Disillusionment sets in … is it worth it?

[robolb]

Not withstanding the move away from regular rewards seat release (which irks me and many others), there has been an awful lot of longhaul award seats (including premium cabins) released in batches this year.

My almost 2 mil balance last year is half that since burning points post Covid. Even managed to get return flights during the infamous website meltdown (flying this week on those).

I guess that's half the problem.
Who knows when 'batches' of seats get released?

 

[Lynda2475]

I guess that's half the problem.
Who knows when 'batches' of seats get released?

They announce these releases via email and also noted in media, AFF and other travel sites.

I'd prefer the old regular releases but when there have been these big drops over past 2 years I've been able to get J seats everytime, which is why my points balance is now virtually non existent.

 

[robolb]

They announce these releases via email and also noted in media, AFF and other travel sites.

I'd prefer the old regular releases but when there have been these big drops over past 2 years I've been able to get J seats everytime, which is why my points balance is now virtually non existent.

Ah OK. Just had a look at a past email.
Business fare to London 1.3 million points one way.
Guess that's one way to use them up.

 

[Lynda2475]

Ah OK. Just had a look at a past email.
Business fare to London 1.3 million points one way.
Guess that's one way to use them up.

No I am talking about classic rewards.

Whilst there were anytime awards discounts (the only way you could ever pay 1.3m points) there were actually a lot of classic rewards in that last drop, some mentioned in the email some not - but all discussed here within minutes see Large release of Qantas Business & Economy reward seats to London & Rome

There were at least 2 classic reward J seats from SYD-LHR or FCO or DFW or LAX or HNL or NAN on most days for in period June-August. There were also F seats on QF1/2 SYD-LHR.

SYD-HNL-SYD in J was 160k points. SYD-LHR-SYD was 289k points.

 

[p--and--t]

Lots of negativity here (not unusual on AFF) but my partner and I have burned up almost all our accumulated QFF points in the last 12-18 months booking overseas trips for holidays both that we have already been on this year and will be on in the first half of next year . All classic awards. Jordan (j), Egypt (J), Morocco (J), Doha (J), Thailand (J), Malaysia (J), Canada (Y), Fiji (Y), Taiwan (Y - because I ran out of points)

Takes a bit of searching and flexibility on dates, but if you put in the effort, the seats can be found.

Wish I had the income to convince the banks to enable me to churn and get some more points. Lots of places I still want to go.

My next door neighbours have just returned home from Italy and France and various places Asia all in J on QFF points.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Lots of negativity here (not unusual on AFF) but my partner and I have burned up almost all our accumulated QFF points in the last 12-18 months booking overseas trips for holidays both that we have already been on this year and will be on in the first half of next year . All classic awards. Jordan (j), Egypt (J), Morocco (J), Doha (J), Thailand (J), Malaysia (J), Canada (Y), Fiji (Y), Taiwan (Y - because I ran out of points)

Takes a bit of searching and flexibility on dates, but if you put in the effort, the seats can be found.

That’s the key that everyone using frequent flyer points needs to understand. When you book an award flight, this isn’t like Expedia or WebJet where you name your destination and date and you’ll be able to book the award flight. No, that’s not how that works. Award inventory comes from completely different fare baskets than revenue (cash) fares and so you must approach it differently. And yes it means making tradeoffs. Sometimes that will be leaving on a different date than you wanted, or flying to a different city than you wanted. But when you find the award, it’s worth it in the end. Much of the flying I’ve done so far I quite frankly would not have been able to do if I didn’t have frequent flyer points.

To give some concrete examples:

• Sydney to Lord Howe Island for 11,500 points return + $180 in taxes and fees (contrast that with $1,000+ for a cash ticket)
• Ottawa to Iqaluit for 25,000 Aeroplan points + $79 CAD in taxes (contrast that with $1,500 CAD for the same flight)
• Sydney to Saint John, New Brunswick, Toronto to Sydney for 160,000 Aeroplan points + $300 CAD in taxes and fees (all in J here)
• Toronto to Dubai, Dubai to Cairo, Cairo to Zurich, Zurich to Toronto for 80,000 points + $200 CAD in taxes and fees
• Sarnia to Saint John, Saint John to Whitehorse, Whitehorse to Sarnia.

There are still plenty of other places I want to visit with points:

• Guam and the associated Pacific Islands
• Tahiti
• Yellowknife
• far North Nordic countries to see the Northern Lights
• South America

Wish I had the income to convince the banks to enable me to churn and get some more points. Lots of places I still want to go.

That depends on the banks I suppose. I know AmEx isn’t particularly picky when it comes to handing out cards, having recently dropped their income requirements. I should also point out that although credit cards do provide a good opportunity to earn points, sometimes it can just make sense to buy the points outright. That’s what I’ve done several times with Aeroplan enabling to visit many places now in business class for peanuts.

My next door neighbours have just returned home from Italy and France and various places Asia all in J on QFF points.

Europe always remains a challenge for frequent flyer points from here, although your neighbours seem to have gotten lucky and found availability. It does not help that Australia and Europe for all intents and purposes may as well be on separate planets given the long distances and connections involved. What I will say is that if you are flexible on routing sometimes you can ”force” through a business class award. Sometimes that may involve a stopover in DXB before catching another flight on a separate day onwards to Europe. Maybe it involves going to a destination in Europe that is not obvious like Zurich instead of Rome or Frankfurt instead of London. Remember too that once you are in Europe you can get anywhere in Europe for nothing in a couple of hours tops. Ryanair and EasyJet will sell you a ticket for the price of that flat white at Tullamarine airport, plus more opportunities to visit lounges if you have access.

-RooFlyer88

 

[MELso]

Lots of negativity here (not unusual on AFF) but my partner and I have burned up almost all our accumulated QFF points in the last 12-18 months booking overseas trips for holidays both that we have already been on this year and will be on in the first half of next year . All classic awards. Jordan (j), Egypt (J), Morocco (J), Doha (J), Thailand (J), Malaysia (J), Canada (Y), Fiji (Y), Taiwan (Y - because I ran out of points)

Takes a bit of searching and flexibility on dates, but if you put in the effort, the seats can be found.

Wish I had the income to convince the banks to enable me to churn and get some more points. Lots of places I still want to go.

My next door neighbours have just returned home from Italy and France and various places Asia all in J on QFF points.

I have to revisit my initial (negative) views in this thread, having just secured my first F Classic Reward on EK from MEL-SIN-DXB-FCO in March (but also 'sure Emirates - here's my wallet. Take what you need in carrier charges' ). So yes they are out there (if you're prepared to put up with the coughpy website, with my particular award only available through the multi-city tool and then unable to be booked as 'an error occurred in our central database' necessitating calling into Qantas, including waiting 25 minutes on hold).

But finding availability to Europe on QF? That remains tricky. And the EK and BA carrier charges and the limited options from other carriers like AY and JL to get to Europe means it's still more of a challenge than VA (even though J awards on EY through VA have dried up more than a couple of months out).

 

[MELso]

Europe always remains a challenge for frequent flyer points from here, although your neighbours seem to have gotten lucky and found availability. It does not help that Australia and Europe for all intents and purposes may as well be on separate planets given the long distances and connections involved. What I will say is that if you are flexible on routing sometimes you can ”force” through a business class award. Sometimes that may involve a stopover in DXB before catching another flight on a separate day onwards to Europe. Maybe it involves going to a destination in Europe that is not obvious like Zurich instead of Rome or Frankfurt instead of London. Remember too that once you are in Europe you can get anywhere in Europe for nothing in a couple of hours tops. Ryanair and EasyJet will sell you a ticket for the price of that flat white at Tullamarine airport, plus more opportunities to visit lounges if you have access.

-RooFlyer88

That was certainly my experience.

The flights I wanted could be booked directly through Skywards, but on QF, they were tucked away and only available using the multi-city booking tool (in part I suspect because while the MEL-SIN and SIN-DXB were on the same day, the DXB-FCO leg wasn't and was over 24 hours after the first departure from MEL). It's definitely the slow boat to Dubai, but when there are two Qantas Flounges, an EK Flounge and various other delights along the way, why rush these things?