yeah yeah I know - its nothing new - and a grudge that many of us deal wih.

I booked 3 seats to London for nex December...
..and am now looking for 3 seats back again in early January.

Why the hell do Qantas seem to have plenty of seats going via Melbourne but never any direct to Brisbane? Doesnt Anyone ever want to go to Melbourne? Deosnt matter whether I think about going straight home, or perhaps attemping a few days R&R in Hong Kong (which we've never done). The only way to get to Brisbane is to chose to go via Melbourne or Perth.
(and that pushes the point cost of a stop-over out of range).

So...as an act of desperation I called Qantas and they admitted there were some unlisted Cathay seats available on a good date, good journey time, no unnecessary transiting through other Australian cities.... but once again, going with Cathay rather than QF cost more points.

I need 15,000 points.... quickly!!

(Any 'cousins' of mine out there willing to rent me some points for 3 months? In 3 months I'll have accrued the necessary [and could 'family transfer' them back to any genersous 'cousin'] - but will the seats still be there if I have to wait? )

I have 11,286, if that helps you out at all? I only get points through shopping at Woolies... oh and BWS infact most have probably come from BWS...

No idea how I transfer points to someone else? Is it easy? Do we lose points on the deal? I've got them if its a simple and relatively painless process.......cousin

you could purchase the points for 460$

Got to be the easiest way

I think you can only transfer points between family members.

There are a few points sign on freebies with credit cards at the moment but that would take too long and you'd lose the seats.

I really dislike QFF I have to say, its shocking value and the extra points charges for stopovers, other routings etc are not found in most other programs. I am sitting on 320k points though and just keep adding through credit card & other promos...I very rarely fly on QF.

The suggestion to buy the points is probably the only solution.

Yeah its dead simple - you log on to qantas and click 'Family transfers' enter the QFF number of the family member you're transferring to declare how they are related to you by checking the relevant checkbox(i.e. 'Mother', "Sister', 'Brother-in-law', 'Cousin', 'Some-dude on the internet'*) and click ok...

The transfer is instant and the only drawback is you can only do this once every 12 months - so anyone doiing this would not be able transfer to anyone else until late next january.

I havent transferred any for ages (but have received from my parents after they visited last year) - so as soon as I've accrued the necessaries (approx 15th April) I'd be free to transfer back with a little extra to cover the inconvenience..... and of course I'd owe my
'cousin' a beer or two!

$450 may be a safer way to go - but by the time I add that to the taxes its getting dangerously close to the cost of a one-way fare for the same time this year - in which case I may as well pay GBPs, save the points and only use them to escape Australia - thus never having to pay exhorbitant AU$ pricing.



* - 'Some-dude on the internet' probably isnt one of their checkboxes - so there may be a somewhat flawed element of fraud in this plan!

I think I saw in Woolies today that if u take out one of their credit cards u get 16000 points?! I mighta read it wrong tho?!

Found this link... http://www.everydayrewardscreditcard.../?bcode=DGMCCF did I read it wrong?!

Yeah that's right, I got one! $89 annual fee I think.

Other current offers:

A no annual fee AMEX with 10,000 points
And ANZ QFF Card with 20,000 points for $95 annual fee

46,000 points for $184.....not bad!

Done that - got the points already.... If it hadnt been for that unexpected points bonus I wouldnt have considered Cathay at all as its 32,000pts more expensive for three of us on Cathay than QF - assuming of course I can find available QF seats! [BIG assumption]

O ok lol aw well lol

Could you please tell me how many points you have to get for flights there and back to UK

128,000 Aus - London rtn by the most direct route. Plus a hefty wad in taxes + charges.

64,000 points each way per person - assuming:
1 - You dont stop over anywhere (if you do add a bit more)
2 - You get seats on direct flights (obviously 1 transit stop in 1 of SIN/HKG/BKK)
3 - You fly on 'QF' flights (CX or BA or any other codeshare partners do have seats - but they cost more).

Of course if you have gazzilions of points you can use the "any seat" redemptions rather than the standard "pleb" redemptions - but they seem to cost around double the number of points.

..and a hint if you're at all fussy about when you travel and how long you're going to be gone for you need to get your seats as soon as they are released, they tend to release 3 or 4 seats max on each route - so 350 days in advance you need to be hitting up qantas.com

Its a dud scheme - but whilst I keep getting points from credit cards it does make economic sense (just)

Mate, just an idea but in the past Ive not been able to get seats and they've "requested" them for me by writing to their "Yield " department and they free up some.

I got 4 return business class to USA like this on qantas even though when I phone up first they said "no freekin way" (for what its worth that was near enough 1million air miles)

So before you chip in or blag some - I'd ask them to see if they can write off and request the seats you want on the flights you want...