Pointless accumulating points?

[Big John]

I still accumulate points, because I enjoy it as a hobby.

Every time I look at my points balance, I always think of the o/s holidays the points will allow me to go on (whenever that will be !)

The realistic part of me knows that redemption will be an issue, but the idealistic part of me is just happy that the opportunity still exists.

The happiness bit is what keeps me going.

 

[me-h]

I'm still doing the odd card churn and still watching my points balance grow, but probably not quite as focused as sometimes before. I like the idea of having a good points war chest for when overseas travel becomes an option again, although yes I get that redemption could be an issue, especially if I end up dropping in status.

 

[Longtoo]

This nasty Covid does not change my view about FF points. I continue to collect when it is economical. Exactly 2 years ago my wife and I were enjoying an around the world trip using points. There is always the risk that airline will devalue points. Without this risk, there won't be the huge upside of reward flights and upgrade.

 

[Anna]

I haven't bothered about points for years, not since a string of rejections for int upgrades even though I was WP and staff profusely apologised 'the J cabin is half empty but the computer still says no'.

I don't have the kind of predictable life where I can make points bookings 350+ days ahead and be confident of making the trip, so being able to make an F booking for 11+ months time has no attraction for me.

There is some utility in amassing status credits to retain OWE but I wouldn't bother with it for only QF WP status.

 

[Longtoo]

@Anna: It is worrisome that you did not get your award upgrade when the J cabin is still empty. Check-in team can override the system before locking the door. I have not flown anywhere since the pandemic, except just one domestic trip to get my status renewed. thus, they probably have gone worst.

Agree. Life is never predictable. there must always be some contingency.

 

[Ade]

Thankfully QF points don’t expire.

As long as there is a point related activity in your QFF account once every 18 months

 

[Anna]

Check-in team can override the system before locking the door.

Except when it is a codeshare flight and the empty J seats 'belong' to the codeshare airline. I once had the dubious privilege of sitting in the front row of W class on a QF 747 to SCL with a great view of all the empty J seats that were designated as LAN seats therefore not available for QF pax. I had asked at checkin, at the lounge and at the gate and was last to board while the QF ground crew tried their hardest to override the computer but were unable to do so. They were embarrassed and apologetic but couldn't do anything about it. That was the end of me bothering about points. That, and the time I had a confirmed points upgrade to from J to F but QF didn't end up selling any F seats, so at the airport I was informed the F cabin would not be used at all and I was back in J, and I had lost my preferred J seat along the way.

 

[clifford]

I'm still collecting QF points through Amex, Woolies and the odd wine purchase, mainly to requalify for Points Club.

I need a further 6,000 by the end of August, which shouldn't be a problem. After that, who knows???

Having had to cancel several flight bookings over the last few weeks, I don't expect to gain many points via this route for quite a while, with all plans in limbo...

 

[ole nimeton]

I've begun redirecting a lot of my spending through AMEX for flexible points which I'll then redirect to whatever airline is offering good redemptions when overseas travel resumes rather than collecting as many points with Qantas directly. I do worry about a QF devaluation and award availability so no real incentive to accumulate more though I continue to collect QF and VA points through supermarkets - spend the VA points as soon as I get them.

I have, however, just signed up Qantas health insurance after resisting many previous points offers - insurance cost was on par with my previous provider and the 50 status credits sealed the deal.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

The key for any of these frequent flyer points programs IMHO is to provide you with travel opportunities you would otherwise not have. From my own experience, I have used frequent flyer miles to:

1. Book emergency flights at the last minute when the cash fare was prohibitively expensive
2. Upgrade from middle seat economy to business class (e.g. 35,000 miles + $650 USD co-pay to upgrade my LHR to SYD (via LAX) flight to Australia back in January 2020)
3. Enjoy travel experiences that would otherwise be out of reach such as flying to Lord Howe Island for 11,000 points + $160 in taxes & fees (compared to the usual $1,200+ for the same flight)

In terms of Coroni, it doesn't bother me much, at some point life will return to normal and I will be able to use these miles to the fullest. Heck, even being "stranded" in Australia, I've managed to make a number of domestic bookings using my reward miles be it to BNE or LDH.

Of course, you don't have to convert and/or focus on frequent flyer points. Certainly, cash-back is the simplest way to handle rewards/loyalty programs since you are guaranteed to earn value back. So then the question becomes, why would anyone bother collecting frequent flyer miles when cash-back is way simpler? I suspect, and AFF members correct me if I'm mistaken here, the gamble we are taking is that we will get outsized value on the frequent flyer miles over a simple 1% or 2% cash-back. For instance, in the examples I provided above, using QF points to fly to Lord Howe saved me approximately $1040 off the cash fare at the time of booking. In other words, each QF point was worth about 9.4 cents apiece, far higher than the 1 cent you would otherwise get had you redeemed the equivalent amount of Woolies points for cash-back. For the upgrade example on UA, if we assume that a one-way LHR > SYD J fare sells for $4000 USD (and that's being generous), then subtract the fare I paid for the economy seat (450 USD) and the co-pay (650), those 35,000 miles are worth $2900 USD or approximately 8.28 cents USD per point (not bad!). Lastly for the last minute booking example, I had to fly from domestically in Canada and was booking my flight at the last minute the cash fare was around $600 CAD whereas the equivalent amount of UA miles was 12,500 miles + $100 CAD, so each point worked out to 4 cents per mile, again not bad!

The One, The Only,
-KangarooFlyer88

 

[Dr Ralph]

I dumped all of my velocity points in 2020. Best move I ever made.

I'm still actively pursuing Qantas point.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

I am still happy to collect airlines FF points for the long term, even if there is no flying for me for a few months, while I look at what the Aust state premiers will do/don't do, for which I still prefer to amass from FB to VFF and WWR/EDR to QFF.
Waffly on:
So long as there is activity, for both VFF and QFF, the points don't expire, which is a good thing, as compared to ALL Accor and Rydges PGR where they have the gall to still "take back points" if there is no activity.
For other programs, ie, SQ's KF, I am letting my points expire in a few months/years time, as there is not a way to "burn" 10k KF miles.
At least with QFF, there is the possibility to burn points later, when international flights return, with VFF, I am not sure, maybe I will just fly domestically only within Aust with them.
Hopefully, with more Aussies getting the Covid vaccine, domestic lockdowns and quarantine won't be needed anymore, or that WA's G2G/SA's CovidSAfe app system, or NZ negative Covid test requirement.
Waffly off.

 

[Zanzara]

A lot of people are swimming in points right now… redeeming them is a bit limited right now, but still possible. I’m looking forward to brighter days. Be interesting to see who the new VA eventually teams up with for overseas redemptions.

 

[jb747]

Currently considering using mine to buy an iMac Mini. I can't see much travel use for them.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

I am still happy to collect airlines FF points for the long term, even if there is no flying for me for a few months, while I look at what the Aust state premiers will do/don't do, for which I still prefer to amass from FB to VFF and WWR/EDR to QFF.
Waffly on:
So long as there is activity, for both VFF and QFF, the points don't expire, which is a good thing, as compared to ALL Accor and Rydges PGR where they have the gall to still "take back points" if there is no activity.
For other programs, ie, SQ's KF, I am letting my points expire in a few months/years time, as there is not a way to "burn" 10k KF miles.
At least with QFF, there is the possibility to burn points later, when international flights return, with VFF, I am not sure, maybe I will just fly domestically only within Aust with them.
Hopefully, with more Aussies getting the Covid vaccine, domestic lockdowns and quarantine won't be needed anymore, or that WA's G2G/SA's CovidSAfe app system, or NZ negative Covid test requirement.
Waffly off.

If you had just 1000 more SQ miles (11,000) you could use them for a one-way economy flight on VA, on any route between or within QLD/NSW/VIC/TAS/SA/ACT.

With slightly more (12,500) you could fly from anywhere in Australia to anywhere in NZ on Air New Zealand in the travel bubble, one way. Could be an easy east coast AU to NZ, or even PER-AKL.

 

[Colin 2905]

I'd pretty much given up collecting points and churning credit cards until earlier this week when I jumped on the PH Amex Explorer offer.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Yes, I know about using KF miles (points) on VAd flights, but as above, balance is too low.
Waffly on:
One time, I had the "good idea" or so I thought, to put my SQ KF # into a VAd booking, it wasn't a codeshare, just a normal getaway fare, basic Y, and after the flight, got zero KF miles for the flight, put in a claim, and yep, got rejected with it.
Another time, I did a booking with Agoda, also put in my KF #, again no points were added to my KF account from the stay, even months after, nothing appeared
Didn't make a fuss with either.
A lot of those miles were flying Au - NZ in Air NZ premY and AirNZ J, and one J MEL - WLG on SQ's own 777, but alas, that is no longer a possibility.
Also, its not quite $$$ to fly Au - NZ, not only considering the fare, but also the negative covid pre flight test fee.
Waffly off.

 

[Nathant123]

Thanks for all the comments. It's good to see people are still in the game whilst its hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As others have mentioned I also converted all the velocity points to KF with the intention to use them on a first class trip to India in May 2020. That obviously never eventuated. I've got ~650k flybuys points as well which for the time being I feel is safer to leave there than to convert to velocity, especially when we don't know what sort of international options there will be down the track. Supermarket loyalty programs are probably safer for the time being considering the way people shop at the sniff of a lockdown...

 

[spif8888]

I found availability for SYD - BKK and then onwards to TLV. Second leg is with ELAL which I’ve flown with a number of times. Had some good and not so good experiences with them.

Sorry - once again off topic.

Back in 2019, I also used QF points to fly ELAL in business however I flew HKG - TLV in 1 of their new dreamliners. If I remember correctly the cost was 72 000 points plus minimal taxes.

The overall experience was good however the late arrival into Ben Gurion, transfer to Jerusalem and jet lag meant I didn’t get much sleep that night. Luckily the lie flat bed onboard allowed me to get some rest during the 12 hour flight.

The good old days

 

[gapmatt]

I've been accumulating based on my usual business spend, however I've also redeemed quite a large number of products on the Qantas Rewards store and have spent around 600k of QFF points on various items for the home - including a water rower (not sure if i'll ever use it).

I transferred around 1.3M worth of Amex points in multiple transfers when Qantas had the extra 25% bonus points last month, which got me Points Club Plus, allowing me to get 10% off extra on redemptions and free shipping which was the main thing.

My thinking is that I'll still have enough points by the time international travel opens up, so why not redeem a few items and save some cash.