Can get upgrade SYD LAX PE to J for 45000 points. Is it worth spending $1200 on Amex surcharge to earn 50K points? Comes out at 2.4c/point. How about $400 on Visa surcharge for 20K? Comes out at 2c/point.

What would you all do?

Firstly you need to examine your chances of getting the upgrade. What is you level of status ie Bronze or Silver or.....?

Ha, ha, no you can't.

QF upgrades stink, they're standby-only and cost a hatful of points. Chances are you won't get the upgrade and you'll have paid 2c/point for nothing.

Preferably, use QF points for one-way J awards, 96k points each way for SYD LAX. Saves you the inflated cost of the PE ticket, and you have a confirmed J seat.

Good chance being WP.

Got 4/4 recently asking for upgrades PE to J. It cost me 45K points per time.

My question is whether other FTalkers think this is too steep a price to pay for the points. I will have opportunities to use them.

surely if you are QF WP you already know what the value is of QF pts



as harry said I would just order the J class award and be guaranteed a seat and not have to sweat it.

Hmmm a novice question from a WP.

Not sure what you mean by "surcharge". But effectively you are asking whether anybody would spend $1200 for the chance to maybe get a one way upgrade from PE to J. And the answer for me is: no, I wouldn't.

Thanks DownUnderFlyer, that's the sort of opinion I am seeking. Have to decide this morning what I'm going to do, so all help is appreciated.

I usually get my points from flights, not credit cards, so havn't really had this problem before, and certainly not on this scale.

Am buying a few big things & will have to pay the seller's cc costs - I termed it surcharge - if I want to pay by cc. The upside is a heap of points. Downside is the $$'s mentioned above.

The upgrade would be the most likely thing I could do with this number of points. Or, it could give me a good chunk towards an award.

Just don't buy from merchants with such high surcharges. It is extremely rare that I ever paid a credit card surcharge in my life. The QF site will be one of the very few exceptions.

QFF points are definitely not worth 2c/pt. You have to decide for yourself what it is worth, but most would value it at 1c/pt range and definitely below 1.5c/pt. Remember that every FF plan has different "points" so posts talking about point being worth 2cents might be valid for a different plan; doubt anyone would think that for QFF.

AA will often sell you points (worth more than QFF) for less than 2c/point, as a point of comparison. You'd be better off doing that (good for redeeming QF awards but not usable for upgrades on QF).

I am surprised to hear the AA sells for less that 2cpp( and remember it is us c no Australian c)
at the moment there is a very reasonable deal at 40k for $1030us plus a bonus for 10k(if you havent purchased this year otherwise i think its 7500 bonus)
total 50k for 1030us so a smidgen over us2c cpp
I havent really seem them cheaper in a long while.
35k AA is a ret per syd in J so that is a very good deal.

YMMV - I definitely value a QFF point at more than 2�. However, ~95% of mine are used for upgrades and the newish Status earning "Any Seat Awards" (in Business).

$1,200 or $400 towards your better half will provide enduring, tangible outcomes.

$1,200 or $400 towards the potential of an upgrade with QF?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dik_wnOE4dk

Using kiosk check-in on AA gives the option to buy double or triple miles for the trip, and the rate for these miles appears to be variable (at least I've gotten offers at different price per mile), with the cheapest being 1.5 cents per mile. I have no idea if this is by route, status, time of month ... but AA is doing everything possible to sell more miles. Same for other airlines in NA, for example USAir was offering me 300% bonus in miles bought which made it about 1 cent/mile).

Valuing FF miles is soooo dependent on the proposed use. The airlines expect 7% of FF miles to be redeemed, with 93% to expire unused. This assumption is becoming increasingly unrealistic, but the problems are for the user and not the airline. The last 10 times that I've tried to redeem Aadvantage points there was no reasonable availability, for example -- even paying double for anytime awards. Given the easy acquisition of miles by just about anyone, this is hardly a surprise. The FF world has changed and factoring in ability to redeem miles is now a big part of the mile valuation. The more flexibility in dates/routes that you have, the more miles are worth.

Thanks for the help here, & also for the reminder of what a great movie the Castle was Willyroo!