I see a lot of people trading points. At 1c .
I obviously have no intention too as ive heard that your account can be cancelled.
What are people using these points for.
And what do people think are the best value for real dollar?
Youd obviously be getting more than 1c value if youre willing to pay that much.
Me and my family have accumulated about 2m qff points and are looking to use it for a rtw business class trip next year
Qantas is certainly known for charging high taxes on tickets, so redeeming for Qantas flights is not always the best use of points. Often, the best way to use QF points is to redeem them on partner airlines. Oneworld affiliates like Cathay Pacific charge much less taxes and often have a better product (e.g. Sydney to Hong Kong in business class would cost you $350 taxes on QF metal, but only $70 on Cathay), so worth bearing in mind.
In terms of what people are buying the points for, a quick calculation suggests a couple of members here must have bought upwards of a couple of million miles (assuming the transactions have all gone through) - that suggests to me commercial purposes - possibly re-selling, or running an award booking service?
Don't CX usually cost a lot more in points? My last trip had 128,000 for EK/QF Business from anywhere in Europe vs 192,000 via CX stopping in Hong Kong which is same cost as EK First (Which I ended up with anyway). Still high taxes, but lower points
Yes, points are slightly higher for CX (European destinations from Eastern Australia are usually charged at 137,000 points, the extra 9,000 offsets for me the $500 - $600 extra taxes you'll pay with EK or QF).
I suspect the 192,000 points for your scenario above is due to a stopover in HKG (which ups the points cost with any carrier), and / or a mixed class cabin (J + F)?
Pretty sure the buyers of the points use them for upgrades or business class tickets.
I would much rather sell my points to such a buyer and then get a sale fare in economy or on a budget airline. I don't accumulate a lot of points so I've only done it once. Later the buyer told me Qantas asked for proof of the family relationship and then suspended his account. My account is still okay though.
why qantas didnt come to you as well asking for proof?
Not sure. I have only transacted points once and they must have selected the accounts with unusual amounts of transfers to audit.
I need some points but am unsure about the risk of account closure and losing the points. Seeems too risky to me
Same here
I wouldn't trade
Agreed, wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.
Far, far too risky for a buyer - if Qantas looks into the transaction and family relationship can't be proved, they lose out completely (paying money, then having points confiscated). At least the seller gets to keep the $$.
And there are far too many members here that seem to be doing deals for multiple transactions - so surely they would be at risk of coming onto an airline's radar!
OP, you mention you have 2 m points for your RTW J trip next year, (better book asap to get the seats). How many in the fam need seats?
The great thing is in traveling alone
I got a return flight to eu with 3 months notice last year
But it might have been the last one available
Only two ways to use Qantas points and that is long haul in J (Business Class) Y (economy poor yield), second, do not use them out of OZ because they will whack you big time in fees and charges, use them out of ASIA.
For 2 pax in + 2 x Y BNE/HKG + 2xJ Hong Kong/Boston then Los Angeles to Brisbane was 450K points + fees of $1000
CX (Cathay) to BOS and QF (Qantas) to BNE with J award seats a plenty.
Yet going OZ direct to USA in J x2 is 394K points plus fees of about $2300!
(but 2xJ award seats near impossible to find)
Have used HKG a few times as a gateway to USA & Europe in J.
While i do not recommend buying Qantas points due to possibility of loosing them all, or buy them in a partners account?, there is always the chance that one pays the dosh but doesn't see the points I guess.
Not worth the risk.
Have had accounts banned with over a million points in them and flights forfeited.
wait so qantas will come to the BUYERS and not seller? wow thats a risk. maybe okay if you buy and use it straight away but buy and keep for months isnt good idea
From what I've read, Qantas seeks proof from both parties, and then confiscates the points when proof can't be provided. So the buyer is in a very high risk position, as they'll lose both the points that they bought, and the money they paid to the seller. Whereas the seller gets to keep the money they received from the buyer.
I've even heard about cases where people have immediately put the bought points towards award flights, only to have those bookings cancelled and points confiscated.
cancel the ticket - that is scary!
What if you marry the buyer thats ok right?
of course! and now we have ssm so the possibilities are increases.
but dont forget prenuptial agreement, for each deals.
I looked at buying some QFF points for a return Europe trip, but as you need to pay for the taxes over and above the point cost of your ticket, buying the points wasn't worth it, even without taking into consideration the legalities of it.
I'm guessing it might be used as a cheap way of obtaining an upgrade?