Using Qantas FF Points for part of trip

[Pug1]

Does anyone have advice on how we can use our points for part of a return trip to Europe in August 2015? I phoned the QF Club service line and the "advice" was that I should not do what I wanted to book because it would be more expensive! We want to fly Syd/Dubai/Oslo return and use our current points balance for either one Syd/Dub return or two one way flights. Emirates will be flying Dub/Oslo direct with QF codeshare at that time. The return flight dates are not available yet, as Emirates does not schedule until about 339 days before. Don't want to go via Heathrow and prefer to fly Premium Economy or Business for the long first and last legs. By the time the return points flights are available the outward leg points will be gone. I did get an email response from Qantas that advised us to book upgradeable economy or use points plus pay. The former is useless to us as there is no guarantee of getting the upgrade and the latter is, in my opinion, very poor value use of points. Having been a Qantas Club life member since 1990 we are trying to be loyal Aussies and use QF, and don't mind paying their slightly higher fares. Must say I was disappointed not to get some real help from the club service people, in view of the fact that we are offering to pay for most of the trip in real money. Any advice appreciated.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Welcome to AFF!

Perhaps consider using your points for part of the journey to say Singapore (return), and then buying a cheap business class fare from there to Europe. Prices for business class (with flat beds) from Singapore range in the $2000-3000 range (not on Qantas though). That will get you to a major European port such as Paris or Rome and you could buy a cheapie from there to Oslo).

 

[Pushka]

We always use a mix to get the best $ amount. So it might be a redemption for 2 part way and fund the rest, or 1 person the whole way and so on. You just need to plug in a few variations. I've already booked our flights to Paris using QFF points. When I did the check for availability the month of July was available. The next day I was ready to book and already over 1/3 had gone. And of course my required date. I had to book 2 days earlier than I wanted. I rang the line as partner shows as Platinum in the system but they weren't helpful at all. Wouldn't release anything for us.

I'm waiting on Emirates to open for August too. In doing dummy bookings I've found that out of Athens is 2,000 euros cheaper than from Rome (where our cruise ends). So a 2 hour flight is needed but still way cheaper.

Our next trip will be a mix of CX, Emirates and Aegean. Some paid some redemption. I'd plan to throw SQ redemptions into the mix but their 17 hour connection in Singapore is a killer after a 12 hour flight from Rome and that awful overnight 6 hour flight to Australia and we don't want to stop over.

 

[Pug1]

thank you, good advice. One thought I had was points to Bangkok and then pay for Thai direct to Oslo, but nil points on Thai.

 

[Pug1]

did you book on the phone to Qantas or on-line?

 

[Pushka]

I booked online. I rang to see if Q would open up two seats for our desired date (that were available less than 24 hours prior and almost a year out ). They wouldn't.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

thank you, good advice. One thought I had was points to Bangkok and then pay for Thai direct to Oslo, but nil points on Thai.

It may be cheaper to purchase a ticket Aust/BKK/Aust then use points BKK/OSL vv. I realise you don't have TG points however why not join Avianca Life Miles (Star Alliance) & buy some miles which can then be used for Thai award travel (or any other *A airline depending on the route you want).

How many points do you have available for your flights? Whatever you do will depend on this.

 

[Pug1]

Thanks for the advice. I have about 200,000QF points, enough for one return in premium to say Dubai or Bangkok. How do you buy Star Alliance miles? As I'm sure you know, only Thai and Emirates fly one stop from Sydney to Oslo.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Thanks for the advice. I have about 200,000QF points, enough for one return in premium to say Dubai or Bangkok. How do you buy Star Alliance miles?

As I'm sure you know, only Thai and Emirates fly one stop from Sydney to Oslo.

It's almost a crime or sin on AFF to fly direct when you can connect. It's certainly possible to purchase fares to Oslo with a transit in another European hub eg if using QF points to fly AY on a partner award you'd need to fly ex Asia via AY's Helsinki hub then onto OSL.

Finnair economy BKK/HEL/OSL one way is 42,000 points plus taxes THB6495.00 (AUD217.65)

British Airways business BKK/LHR/OSL one way is 92,000 points plus taxes THB11,905.00 (AUD398.95)

Qatar Airways business BKK/DOH/OSL one way is 92,000 points plus taxes THB5,740.00 (AUD192.35)

You'd have enough points to both fly return in whY ex BKK to OSL via one of the above hubs of HEL, LHR or DOH or one in J return ex BKK to OSL. It would probably be a good exercise to check what above options would be the cheapest in J seeing you'd have to purchase one ticket if travelling J.

Then you'd both need to purchase a return fare SYD/BKK/SYD.

As for purchasing Star Alliance miles, the best program for that currently would to Avianca Life Miles which you can then redeem on Thai. I would both sign up for that because you have to already be enrolled in the program to take advantage of any 100% bonus miles offers that come out.

Purchasing miles usually costs USD150.00 per 5,000 mile block so when there's a promo offer you'd still pay the USD150.00 but receive 10,000 miles.

 

[Limewood]

May last used AS miles to HKG, then QFF points to DXB/VIE was a very cheap vacation in J all the way.

 

[Pug1]

thank you very much, you're very knowledgeable. I'll check out the alternatives. I'm already a member of KrisFlyer but haven't used it apart from one flight. I notice there are some really cheap flights to Asia with Scoot and AirAsia, which would be another option to get to a hub there. We also like Cathay and are doing two trips with them between now and March 2015 so our points will increase. For our Norway trip in Aug 15 we are actually going up to Tromso which is another flight from Oslo and there are not many options to get to Tromso. so we are trying to reduce the number of stops; my wife also hates any extra stops and refuses to go via Heathrow!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I was just looking at the www.zuji.com.au site and they have a return J class fare ex BKK to OSL for AUD2,694.40 including taxes so I would go with that then you could use your points to fly SYD/BKK/SYD.

I had a quick look for U class award seats for a Classic award on the QF23 SYD/BKK flight in August but there doesn't look like there's many seats there. There are plenty of J class options on CX SYD/HKG/BKK for 78,000 points plus AUD240.82 taxes or QF & EK SYD/HKG/BKK for 72,000 points plus AUD213.12 taxes. If SWMBO wants non-stop then you could just get a Classic award in whY on QF23 which is 30,000 points plus AUD247.62 taxes. I only priced them in the SYD/BKK direction so taxes will be slightly different ex BKK.

It may be worth subscribing to Expert Flyer so you can set a flight alert for any "U" class award seats and be ready to snap them up when they're released.

There is a huge difference in the cost of J fares ex Asia to OSL & the AY option ex BKK comes in thousands of dollars cheaper than ex SIN or HKG. It's not to say you can't have a stopover in HKG on the way home as you could purchase the BKK/OSL/BKK fare then do a sector fare BKK/HKG as a partner award and HKG/SYD as a partner or classic award.

If SWMBO is a bit "iffy" about things like too many flights, transiting via LHR etc etc I don't think now would be the time to find out whether LCC like Scoot or Air Asia are also on her 'no fly zone'. Where your previous trips in whY?

Even if you don't have any significant status with airline freq flyer programs you'll still get lounge access if travelling in the J cabin so it makes any extra transit stop en-route more bearable.

I'd consider crediting the J flights on AY to AA's ff program as when doing awards the taxes are way cheaper and you won't be penalised for flying OW carriers vs the home airline.

 

[Pug1]

thanks again Oz, excuse my ignorance but what is SWMBO or should I not ask? Our last trip was in Premium Economy with Qantas, QF1 and QF2 return to London. We had to transfer to Aer Lingus and nearly missed our connection due to four security checks and two lots of photos, all within the transit lounges, hence the hatred of LHR. (I went to school in London, which is a beautiful city with a lousy airport!). On the August 2015 trip we particularly want to stop over in Dubai on the way back but it doesn't matter which way we go up to Norway. Both of us are now retired so prefer PE or J class if we can afford it. The next two trips are on Cathay in Premium economy, to Japan and India respectively. We did a trip to Canada on Air Canada in economy which was OK as we paid for two seats on a bulkhead. I did notice that Finnair and the Chinese airlines are a lot cheaper than Cathay, Emirates etc. Appreciate all of your advice and I will sort it out ASAP. If all else fails we are happy to pay for the Norway trip and use the points for another flight.

 

[Pushka]

SWMBO = She who must be obeyed.

It's wise to remember that.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

thanks again Oz, excuse my ignorance but what is SWMBO or should I not ask? Our last trip was in Premium Economy with Qantas, QF1 and QF2 return to London. We had to transfer to Aer Lingus and nearly missed our connection due to four security checks and two lots of photos, all within the transit lounges, hence the hatred of LHR. (I went to school in London, which is a beautiful city with a lousy airport!).

On the August 2015 trip we particularly want to stop over in Dubai on the way back but it doesn't matter which way we go up to Norway. Both of us are now retired so prefer PE or J class if we can afford it. The next two trips are on Cathay in Premium economy, to Japan and India respectively.

We did a trip to Canada on Air Canada in economy which was OK as we paid for two seats on a bulkhead. I did notice that Finnair and the Chinese airlines are a lot cheaper than Cathay, Emirates etc. Appreciate all of your advice and I will sort it out ASAP. If all else fails we are happy to pay for the Norway trip and use the points for another flight.

SWMBO is she who must be obeyed ie AFF vernacular for the missus.

The fare conditions of the AY fare say that any changes made online are free so there's a bit of flexibility there. Same if you do a classic award SYD/BKK. You would need an overnight in BKK on the way out which could be at the airport as you'd have a mid-morning departure the next day.

The one way AY fares BKK/OSL are still pretty attractive so you could book a one way flight on EK on the return sectors if you want a stop in DXB on the way home though not sure that would be as cheap as AY.

What ff program are you crediting your CX trips to India & Japan to?

 

[Pug1]

Hi again Oz, to Qantas

 

[Pug1]

She's Scottish so is always the boss. I'll remember the abbreviation.
regards
Pug

 

[casanovawa]

If you have 200,000 QF points that is almost enough (210k) for a One World 35,000 mile, 5 stop, 16 flight segment award redemption in Premium economy...

Would cover getting you there and back on One World airlines, plust let you go on a few side trips... Taxes would be about $1000-1500 depending from where you flew to/from...

Just another option in the mix if you both had about 200,000 points...

 

[casanovawa]

And not sure what classes and what distances those trips are, but might be worth crediting thos upcoming flights to American Airlines....

Oz to Europe (or vice versa) one way in Business class is 62,500 AA miles plus you pay much lower fuel surcharges...

 

[Pug1]

thank you for another option. I have already given our Qantas FF numbers for the Cathay flights so am not sure how we would "credit" the flights to AA. As you can see we are fairly frequent flyers but obviously not up to speed on all the options.