I'm curious, there's a value to the points, redeeming flights and all that. This I understand.
Buying upwards of 100,000 points per transaction suggests to me that this isn't exactly a top up purchase (or is it?)
It's likely used for a flight right (business class)? - Wouldn't it make sense to churn through some credit card bonuses to get this?
Thanks for anyone who has insight.
where does one buy business class tickets for 100k points?
VA82
Depart: Hong Kong
Business
Arrive: Sydney
Above one way ticket was booked for 60k velocity points + $150 cash. so return can be booked for ~120k points. And actual ticket price using $$$ was ~$3k (One way).
I use it for business class travel (personal). Often redeeming points is cheaper for me overall compared to economy, especially if it's last-minute travel.
E.g. Virgin Australia business class reward from Tassie to Perth is approx $466 including points at 1.2cpp and taxes. Availability is fairly good at the last-minute. Economy flights might be $400-$500 one-way at that stage. If the Melbourne-Perth flight is an Airbus A330, I get lie-flat suites and a three-course meal. It's great value overall.
I don't buy points (unnecessary & way too risky), but…
It's likely used for a flight right (business class)?
Yes. Eg you can travel around the world in business class for ~300,000 Qantas points. That's the equivalent of $10,000+ in airfares.
Wouldn't it make sense to churn through some credit card bonuses to get this?
Not if you have already done this with all of the credit cards.
I'm a seller instead of buyer. My usual patrons then on-sell for presumably a tidy profit. For many years I redeemed for business and first class travel but having done it to death, I now would rather pocket the cash and pay for my own cheap economy fares when required.
Lots of purchaser use points to buy business class tickets for others and make some profit.
Eg. if 100k points get you return business class ticket, its worth only $1200 for person who is buying points. But actual business class ticket cost is around $5k so there is chance of cool profit of $3.5k.
Even if they buy at 1.5cpp, they can still make some profit but since Ozb people are happy to offload their points at 1c or 1.2cpp it has become standard.