Best value flybuys redemption(s)

[deva22]

Hi All,

Looking for opinions on the best way to redeem Flybuys.

What redemption did/do you value the most (satisfaction/point)?
What gave you the most value ($/point) on a redemption?

Discuss

 

[d00dz]

I think Coles Gift Cards? To spend on groceries?

 

[straitman]

Hi All,

Looking for opinions on the best way to redeem Flybuys.

What redemption did/do you value the most (satisfaction/point)?
What gave you the most value ($/point) on a redemption?

Discuss

Have you thought about earning VA SC from flybuys?

That's one option.

 

[deva22]

You mean using flybuys to purchase VA flights to get SCs? Or the 1SC per $100 spent at Coles?

Have you thought about earning VA SC from flybuys?

That's one option.

 

[straitman]

You mean using flybuys to purchase VA flights to get SCs? Or the 1SC per $100 spent at Coles?

I was just referring to 1SC per $100 spent at Coles.

Where we are we don't use Coles a lot so that's the best for us to use.

 

[deva22]

Yep, but that's separate to flybuys points. Looking for people's views on best value redemption of points.

I was just referring to 1SC per $100 spent at Coles.

Where we are we don't use Coles a lot so that's the best for us to use.

 

[rainbowgirl]

Converting to flybuys dollars will give you a conversion rate of 0.5cents per point. 2000 points equals $10

Converting to Etihad points or Velocity points may get you a higher return than 0.5cents per point but it will depend on how you use these points.

The flybuys shop sometimes has a double reward section where the points are worth around 1 cent per point but there aren't many general purpose redemptions in this section. Check out the current redemption rate for Mix Clothing vouchers for Coles and Music redemptions(I can't remember the provider). These redemptions used to offer around 1 cent per dollar but they might have changed recently.

Most of the products in the flybuys shop are worth 0.5cents per point or lower. You will probably find these products in shops on special for a lot less than the retail price so there are very few products worth redeeming.

I convert my points every few weeks for flybuys dollars and use them for my next shopping trip. This is the most useful redemption option for me but your circumstances may vary.

 

[flybuys]

Most of the products in the flybuys shop are worth 0.5cents per point or lower. You will probably find these products in shops on special for a lot less than the retail price so there are very few products worth redeeming.

The only clarification we would add here is that the points include the cost of delivery; when that is taken to account we're confident that the value would be 0.5 cents per point or better - excluding examples of occasional deep discounting in the marketplace.

 

[andye]

The best Flybuys redemeptions I have had are: EY miles for medium-haul VA flights (eg SYD-CNS), VA miles when there was a 1:1 offer on and redeemed on SQ, Theme park tickets when there is a double value offer.
All comfortably better than 0.5c/FB

 

[Dr Ralph]

The only clarification we would add here is that the points include the cost of delivery; when that is taken to account we're confident that the value would be 0.5 cents per point or better - excluding examples of occasional deep discounting in the marketplace.

I'm not so confident about this.

 

[drross]

EY miles for CNS- BNE flights in Biz have been our best use

 

[Mattg]

I've got the most value by converting my Flybuys points to Etihad Guest miles. I recently flew Sydney-Cairns on Virgin in business class, which cost 13,800 Etihad miles or 34,500 Flybuys points. The retail price for this flight was around $900, so I would have got around 2.6 cents per point worth of value. Not bad considering that redemptions for gift cards & merchandise get you a flat 0.5 cents per point!

With Etihad miles, redeeming for any Virgin flight under 1,250 miles in length is the same price. So longer flights in this range are excellent value. Routes include SYD-CNS, as well as Sydney-Queenstown, Brisbane-Port Vila & Melbourne-Hamilton Island. Booking a MEL-PER flight in "the business" is also great value.

Another advantage of converting to Etihad miles is that you can redeem on some rather obscure airlines. For example, I'm looking at booking a J seat on Air Serbia from BEG to TXL later this year, which requires surprisingly few miles.

 

[deva22]

I've got the most value by converting my Flybuys points to Etihad Guest miles. I recently flew Sydney-Cairns on Virgin in business class, which cost 13,800 Etihad miles or 34,500 Flybuys points. The retail price for this flight was around $900, so I would have got around 2.6 cents per point worth of value. Not bad considering that redemptions for gift cards & merchandise get you a flat 0.5 cents per point!

With Etihad miles, redeeming for any Virgin flight under 1,250 miles in length is the same price. So longer flights in this range are excellent value. Routes include SYD-CNS, as well as Sydney-Queenstown, Brisbane-Port Vila & Melbourne-Hamilton Island. Booking a MEL-PER flight in "the business" is also great value.

Another advantage of converting to Etihad miles is that you can redeem on some rather obscure airlines. For example, I'm looking at booking a J seat on Air Serbia from BEG to TXL later this year, which requires surprisingly few miles.

Thanks for the awesome reply! This is the kind of info I was looking for!

Any more high value ideas, or ideas for obscure routes?

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

I'm a massive fan of Flybys.
Not because of the earn rate, which is a paltry 0.5% return in every dollar ( The UK supermarket chains Sainsbury's & Tesco offer a 1% return on every £ spent with their respective loyalty programs) , but the bonus point offers that its partners offer, in particular Coles supermarkets.
It's very easy to regularly achieve 2-3% return on spend at Coles with Flybys on top of what points are earnt on credit card spend.

I will agree with many contributors so far, that converting your Flybys points over to EY or VA and redeeming those points on expensive cash fare routes ( ie SYD/MEL/BNE to DRW or PER in J on VA) reeps fantastic value for those valuable Flybys points.

Speaking for myself, I don't actively chase VA or EY points, so the SC's on offer when spending at Coles doesn't interest myself, but this is certainly a great way to assist those chasing status with VA ( although the SC's only provide a small helping hand)

Where I do find Flybys points particularly useful is the Flybys travel portal. You can redeem Flybys points off hotels, car rental or airfares. I find Flybys travel extremely competitive against booking directly with the airline or hotel. And when booking flights these earn points and status credits ( so long as it's a valid booking class) with the respective airline anyway as the booking is just the same as booking a cash fare.

YMMV, for redeeming your Flybys points, but it's refreshing that Flybys offers many options that offer some value.

 

[blueythecat]

I'm a massive fan of Flybys.
Not because of the earn rate, which is a paltry 0.5% return in every dollar ( The UK supermarket chains Sainsbury's & Tesco offer a 1% return on every £ spent with their respective loyalty programs) , but the bonus point offers that its partners offer, in particular Coles supermarkets.
It's very easy to regularly achieve 2-3% return on spend at Coles with Flybys on top of what points are earnt on credit card spend.

I will agree with many contributors so far, that converting your Flybys points over to EY or VA and redeeming those points on expensive cash fare routes ( ie SYD/MEL/BNE to DRW or PER in J on VA) reeps fantastic value for those valuable Flybys points.

Speaking for myself, I don't actively chase VA or EY points, so the SC's on offer when spending at Coles doesn't interest myself, but this is certainly a great way to assist those chasing status with VA ( although the SC's only provide a small helping hand)

Where I do find Flybys points particularly useful is the Flybys travel portal. You can redeem Flybys points off hotels, car rental or airfares. I find Flybys travel extremely competitive against booking directly with the airline or hotel. And when booking flights these earn points and status credits ( so long as it's a valid booking class) with the respective airline anyway as the booking is just the same as booking a cash fare.

YMMV, for redeeming your Flybys points, but it's refreshing that Flybys offers many options that offer some value.

Indeed, for me it is easily the best shopping rewards program in this country. It could be even better of course, hopefully Flybuys are working to expand their range of airline redemption partners.

 

[ross11]

Glad I stumbled upon this thread.

I've only ever converted my FB points into FB dollars to be used for money off shop. Converting FB points into Etihad Miles and consequently redeeming them for a VA flight, at 5 times the value, is certainly a compelling argument!

 

[Mattg]

Glad I stumbled upon this thread.

I've only ever converted my FB points into FB dollars to be used for money off shop. Converting FB points into Etihad Miles and consequently redeeming them for a VA flight, at 5 times the value, is certainly a compelling argument!

Welcome to AFF, aidross

 

[ross11]

Welcome to AFF, aidross

Cheers Matt.

My only gripe is with the ease (or lack thereof) of redemption of a VA flight using EY miles. I've only ever tried once a couple of years back. Rang up the call centre and tried to redeem my EY miles for a BNE-PER VA flight but the particular date/time i needed wasn't available. I was told only certain flights (code-shared flights?) were available for redemption. Ended up paying the fare directly off of VA's website. Haven't tried again since, not sure if anything has changed at all?

These days I find myself on QF metal more often than not. Don't know what to do with my EY miles balance which currently stands in excess of 60k miles.

 

[Mattg]

Cheers Matt.

My only gripe is with the ease (or lack thereof) of redemption of a VA flight using EY miles. I've only ever tried once a couple of years back. Rang up the call centre and tried to redeem my EY miles for a BNE-PER VA flight but the particular date/time i needed wasn't available. I was told only certain flights (code-shared flights?) were available for redemption. Ended up paying the fare directly off of VA's website. Haven't tried again since, not sure if anything has changed at all?

These days I find myself on QF metal more often than not. Don't know what to do with my EY miles balance which currently stands in excess of 60k miles.

I haven't found it too difficult. You can't redeem EY miles on every single VA flight, but I've found that it's generally possible if an award seat is showing as available on the Virgin Australia website.

There's some more info on redeeming Etihad miles for Virgin flights here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....uest/how-redeem-etihad-guest-miles-71583.html

 

[drross]

Cheers Matt.

My only gripe is with the ease (or lack thereof) of redemption of a VA flight using EY miles. I've only ever tried once a couple of years back. Rang up the call centre and tried to redeem my EY miles for a BNE-PER VA flight but the particular date/time i needed wasn't available. I was told only certain flights (code-shared flights?) were available for redemption. Ended up paying the fare directly off of VA's website. Haven't tried again since, not sure if anything has changed at all?

These days I find myself on QF metal more often than not. Don't know what to do with my EY miles balance which currently stands in excess of 60k miles.

no trouble so far so long as flight is a virgin flight and not an affiliate (e.g. Alliance flies BNE - mt isa, so not eligible)