Lux escapes - Poor QFF points redemption opportunity at 0.7cpp (Buyer beware)

[Gold Member]

I’m not a fan of LE after the woeful experiences they made me endure with their terrible refund policy and lack of customer service during COVID. So I’m even more loathed to give them some airtime and publicity on this forum. However, they’ve just released some news that may appeal to some - it seems they’ve extended their partnership with Qantas so that you can now redeem Qantas points at a rate of 0.7c per point.

The gurus in the LE Marketing department sent through some click bait with the claim that we can “Get 40% more value from your Qantas points”. When you look into the details, the example they use is 10,000 QFF points which offers $70 worth of value. Some observations and thoughts:

- Who exactly defined the value of QFF points at 0.5 cents per point? Did Qantas make an official announcement or did they give LE an unofficial number to use? Qantas has historically ascribed value to QFF points at 0.5cpp in the fine print of certain prizes and packages etc but they then go onto say that the points have no monetary value. Or did LE whip up some number and think to themselves, “what sort of extra value % number would capture our audience’s attention enough to make them click through and check out the details?”. It captured my attention, albeit with a low expectation.

- It‘s entirely possible that LE is paying QF 0.5cpp for redemptions, while netting a cool 40% gross margin. Or maybe they negotiated a better rate, much like the big banks do for credit card sign ups. Either way, it seems to be a lucrative win-win for both LE and QFF.

- Redeeming Qantas points at 0.7cpp isn’t terrible, but it’s still poor value compared to premium cabin flight redemptions. It’s another dimension to the QFF Loyalty cash cow machine that will appeal to many, and it marginally beats redeeming for toasters.

Given the reach of both parties I expect that this promotion will capture the attention of many QFF members, especially in the public domain without the insights that this site offers. If you feel inclined to burn some QFF points with LE then I wish you all the best, but please do some research on how they treat their customers before you pull the trigger.

 

[Bell21]

lol, I saw that email and thought 'there's no way that will be good value' - thanks for confirming! I've never booked with LE, but it seems like their customer service isn't great if you run into any issues from your experiences.

 

[levelnine]

I'm perfectly fine with these redemption options. The more people Qantas have burning points on toasters & things like this, the less competition I have for premium seats & the more incentive Qantas have to sell points to banks for ever larger sign up bonuses, which I'll happily scoop up.

Bring on a million poor value redemptions, please.

 

[oz_mark]

It's been the rate LE have used since they introduced the option. 0.5 cents per point is reasonably common where you can redeem points

Hoyts
An eligible redeemer may redeem a minimum of 4,000 Qantas Points for eligible purchases with HOYTS reducing the total amount paid by a minimum of AU$20 or the total value of the transaction when points allow.

Forty Winks
Members can use Qantas Points towards Forty Winks product purchases, in 4,000-point increment (each 4000 points reducing the balance payable by AU$20).

 

[Franky]

We had cash bookings for March last year thru LE but we had to cancel at short tnotice the travel and hotels involved for a conference in Abu Dhabi, followed by a 14 day trip to Portugal and Rome. LE gave us every assistance, and between us and LE were able to convince the hotels(some of which were non-refundable) to allow a credit until we were able to travel. The conference has been re-scheduled for March next year, and we are looking forward to hitting the road again. Coming from WA, it will probably be more of a worry to get of the country than about the re-booking of the hotels, but that is something we're have in front of us. Disappointing to hear that GM had bad run with LE.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

IIRC QF used to notionally value their points at .7c each for prize purposes rather than .5c? This gives them roughly 50% profit margin (redeem value of .7c, sell to the banks for 1c). Of course there is worse value out there too!