Qantas Future Planet - Great way to activate eligible QF Spending on Credit Cards

[snook]

Are there any replacement options for spending a minimal amount with Qantas to trigger lounge passes? The carbon offsets was my go-to, but that web site has been down since ~16 Nov 2020, so I'd welcome any suggestions of suitable replacements.

 

[sudoer]

Are there any replacement options for spending a minimal amount with Qantas to trigger lounge passes?

It's a lot of hassle - but booking a classic award and using the card to pay taxes, receiving passes, then cancelling award under Fly Flexible (til 31 Mar) would work.

 

[astrosly]

Are there any replacement options for spending a minimal amount with Qantas to trigger lounge passes? The carbon offsets was my go-to, but that web site has been down since ~16 Nov 2020, so I'd welcome any suggestions of suitable replacements.

Buying a gift voucher has triggered for me in the past but needs minimum spend of $50.

 

[snook]

Interesting. I'd happier with a $50 gift voucher for my own use than booking & cancelling a reward flight. But can you use gift vouchers to pay for the taxes and surcharges when redeeming classic rewards flights? Or do gift cards have to be used in a different portal? And can you stack multiple gift cards? Basically if they can be used a general credit everywhere (such as for rewards flights) and can be stacked, then I could be reasonably sure I'd use that gift voucher within the 3 years it's valid for. If not, or if it comes with lots of limitations & restrictions, then might be a pain to use.

 

[dylarr]

Interesting. I'd happier with a $50 gift voucher for my own use than booking & cancelling a reward flight. But can you use gift vouchers to pay for the taxes and surcharges when redeeming classic rewards flights? Or do gift cards have to be used in a different portal? And can you stack multiple gift cards? Basically if they can be used a general credit everywhere (such as for rewards flights) and can be stacked, then I could be reasonably sure I'd use that gift voucher within the 3 years it's valid for. If not, or if it comes with lots of limitations & restrictions, then might be a pain to use.

See the info under "Gift voucher conditions" here:

Gift Vouchers | Qantas

Let friends and family decide where to go. Starting at A$50, Qantas Gift Vouchers can be redeemed for one-way or return domestic or international flights departing Australia.

www.qantas.com

They are quite limited - i.e. they can't be used to pay taxes and surcharges on Classic Rewards bookings, they can't be stacked, there is a special portal to redeem them, you can only book one-way or round trip (no multi city bookings), and you're bound to the number of pax selected when purchasing the voucher.

 

[snook]

Wow, those gift voucher conditions are ridiculous. I would have thought that Qantas would be strongly encouraging people to give them cash in advance, but they have tried to be way too clever for their own good, by putting such awful conditions on the gift vouchers that it almost never makes rational sense to buy them. If I am spending my hard earned cash in advance with Qantas, then in exchange I expect to be able to spend it like cash when I come to use it (no passenger number limits, no special portal, stacking allowed, and allow them to be used for anything). Qantas should have a good look at Woolworths WISH eGift cards - they can be spent anywhere, at all the Woolies-owned supermarkets/liquor stores/petrol stations, and can be combined as desired, can be spent across multiple transactions, and they never expire - basically they're almost as good as cash, and you get a discount for paying up front. So, that's a hard pass on the Qantas gift vouchers.

So instead I took the approach suggested by sudoer:
Day 1: bought a fully cancellable & refundable flight using points on Qantas classic rewards + paying fees with the card, to trigger the 2 lounge passes.
Day 5: Complimentary Lounge passes added to my account.
Day 5: Cancelled the fully cancellable & refundable flight.
Day 25: My Qantas points were refunded. Got an email notifying me of the points refund. Still waiting on refund of the cash component. Email said it may take a further 8 weeks more.
Day 32: Fees from Qantas tickets were refunded back to the card [minus $0.40 due to card fees, I guess]. Did not get an email notifying me of the fees being refunded.

I used to buy carbon offsets a few weeks before closing a card, but because of the quite slow turn around, if you use this approach I would suggest now doing it much earlier.

 

[Catweazle]

Does purchasing a seat selection (paying $10 or $30) also count towards the complimentary QF lounge passes (from the AMEX card)?

 

[sudoer]

Does purchasing a seat selection (paying $10 or $30) also count towards the complimentary QF lounge passes (from the AMEX card)?

Great idea. I think it would, if you do give it a go please let us know how the transaction appears on your statement and whether your passes came through.

 

[AndyQB]

Does purchasing a seat selection (paying $10 or $30) also count towards the complimentary QF lounge passes (from the AMEX card)?

I did this earlier this month and it worked fine - $10 ($5 each for two) appeared on my Qantas Amex Ultimate as "QANTAS AIR AUSTRALIA" and triggered the lounge passes, which appeared in my Qantas account the next working day (which was a few days later after a long weekend).

Incidentally, a couple of weeks later I had to change a ticket through Amex travel (booked using the $450 credit); the additional fare appeared on my statement as "QANTAS AIR AUSTRALIA" so I suspect that would have triggered the lounge pass if I hadn't already done so.

 

[Catweazle]

Great, thanks, I'll give it a go.

Your price is interesting though - was there a sale on at the time? I'm being quoted $10 for a standard seat and $30 for one in the exit row.

 

[sudoer]

Great, thanks, I'll give it a go.

Your price is interesting though - was there a sale on at the time? I'm being quoted $10 for a standard seat and $30 for one in the exit row.

Seat selection fees vary by route

 

[Catweazle]

Great idea. I think it would, if you do give it a go please let us know how the transaction appears on your statement and whether your passes came through.

All well, Qantas Air Australia on the statement and passes triggered.