Originally Posted by
Firewind
They'll never be more valuable than they are it this moment.* And any really good international economy fare is very unlikely to let you upgrade (I don't know QANTAS, of course).
This fare from Australia to JFK is too good to be true, and cheaper than buying using QFF points. The fare is usually 2x-3x the current cost, so the value of the points isn't as high as usual. Of course, this fare doesn't let you upgrade, as it's in O class.
See
this thread on AFF and
my post that does the calculations on this particular fare, comparing Australian Amex MR points with QFF points.
Originally Posted by futaris
Here's another way of looking at it, for those who have large windfalls from the Amex promo(s):
103,662 Amex MR points will get you BNE-LAX-JFK inc taxes (using the 1c/MR point scheme), and you'll earn ~20,000 QFF points.
Alternatively, if you wanted to convert into QFF and redeem that way, it'll cost you:
128,000 QFF points + ~$400 taxes
Of course the QFF redemption will earn no points or SCs, and the Amex MR redemption will earn points and SCs.
So, if you take away the 20,000 QFF that you'll earn, and decide to pay the $400 taxes in cash, essentially you can get the same flights for about 40k MR points, or about a third of the cost going through QFF. This is assuming that you're a NB (Bronze).
If you're a WP (Platinum), you'll earn 40k QFF, so taking away the 40k QFF that you'd earn, and assuming that you want to pay the taxes with cash (or credit card), it'll essentially cost you 20k MR points (+ ~$400 taxes). Effectively, here is an example where QFF points are worth six times less than a MR point.
$200 cheaper, and you'd be getting a real free ($0 fare) flight on a full-service airline (exc taxes). Isn't that how some of the LCCs (e.g. Ryan Air, Tiger, etc) are advertising their flights these days?
NB, redeeming the above, only requires a minimum of 1000 MR points. QFF Anyseat requires a minimum of whatever the classic award is, i.e. 128k.