April 17-21 on Frequent Flyers?
On page 42, the Principal of Axis Travel is quoted - "...says in the past week he has organised a refrigerator, a set of golf clubs...., ... for corporate jetsetters who are sick of carrying thousands of points they can't use or don't want to use for flights".
Does anybody know of a 'points for goods/prizes' scheme where I can buy with the million FF points I've accumulated?
Like others I travel frequently & I'm not really interested in flying anywhere with the points. In fact, if you want to take the family anywhere it's nigh on impossible to get there (or back) together on the one flight or same day.

 

[wleong]

My understanding of the article is that it sounds like a scheme run by AMEX, Citibank and some other Banks that do not automatically transfer FF points over to your QF or other airline account.

An example of this is an AMEX Corporate cardholder pays for all company expenses on the AMEX, the points are held in the AMEX program until they are redemed via AMEX or transfered to an airline FF scheme. When you transfer them to an airline program, you are not allowed to transfer them back. This is because the Bank has to pay the airline to enable them to credit your account.

Please note the redemptions is skewed towards travel. Normally you get more value out of travelling rather than redeeming on personal items. I find them to be very expensive but when you have millions, I guess it does not matter how you dispose of your points.

 

[redrat]

That explains it pretty well.
A friend told me that he'd heard of an organisation that for a fee and points will allow the use of the companies that supply QFA with their good & services.
In other words you pay a subscription and use points to have them do carpentry or welding or supply food, etc.
Does anyone know if this is myth/fact:?:

 

[wleong]

Have not heard about the other types of schemes however you should look at the items in $$$ terms and not get carried away by the points. For example a Home Loan with FF points sounds very good on the surface however you end up paying for it with a higher interest rate than a normal loan with no points. These days nothing is for free, there's always a catch to it somewhere along the line.

With the Reserve Bank reforms re interchange fees, someone has to pay for these points which will be more transparent. This is no good for the people that plays by the rules and pays off their debt in full each month.

 

[straitman]

I looked at a home (investment loan) loan several years ago that offered FF points as an incentive. Trouble was that it was cheaper to take a different loan and then pay for a flight. (which you got FF points for)
As mentioned "you only get what you pay for" & nothing is for nothing!