Redeeming Points

When point hacking, my main goal when redeeming points can be twofold. Either to profit from the points I have accumulated or to use them to travel hack, so that I spend the least amount possible by using the points I have earned through credit card churning.

Either way is a good use of points for me and it all depends on my goals and priorities at the time. Do i want to use my points to have cheaper travel by not paying for flights or hotels or do I need gift cards, so I save money on my groceries. I try to use them for travel with my family but during Covid, I prioritize exchanging points for cash rewards.

Selling points

A lucrative method of earning money from points is selling them privately.

This is risky and can get your account suspended by Qantas as it is against their terms and conditions of use.

So I would not recommend this method but there are people willing to purchase points if that suits your risk appetite. You can convert your points to cash this way.

Per point, the value can range from 1.0 - 1.5 cents.

Flight upgrades

The best value for your points when travel hacking is upgrading your flights or booking a classic reward flight in business class or first class.

I rarely tend to use this method as I'm not that interested in flying first or business class. Per point, the value can exceed 5 cents for upgrading.

Looking at pure value, this is the best value for using points. A list of flight upgrades can be found in the table below. Link to source.

Classic reward flights

Classic reward flights are by far the most popular method of redeeming Qantas points when travel hacking.

This is the bread and butter of most point hackers. All Qantas destinations give you classic reward flights as an option to their regular flights. Depending on the destination, classic rewards flights give an excellent value of 1.0 - 1.8 cents per point of value.

Remember that you will also have to pay taxes on flights, but even with taxes, this is very good value and worth doing rather than paying for standard flights with points which net you 0.6 cents per point of value.

Below is a table of the most popular destinations Australians fly to with Qantas and their equivalent reward flights and savings. All departure destinations are from Melbourne in Victoria.

For a more in depth breakdown click here, to view the whole blog post.

Hotel and car hire bookings

Booking hotels is another great way of utilizing your points. Qantas has an amazing range of hotels on offer and usually has rates not much higher than on other booking sites.

The best way to redeem points when booking a hotel is to wait until Qantas have their routine 30% off pay with points offer or their discounts off their hotel's offers.

Booking hotels gives you around 0.9 - 1.1 cents per point of value.

Car hire is very similar to hotels with a slightly worse value of 0.8 cents per point of value.

Gift cards

Lastly, you can use your Qantas points to purchase gift cards. All standard gift cards are available from the Qantas shop.

The cheapest gift cards are electronic e-gift cards to specific stores with the most expensive being Mastercard type gift cards. Gift cards have around 0.6 - 0.7 cents per point of value.