To Redeem or not to Redeem

[jaffa]

Ok,

First up, I have absolutley no need to go anywhere, nor do l have any plans for the next 12 month's, except for monthly biz trips, Dom, spread over most capitals.

I have one Tokyo r/t for biz in Nov but thats it this 08.

No holiday plans as yet!
And l have never redeemed a single mile since l have started collecting.

I hold 882,000 QF FFp's and am in my first year as Plat (finally) after eight years continuous QG and a total of 17 years in the programme. ( It dosen't hurt a bit, & i'm still waiting for it to feel good, but l can't help but wonder why l bothered )

Now with the pending changes to the QF FFP on the way, l find myself wondering wether to redeem or not. And if so how much.

Now l have been a member here for a few years, but have lurked and not posted. I have also been a member at that other place for 7 years where l have been a little more active but not much.
I must say l have learn't heaps from both.
There are many of you who l feel l know pretty well and have used much of what i've learnt with great success
(thankyou all)

But now i'm stumped!

I am one of those stupid fools who has remained loyal to QF and OW through thick and thin
good and bad including all the AMAZING enhancements that have come and gone (he chokes on own tounge!) and has remained the faithfull dog.
My travel is usually company paid J Dom and F Int.
(I own the company and set my own travel rules, much to the dismay of my staff)

I know the future is redeem anytime/anyseat for many more points or the same with harder to get cheap awards.

What will happen to status for QFF future, l have no idea, future QFF points earning potential l have no idea.

So, do l get rid of what l have and move on, or do l keep saving for retirement in 5 years.

Help me with an answer would you,,,, please!!!

My original dream was to save for a couple of RTW awards in F to use in retirement, when cashflow becomes a little more scarce.
Now l am not so sure?

I should keep plat for this year and next if all goes to plan and l don't start trying SQ's Pointy end ( which l am dying to do soon)
I am earning from the programme at present about 80,000 miles PA ( flying and with CC spend, Amex Gold MM)

Any advice?

PS, I hate AA so please don't ask me to join their FF instead of QF. I depise there planes and service which is the same way that l feel about Jet* once bitten, l bite back:evil: l would rather go by cargo ship:mrgreen: .

Cheers,
Colin..............................

 

[turtlemichael]

Hi Jaffa

Welcome to AFF! My advice is, as in so many other things, use it or lose it! Your points devalue with every passing month and each QF enhancement of the scheme.

Remember too that Amex miles do not need to be transferred to QF. There are other opportunities such as VS which, out of Australia gets you to Hong Kong and beyond plus further opportunities on their partners such as SQ and NZ.

You are like me - we are the perfect QF customers who stay unquestioningly (?) year after year. But I'd still advise you to plan some trips albeit on plenty of notice, like near 365 days, to get availability.

And do you want us to send some rain down to you there in TSV? We have more than we need at the moment!

Cheers

Turtlemichael

 

[jaffa]

Michael, ??

Is this the same Michael, that l think it is??

Turtle may give me a hint, am l on the right track..

If it is and l think it is you, then thanks for the advice, and hows life?
Its been quite a while since we last spoke.

I am glad that my first response has come from an old friend. Thanks for taking the time.

I have just been blindly saving these damn points forever and now l feel a bit backed into a corner.
Over the past 18 months l have transfered 100,000 points to mum and dad each so they could take there first Int trip, it was the only way l could get them to agree to see the world, (they had a ball by the way)
But thats the only thing I've ever done with my points.

I was thinking of doing a F/RTW OW award late next year but it's not got beyond the thinking stage. Trying to plan such a thing and getting award seats and dates ect scares the billy's out of me. I was thinking of joining it with a cruise on Silversea's new Expedition ship the Prince Alberrt ll up top through the Polar Region. But thats as far as l have got with that idea.

Doing a simple return flight would be pretty easy to pull off, but l think l could do better with my points by building a bigger trip. I could probably get away for 12 weeks if l tried hard.

Planning a trip like this just seems so daunting as an award RTW

How do l talk to you away from here, do you have an e-mail link here??

Cheers,
Colin..............

 

[JohnK]

Now with the pending changes to the QF FFP on the way, l find myself wondering wether to redeem or not. And if so how much.

I don't think anyone knows exactly what is going to happen but there are no plans for major enhancements apart from anytime awards and this should be around July/August this year. I am hoping that anytime awards only have a minor impact on regular awards.

I am not sure but I think for major enhancements like May 2005 QF would need to give 6 months notice.

What will happen to status for QFF future, l have no idea, future QFF points earning potential l have no idea.

There are no rumoured changes so no need to worry.

So, do l get rid of what l have and move on, or do l keep saving for retirement in 5 years.

I don't think there is any need to panic right now. But that it entirely up to you and how safe you feel hanging on to the FF points.

My original dream was to save for a couple of RTW awards in F to use in retirement, when cashflow becomes a little more scarce.
Now l am not so sure?

You need 420,000 FF points for a Oneworld RTW award in F so you have enough for 2 awards. If you are going to continue earning FF points for the next 5 years then even a 20% devaluation in FF point value would still leave you enough to redeem the 2 awards.

I don't have as many FF points as you, over 300,000 FF points, and I am planning on using them next year for a Oneworld RTW award and continue building on the balance for future years.

PS, I hate AA so please don't ask me to join their FF instead of QF. I depise there planes and service which is the same way that l feel about Jet* once bitten, l bite back:evil: l would rather go by cargo ship:mrgreen:

Exactly the same way I feel but I have never been bitten by Jetstar. Well not yet anyway....

 

[turtlemichael]

Jaffa

I think there is a tendency for some people just to go on accumulating points directly from flying and indirectly from credit cards with an undefined intention to use them "one day" on the big trip. All I do is point out sometimes that is not the best thing to do.

First, lots of things can happen to you in the distant future and to your points. What seems good now may not be good down the track.

Further, your credit card points do not need to be spent on QF and partners. There are many I think better opportunities from using your Amex points elsewhere. In general, for the travel I want to do (across the Pacific, to Hong Kong etc) I have found a lot better availability and less points required in premium cabins on VS and its partners than on QF)

Next, many here would argue that the best use of QF points is to upgrade to a higher level cabin. As a Platinum you have the best chance of getting an upgrade provided you elect early and pick the best possible flights on the best possible routes. There is plenty of good advice here that a search will bring up. Of course, there are no automatic upgrades on QF international. Everyone takes their chances. So if you are not prepared to risk travelling in the cabin class you paid for, upgrading is not for you.

Finally, I think frequent flyer schemes were one of the best marketing/loyalty tools invented. They are extremely profitable to the airlines. Part of the reason, but not the only reason they are profitable, is that some people never use their points. As a broad generalisation, you have better opportunities to use your points while you are platinum than in the future should your status level decline as occurs to most people at some point after they leave employment.

Oh, and you have mail!

Turtle

 

[serfty]

For me, upgrades are the most efficient use of FF points. In June we hope to divest ourselves of 350K QFF points on these alone (while reearning a combined 120K).

 

[jaffa]

Sorry, for the delay in this reply.

But had managed to get a couple of days off leading up to easter and snuck away...

Thanks TurtleMichael.
Will mail you over the next couple of days.

JohnK,

Thanks for your detail, you put that all in a great nutshell.
My first flight with J* was fine, it was the 2nd that l had the problem. When something goes wrong they really just don't want to know.
Staus with QF seems to mean buckly's to them.
They double booked a seat to two of us, which wasn't discovered till after we had boarded. l had to deplane (no more seats supposedly) because the lady had already seated first. Then they could not get me home until the following day. Even that was a battle.

Serfty,
I would use them for upgrades if l could guarentee the seat prior. But l don't like being left up in the air without confirmation.