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One of the best Qantas deals of the year is back! For the past five years, Qantas has offered bonus points at Christmas time on gift voucher purchases. Although this year’s deal is not as generous as last year’s, there are still 5 points for every dollar spent on flight vouchers up for grabs.
This has been a hugely popular way to earn Qantas points in previous years. Firstly, it allows regular Qantas flyers to earn extra points on vouchers that can be redeemed for flights they would have booked anyway. But Qantas vouchers also come with another great benefit – the ability to avoid paying credit card fees.
Five points per dollar will be earned on any Qantas voucher bought in the month of December. Vouchers are easily bought online and can be bought for use by anyone, including yourself. They can then be redeemed within twelve months for Qantas flights.
Naturally, there are a few limitations to using Qantas gift vouchers. Firstly, they can only be used to book one-way and return travel originating in Australia. They cannot be used for multi-city bookings or for travel beginning overseas. They can only be used on Qantas flights and only one voucher can be used per booking. Finally, while the names on vouchers can be changed, the number of passengers listed on the booking cannot. So, if purchasing a voucher for two passengers, two people will have to travel together.
Here are a few things to be aware of with QF vouchers. If you have 1 name on the voucher you can only buy a single seat. If you have 2 names on the voucher you have to book 2 seats. QF bonuses, eg double status if booked between these dates, generally speaking your booking is the date of the voucher purchase not the date you booked the flight, so you may miss out of bonuses. If you use a partial amount of a voucher it may require a phone call to QF to get the balance reissued.
Also for newcomers, note vouchers cannot be combined, so if you buy 10 vouchers, you need 10 separate bookings. A trap for young players.
In previous years, Qantas has offered ten points per dollar spent on vouchers in the lead up to Christmas. While many members say they will continue to purchase vouchers this year, some say that the reduced earning means they will purchase fewer than last year.
Looks like it is across the board offering – but only half as good as last years offer.
I will probably still shell out a couple of thousand but more so to save on credit card fees than for the reduced number of points.
When paying for part or all of a Qantas booking with a gift voucher, there are no credit card fees. Even if the voucher does not cover the full cost of the booking, the remainder can be paid for by credit card without the surcharge. This saves up to $30 in card fees for an international booking. There are also no fees for gift voucher purchases.
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