we usually fly QF but are rapidly losing any sense of loyalty.

looks like for our family of 4 inc a baby on lap our economy return tix Syd-BKK at Xmas wil be around $5,500. Then we need to buy internal tix BKK-Phuket and return. The hope is that we will be able to use points to upgrade. In the past had good strike rate with that but now we are 4 travelling together i wonder if we are overly optimistic?

it looks like we can fly thai airways for less (around $5,000) including all internal flights as well. But with no points or status there will be no chance of an upgrade.

Would really appreciate thoughts on what the best option might be..

And are we missing any better alternatives here?

Our dates are Syd-Bkk 17 Dec-3 Jan with internal BKK-PHKT 20 Dec-2 Jan.

Many thanks!