| Frequent Flyer Programs | |
Flying money - disease or reality.
According to the Economist magazine Frequent flyer points are the world's second largest currency. The total number of frequent flyer miles worldwide is worth an estimated $500 billion. This is something many frustrated frequent flyer point holders are quickly realising. There are so many points sitting around waiting to be used that airlines are forced to keep frequent flyer seats limited, or they would find them selves in financial strife.
One conference I attended had a presentation by one of the worlds' 'Gurus' on points and his statement was, 'If all points were redeemed at the one time there would not be enough aircraft to carry the claimants'. A fairly heavy statement and one that someone may write a Phd thesis on one day! Even if it was half correct it is a daunting thought!
One only has to look back to the initial Qantas share prospectus when they went public, and see that their frequent flyer commitment was put into the prospectus as a dollar liability - see if you can find a copy and see HOW MUCH this was!
In the end airlines would like to see this system simply 'go away', but it won't because no airline is willing to take the first step. These points must represent a 'cost' somewhere in the overall cost structure of an airline ticket, so it is the best interest of all our clients that they subscribe.
Frequent flyer points can be a bit of a hassle to
try and redeem. As the number of points held by people increases, the harder it becomes to
actually use them when you want to. Keeping track of points for this and that, keeping
boarding passes to make sure all your points are collected, different numbers for
different airlines. There are some airfares that you will not earn points on as the price
is already so low, so you really need to keep in touch with your travel consultant and the
rule updates the airlines send out regularly. Basically on most flights you will earn
points - and the ticket is no cheaper if you don't take the points - so why not!
Do you have a large number of Virgin related frequent flyer
points?? Richard Branson reckons you would need about a million points for one
of his space flights.
Fly to this page to read more..
Point
Redemption
We have had years of experience dealing with this issue, being a travel
business you would expect this! So, let us give you the benefit of this experience and
save you time, which saves you more money.
It is very important for most people to maximise the 'value' of their points. Generally
you get a better dollar return when using points for international travel rather than
domestic travel. The best 'return' comes from using points to upgrade from economy to
business class. With the new conditions introduced this has become
more difficult with Qantas. yes so many people knew this lurk, took advantage of
it and then, of course, Qantas changed the 'playing field'!
Sometimes, domestically, it is better value to buy a ticket and use the
points at another time. This depends on what ticket is available at the time, as
one family recently experienced organising a trip from Melbourne to Brisbane. At present Qantas tries
as much as possible to direct you 'via Sydney'. Maybe this is a result of so many people
wanting to avoid Sydney airspace as a transit point and Qantas keeps more seats for paying
passengers on direct flights! Aside from the increase in travelling time the tax cost jump
is substantial. Sydney is the most taxed airport in Australia. Consequently the dollar
return was minimal.
Some recent 'creative' solutions for people with 'points' to use.
Lateral thought sometimes helps:
Using our world wide connections we arranged discounted airfares from South East Asia to Europe and back and then organised
'frequent flyer' tickets for our client from their home in Australia to that Asian point
and return. They did not have enough points for two to go to Europe and back, but what we
did was easily covered and they earned more points on there Asia/Europe leg!
Using Points from someone overseas:
An American man wanted to use his points accumulated over many years from a hotel chain to
bring his 'inlaws' from Australia to his home. We can coordinate the correct redemption of
this and make the other land arrangements required - who's going to miss Disneyland on the
way to an American city!!
Our Service Structure For You
For our nominal fee our travel consultants will provide a personalised service
ensuring you maximise the return form your accumulated points. Or, if you are
redeeming American Express Card points see bottom of the page.
We will:
Listed below is our fee structure for the above services. Remember, our service will save your most precious commodity - "Your Time"
All fees include 10% GST. Additional fees - such as
departure tax and airport security charges - may be charged by the airline or service
provider and will be an additional cost. Any extra, or abnormal courier costs will be an
additional cost.
Click to talk about Frequent Flyer
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Use points to pay for virtually ALL travel services
If you’re an American Express Cardmember enrolled in Membership Rewards, you can book a range of travel through Travelscene American Express and pay using your Membership Rewards points.
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