Long time viewer, first time poster. I currently have 220K Qantas points and looking for ideas on the best way to spend them. I'm based in Perth and would ideally would like to use them for a trip to Ireland in business class but using classic rewards there's only approx. one business class flight every 6 weeks which isn't ideal. So I'm looking for other options on how to make the most of them. My partner would also be travelling with me so I can't spend them all on myself :-)
In February I booked a trip for October, 196k Qantas points DRW-SIN-DXB-MUN rtn on Emirates business (from Singapore, have to make do with Jetstar between Darwin and Singapore). I followed previous advice of be flexible with dates and travel off-peak and you'll have a better chance.
You can use Qantas points on One World partners - perhaps you need to be a bit more creative with your route?
220k isn't quite enough for business class for 2 from PER to EU return I'm afraid. It might be just about enough for 2 one ways. So you can consider flying one way in business and another one way in LCC like Air Asia (as most one ways with full service airline will be very expensive).
In terms of availability, you need to book well in advance. If you are looking at the next 6 months you are unlikely to find seats, although some airlines like CX release last minute seats about 2 weeks out. If you look at about 10-11 months out the availability should be better.
Be flexible with your dates and destinations. It might not be easy to find flights to DUB but if you look at other major EU ports like LHR or CDG you might have more luck. Then buy a cheap connecting flight to DUB.
So you really only have 110K points, if you need to cover 2 people. Which is probably not going to cover much of the way to Ireland. In terms of availablity, I have in the past found using Qantas Pts for Emirates out of Singapore to be really useful. Getting to Singapore from Australia is cheap, and you can do day flights to and from. So you can certainly go out in business and back in Economy to Dublin with Emirates from Singapore. But you are looking at about 140K each for that option. Flying business out of DXB to Dublin would be cheaper, but the return flight from Aus to DXB will not be much less than just flying all the way to Dublin and collecting the points.
I would say keep building your points total.. get up to about 300K then look at options from Singapore.
AB7
AB7
Member since 27 Jul 2017
Total posts 7
AllyH
AllyH
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 07 Jul 2017
Total posts 6
In February I booked a trip for October, 196k Qantas points DRW-SIN-DXB-MUN rtn on Emirates business (from Singapore, have to make do with Jetstar between Darwin and Singapore). I followed previous advice of be flexible with dates and travel off-peak and you'll have a better chance.
Michael Kao
Michael Kao
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 06 Nov 2014
Total posts 164
220k isn't quite enough for business class for 2 from PER to EU return I'm afraid. It might be just about enough for 2 one ways. So you can consider flying one way in business and another one way in LCC like Air Asia (as most one ways with full service airline will be very expensive).
mcglynp
mcglynp
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 20 Jan 2016
Total posts 48
So you really only have 110K points, if you need to cover 2 people. Which is probably not going to cover much of the way to Ireland. In terms of availablity, I have in the past found using Qantas Pts for Emirates out of Singapore to be really useful. Getting to Singapore from Australia is cheap, and you can do day flights to and from. So you can certainly go out in business and back in Economy to Dublin with Emirates from Singapore. But you are looking at about 140K each for that option. Flying business out of DXB to Dublin would be cheaper, but the return flight from Aus to DXB will not be much less than just flying all the way to Dublin and collecting the points.
akronflyer
akronflyer
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 29 Jul 2014
Total posts 145