What would your points strategy be if........

[newcomic]

I have collected a whole bunch of points and am looking to maximise my 'goodness' i.e. french champagne and getting as horizontal as possible (no not in the way )

My partner and I have amassed the following:

Me

Qantas Gold: 240k points
Velocity Bronze: 150k points
Etihad Gold: 0k points
Alitalia Gold: 0k points

Partner
Qantas Silver: 350k points
Velocity Bronze: 20k points

We usually head to Europe around June/July/August but also do ad-hoc travels around when we see a great bargain.

The question I propose to you all is if you were in my situation, how would you maximise the "goodness".

I am happy to pay outright for my flights as well to maximise business/first class opportunities.

Trips I would like to take (not all of course otherwise i'd be broke) include:

January - Japan
March - Europe
July/August - Europe

What are your thoughts?

 

[incumbent]

Not sure where you're based and it may be too late for Jan 2016, but you have enough points to cover SYD-NRT return on JL F and it's definitely pretty special.

 

[Dr Ralph]

The amount of points you list I certainly wouldn't classify as ' a whole bunch'

Best bet is to keep saving so you can use in the future for around the world fare in first class.

 

[incumbent]

The amount of points you list I certainly wouldn't classify as ' a whole bunch'

Best bet is to keep saving so you can use in the future.

And then do what with them? Singularly unhelpful advice as of now.

 

[opusman]

Between them they have 600k QFF points which is certainly a reasonable amount.

 

[Fiches Mouser]

Some very decent balances there. I could have some fun with 590K QFF points.

Really depends on where in the world you like to spend time, but if it was me? I'd be trying any F or J product that I haven't tried before. JAL F would be at the top of that list.

 

[TonyHancock]

A very decent points haul. I'd be looking at QF J into the UK.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I have collected a whole bunch of points and am looking to maximise my 'goodness' i.e. french champagne and getting as horizontal as possible (no not in the way )

My partner and I have amassed the following:

Me

Qantas Gold: 240k points
Velocity Bronze: 150k points
Etihad Gold: 0k points
Alitalia Gold: 0k points

Partner
Qantas Silver: 350k points
Velocity Bronze: 20k points

We usually head to Europe around June/July/August but also do ad-hoc travels around when we see a great bargain.

The question I propose to you all is if you were in my situation, how would you maximise the "goodness".

I am happy to pay outright for my flights as well to maximise business/first class opportunities.

Trips I would like to take (not all of course otherwise i'd be broke) include:

January - Japan
March - Europe
July/August - Europe

What are your thoughts?

Probably the best option here is to transfer some of the 350K into the account with 240K, then redeem 2 x business class return to Europe. CX has reasonably good availability and will give you good bang for your buck... full flat private seats, long beds, champagne, great lounges in Hong Kong, good choice of destinations in Europe.

 

[Mattg]

I'd be using those Qantas points to book 2x 280K oneworld awards in Business class. It's only a little bit more than a simple SYD-LHR-SYD or SYD-JFK-SYD redemption and you get to travel around the world with up to 5 stopovers.

 

[boomy]

Personally I like to try as many airlines as possible so if you're going to Europe you can take CX J one way and QF J return or QR J if you can find availability.

If you only fly to Japan then, as others said, JL F return is promised to be a winner choice.

Another option is to combine Japan and Europe into one trip flying a mix of QF/JL J.

 

[scaredeycat]

I would use the points to fly J to Europe on a OW carrier one way. CX (for example) usually has decent availability via Qantas. Might need a stopover in HKG to get flights on points. I would suggest you then buy a return ticket from Europe to Australia and back for next year's holiday. Choosing the right departure point in Europe (especially if there is a sale on) can result in very substantial savings. As an example, a few months ago BA had a sale ex Scandinavia : Stockholm - Sydney return in J for roughly $4500. Strangely enough if you were departing from LHR the charge was more like $ 6000. Much cheaper than what they ask if you were originating in Australia.

 

[flightobserver]

This is probably a more left field suggestion, but having seen the routings of some other members, it is definitely not out of place on here.

First create a Krisflyer account and transfer your 150k Velocity points into that. Should be enough points to redeem ONLINE PER-xSIN-HKG return in J for 2. Buy a LCC ticket HKG-Japan, as well as positioning flights to PER if you're not based there.

Secondly, transfer all your QFF points to a single QFF account and book 2x J OneWorld Award looking something like Aus-Europe-KUL-Europe-Aus. By nesting in KUL you can separately buy a flatbed fare on Air Asia X back to Australia to give yourself two trips to Europe.

 

[straitman]

The amount of points you list I certainly wouldn't classify as ' a whole bunch'

Best bet is to keep saving so you can use in the future for around the world fare in first class.

And then do what with them? Singularly unhelpful advice as of now.

'a whole bunch' of points really depends upon your perspective. What is a lot to one person is minimal to another.

Whilst a little banter in threads is always acceptable the basic premise is 'stick to the topic' please ladies and gents :!:

 

[Deleted member]

and here's me with a combined 1.4 million thinking I need to keep saving

 

[Dr Ralph]

and here's me with a combined 1.4 million thinking I need to keep saving

You do

 

[Doctore1003]

Similar to what has been suggested, my partner and I are doing a trip to the USA next year then a trip to Japan the following year, all on the same oneworld award itinerary (280k each). We wanted to do two holidays all on points so didn't have as much flexibility as you with the option of paying for J.
Departure will be from Singapore (separate booking) and the stop at home in Melbourne is one of our five stopovers.
Our itinerary is:
MEL-SIN (EK J - separate booking)
SIN-HKG-SFO (CX J)
DFW-SYD-MEL (QF J)
(10 month stopover)
MEL-SYD-NRT (QF/JL J)
NRT-HKG-PER/MEL/SYD (still TBC on this last leg) (CX/JL J)

We calculated we saved 100-200k points doing our booking the way we did rather than as two separate award bookings, which is a lot of points to us.

You could do something similar, paying or using your Velocity points to fly to SIN, then start your OWA itinerary there, go to Europe, back to Australia for a break, then later to Japan and back to Australia (you don't need to fly back to SIN to complete the itinerary, but the miles from your final stop to SIN will be counted to make sure you're under the 35k limit.)

 

[ronone69]

The best way to do this is to use SQ Kris flyer. Requires less points than anyone else

 

[Bindibuys]

You could spend them any way you want, but for me, I have just blown 850,000 QF points. 2 of us:

QF SYD/DXB F
RJ DXB/AMM/TEL J
RJ CAI/AMM/IST J
QR IST/DOH J
QR DOH/AUT F
EK DXB/HKG F
CX HKG/SYD J

Yes, there is better value in OWE, but my plans did not fit their conditions. Plus mixture of F & J

 

[rhjames]

It will be interesting to see how you go. I was in a similar situation about 10 years ago when I retired. I planned to do some business class holidays. However, Qantas allocated very few FF seats to anything but economy seats. Perhaps that's changed now. I'll be interested to see how you go.