Qantas points for flights is a rip off

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you know i once heard that 1 point = 3 cents. That would make a trip to AKL $1080 plus taxes the qantas system is bogus. They need to decrease the points to fly. WE are all being taken for a ride.

I booked a Business Class Any Seat Award (aka JASA) which earns SC & ff points HNL/SYD/DRW for 72,000 points plus USD500.45 cash.

A paid airfare for the same flights would be USD8063.00 for a Business Sale fare or USD8732.00 for the regular Business Class fare. That works for me because I would never consider buying a full fare ticket for those sectors.

I don't see myself ever using points for an award ticket BNE/AKL/BNE because regular airfares are so cheap to buy particularly compared to HNL.

Only on mondays? I booked bne-akl retn at eccon for 36,000 points plus $300 in taxes how come your deal was so good?

Check out the thread below as there are some great examples of 'good deals' to be had:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....us-run-options-quick-35258-12.html#post596327
 
And I tried to fly Singapore Airlines with my Qantas points, that failed, so my 200,000 points balance = $0.00 :lol:

Well that's just terrible. Tell you what, I'll take those worthless things off your hands then you don't have to worry about having worthless junk lying around your online account. I'll even buy you a toaster to make you feel better...
 
I think that some of the perceived "value" of the points can often be overstated.

I recently booked a return JASA to Europe - so the value per point is quite high based on the quoted price of $9332 on Qantas.com for the same flight/dates. However if I didn't use points, I would book the cheapest J class ticket I could find on a carrier of a comparative standard. So the real value to me is still quite high - but not as high as it would be based on using Qantas alone.
 
To the OP - if you don't like it find a different rewards programme. Seriously...
Agreed.

The program is not perfect but show me one that is. Remember the program is there to attract and keep custom for the business, NOT to make the customer happy.
 
As trippin_the_rift noted, points have no cash value. Having said that, I doubt that Qantas ascribe a value to the points anywhere approaching 3c per point. Certainly, when you can work out a value, say from voucher redemptions, or the slider in points + pay, you invariably get a value of less than 1c per point, and generally somewhere between 0.6 and 0.7 of a cent. So that trip to AKL is more like $200 + taxes.
 
Maybe a few smilies would help. :cool:

Sorry straitman. I am being facetious as serfty pointed out. I would just like it if more people used the points for making purchases from the QFF store instead of using them on award flights...
Selfish? Perhaps, but I'm not sure qantas have made more award seats available as QFF members have increased. Real value redemptions are there but they need to be worked for and I've put in many hours to get some decent award seats... Therefore if people aren't willing to put in a little effort to find out how to best utilize their points well then I'd rather them buy a toaster with their points.

IMHO and ;)
 
As trippin_the_rift noted, points have no cash value. Having said that, I doubt that Qantas ascribe a value to the points anywhere approaching 3c per point. .

QFF points have a variable "value" to us, the consumer, depending on how we use them.

But there is a "cost" and "value" to each point to QFF, and I find the economics behind the FF scheme interesting. There was an an interesting article in Crikey a year ago on the retuns QF were making from their loyalty program: The short but lucrative life of a Qantas frequent flyer point | Crikey. The QF FF program was valued at $2bn a couple of weeks ago, which is almost double what is was 18 months ago.

There's a US Web site - www.points.com - that lets you place a monetary value on points in multiple programs by trading points or purchasing them directly from an airline (QF not listed although there are some non-US airlines; USD$275 to purchase 10,000 AA points). This would also value points around the 3c mark.

I'd be interested in what the larger merchants PAY QF for each point: the closest I could find was an AFR article from June 2011: "Woolworths is estimated to pay QFF more than 1¢ for each frequent-flyer point, although neither the retailer nor the airline has ever revealed the cost of the program." (Card wars to expose consumers’ true loyalty)
 
vyaw 2003 you are conspicuous by your absence. I just used 300,000 points at around 6.6 cents. So the only ride i am taking is F to Singapore & return J for 2.
 
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you know i once heard that 1 point = 3 cents.
That would make a trip to AKL $1080 plus taxes
the qantas system is bogus.
They need to decrease the points to fly.
WE are all being taken for a ride.


BZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTT - Wrong answer.
 
Whilst vyaw2003 has used a (perhaps deliberately) inflammative argument - which has worked - I agree in general with the sentiment, that perhaps the general public (not so much the well informed FF'ers who frequent here) are being taken for a ride.

Whilst no doubt there are a some great value awards out there in business class, availability can be hard to find, and therefore it can be tough issue to realise the high value awards when you want to. On the flip side there are now awards there that actually cost more to use (in $) than actual flights (using Jetstar there have been cases of flights costing, for example $250 yet awards costing 30,000 pts + $260), whilst anyone would be a fool to book this sort of award - it is quite appalling that they are even offered in the first place.

I guess what has really eroded the value of points (particularly in economy) is fuel surcharges, eg. Australia to LHR (to take to take an extreme example) used to be perhaps $1400 + $300 in taxes/surcharges to purchase a fare, they are now perhaps $850+$1050 in taxes, yet awards bookings have changed from 128,000 + $300 to 128,000 pts + $1050. Also taking off the rose coloured AFF glasses, many simply do not rack up the balances to get families flying around in business class, so I can see that those who have been saving points up for that big family holiday could feel somewhat peeved.
 
Wow! I did not realise AFF was turning into Flyertalk.

I can see how some people can think that points are not good value.

- They do not have the time to research everything
- They have no interest in status runs
- They would like to go to places that they need to go to and this is where poor value comes into the equation

I did my research and Oneworld awards, visiting new places and taking flights for the sake of taking flights, come up trumps.

As trippin_the_rift noted, points have no cash value.
They may not have a stipulated cash value but it does not make the points any less valuable to the holder of the account.
 
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