Just wondering if it's feasible to get enough points in less than a year (January next year) to get free flights to Tokyo? (About $1,200 return trip).
Also, if any of the credit card and health insurance deals are actually worth it and work out with you in the green? I need health insurance to get rid of Medicare levy anyways, so that isn't an extra cost for me (well, I have minimum plus dental cover anyways). Or any other deals around, that's all I know of lol.
THANKS!
I have no idea, first holiday in 7 years and first international trip. Never had any of the frequent or other flyer point systems.
You already know how to acquire $1,200. Points is just another currency but you need to know which type and how many you need as a starting point.
The short answer is NO, even if you have enough points, it won't be more flexible for your needs than paying ticket.
You likely won't find reward tickets to Japan in January either. It's peak school holidays and ski season.
easily if you churn two credit cards or so. the problem is by the time you receive the points you won't have enough of a window to reliably find a reward ticket using those points, as you are more likely to find them well in advance. it's also not great value to use them for economy (you still pay tax), so I'd save the time and hassle and just wait for discount flights
the best value is upgrades right? to business class?
not upgrades actually, reward redemptions in business would be the best value, but everyone values experiences differently. holy grail of value in the points game would be a RTW business ticket
It's simple, you only need to spend ~$120,000 on some sort of Frequent Flyer card ;)
Can do that with Clash of Clans easily in 12 months with iTunes gift cards.
It won't be free. You still have to pay taxes and fuel surcharges. It will be cheaper to buy a Jetstar return for free sale.
Any idea when those normally are? And would it apply in late January to Japan? I didn't know they did them 😮
Yes if you can get classic rewards seats but this is very unlikely for January.
I did classic rewards seats in Feb this year.
The hassle of getting a CC and then trying to earn enough points, and then being able to actually use those points for flights when you need them would be way more trouble than just paying the $1200 for flights with cash or CC. $1200 is hardly a huge amount, and if you wait for a good sale it could even be less.
Yes it should be pretty straight-forward to do.
You could easily earn around 300,000+ Qantas points for example which should be enough for return flights for one person on business.
if you can get business with points, that is. which you probably can't.
in january with less than 6 months on qantas/one world, almost no chance
Free flights?
Where do I book those?
That's just influncer/click bait rubbish.
You need to earn the points (which costs money), find the seats (which is hard) and pay the additional fees.
Op,
Points programs don't work like "1 point is 1 cent and I can get a $5000 flight for {x} number of points". It just doesn't work that way. Upgrades etc are offered by the airline to certain bookings, and in some instances you even bid on an upgrade.
You may be able to get that many points in the time period specified, but actually being able to use them - likely not.
Best thing to do is to sell them like I did.
Short answer - Yes you can, but it won't be "free".
One way direct ticket to Tokyo in late Jan flying economy on JAL will cost you around 37k QFF points + $4xx in taxes/surchanges. So if you multiply that by 2 for your return flight then your down almost $900 just in fees alone + 75k points. The fee might be cheaper if you fly Qantas or a different carrier but there will still be the surcharges either way.
It is possible to earn 120k points within 3 months with the NAB Qantas Signature card (90k first year then 30k year after) if you spent 3k or more in the first 60 days. Yearly fee for that card is $295 for the first year then $395 onwards.
The best way to use your QFF points is to accumulate a whole heap of them (200k+), then use it to book business/first class seats with the points. That way the additional fee/surcharge you need to pay won't cost almost the same as the flights. At this point you will need to book very early ahead to secure seats close to peak travel seasons (like late Mar/Apr, school holidays, etc.) or fly at off-peak times. Then again ANA/JAL do frequent sales on flights during off peak seasons so you really don't come out ahead unless you fly Qantas. The other useful way for your points is to buy your flights normally and then bid for a seat upgrade with your points. The closer to the peak seasons the lower the likelyhood you will get the upgrade unless your status is high.
Source: I've just booked flights to Japan for F1 next year using QFF points flying business/first class.
How many of which points will you need?