I'm looking to get a credit card for the sign up bonuse, and can get one with either Qantas or Velocity points.
I know velocity points have been devalued recently, and the cash co-payment you make on a flight has increased.
With this in mind, which would be more worthwhile for economy class international flights, considering both the value per point and the cash co-payment needed on each flight?
I'm not interested in using points to upgrade to business.
Thanks for the help!
Thanks for the help Skramit, I'm really looking to take economy flights on a backpacking trip to Europe, South America and Southern Asia. I live in Melbourne.
I know that the conversion rate between velocity and krisflyer has fallen this year. Do you think this will impact the availability and value of international flights?
I don’t think Velocity points can be used to get to South America
They can, but you have to go via the USA
Qantas does have the One world Award for 5 stops anywhere in the world for 140000 points… That's the best value for points in the QF network for economy. Not sure if Virgin have anything similar
You'd easily be able to cover all continents with 140k points. Only thing, you normally need to book 365 days in advance… Otherwise availability of seats will be hard to nearly impossible.
Thanks MrHyde for the tip, a RTW ticket is pretty interesting and 140k points is definitely a bargain! I'll have to do a bit more digging to see how easy it is to organise it. Thanks again!
Its 140k points plus $1000+ in airline surcharges and taxes.
Yes, it does require $$$ for surcharges and taxes. Still comes out way cheaper than buying individual tickets.
We just came back from a round the world business class on points - cost us under 1.2 million points and $5000 for 4 people (2 adults, 2 children).
Well worth it!!
@twww: No, thats not me - however, I use a lot of the strategies mentioned. I earn about 500K points a year through spending (business) and card promotions.
I've done three round the world flights using Qantas One World Award so far; this year being the first with the whole family and in Business. Previous ones were in Economy and when we were only a couple… now kids are old enough to come along and enjoy it.
I'm already planning my next one for next year.
@Gotchas: I was Gold at the time, now Platinum.
What we did was take the kids out one week before school holidays and came back one week after - so got 5 weeks of travel in Sep/Oct break.
Also, book 340 days in advance. We used the Australian Frequent Flyer Award Flight Assist service and they found available seats for all of us. Also, need to be flexible a little bit with dates and locations.
Using points for international economy rewards flights is almost always quite a poor use of points. By the time you consider the 'cash' value of the points plus the amount of taxes you have to pay, it will be close to if not more than just buying an economy fare on special to where ever you want to go.
Plus you don't really have the hassle of trying to find availability with a cash flight, and you earn status and some points.
The one world RTW award ticket is an interesting option however.
Unless you are gold or above in status and booking during school holiday
Here's a simple example. Sydney to LA return.
89,600 Velocity + $281
90,000 Qantas + $449
It's worth checking OneWorld partner charges which are lower than QF. A QF award on American Airlines would be cheaper, but maybe some more points needed.
If you want to use the points for flights between places that aren't in Australia, I have had very little luck in trying to use Velocity points (partnered with Delta) for domestic US flights, whereas Qantas (partnered with American) has a lot more availability.
KrisFlyer…but that's because I want to fly where Singapore Airlines flies to.
The answer depends. Velocity has more and cheaper options than Qantas for me.
To be honest they are pretty similar now. That’s not an accident by either company.
It probably depends where you live, where you’re wanting to go Etc etc. it’s not a simple answer u less you give specifics.
International economy you might be better with qantas as they have a superior network IMO. But virgin are pretty comparable now these days especially with their codeshares.