Points inspiration [Spend 160k points on family trip?]

[Snowman]

Hey folks- sending this from the great isle of Rotto, while receiving the reminder email about 30% off QF rewards!
I'd love some inspiration as to where I could go- youngish family of mum, dad and two kids from Melbourne, preferably early May and preferably out of Aus. Fiji would be amazing, but everything seems to involve Fiji Airways and not use of the 30% offer.
Any ideas?
Thanks everyone!

Ps- should say I have circa 160k points

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hey folks- sending this from the great isle of Rotto, while receiving the reminder email about 30% off QF rewards!
I'd love some inspiration as to where I could go- youngish family of mum, dad and two kids from Melbourne, preferably early May and preferably out of Aus. Fiji would be amazing, but everything seems to involve Fiji Airways and not use of the 30% offer.
Any ideas?
Thanks everyone!

Ps- should say I have circa 160k points

IIRC the 30% off is for economy class awards on Qantas only. It always pays to check revenue fares as the Qantas fuel charges followed by normal airport taxes can mean the use of points is not such a good value for money proposition (as in you might only save a hundred dollars, but lose all your points, AND be tied to award seat availability instead of any seat you want at any time). By revenue fares that might also mean other carriers rather than QF.

Depending on availability and fares, you might even find it worthwhile to use points to get to the east coast and connect with a package deal out of say MEL, SYD or BNE to somewhere.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

It always pays to check revenue fares as the Qantas fuel charges followed by normal airport taxes can mean the use of points is not such a good value for money proposition (as in you might only save a hundred dollars, but lose all your points, AND be tied to award seat availability instead of any seat you want at any time). By revenue fares that might also mean other carriers rather than QF.

Depending on availability and fares, you might even find it worthwhile to use points to get to the east coast and connect with a package deal out of say MEL, SYD or BNE to somewhere.

Adding to this as it seems that you are inexperienced in redeeming points, I will make the following generalisations (so yes there are exceptions as with any generalisation) about redeeming with QFF Points.

• Redeeming for Qantas Flights with QFF points for economy seats normally offers very poor value for the reason outlined by MEL-Traveller
  • Generally the longer the flight the better value you will get though (Though IMO normally the value is still not great)
  • However some shorter flights may offer better value if that flight is normally $$$ expensive as the award cost in points is distance based (though the $$ in fuel fines will still go up. So for example flights to say Broome may be a better value redemption.
• Redeeming for Oneworld Classic Flight Rewards generally offers better value as you get better value for you points, BUT depending which airlines you fly with Fuel Fines can still be high. If you minimise the Oneworld Airlines that charge Fuel Fines in such a redemption then the amount of Fuel Fines paid can greatly reduced (ie redemption can become good value
  • The oneworld Classic Flight Reward table only applies when your Reward Itinerary includes travel on at least two oneworld Alliance Airlines other than Qantas and does not include any travel on any airline that is not a oneworld Alliance Airline. Qantas flights operated by Jetstar Airlines (JQ, 3K, GK or BL) cannot be included in oneworld Classic Flight Rewards.
• Redeeming a Partner Classic Flight Reward (ie non-Qantas airlines) can also lead to less Fuel Fines if that airline does not charge it, or charges less than Qantas.
• For more on the above two points see Frequent Flyer - Flying Qantas and Partner Airlines - Flying with Qantas and Jetstar - Using Qantas Points
• Flights from some locations will not have Fuel Fines (ie Hong Kong, Brazil) due to rules that apply to that location that prevent them being charged by an airline
• Redeeming for a higher cabin such as Premium Economy, Business or First will normally offer much better value as the Fuel Fines are basically the same but you get a much more expensive flight for proportionally less (Though this will cost more points than economy)

Now unfortunately all of the above is not really that helpful to you now as you only have 160,000 points and you also have 4 people that you want to have a trip for. The harsh reality is that Qantas FF is not really that good a loyalty program if you do not have a lot of points and/or cannot earn more points in good amounts. So I will also supply the following advice which is more about gaining value in the future rather than using the :

• Read the forum for more ways to earn more points. Churning credit cards to gain sign on points may the most viable option for you
• Look for a sweet spot economy redemption (again will probably cost more points than you have)
• Think about redeeming for one or 2 and paying for the others (Though be careful this may mean not buying bargain full-fare flight which may be better value all up!)
• Think about saving up points over time for say 2 Busness or Premium Economy Tickets. (as you kids are young though this may mean leaving them at home rather than buying them 2 economy tickets)
• Is QFF really the best program for you to gain points in? Velocity may be better as their fuel fines are I believe normally less (Krisflyer is great, but is harder to earn points that get to it. Amex is the best current path)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Generally the longer the flight the better value you will get though (Though IMO normally the value is still not great)

I agree some longer flights might be ok, especially if you route via HKG... but if you look at London, QF is asking for 84000 points return economy, with taxes fees and charges of AUD728. That's just $200 less than top tier carriers such as SQ are asking for an outright fare, with arguably far superior service on board. Or you could fly with Thai for the same price (sub $1000) but enjoy 34' legroom compared to 31' on QF.

84000 points to save $200 is incredibly bad

 

[Snowman]

Thanks everyone - awesome tips.
Sounds like I look for a cheap Jetstar deal for our holiday, and use my points upgrading my weekly east-west return flights!
Thanks so much again!