The basic Qantas points mistake that prevents people from flying First class even if they have the points.
If you’ve followed us for some time, you’ll know that we strongly advise people against using ‘Points Plus Pay’.
All airlines have created this payment option so they can shout that every single seat is bookable with points, plus in the hope you’ll spend all your points on it unaware of better options.
Because someone can be done, doesn’t mean should be done. It may be easy to use, but there is a catch.
At iFLYFLAT, we use your points WISELY to get the best value.
To illustrate just how ‘bad’ Points Plus Pay can be, let’s take an adventure together through a recent Qantas seat search (to demonstrate for educational purposes)...
Flight Route: Sydney to Los Angeles (ONE-WAY)
Our intention here is to use Qantas points to book a reward seat to Los Angeles, USA.
Our first Qantas search result shows Economy fares ranging from $874 to $1,849.
You’ll notice on the right, a Classic Reward seat is available for 41,900 Qantas points + taxes. If you’re wanting to fly Economy with points, this is the correct rate.
We’re currently viewing the ‘Use Cash’ results. What happens if we switch to ‘Use Points’?
Now we’re presented with Points Plus Pay prices. The Economy Saver fare seat is now showing as between 129,300, 165,400 or 265,500 Qantas points. Yikes!
Let’s switch our cabin selection over to First Class and see if there are any Classic Reward seats at the front of the plane…
Above we can see that a Classic Reward seat for First Class will cost just 162,800 Qantas points.
Which deal would you choose?
For curiosity, let’s see how much is this seat worth in cash $? by switching back to ‘Use Cash’ to find out...
The First Class ticket is selling for $9,549 CASH, one-way.
If you knew what to do, it will only cost you just 162,800 points and $331 in taxes for FIRST CLASS.
And interestingly, in the strange world of flight pricing… The Business class seat on the exact same flight is selling for $9,201 (note: $348 more and you can fly first class). 🤷🏼♂️
Or if you were using your points wisely, you could fly first class for $331.
In summary:
When it comes to using your points to fly, experience matters.
The systems are designed to make it easy to use all your points on low hanging fruit… When really, you could be flying First Class for about the same points as Economy.
Once you fly FIRST, you’ll never go BACK.
Need help with turning your points into flights? Our Flight Finder concierge team can help you.
