Very cheap business class points + pay redemptions

[smit0847]

Just booked a 1-way MEL-ADL for end of Feb. Normal fare prices were $109 Saver, $199 Flexi, $499 Business. I fly this route 8 - 10 times a year and these are very normal prices when booking 6 weeks out. Just for the hell of it looked at using points. Saver was 10,800 points all up, Business was only 13,000 points all up.

I jumped on this and then when I went through to pay I was able to do points and pay of 6,600 + $37.

I know people value velocity points differently but I think that 6,600 + $37 for a $499 Business Fare is incredible value (6.6 + $37 for a Saver fare would have been fair!).

I know it's only a 1 hour flight and there is a chance it will not be on a Bizz fitted aircraft and might just be PE but hell, for that price I don't care. I'd pay that for a Saver fare with lounge entry! As a regular Silver who pays for all their own flights and is unlikely to ever be able to afford business class I think this is a great deal.

 

[awilcockson]

There's a reason that some things don't get discussed publicly

 

[markis10]

It was discussed back in June:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ty/points-pay-good-velocity-option-31024.html

Until Jan 18 you can go anywhere in J in Australia if you have 6700 points + cash, often at short notice, but it all changes after that !

 

[LiamR]

I booked the parentals in J for BNE-SYD-PER return for 6,900 points + $180. each way. Was very pleased with that price.

 

[hedge]

Seems to not work on PER-SYD flights

 

[markis10]

Seems to not work on PER-SYD flights

its working fine

 

[hedge]

Cheers Markis, I seem to have misunderstood the process

 

[hummel]

Makes me feel stupid that I burnt 26,000 pts for SYD-MEL J x 2. Should have investigated the points+pay option!

On a somewhat related note, can saver bookings be upgraded to J with points?

 

[markis10]

Makes me feel stupid that I burnt 26,000 pts for SYD-MEL J x 2. Should have investigated the points+pay option!

On a somewhat related note, can saver bookings be upgraded to J with points?

Only Flexis as far as I know!

 

[hummel]

Only Flexis as far as I know!

Thoughts that might be the case.

 

[smit0847]

I think using the minimum number of points for domestic J fares with the maximum amount of 'pay' possible is currently the very best value for using Velocity points. It seems like with lots of J domestic you can use as little as 6,900 points and then pay only 10 - 20% of the J fare on top. Although you might never cough up the whole J fare yourself that means that you can use just 6,900 points to pay for 80 - 90% of the value of the J fare, even for long routes like PER-SYD. From my estimates that might put the value of a velocity point using it this way as high as 10 cents +?

I know for most frequent flyer programs the best way to use points is either J fares of J upgrades but I think the real value here using as few points as possible.

 

[Major]

I just booked 2 x J fares BNE - DRW one way 13800 points + $274 and ADL - BNE 13800 points + $264 ( guess who's going on the Ghan )

I also think that's great value, particularly as the monthly points deposit from Virgin CC just lobbed into my Velocity A/c

 

[SeaWolf]

Until Jan 18 you can go anywhere in J in Australia if you have 6700 points + cash, often at short notice, but it all changes after that !

I've missed something, what happening on Jan 19? I've been loving Points+Pay for PER-SYD and PER-MEL, I pay about the same as an Economy Sale fare, plus some points and get to sit in DJ's fabulous Business class.

 

[Major]

The only problem with this great deal is that no SC's are earned for the flights

 

[markis10]

I've missed something, what happening on Jan 19? I've been loving Points+Pay for PER-SYD and PER-MEL, I pay about the same as an Economy Sale fare, plus some points and get to sit in DJ's fabulous Business class.

DJ have stated until Jan 18 you can book J at PE level pricing!

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....elocity/book-your-j-rewards-before-34314.html

 

[Shy180]

Just booked four of these SYD-PER....great value IMHO.

 

[oz_mark]

Until Jan 18 you can go anywhere in J in Australia if you have 6700 points + cash, often at short notice, but it all changes after that !

Which bit is changing? Perth seems to be already on J pricing, and that seems reasonable - or is minimum point thing changing?

 

[markis10]

Which bit is changing? Perth seems to be already on J pricing, and that seems reasonable - or is minimum point thing changing?

Points wise PER has not changed from PE classic award levels, so I suspect it will go up like all the others despite it having had J for a while now.

 

[oz_mark]

Points wise PER has not changed from PE classic award levels, so I suspect it will go up like all the others despite it having had J for a while now.

PER-SYD prices at the J points level (for me anyway!) (and the example in post 6 looks like J level)

Not that there is a huge leap from PE to J points....

 

[markis10]

PER-SYD prices at the J points level (for me anyway!) (and the example in post 6 looks like J level)

Not that there is a huge leap from PE to J points....

You are right, they are at J levels already so no change there.