Feed & Greed Podcast
Interview: How to get the most out of your frequent flyer points
Overview
In this episode of the Fear and Greed business interview, host Sean Aylmer speaks with Steve Hui, founder of iFLYflat, about the recent overhaul of Qantas' frequent flyer programme.
With nearly 16 million members in Australia, securing classic reward seats has become increasingly challenging. The introduction of the Classic Plus scheme aims to alleviate this issue by offering additional reward seats, albeit at a higher points cost.
Steve explains the differences between the Classic Rewards, Points Plus Pay, and the new Classic Plus options, highlighting the best strategies for maximising points and securing business class travel for less. He also discusses common mistakes travellers make when using their points and offers insights into effective ways to gather them through partnerships and credit cards. As the conversation unfolds, Steve shares his observations on the impact of Qantas' changes on consumer behaviour and the ongoing challenges of finding available reward seats.
Quotes
"There are almost 16 million members in Australia, so it can sometimes be a bit hard to secure a classic reward seat on a Qantas flight using your points." - 00:00:26
"The magic of that is you're tapping into a program where it's a fixed number of points to fly to the same destination." - 00:02:01
"It's a way of just releasing that tension that you have points, but you can't use them." - 00:04:17
"For business class points ticket, which is the gem, which is what everyone wants to use their points for, it costs about 318,000 points to do a business return for one seat." - 00:05:02
"The way upgrade seats are rewarded is that... there might only be, say, five or 10 spare seats." - 00:07:27
Timestamps
00:00:00 - Introduction to Frequent Flyer Points
00:00:15 - Overview of Qantas' Classic Plus Program
00:01:20 - Understanding the Different Booking Options
00:02:45 - Qantas' Strategy Behind Classic Plus
00:04:03 - The Value of Points and Availability
00:06:00 - Strategies for Gathering Points
00:07:17 - Upgrading from Economy to Business Class
00:08:25 - Finding the Best Times to Use Points
00:09:39 - Common Mistakes When Using Points
00:10:35 - Impact of Qantas' Announcement on Business
00:12:11 - Conclusion and Final Thoughts