I just noticed on Qantas app that I can upgrade my economy class flight (12 hours long) to Business for extra 69k points one way.
I've never been on Business class nor First, do you think it is worth upgrading to Business?
Edit: I will 100% follow the poll decision
No Boeing 737 is able to operate a 12 hour flight.
The only ones in QF fleet able to do so are;
A330
B789
A380
All well worth upgrading on for 69k
Do ITTTTTT!
If you know you'd never normally pay for business class or first class, then treat yourself. Find out how the other half live. Especially if those same points are only worth another economy flight anyway. You've got the rest of your life for economy flights.
Here is my opinion.
Fly economy and save the points. Use the points on $350 Woolies gift cards, which is essentially cash.
Imagine paying $29 per hour extra just to have a slightly different seat on a plane, and it is worse for the environment.
Or you can sell the gift cards and still have OVER THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS TO GO ON A FOOD OR OTHER EXOTIC EXTRAVAGANZA.
But no, you will prefer to have 30 cents of "free" orange juice and coke served to you in on a plane and void hundreds of dollars of real money.
Also business is probably crap anyway.
Lastly in response to the other comment in this thread:
$690 is fantastic to upgrade to business class on a 12hr flight
HAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!! For that amount of money I can buy a totally new ticket and travel halfway around the world, return. With cash left over.
For that amount of money I can buy a totally new ticket and travel halfway around the world, return. With cash left over.
Link?
Dude, you're on ozbargian, the world is your oyster.
You can go to USA return for $50 more. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/769454
Imagine telling this story to your friends:
"oh WOW, i sat in a slightly better chair for some hours and they gave me some nice microwaved food and juice!"
Versus:
"i used the money leftover to travel on a separate trip to USA".
America with no luggage and more no cash left over.
That said ripper deal and I totally get your point.
Also business is probably crap anyway.
Here is my opinion. You've never flow business.
Well this guy did and said it was crap: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/13641742/redir
I've watched my fair share of reviews on youtube and I genuinely believe if I flew business, it would not be a huge game changing thing.
Classic upgrades are subject to availability and are not guaranteed. So get your hopes up too much.
When you register your interest, they will let you know within an allotted time from your flight if the upgrade has been successful (24hrs if your status is gold or less).
When seats are available, there will be a pecking order as to who gets the upgrade depending on your status, when you booked the flight, original fare class, when you checked in etc. etc. you can even opt to consider you up-to-just before boarding the flight (there's a tick for airport upgrades when you fill the form)
I usually request an upgrade for anything more than 6hrs, but I haven't been successful yet, even once. I have Gold FF status with Qantas. Although I do tend to travel during peak times.
What route?, I only bother with upgrades on the return usually red-eye leg of flights to get the value out of it.
Even then, again without status you might find it hard to get allocated on busy routes anyway as QF are still not to route capacity they had prior to covid and most flights i've been on are packed out in J & Economy (all tickets).
Daytime flights out of AUS to a destination aren't nearly as tiring as the return leg I find, save it for when you're sick of your family and want to fly back without having to deal with them in the nearby seats! hahaha.
Per the poll result I've submitted two seat upgrade request for returns at 138K points.
I am on a Brozne so fingers crossed.
You have no chance of getting an upgrade as a bronze on a long haul flight, so don't worry about this any further.
Hilarious that so few people have mentioned this.
OP is very unlikely to get any upgrade — you're behind Chairman's Lounge, Plat One, Plat, Gold & Silver members all requesting upgrades lol.
Why is everyone saying this?
I am bronze, have managed to upgrade to business for 2 from LHR -> MEL, DXB -> MEL and to Premium (again for 2) from LHR -> MEL. I've frankly had a pretty good strike rate.
Yes Bronze is the second last tier to get upgrades (I think the only tier lower is the Bid Now people who pay with cash), but you have 100% more chance than if you don't apply at all.
Qantas hasn’t flown to DXB in years, so your data point is way out of date. Post Covid, every man and their dog wants to fly business and is sitting on millions of points.
As others have mentioned the chances of securing the upgrade are quite slim. If you really want to experience business class do a flight search for the exact same flight and see if there are any business classic reward seats available.
Last time I booked a flight I booked economy and submitted a seat upgrade request. Leading up to my flight I grew more and more curious about whether there’d be many seats available so I’d keep starting dummy bookings of 9 business class seats to see if the system would let me (I assumed that if I was able to start them it meant the seats were available). About 2 weeks prior to the flight I noticed they made some business classic reward seats available for the same flight. I decided at that point I really wanted to experience business class so I cancelled my economy tickets and booked the business classic reward seats (cancellation only cost me something like 5k points). Also, booking the business classic reward seats worked out to be more cost effective. Original booking was approx 30k points plus 70k to upgrade. Booking business classic reward was 82k points plus it’s guaranteed. Even with my cancellation I was still ahead of taking the upgrade route.
Only regret I have flying business is that I now hate flying economy. Guess I’m gonna have to up my churn game.
Unfortunately Bronze international upgrades are really hard to get but I wish you the best of luck.
Did you get your upgrade?
I am honestly surprised by the heavy sway in this poll. I (personally) denote bargains to be value for money based.
My overwhelming opinion would be ride economy, and save those points for a future (eco) trip. As someone has pointed out above, you get there the same time. If say, this were a Jetstar/budget carrier, then the economy vs business experience would be heavily distinguishable. I'm not saying that the A330 lie flats aren't impressive, they sure are (and look so from YT vlogs I've watched), however I would think two trips is better than one? No? I'm in the same predicament, either I fly to Japan on Eco, or I double my points and fly business. As I choose economy, I sit here and plan another trip, possibly to Europe.
I'm flying in and out at 9pm/10pm respectively. I'm going to be sleeping then. Is it worth burning 60k each way for me to sleep? Not in my opinion
A bargain is a good value for money. But you have to compare like for like.
An $900 85" TV isn't a bargain. But a $2700 65" S95B is. Flying Jetstar isn't a bargain. It's a means to get somewhere while enduring hostile budget-airline conditions.
Just because you get two of something for the price of one while neglecting that one is a 'luxury'-level item is a disingenuous comparison. It's a bit like 'why stay in a nice hotel, I'll be sleeping most of the time I'm there'. Sometimes it's nice to enjoy nice things.
However, if you only had a limited number of points to spend, and you had to fly twice, then that's reasonable.
Sleeping comfortably on a plane is absolutely something I'd pay (points) for. That, and a peaceful cabin is exactly why I try and fly outside of economy.
I think you would find that if this poll asked the same question but the cost was $690 cash, the result would be quite different.
Which makes no sense to me. It seems that some people think that earning big points via cc churning somehow makes it not "real". I have never understood the willingness of people to just burn through points, because they effectively earnt them for free. That's irrelevant. They have cash value.
I have used a stack of points to fly business long haul previously. Did I often think about the opportunity cost (about $2k) of doing so on said overseas trip. Yes, yes I did. $2k of pampering goes a pretty long way back on the ground.
I dunno. If I won some random lottery tomorrow for $30k I am not going to go out the next day and buy a car and be all like "free car", but some people do think like that. Each to their own I guess.
The $690 is again is only if you take the small risk of selling your points. So I would use a reliable comparison of: $460 of gift cards, or fly in relative luxury.
On one hand, yes, the points have a cash/gift card value and if you want to use it in the least effective way, go ahead. But they also have a value that exceeds the value of the cash if you use it to secure an upgrade or classic reward seat.
So let's try that 'but what if it was cash' argument again. For a flight to LAX:
If you had the points (and Qantas the availability), you can take advantage of those 'prices'. If you gave me the option of '$1700 in cash or a First class ticket to the US', I know what I'd be choosing. The upgrade value is even better, but only if you actually value the upgrade.
I'll put a spin on the car example: you have a 'golden ticket' that entitles you to one of the following:
Which would you choose?
$1700 in cash or a First class ticket to the US', I know what I'd be choosing
Haha. How many hours and days at your job do you have to work to earn $1700 after tax? Imagine working for an entire week just to pay off a different seat on a journey of <24 hours.
If business and first class is so great, why don't you recreate it yourself? Go and put a lie-flat yoga mat on the floor in your bathroom, turn the fan on to simulate the noise of the aircraft, lie on the floor and enjoy your amazing 100% lie-flat experience. Go and buy $10 of champagne and $5 of coke and orange juice and have your partner serve it to you in a nice glass. Use your phone or laptop to watch the latest movies on netflix.
Then uber eats a nice $30 meal and also have partner serve it to you on your real metal cutlery and on a non-plastic plate.
And there you have it, you just recreated your $1700 experience for $50.
$460 of gift cards, or fly in relative luxury.
Like the other guy said, I can't believe that 90% of ozbargain would just throw away $460 of real money to upgrade their seat.
Also, what is luxurious about a Qantas flight? Do they serve fresh fruit smoothies and delicious fresh food? Do they include massages and in-person entertainment shows?
@watwatwat: I wish more people shared your view. Then there would be less competition for the business and first class award seats I'm trying to get :)
@watwatwat: You're clearly trolling this thread, so I keep my reply short: I'm happy to pay for little bit of luxury, and sorry that for whatever reason you aren't able to, or want to.
I wish more people shared your view.
Be careful what you wish for. It wouldn't be very profitable.
"Business travelers make up 12% of airline passengers, but they pay higher rates than other customers and are typically twice as lucrative, accounting for as much as 75% of profits."
@watwatwat: lol wot..
firstly its cheaper to fly with points. classic rewards not upgrades that is. (Signup to card with $150 annual fee, meet the min spending and you will get 70k points. Book your business classic reward flight one way syd-bkk for $200 in fees and those points)
secondly you get access to airport lounge which saves you spending money at the airport, although im sure you dont do that as a true ozb but i enjoy the beer, wine, coffee, snacks and meals at the lounge.
thirdly you despite your belief its so quiet, open, comfortable in business
4th.. dont have to sit next to you
firstly its cheaper to fly with points. classic rewards not upgrades that is. (Signup to card with $150 annual fee, meet the min spending and you will get 70k points. Book your business classic reward flight one way syd-bkk for $200 in fees and those points)
Haha what a joke. You pay $200 in just "fees" to fly syd-bkk. I can fly syd-bkk for less than $300 for the entire fare and pay cash. And I don't need to worry about poor availability of rewards flights.
Better to redeem the points for gift cards.
get access to airport lounge which saves you spending money at the airport, although im sure you dont do that as a true ozb
I get free unlimited lounge access (priority pass) right now due to ozbargain's citibank prestige credit card.
@stopthecap: Oh, I missed the part about business.
Well how often are these fares available? 95% of the time, they aren't available, right?
business for $200
Well what is the total cost, if you include points?
So far I think there is a tendency for people to forget that rewards flights are barely available most of the time and that the fees are huge.
These restrictions make it much easier to just buy the fare in cash on another airline, or during a regular sale like jetstar sale.
I can’t see the value of selling your points for cash, especially if the ‘value’ those points represent through booking a classic reward flight are substantially higher than the cash value.
Now on reflection this basically puts me squarely in the middle of the value proposition.
Value chart: Cash < economy flight < business flight.
I feel like if you stretched your example to include two trips to the value of $100k as a fourth option I’d still lean to that haha
It is different because points and cash are different.
Irrespective as others have mentioned, it’s about value. The value of sleep and comfort so you can enjoy or work in your destination has value. If you’ve slept and don’t have a sore back that might mean an extra day enjoying sights or getting work done. When you’re spending thousands on travel anyway to me that’s value.
Economy: 1-2.5c/point
Business: 4-7c/point
First: 4-11c/point
From a best bang for buck(point) perspective it's always best to redeem higher class cabins.
If you wanna fly Economy just buy the tickets with cash, why bother using points?
If can't afford to pay cash for economy is the reason for redeeming points for economy then shouldn't be travelling at all.
Very true however i just booked Miami to vegas.. it was $6 fee and 20k points compared to $788 one way.. crazy right?
You will need to pay extra for bags on US domestic reward flights however.
I first saw this but some reason i have 2 checked pieces.. i think its because im Gold FF?
Be aware of the consequences, once you fly business class you will never go back…
I would do it, but in my experience, unless you're a higher tier member the chance of getting the upgrade is really low.
I mean they paid for a normal flight, hence the upgrade only being 69k points.
It's very good value.
My return flights cost me 236k pts return with $200 in taxes with Singapore. That's Australia to Europe return tho.
Well worth it to me!
If the business class is a lie flat bed, then go for it. If not, not worth it.
Small comparison…
well worth it for those who have a job and can diligently churn cards for their sign up promos.
Compare this to economy is around 1200 return on qantas.
Why would you cherry pick qantas like this? That doesn't reflect the normal cost of the route.
Please don't ever forget the opportunity cost of using the points. At the very least, it's $400 ish in gift card value, but $700 if you sold the points.
Paying the equivalent of $690 to upgrade a 12 hours flight it’s pretty good value. I would if I were you and could afford it.
I tend to upgrade to business with points on the return flight. After a relaxing holiday, the last thing I want is a cramped space and no option to lie down. I would say try it out if you never have. That's the only way you determine if there value for you or not. Everyone is going to have their own opinion on the value of points so stick to yours 👌
Not sure which route it is but unless you have a high status, you have no chance on any popular route.
Does it mean business seat sold out and no chance for upgrade if no business option when booking?
If you're someone who would really benefit from the extra space, better food/alcohol/amenities (including in the airport lounge), sure. But personally as an average sized person who isn't fussy about food and can sleep any where, an upgrade would absolutely be a waste. And I've flown long haul in economy and travelled business before for work so I know what you'd be forgoing!
Mind you this is an upgrade request, if you dont have status then forget it.
I just got upgraded to a business class one day before departure.
Nice work! Enjoy
Just landed in Sydney. I have read through the comments re the business class before boarding, I thought it’s just a bit of comfy in exchange of $700 worth (69k points), but what an experience. Foods, flat seat bed and service were so supreme and I didn’t think business and kettle class are so different. I’m spoilt now.
Once you go front, you can never go back
Congrats to be upgraded to BC (Business Class)!
12-hour flight is so worth it to have that extra space and sleep flat.
For me, I will do it on the way back home after a trip for that extra baggage too. So, I can shop more on my trip and don't need to worry about excess baggage fees which can be more than $500.
Underrated post. Scrolled for ages before someone mentioned this all-important consideration.
Boeing flights aren't worth upgrading to business, the Airbus a330 etc are best.