Full points or classic reward

[Stargazer]

Bear with me if the question is stupid. Checked earlier threads and couldn’t find a clear answer. I am interested in return business class flights Melbourne to Nadi- out on 10 August, in on 17 August. in looking at the outbound flight — business saver =401,600 points,business flex = 537,100 points, business classic reward = 57,000 points + $90. Return flight details are fairly similar. So my question is this. It appears on the surface that points (57,000) plus pay $90 is a far better use of my points. If I go down the path of Business Saver (401,600 points one way and 454,400 points return)— this will wipe out the points I have accrued to date. But if I go with points plus pay I live again to plan another trip with points fairly intact. So by paying on the outbound trip $90 and the inbound trip $143 I get a business seat that on the dates specified would be $3869 (calculated by taking the cheapest flights - outbound business saver $2490, inbound $1379 business sale). So it seems to me that a better use of points is to go with points plus a dollar amount. Given your vast experience what would you recommend. As an aside I won’t be taking many flights earning points. My points in the last ten years have come from shopping primarily. Any thoughts.

 

[RichardMEL]

since you accrue points mostly not from flying and spend them on flying and have no interest in status accural or anything like that, then I feel taking the reward seats while they are there is the best option for you. There seems little advantage to paying essentiallycash fares - sure they will earn you a few more points and some SC's but these probably don't help you that much in the long run if you're not interested in any status accural/earn and you get enough points from non flying. grab the reward seats while there in my view.

(note points plus pay is generally considered a poor value spend specially for premium cabin seats by most).

 

[adenda]

The points plus pay (as you call it) is a Classic Reward flight and is the way to go for obvious reasons. The only downside to Classic Rewards tickets is their limited availability and they don't earn points or status credits.

The other options you mention are what Qantas actually calls Points plus Pay and are much higher in points because you are in effect buying those tickets with cash obtained by converting your points into cash - at a pretty poor rate of exchange. The upside to Points plus Pay is they earn points/status credits and availability is much better because you're buying "normal" seats.
If you're sitting on a stack of points and can't get Reward seat availability then that would be when you might consider Points plus Pay

 

[Stargazer]

since you accrue points mostly not from flying and spend them on flying and have no interest in status accural or anything like that, then I feel taking the reward seats while they are there is the best option for you. There seems little advantage to paying essentiallycash fares - sure they will earn you a few more points and some SC's but these probably don't help you that much in the long run if you're not interested in any status accural/earn and you get enough points from non flying. grab the

(note points plus pay is generally considered a poor value spend specially for premium cabin seats by most).

since you accrue points mostly not from flying and spend them on flying and have no interest in status accural or anything like that, then I feel taking the reward seats while they are there is the best option for you. There seems little advantage to paying essentiallycash fares - sure they will earn you a few more points and some SC's but these probably don't help you that much in the long run if you're not interested in any status accural/earn and you get enough points from non flying. grab the reward seats while there in my view.

(note points plus pay is generally considered a poor value spend specially for premium cabin seats by most).

Hi RichardMEL - can you please explain further why points plus pay is generally considered a poor value spread specially for premium cabin seats. Bear in mind I am a newbie so need the reply dumbed down.

In my reply I thought that spending $233 plus a few points was a good option to purchase a business seat priced at $3869. Obviously I need to rethink my options. Just need your advice to clarify what I should be doing with my hard earned points

 

[Xizor]

Stargazer, i think you are confusing classic rewards flights with Points plus pay. Check the actual defintions on the Qantas website.

TLDR, you want the classic reward flight eg 57k points + $90 if/when available.

 

[Stargazer]

Stargazer, i think you are confusing classic rewards flights with Points plus pay. Check the actual defintions on the Qantas website.

TLDR, you want the classic reward flight eg 57k points + $90 if/when available.

Thank you for pointing out the differences between classic rewards and points plus pay. Didn’t know the latter existed. By the way what does TLDR mean?

 

[Xizor]

Thank you for pointing out the differences between classic rewards and points plus pay. Didn’t know the latter existed. By the way what does TLDR mean?

Lazy internet slang for "too long; didn't read" Enjoy your flights... i'm struggling awfully bad to find ones for us (Fiji was on the cards, but accomm is awfully expensive for that money rather go Hawaii).

 

[SYD]

yes, “Classic rewards“ are what most people would aim for as the best use of hard earned pts. Premium cabins generally also give the best bang for your points. But there are limited number of seats made available - even less post Covid - much to the angst to many here.

The points plus pay (as you call it) is a Classic Reward flight and is the way to go for obvious reasons. The only downside to Classic Rewards tickets is their limited availability and they don't earn points or status credits.

“Points Club” / “Points Club+“ actually do earn reduced status credits on classic rewards flights. If you’re earning a lot of points on the ground (eg CC spend) then that is something to consider as you earn and burn points.

“Points plus pay“ or probably more correctly pay plus reduce the cost cashing in some points is available on most revenue ($$$) fares. You can also throwaway some points paying for taxes on revenue and classic reward flights.

If you go 100% points that’s otherwise known as “any seat rewards” but *really* poor value and you’ll see some outrageous number of points required (targeting the gullible).

 

[andye]

Most of us mentally give our Frequent Flyer points a "value". Everyone varies a bit but a good rule of thumb is 1 cent.

Points+pay invariably works out less than 1c when you redeem. Classic awards usually 2c+ when you redeem for premium cabins

If you have an unlimited supply of points and it costs you nothing to acquire them, it's less of an issue but that's extremely rarely the case.

 

[RichardMEL]

I think I can see a possible point of confusion with the term "points plus pay" - as in Classic Reward seats ALSO require a cash payment of taxtes and fees etc, vs the "use points" (ie Any Seat Award) option which can be done totally using points (but the value is usually poor). Of course these same Any Seat Awards (or "Use Points to pay" option can also be turned into a points plus pay situation - just like any revenue fare - because they are one and the same thing just presented differently).

So the reality is we've all been advising to take the elusive (in this case) 57k Classic Reward option as opposed to the far more expensive (points wise) one.