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You know, frequent flyer programs can be great to be part of and getting free flights does sound great but unfortunately it’s not all as it seems. Using frequent flyer points for flights always includes taxes and fees that we have to pay. Some airlines, and definitely not any airlines here in Australia can be as low as $5 to use your points but in many instances, your taxes and fees are nearly the same as paying for a flight in cash. I would always recommend paying for a flight in this circumstance than wasting your points. There are certainly better ways to use your frequent flyer points for flights! Read my previous post on how to better use your points to travel to the US here after reading this post.

There is some positive news with the Qantas frequent flyer program. The have started doing more offers when using your frequent flyer points for flights and more recently, they have reduced the amount of points needed to fly to certain countries and the fees associated with them. It now makes it a better proposition using points and paying the fees and taxes. Here’s the old and new points below for the Melbourne to LA route

Between Melbourne and Los Angeles – 90,000 plus $419.32^ (was 96,000 frequent flyer points plus $609.32~)

Under $420 to fly return to LA is a pretty good deal considering the best you’d do at the moment is over $1080 from Qantas and from about $930 through Air New Zealand (current as of the 9/1/16). You can check my Facebook post on current deals to LA by clicking here and scroll to the 8/1/16 post. Qantas also offered half points to fly to destinations which is a significant saving in points but that was limited offer. The positive news with the QFF program is that they are giving more and better value compared to what they used to offer. So in my opinion, joining a loyalty program, and in this case the Qantas FF program, has its merits. You just need to know how to get the best value of it.

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