Qantas frequent flyer points value V others

[Wolf creek]

A family member wants to swap 100,000 velocity points for 100,000 qantas points of mine,is the value 1:1 or am I getting a bad deal?

 

[ChrisMars]

A family member wants to swap 100,000 velocity points for 100,000 qantas points of mine,is the value 1:1 or am I getting a bad deal?

Depends what sort of redemption you typically use your points for. Which route and class do you use your points for? Do you have some redemption goal in mind? Are you in excess of Qantas points, do you have some velocity balance already or do you start from scratch?

I very personally would take the deal, but that's because I believe velocity is better for my redemption goal, and because I have too much Qantas points, and I would like to diversify to open more options. So I am now prioritising Velocity over Qantas. Plus it's a bit easier for me to accrue Qantas than Velocity, so I would happily swap. That's very personal.

Note that some Frequent Flyer website regularly post their "dollar value" for points. PointsHacks currently value both program at 1.8c per points. If anything, this gives you an idea that 1:1 conversation is reasonable. The value of 1.8c is subjective, it just depends on what you do with your points.

 

[Rich]

A family member wants to swap 100,000 velocity points for 100,000 qantas points of mine,is the value 1:1 or am I getting a bad deal?

I would look at what you might use the points for and see if you can do the same for the same points or better on Virgin. How many QF points would you be left with?
If it is only for short domestic flights (and you don't have other parks you would miss out on (like lounge access) then it is probably ok.

 

[aikman]

Personally I would take that deal because I just used up most of my Velocity points and I need some more. I already have enough Qantas points for now.

 

[exceladdict]

Personally, as I mainly use points to fly U domestic, I'd rather hold QF points. But if I was looking for an overseas J - velocity may open up options you can't get through QF or oneworld. All depends on your travel preferences, as others have said.

 

[RichardMEL]

Agree that the "value" definitely depends on the intended purpose (and what one can actually redeem!) as to if it's a good deal. Very subjective I would think.

 

[Mattg]

Agree with the others that it's subjective and depends how you plan to use the points. But on face value, a 1:1 swap between family members seems reasonable.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Take a step back for a second and ask yourself am I getting any value from frequent flyer points? The reason I bring this up is I know a lot of people sitting on frequent flyer points saving it up for some indeterminate goal. At the end of the day what these points get you is a ticket to somewhere. Hence, if you aren't someone who travels much, they won't provide much value to you, and looking for an alternative (like cash back) might make more sense. For me these points are an absolute necessity. I've booked round the world trips in business class for the same price you'd spend on a roundtrip economy flight to North America. It means being able to book a flight at the last minute when fares are hundreds or thousands of dollars for next to nothing. It means being able to change my booking for next to nothing, versus having a worthless voucher.

What we do know about Qantas and Virgin is they both can provide good value if you are looking to book award flights be it domestic or international. I would say Qantas has a slight edge in the sense that they have more partners than Virgin. However, the limited partners Virgin does have tend to make more award flights available to them. You are more likely to find an award business class seat from Sydney to LA on United than you ever will on Qantas or American, that's a fact!

One other thing I will point out is that you need to be careful when you use terms like "swapping" points. Most frequent flyer programs charge a fee for transferring points to other accounts, so you'll want to read up on the specific frequent flyer programs to ensure you aren't incurring any fees. If you are gonna incur fees the way you make the swap occur in practice is either with family pooling (in the case of Virgin) where everyone's account shares a common pool, or you simply make an award booking from your frequent flyer account but put their name in the reservation (most frequent flyer programs let you book award flights for relatives, no problem).

-RooFlyer88