Caledonians

I have quite a few QF points saved, was going to use the points for a holiday next year.

I am worried that (obviously) if Qantas goes into administration all points will be lost.

I was going to hold off to save up more points but I think it might be wise to use my points now?

If I was to use my points (but choose other airlines to book the actual flights on, not choose Qantas carrier flights) would the flights still be honored with the other carriers?

fakecd

i think you need to worry about getting in traffic accident befoe this worry

Mwenenzi

Caledonians Welcome to FT
If you want to use QF ff points for a trip next year, you should be looking/booking now (353 days out max). Awards can be hard to find. At least practise now looking for awards.
https://www.qantas.com/fflyer/dyn/pr...ghts-explained

When some airlines/ffp's have gone under, at times awards have not been honoured, as the operating airline has not been paid. But has varied a lot.

In recent times Qantas Group has been one of the more successful airlines financially. A lot better than many other major international airlines.

And take care driving to the airport.

Caledonians

Thanks Mwenenzi

At present there are loads of award flights I can book using points via Qantas Frequent Flyer redemption pages. Lots of different options with different carriers also. The reason I'm not using my points immediately now is that the taxes and costs I need to pay to redeem award flights with Qantas are quite steep. I am in the process for saving for the full payment of the taxes (I'm buying tickets for all my family) so would rather wait until I had the money first. I suppose it doesn't make difference either way. Either Qantas pulls out of the current situation and all will be well or if they do stop customers using points/go into administration the flights would be cancelled and points lost anyway. I suppose out of my hands either way.

Thanks for your advice (and welcome to FT).

Mwenenzi

The real taxes are exactly the same for all airlines flying the same route.
With some awards/destinations a carrier surcharge can change the flight from non revenue to revenue which triggers additional taxes. These taxes are often small. While fuel prices (=airline costs) are reducing would not expect any significant change in carrier surcharges.

Caledonians

Qantas has taxes and fees. The last time we booked a one way flight for two adults and one child from Australia to the UK it was $1600 in taxes and fees.

Mwenenzi

Yep. QF (and BA and others) are well known for high carrier surcharges.
Most UK airports have a high APD (~tax) for premium seats on departure. Can be avoided by flying from INV(UK)[exempt] or a Eu airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty

Caledonians

Ah thank you for the tip about EU Airport. I didn't know that.

Last time we departed from Australia into the UK - via Dubai and the taxes were $1600 so will look at playing with the flights to see if I can bring that down this time.

We purchased a one way flight from the UK to Australia with cash last time.

Thanks for your advice, learning a lot here.

Caledonians

Out of interest, any idea why Inverness airport is exempt?

Mwenenzi

I guess the real taxes and award carrier surcharges were $1600 [award carrier surcharges = 100% airline profit]

Scottish politics
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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...lands-48743502

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp...s-and-islands/

jridge

If your ticket is on a partner airline and it has been issued (i.e. Qantas has "paid" the partner) then typically the ticket would be honoured even if Qantas zeroes all points. Of course, there is no guarantee that the partner will be any more solvent than QF.

Dave Noble

For revenue tickets this would be the norm, but don't think it is the case with award tickets and that the payment is only made to the other airline after travel

jridge

That could be, I confess that I don't know the intricacies. When AB went into administration, award flights already booked on OW partners remained valid, see
https://de.oneworld.com/news/airberl...rom-28-octob-1
Would not necessarily be so in other cases (and anyway, the whole thread is hypothetical)

THR

A lot of airlines will go into administration before Qantas.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

Agree. I think the last thing to worry about right now would be the continued operation of the Qantas group.