Is a first class award really worth it?

[2infinity]

That's not the half of it. Qantas points redemption site has the charming habit of points pricing multi-sector trips, say CNS-BNE-DXB-LHR (not sure if you can do that), with your request for, say, J, BUT you might see a "!" against one or more sectors,(usually the long haul ones) saying "Your BNE-DXB flight will be in economy" and/or "Your DXB-LHR flight will be in economy". Meaning, there are no J seats available on those sectors, so they bump you down - but still charge the full J points!!

Yes, I'm aware of that lovely little quirk. To offset that, I am doing a multi-city search, so I can select individual legs and not be subject to the "!".

 

[harvyk]

Another dilemma. 280000 is a RTW J ticket and 420000 for F RTW. Seems like sacrilege to use the same points for one destination rather than around the whole world. Sigh.

When traveling long distances it's always worth while checking out the RTW prices, often it's a similar price for RTW compared to a simple return journey. In some cases the RTW tickets can even be much cheaper.

 

[RoMambai]

Having done it a few times, I personally do not think the difference between first and business is worth it. I prefer to use the delta to splurge on accommodation which I value more than the hours spent flying. Having said that I don't sleep or drink on planes, I'm non-plussed about meals and more often than not I spend my time on board reading a book or zoning out on my beats headphones so I'm probably an outlier in this community.

 

[rock86]

So ex-Cairns it will cost 280000 points J or 408000 F. 344000 with 1 way in J and 1 in F (obviously domestic J). Curiously though if I do both A380 legs in F with the rest in J, it still costs 408000.

Now if I tried to keep the point costs down a bit, I can go ex-Brisbane for 384000 in F or 320000 1 way in J and 1 in F.

Another dilemma. 280000 is a RTW J ticket and 420000 for F RTW. Seems like sacrilege to use the same points for one destination rather than around the whole world. Sigh.

I'm dealing with your same dilemma, but my trip isn't available to be booked for a fair few months yet (which is probably worse as I will continue to procrastinate about it!!).

But the way I think of it as is that if you have specific destinations in mind, which we do, then the OWE explorer benefit of 5 stopovers won't really be utilised. It all comes down to your planned trip, how long you have and how many places/where they are that you want to visit.

Our planned trip is the USA, and we don;t really care about travelling to other destinations on this trip. So we are leaning towards at least 1 long haul F, the short (2-3ish hrs) intra-country flights in Y (paid or points depending on price) as we really don't see a benefit of using business redemption's for such short flights, and then the return is up in the air whether we splurge again on F or just save some points for another time and come home in J.

But, if we were doing a few continents then our whole planning process would change as our travel needs have as well.

Have fun planning

 

[rock86]

Having done it a few times, I personally do not think the difference between first and business is worth it. I prefer to use the delta to splurge on accommodation which I value more than the hours spent flying. Having said that I don't sleep or drink on planes, I'm non-plussed about meals and more often than not I spend my time on board reading a book or zoning out on my beats headphones so I'm probably an outlier in this community.

May be a silly question, but what is 'the delta'?

 

[RoMambai]

May be a silly question, but what is 'the delta'?

Not a silly question at all. Too often my professional jargon tends to pepper my everyday language.

Delta implied the difference in points/value between a business and first class redemption (given the ease in selling points for at least 1 cent pp, the 128,000 point differential in the ex-Cairns scenario could be better utilised on a $1280 spend at a nice hotel somewhere). Just a thought...

 

[harvyk]

May be a silly question, but what is 'the delta'?

The price difference...

 

[rock86]

Thanks for those answers.

For some reason I thought it was an aviation reference, but after rereading your comment makes sense about delta in a statistical/economic reference.

 

[craven morehead]

Following to see which class you end up booking !

 

[2infinity]

Following to see which class you end up booking !

I'm thinking about going in July/August 2019, so can't make my booking until about Septemberish this year. Will try and remember to post it. These things need to be researched.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This advice works for me. I don't see the value of F a lot, in my view I am quite happy with J for most flights despite the views of some here . In my view F is best for special occasions when you can really leverage the experience, usually day flights and you need to be in the mood to really take advantage of the whole experience, that means the food, the wine etc.

On the other hand F allows pax to maximise time how they want it. For midnight departure, especially the short hops from Asia to AU, the F cabin is lights out and pax tucked in shortly after take off. J class service is usually only just getting started.

So ex-Cairns it will cost 280000 points J or 408000 F. 344000 with 1 way in J and 1 in F (obviously domestic J). Curiously though if I do both A380 legs in F with the rest in J, it still costs 408000.

Now if I tried to keep the point costs down a bit, I can go ex-Brisbane for 384000 in F or 320000 1 way in J and 1 in F.

Another dilemma. 280000 is a RTW J ticket and 420000 for F RTW. Seems like sacrilege to use the same points for one destination rather than around the whole world. Sigh.

Qantas award rates are distance and airline based. Stick with airlines in a single table, make sure all connections are less than 24 hours, and of course stick within the award zone and the prices should stay on the lower side.

great circle mapper will help you with distances. Some awards may be 100km longer than the allowed zone and of course bump up the price significantly.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yep; there's a thread on AFF about planning the RTW trips on points.



That's not the half of it. Qantas points redemption site has the charming habit of points pricing multi-sector trips, say CNS-BNE-DXB-LHR (not sure if you can do that), with your request for, say, J, BUT you might see a "!" against one or more sectors,(usually the long haul ones) saying "Your BNE-DXB flight will be in economy" and/or "Your DXB-LHR flight will be in economy". Meaning, there are no J seats available on those sectors, so they bump you down - but still charge the full J points!!

i have actually found the tool to be pretty accurate recently, charging either the full mileage or sector mileage, whichever is cheaper, in the case of mixed class.

edited to fix spellin.

 

[robd]

I've done F twice to Europe and absolutely loved it (especially SQ Suites). Now that I've ticked it off the list, I'm more than happy to "slum" it in J. I really wanted to experience it though, and given that I don't accumulate points as easily these days (thanks NAB ), would rather do more flights in J than less in F.

 

[RooFlyer]

i have actually found the tool to be pretty accurate recently, charging either he full mileage or doctor mileage, whichever is cheaper, in the case of mixed class.

You mean the QF points booking thing? It doesn't give the "!" And charge full tote, but the pro rata for the lower class fares? That would be good! Is 'doctor' a typo?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You mean the QF points booking thing? It doesn't give the "!" And charge full tote, but the pro rata for the lower class fares? That would be good! Is 'doctor' a typo?

Thanks. Types on my ipad with autocorrect - that should have read 'sector' mileage.

I've been doing a lot of searching using multi-sector, but the couple of end-to-ends it seems to be pricing according to the cheapest combinations. Maybe I jus got lucky.

 

[JohnK]

I don't think premium cabins are worth the asking price unless you are sitting on 5+ million points and accumulating points faster than you can spend them.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I don't think premium cabins are worth the asking price unless you are sitting on 5+ million points and accumulating points faster than you can spend them.

Sure. Probably no one needs a flat bed for a 12 hour trip. We will survive without it.

But it's called 'living life a little'. Some things are just enjoyable. Hard to price that.

 

[RooFlyer]

Sure. Probably no one needs a flat bed for a 12 hour trip. We will survive without it.

But it's called 'living life a little'. Some things are just enjoyable. Hard to price that.

Exactly! But some people are just misery guts-es, always complaining or finding problems. What on earth is the point of sitting on 3 or 4 million points, and thinking 'can't afford a First trip until I get another million points'? And if you are a fast points earner, so can splurge, the chances of being able to use 3-5 million points in one hit is very slim. What would that be? RTW in F for 6-8 people?

 

[boomy]

Is F worth the extra miles from J? Depends on the route, the company, the aircraft, how you got the miles (from flying, CC, purchased etc), time of departure, flying solo/partner...

For example flying AUS-SIN overnight will be a “waste” in F because catering is limited and flight too short for good sleep but if connecting to HKG in F it suddenly becomes better value with same amount of points to spend.

IMO for short-medium haul direct flights J is more than enough (unless F doesn’t cost too many extra miles), for long haul flights to Europe/USA is where usually F becomes best value for points redemption and overall experience.

 

[2infinity]

Is F worth the extra miles from J? Depends on the route, the company, the aircraft, how you got the miles (from flying, CC, purchased etc), time of departure, flying solo/partner...

For example flying AUS-SIN overnight will be a “waste” in F because catering is limited and flight too short for good sleep but if connecting to HKG in F it suddenly becomes better value with same amount of points to spend.

IMO for short-medium haul direct flights J is more than enough (unless F doesn’t cost too many extra miles), for long haul flights to Europe/USA is where usually F becomes best value for points redemption and overall experience.

If Qantas wasn't so stingy with its premium international rewards, I'd go Qantas SYD-JNB-CPT, and that would no doubt be max J for 747 (there's no F in QF 747's I don't think anymore). This would be a Zone 7 redemption (6500 miles). But because Qantas doesn't seem to like rewarding its members, it's more likely to be Emirates BNE-DXB-CPT, a Zone 10 redemption (12600 miles). I'm giving serious consideration to F at least one way, but maybe both. Will probably never do F again and EK A380 F should be a good experience as well as their F lounge in Dubai. Emirates has just upgraded their B777's too I believe, which would be the DXB-CPT and return legs.

At this stage contemplating solo, but will possibly have a family member come.