Article: When Does it Make Sense to Redeem Points for Economy Flights?

[AFF Editor]

When Does it Make Sense to Redeem Points for Economy Flights? is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

When Does it Make Sense to Redeem Points for Economy Flights?

Many frequent flyers save up their points for Business Class flights, but you can sometimes get value redeeming points for Economy Class.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[kpc]

A nice article about the topic. Syd- Ldh return using points is great value as mentioned in the article but finding award seats esp in the warmer months is almost impossible. If you are lucky to get seats, finding accommodation is the next challenge.

I managed to get 2 seats to LDH and back in February this year but nearly had to cancel the flights as I had great trouble getting accommodation despite trying to book 8-9 months in advance.

 

[WilsonM]

A nice article about the topic. Syd- Ldh return using points is great value as mentioned in the article but finding award seats esp in the warmer months is almost impossible. If you are lucky to get seats, finding accommodation is the next challenge.

I managed to get 2 seats to LDH and back in February this year but nearly had to cancel the flights as I had great trouble getting accommodation despite trying to book 8-9 months in advance.

That 400 bed cap in peak times has its drawbacks That being said, it's for a very good reason that I can get behind. Glad you were able to make it though!

 

[RooFlyer]

I frequently redeem for economy, especially on Qantas. As the article says:

* Short sectors, such as HBA-MEL and/or

* Expensive fare and/or

* Lots of points hanging around, and no plans to redeem for long haul J for a while


... and I am usually OK with off-peak timings, so reward seats available.

Why pay say, $300 for an hour's flight when you can get away with c$75?

 

[justinbrett]

A good example is one way international flights (eg. as part of a DIY round the world trip), where the cash one way fare is astronomical.

Eg LHR-JFK oneway can be over A$4K (yes - in Y!) flying oneworld, yet a return fare can cost less than A$900.

HNL-SYD is another example, but not quite to that extreme.

These are both day flights so many might find Y OK, and/or in the case of HNL-SYD, it's very hard to get J seats.

 

[clifford]

I've just redeemed Qantas points for a Y-class ticket on BA from SIN to SYD next Easter.

It was the only sensible option available using points, and revenue ticket options were expensive and/or unattractive. I'd have booked Scoot Biz if they were flying that day, but unfortunately not.

I'm arriving into SIN in the morning from FCO in SQ J-class, and didn't want to stay in Singapore overnight, so the BA flight was my best option, especially as I was able to select an exit row seat for free, being a BA Gold (OWE).

I don't usually select an economy seat for such a long flight, but this was an exceptional circumstance.

 

[Seat0B]

Seat family have just redeemed 4 x Y seats BNE-CBR on the last flight out in early August.

Saved a LOT of money over paying for it. Would have taken J seats if available, but not available - and given there are 4 of us (self, Mr Seat 0A, Seat Son and Seat Son GF), that's not really surprising that I could not get J Classic Rewards for the last flight out. The timing is important as it allows the visiting Seat Son + GF to maximise time with the family, but still be here in CBR for the next day to spend time with family here.

I think it's a good use of points in this situation, even though I usually prefer J.

 

[openseat]

I’ve just done a BNE HIR return which worked out at about 2.5 cents value per mile redeemed, taking into account taxes and charges.
The only shame of it was the absence of the really good barista at the international lounge in BNE who was there from about 2017 on.

 

[CaptJCool]

Thanks @WilsonM for the detailed article about redeeming points

The strategy you wrote up is easy to understand

Recently I did some calculations on various options which included the classic rewards choice vs cash fare

What seems to happen is at the bottom of the fare pricing (eg Mel-Syd $129) that rewards seats are ‘plentiful’ while stumping up the cash is a fair enough choice

as the cheap red-E deals are sold and remaining cash fares head higher, the sweet spot is to jag a reward tic when there’s no cheap fares like in the examples you used

Here’s the calcs I posted

Does it make sense to buy Qantas points?

Not everyone drinks wine! 😅😅 Have to say we don't....yes sacrilegious I know , however son and daughter in law do lol. So they quite happily look and work out what wines they want, we pay and we get the points lol

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

The best value for economy points is in my opinion a dog leg where the points spend is the same whether you fly direct or via a stopover (extra flight time and two lounge visits at departure and stopover airports plus if WP at the arrival airport)

Some of this is leveraged off status

Hitting LTG makes the points spend more favourable over the cash fares as you no longer need earn status credits to access lounges.

While you are on the way to LTG the downside unless Points Club is no SCs and maybe no lounges. It’s an unfortunate feature of redeeming points

 

[WilsonM]

Hitting LTG makes the points spend more favourable over the cash fares as you no longer need earn status credits to access lounges.

While you are on the way to LTG the downside unless Points Club is no SCs and maybe no lounges. It’s an unfortunate feature of redeeming points

I will note that I didn't touch on the value of SC and points earned when paying cash versus using points, as this is subjective and IMO needlessly complicates any calculations. However, if you're buying points to use, i.e. BA Avios, you should definitely be considering this, especially if you're on a knife edge for value (around 2c per point is the minimum for me), as the opportunity cost of using points versus acquiring SC might skew it towards buying a cash fare.

 

[Seat0B]

Seat family have just redeemed 4 x Y seats BNE-CBR on the last flight out in early August.

Saved a LOT of money over paying for it. Would have taken J seats if available, but not available - and given there are 4 of us (self, Mr Seat 0A, Seat Son and Seat Son GF), that's not really surprising that I could not get J Classic Rewards for the last flight out. The timing is important as it allows the visiting Seat Son + GF to maximise time with the family, but still be here in CBR for the next day to spend time with family here.

I think it's a good use of points in this situation, even though I usually prefer J.

Oh and because I somehow made PC, I will get SCs for the flights which are th gap filler I needed (along with my WP 500 roll over and my DSC trip to Japan in Jan/Feb 24) to retain WP for another year!

 

[CaptJCool]

needlessly complicates any calculations.

the opportunity cost of using points versus acquiring SC might skew it towards buying a cash fare.

yes it does!

ideally a simplified ready reckoner calculator would "find that sweet spot"
(that's a data analytics project in the making...)

of course in peak periods, it tends to be somewhat moot as points availability is scarce, and I wouldn't be recommending Points plus pay in lieu

 

[CaptJCool]

Oh and because I somehow made PC, I will get SCs for the flights which are th gap filler I needed (along with my WP 500 roll over and my DSC trip to Japan in Jan/Feb 24) to retain WP for another year!

I had a friend who scored PC from a credit card churn so during the DSC he booked a dozen flights to/from Melb (40 SCs per return trip) for around $140 one way (family visits)

with a couple of international flights to Asia/Europe it will get him over the SG line.

then if he does the rinse and repeat, he can use the points gained in 2023 to book flights in 2024 and because of the Points club qualification obtain SCs while still enjoying lounge privileges! Win. Win win

 

[mrsterryn]

I am using one for a companion seat coming home from LA. Just means as I am on economy I have the knowledge no one will be in the middle seat. Though I know I can't have upgrade

 

[SYD]

As alluded to above with PC / PC+ using points on short hops is now quite attractive. The SCs earn is only marginally less than paid. Plus, the way fares are at the moment, it still can be good value also.

 

[33kft]

As alluded to above with PC / PC+ using points on short hops is now quite attractive. The SCs earn is only marginally less than paid. Plus, the way fares are at the moment, it still can be good value also.

And J in the 737s for anything that isn't east-west isn't that exciting - I definitely don't book J on points for family trips, solo it's a bit of each, but there's not that much to miss. I'll usually book J on points for the SC earn, not so much for the experience (the food's better in the lounge anyway).

 

[Skiddy_au]

Living in Albury/Wodonga, the 8000 points plus $40 each way to Melbourne is cheaper than driving, and at least you'll get a seat compared to the train. While service in the Dash 8 is basic, the crews have always been excellent. Wouldn't pay the $250+ cash fare each way ever.

 

[JohnK]

My recent examples are SYD-BKK for 17,500 points one-way. Excellent value. Unfortunately since covid availability is limited.

SYD-BNE for 8,000 points one-way when cash airfare is >$179 but I have seen award availability with $279 and $339 airfares too.

 

[muehli3]

Scoring (almost) free flights with points was one of the triggers to join QFF, especially when just getting 90-110k points with a credit card. Great value for money if you haven't been flying so much.

The article helped a lot to balance when to pay and when to use points!

 

[tdimdad]

The economics of points vs cash fares can probably be optimised with some nice modelling and there certainly are situations where rewards bookings in Y can make heaps sense.

I have a few things in play:
1) Early in the QFF membership year, I use cash fares to build up the SC haul to secure the status for the following year. After that, the rest of the year is open for reward bookings.
2) As a crude cost of points, I'm using a reasonably typical credit card churn cost (rounded up for ease): 90,000 points for $300. This would mean that 8,000 points = $27.
3) The QFF fees for short hops are about $40. This leads closer to a $70 per flight if booked as a Y reward. That's my comparison point for how much cash would I save.
4) With the long-haul flights (revenue), the points accrued matter, too. I ask [how many domestic short hops in Y would I get with these points?] and then mentally discount that from the ticket cost. E.g. SYD-LHR return in flex Y as an SG nets 43,400 points = 5.4 flights (but with 5.4 * $40 = $216 in fees). If an average saving (after fees) per domestic short hop reward is, say, $100 each, then the points accrued from SYD-LHR would be worth $540.

Similar to JohnK, when the cash fare hits a certain threshold, I'm more tempted to book it as a reward if maintaining the status is already in train. For SYD-BNE, my limit is $159 to look at it more of a saving instead of adding to the lifetime SC's (about 1.5 years away from LTS to start with).