So is QFF points chasing worthwhile?

[2infinity]

As someone who isn't able to fly regularly enough to have any status, earning points affords me the ability to enjoy the finer things in flying life like the lounges and pointy end of the plane. Points are easy to accumulate (200000+ in the last 12 months) and i'm spending less than I would on a full fare if I didn't have the points. I have learnt through experience and this site that economy awards aren't worth it and its best to use them on upgrades and straight up J fares.

So for me, points chasing is very worth it. As to whether QF or VA is the way to go or one of the international programs, is all going to depend on your personal circumstances about availability, experiences with that airline, lounges, cost etc.

 

[zoomzoom]

And you only use QF to the USA because there is still limited choice/competition on the Pacific.open it up to SQ and EK and watch the prices fall. I for you am over paying high fares to feather bed QF management .

We have used QFF a lot in the past year (2 x business tix return to South America in April; then 2 x business tix return to USA in August), HOWEVER, I had to book exactly 11 months ahead, to get to USA we had to go via Hong Kong on Cathay....all in all it was a pain. Recently I booked 2 x business to Europe return for next year on Singapore Airlines and it was much easier to find flights, also the option of Saver flights for many many less points. OK, I did have to book a long way ahead and the connections are not great, but not as far ahead as Qantas and so many many more options. We would only use Qantas again if travelling to USA and that probs won't happen again for a while!

 

[prozac]

It seems to me if you are an infrequent flyer with no status then it is nigh impossible to redeem points at fair value in a short to medium term time frame (up to 3-4 mths). Coupled with the uncertainty if you are likely to get an upgrade until notified at the last minute I place little value in QFF points.
Much of my flying is unplanned until a month or two out and so QFF would most likely be too restrictive for me.

 

[fiscal]

Being in Perth, premium international redemptions are in some ways a lot harder, particularly to Europe. If you do manage one on EK the fees the partnership charges is ridiculous. However, if you start from another location, like Singapore or Hong Kong, then availability is usually better, and fees are significantly less.

My experience is that the fees you save, more than adequately covers the cost of the additional travel to and from the other destinations (usually low cost airlines when one way fares are needed).

So QFF points suits us for the time being.

 

[Christoo]

It seems to me if you are an infrequent flyer with no status then it is nigh impossible to redeem points at fair value in a short to medium term time frame (up to 3-4 mths). Coupled with the uncertainty if you are likely to get an upgrade until notified at the last minute I place little value in QFF points.
Much of my flying is unplanned until a month or two out and so QFF would most likely be too restrictive for me.

I think this is a very valid point.
The likelihood of a points upgrade deteriorates rapidly the further down the status scale you slide.
I think it unlikely that anyone that is Gold or below would have much success upgrading from Y to J on a popular service. You don't often see empty J seats on long haul flights.
For me I use the points for upgrades to J and probably have a about a 90% success rate internationally and about 65% domestically.

The hard thing with status is that I value WP too much to use classic awards for all my travel.
Classic awards are also rarely suitable for business travel as I cannot book far enough in advance as my schedule has me booking a maximum of two weeks out, when most of the seats that they would free up are taken.

In short I use points for:
Upgrading business travel from Y to J
Classic Awards for well planned holidays

I am currently earning points much faster than I can use them as I am not going to be using them on any toasters.

 

[jmillard]

I don't "chase" them with fervour. However, I do accumulate them in sufficient quantity to book 2 RTW flights in J every 2 years plus a few Y to J upgrades if the mood takes me (longer/night flight mostly).

As a result, I consider them good value

Oh...... and I don't buy toasters

 

[JohnMcC]

I have had to give up chasing points. If they were awarded purely for frequent travel there would not be so many issues trying to use them nor would they be so expensive. Of course I completely get that a) people are very much entitled to earn them any way that Qantas offers them and b) that Qantas is a business wanting to make good profits. So I do most of my flying with other airlines that offer points mainly for flying therefore have more vacant seats and lower points requirements for redeeming. In my case it has been with JAL so even though I am Platinum with Qantas for when there is no option, I earn and spend more with other airlines. Shame really but that's progress I guess.

 

[grov]

I don't "chase" them any more, same with SCs. The points are "free" anyway, mostly from my CC. However, I mostly use them to upgrade PER-SYD or PER-MEL flights from cheap economy to Business - the trick is to only book flights with awards available, then immediately upgrade when the economy ticket is confirmed. If upgradeable flights are not available that day, I'll purchase the flight on a points plus pay option. I know this is not the best use of points, but what the heck - the points were free anyway. I've obtained J award international flights by phoning Qantas in the first minute of the awards becoming available.

 

[prozac]

This is the other aspect of QFF, it is so difficult to keep abreast the rules and conditions by comparison with other airline points schemes.

 

[leppo]

Whilst there are probably better ways of accruing points nowadays Im basically a lazy accumulator but happy user of QFF points over the years. Last year wife and I enjoyed a RTW trip travelling Business taking in Alaska, NYC, India and Myanmar the whole way on variety of airlines. cost around $1100 in taxes I think and 256K points each but we saw it as a real bonus. those points were accumulated over many years of using ANZ credit cards and very occasional domestic flights...now we are just letting them build up again so we can do something similar again one day way into the future ...if it all went belly up, well nothing really lost - it doesn't change our spending habits or the bills coming in, so why not be part of it?

 

[BethCarr]

I have accumulated just on 500,000 on Qantas just through using my credit card! I tried for a business class ticket to Vancouver this Xmas - one way - it was over 1Million points!

 

[NZflygirl]

I have accumulated just on 500,000 on Qantas just through using my credit card! I tried for a business class ticket to Vancouver this Xmas - one way - it was over 1Million points!

How long did that take to rack up?

 

[The Flying Brick]

MEL or SYD to YVZ is 96,000 QFF points one way in J.

Are you looking at Any Seat awards instead of Classic Awards?

Trying to get an Award seat in J now for an Xmas flight to anywhere is nigh on impossible but the time to start looking for Christmas next year will be in the next few weeks as bookings open 355 days out.

I have accumulated just on 500,000 on Qantas just through using my credit card! I tried for a business class ticket to Vancouver this Xmas - one way - it was over 1Million points!

 

[Rnwillia]

I like to save my points for a 'rainy day' one where the cost is inflated due to School holidays or Easter/Christmas. I think they are good value but have never used them to upgrade. I always check the cost of flights I need then compare the points needed and decide then. There are many ways to earn QFF points and I like that even though Virgin are better value.

 

[dunedin]

I've recently changed my spend on credit cards to favour my velocity earning cards. I use points to buy family tickets for others. Qantas this week wanted $972 return BNE to LAX, a points ticket was 66,000 under there currently 35% off special plus $670 of taxes. It's just a joke. Virgin is so much better here with usually around $130-140 of taxes. It just such a joke that Qantas have the fuel surcharges in there, especially when oil is a fraction of what is used to cost plus because it makes the frequent flyer redemptions so much more expensive - how's that for rewarding loyalty.

 

[mark4217]

I love collecting points. I need points to get to either USA via LAX in J with VA or Europe with VA/EY in F & J.... Points get me to both continents in style for less cash than I spend on dinner on a Friday night. Once I hit the continent I buy cheap local cash tickets if I need to. VA points do it for me, and have done for many years...I wonder sometimes when i read that availability is an issue. I have never had that problem... Maybe me just lucky!!!... oh, I did get a bottle of Dom sent to me last week, have no idea why.

 

[Benno]

Trying to get an Award seat in J now for an Xmas flight to anywhere is nigh on impossible but the time to start looking for Christmas next year will be in the next few weeks as bookings open 355 days out.

Thanks for the tip, I've never looked more than 6 months out

 

[Bindibuys]

Everyone's view on "value" is going to be different. I chased points for the past year to book this below.
Do I think it was worth it... YES. The only thing I purchased out of ordinary spend was more wine, but took up just about every offer. (just loved the Aquire sign up)
What I did notice was the EK costs, but look at it as - would I get an F flight for the same cost?

 

[timster]

Allegiance to an alliance makes sense to me. Allegiance to a single airline does not, unless they meet your flying needs very closely and/or you have the status that gives you extra (useable) benefits.

I was loyal to OW via QF, until partner falling-outs and devalued partner earning made that almost pointless (literally). And honestly I wasn't flying / spending enough to earn a stack of points before that. And trying to use them was a dispiriting process, to put it mildly. Also I was also shackled to QF via QP.

So QF's attempt to make me more loyal to their metal by devaluing partner flying actually had the opposite effect. After that and all the other 'enhancements', I decided divorce was the best option. I reached *G much more easily than I could have with OW, and so far everything is working out OK. I fly mainly Y so it gives me good benefits across all of *A. And I no longer really care about points.

 

[Champo]

Have just finalised booking my 5th RTW AWARD points trip since 2004. In 2004 and 2009 completed FIRST class RTW trips utilising most of the 35,000 miles allowed. In 2012 and 2014 likewise but in BUSINESS class and the 2016 trip is also business class from ADL to Oslo via Hong Kong & Heathrow using Cathay and British. Land content until we fly out of Bergen to Munich via Heathrow on BA and later Munich to New York on Qatar via Doha and after Land content and internal flights to Cuba via Cancun and then New York to Adelaide by Hong Kong on Cathay. When I first started booking award RTW flights I found them relatively easy to book and in one long phone session, however, particularly this last one had to be done in several stages adding 7,000 ff points to each addition to the itinerary and spaced out over approximately a month. I needed to be much more flexible in what flights became available (checking pretty much on a daily basis as the various airlines release their award flights at staggered times even though they say for example, Qantas 353 days, AA 330 days and so on) The award flights through Qantas are released approximately 12 noon EST daily when they do release them. Interestingly for this itinerary there is not one Qantas sector for the entire trip of just under 35,000 miles. Most of my points have been through credit card spend using woolworths bonuses, David Jones Amex and obtaining Bank bonuses when securing new credit cards