Over this past Easter long weekend, we passed you the mic on our Facebook page and asked a simple question:
In your opinion, what is the best use of Qantas Points?
The post got a plethora of responses, including some funny responses like this one:
Building them up and then bragging to everyone about how many points you have – Sam D.
One of the top recommendations was to use Qantas Points for upgrades to Business and First Class on international routes:
Upgrade to business on 3+ hour flights – Rohan D.
Definitely business/first upgrades – Sandra L.
but some would rather forgo having to purchase a full-fare Economy ticket eligible for upgrade and have the certainty of redeeming for a Business Class ticket outright:
Upgrades are some of the worst points per dollar value. Get a business class classic reward seat outright – Ainslie R.
A lot of Point Hacks readers enjoy using their Qantas Points for luxury travel on Emirates:
First Class A380, Emirates – the longer the rewards flight the better – Mat T.
Emirates First Class bling
as well as Qatar Airways flights:
Qatar (qsuites) business class flights – Jen H.
One of our most-read articles here on Point Hacks is our guide to using 280,000-318,000 Qantas Points for a round-the-world Business Class trip, and many in our community have gotten a lot of value from that redemption:
Definitely RTW Business Class – 280,000 points – Robert S.
RTW in J or F class – Lawrence C.
Abbreviations cheat sheet: F = First Class; J = Business Class; W = Premium Economy; Y = Economy Class
Whilst the highest value usually lies in using points for Business and First Class redemptions, some readers rightly pointed out that using them on Economy flights to regional airports gives them good bang for their buck:
Classic reward flights to/from regional towns where a short flight can be $1500-2000 return – Drew H.
A couple of commentors said that using Qantas Points for domestic US travel on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines represents high value:
Domestic flights in the US as taxes are really cheap – David B.
There were many negative comments about how high the taxes and fees that Qantas charges compared to other programs:
Business and first class classic reward seats for international travel – hefty taxes though compared to KrisFlyer – Asmara J.
Ironically flights on oneworld carriers besides Qantas and BA as their fuel surcharges are obscenely high – Chad M.
You may find reading our guide to the airlines and frequent flyer programs that charge the lowest fuel surcharges (hint: flying from Hong Kong is a good option).
These substantial charges have led many to abandon Qantas for other programs, some of which apply lower surcharges:
I’ve found Emirates Skywards to be better – Léa R.
I currently use velocity, great for flying with Singapore or Etihad. Is it worth looking at changing to Qantas? – Steve K.
There were a few jokes about using Qantas Points for physical items like blenders, toasters and gift cards but there were also some alarmingly serious suggestions for these. To be clear: these redemptions give you some of the lowest per-point redemptions out there, as I’ve written on news.com.au before.
Anything other than using them to buy a blender – Chakaris B.
Some readers were a little lost on how to actually use them:
I have 1.1 million Qantas Points and don’t know what to use them for. Perhaps flying a family of four in business class somewhere – Anthony K.
Actually getting to use them – Dean D.
so they may enjoy our series on the best uses of points to get some travel inspiration!
Did you chime in to our Facebook discussion with your favourite use of Qantas Points? If not, share in the comments below!
Looking for more inspiration for how to spend your hard-earned frequent flyer points?
Here is a comprehensive list of all of our Best Uses of Points guides. There may be some overlap but each guide has its own twist.
Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Best uses of Qantas Points
- ‘Ultimate’ uses of Qantas Points
- Best uses of 60,000 Qantas Points
- Best uses of 75,000 Qantas Points
- Best uses of 100,000 Qantas Points
- Best uses of 150,000 Qantas Points
- When it makes sense to use your Qantas Points for domestic travel in Economy (and when it doesn’t)
- Best uses of Qantas Points from the East Coast
- Best uses of Qantas Points from Perth
- Reader responses: what is the best use of Qantas Points?
- Seven of the cheapest Qantas Points redemptions for luxurious Emirates flights
- The cheapest ways to fly Cathay Pacific First Class with Qantas Points
Velocity Frequent Flyer
- Best uses of Velocity Points
- Best uses of 40,000 Velocity Points
- Best uses of 80,000 Velocity Points
- Best uses of 100,000 Velocity Points
- Five flight redemptions that maximise your Velocity points balance
American Express Membership Rewards
Cathay
KrisFlyer
Etihad Guest
- Best uses of Etihad Guest miles
- Etihad Guest vs Velocity for Virgin Australia flights comparison guide
2x Fabbo days of luxury (MEL QF Bus. Lounge, SYD QF Int. Bus Lounge, NAN Tabua Lounge, SYD QF Bus. Lounge and awesome service on Fiji Air)
200k QFFs + about $600 in ‘taxes’.
Felt like that was a pretty good deal.
Even more satisfying to pay out on QF staff who are now not allowed to call us Mr. and Mrs. Pryor, nor husband and wife (what is the world coming to!).
My wife & I want a holiday visiting friends in the U.S. in 2019, any recommendations? Qantas rewards booking is worse than useless when trying to book Qantas flights in premium cabins, we are travelling to Europe this year using Qantas points on Emirates first class and AA on Qatar business/first class.
We accumulate a bunch of Qantas points through various methods:
1) Credit card spend (American Express & Qantas Premier) for personal expenses
2) Bankwest Transaction Account
3) Paying business expenses through pay B2B
4) Shopping through Qantas online mall
5) Live Eftpos (1 point per dollar spent by credit/debit card customers)
We average around 50,000 points per month but I am having trouble finding suitable reward flights. Is it because QFF is the most heavily subscribed per capita in the world that premium cabin rewards are so hard to come by?
I have to buy AA and United miles to travel to North America. First World problem, I know, but still pretty pissed off with the availability on our national airline.
If you’re unfortunate enough to have a large QFF points balance the best bet is to stick to domestic business class awards. The other useful outlet might be US domestic flights on AA where QFF can’t charge its stinking high fees, some value in using awards for high-price-short-distance routes. If there’s award space – AA itself is undergoing a change in management, meaning AA’s previously-liberal award availability is largely all gone.
Seems every day there’s a new devaluation somewhere but QFF’s program is the worst of the bunch, leading the race to the bottom, get rid of your points while they’re still worth something
Is it more cost effective going through amexs reward program and then transferring to the various programs or is starting with velocity better?
I ve being comparing points requirements and taxes for long haul F or J (taxes high for Emirates and etihad, low on Kris), and just for arguments sake assuming all the points are worth the same. Is it cheaper to go via amex or velocity programs for these flights
Showers, Champagne and Fine Dining all with plenty of space for my 6’4″ frame.
192,000 points well spent I thought!