Booking hotels with Qantas FF Points? UPDATE: Now you can.

[crazy Cat Lady]

This is my first post on the Disboards. Sorry if this question has been answered anywhere else, I did look but was unable to find the answer...

We are planning a trip to WDW in Oct '14 and I would like to know if it is possible to use Qantas Frequent Flyer points to book international hotels. I've searched the Qantas website, but if it is there, they have hidden the info well!

I know you can do this via Verlocity, so would like to know this far out if it is worth me changing the way I use the credit card and build the Virgin points over the Qantas FF. We have enough FF points to book our flights at the moment.

Thanks in advance for your help. We are really excited about this trip!

PS: loving this board, so much information from you all, it is amazing!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I normally use FF points to book flights; rather than accommodation...so I'm not much help on this front. But....

Welcome to the Dis!







Out of curiosity, why don't you just use them for flights?

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

Thanks for the welcome PrincessInOz!

The reason I'm looking at options to use the FF other than flights is that I will be able to claim my flights back on tax as I'm planning on attending an industry event while I'm in the USA.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for the welcome PrincessInOz!

The reason I'm looking at options to use the FF other than flights is that I will be able to claim my flights back on tax as I'm planning on attending an industry event while I'm in the USA.

Congrats on attending an industry event. That's always a good way to work and travel.

Perhaps one of the other Aussies can advise if they have booked international accommodation on points.

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

It sure is!

 

[australiankaren]

a kitten dies...

dont waste them on hotels/cars etc......use them for flights.
Sign up with the hotels you are interested in..but really in the USA hotels of 4 or 5 star quality are dirt cheap compared to Oz prices.We all use priceline, hotels.com, last minute etc...

Please dont kill a kitten

oh and welcome to anzac disboards...

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

LOL @ australiankaren! We wont waste them I promise, will do all I can to keep a kitten alive!

Yes, the prices of hotels in the US are very cheap. We are pretty lucky as we have a stack of FF points and some Verlocity, so if I can use them for the hotels as well as Crazy Cat Boys flights that would be great.

My flight will be tax deductable, but if we can cover both using FF, I'm open to that as well. Free is better than deductable!

Loved your last WDW trip update by the way - that trip is very close to what we will be doing next year.

 

[australiankaren]

LOL @ australiankaren! We wont waste them I promise, will do all I can to keep a kitten alive!

Yes, the prices of hotels in the US are very cheap. We are pretty lucky as we have a stack of FF points and some Verlocity, so if I can use them for the hotels as well as Crazy Cat Boys flights that would be great.

My flight will be tax deductable, but if we can cover both using FF, I'm open to that as well. Free is better than deductable!

Loved your last WDW trip update by the way - that trip is very close to what we will be doing next year.

with your velocity as well as QF you can use them on internal airlines in the USA, so maybe save them for lax-mco for your trip next year...we used 45,000 delta points for rtn first class delta lax-mco.....also look into renting dvc points for wdw, a lot cheaper than rack rates at deluxe if thats your fancy.

yes, the anzac board is full of tried and tested ways to get max bang for our bucks! just ask us, we'll tell you.

Oh, and the kittens of the world thank you!

BTW: this years trip is 2 cruises on FOS and WDW..so stay tuned for that!

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

with your velocity as well as QF you can use them on internal airlines in the USA, so maybe save them for lax-mco for your trip next year...we used 45,000 delta points for rtn first class delta lax-mco.....also look into renting dvc points for wdw, a lot cheaper than rack rates at deluxe if thats your fancy.

yes, the anzac board is full of tried and tested ways to get max bang for our bucks! just ask us, we'll tell you.

Oh, and the kittens of the world thank you!

BTW: this years trip is 2 cruises on FOS and WDW..so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for the advice on the internal flights.

We are happy to stay in non deluxe hotels and use the money to do more on our trip. Really, the hotel to us is a place to leave our bags and shower! We also have some Priority Club points to use when we are over there as well, but will probably only get 3-4 nights from those. Used them on the last trip for stays in Holiday Inns @ DL and then in NYC.

We are hiring a car in Orlando and will keep that with us for our trip up the East coast, probably drop the car in DC before heading on to NYC.

I'm really excited to read that Universal are expanding their Harry Potter World experience and to find out that we will be at WDW while the Food & Wine Festival is on: We loves our food & wine!

Can't wait to see your next TR.

 

[australiankaren]

disney on site hotels are resorts in their own right...they are themed and have that wow factor regardless of whether you stay value or deluxe...so chose your hotel carefully....and allow at least a day to resort hop if you have the time...just jump on the bus and go from resort to resort...a great way to spend a day if you dont want to use a park ticket.

heres a site I use for points/ deals etc....http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hotel-deals-607/

if you haven't been to wdw before, be prepared to be overwhelmed by how huge it really is & pay that little bit extra to stay on site.......IMO.

 

[cola]

And many of the off-site hotels are resorts in their own right, just without the Hidden Mickeys. You can get Marriotts, Hiltons, Sheratons, etc, ridiculously cheaply, though it does mean you have to pay for parking at Disney and Universal and free dining doesn't get a look in. If you have a car, staying offsite can be an amazing bargin. I've stayed on site and off site, and I'm quite happy staying offsite if the savings are big enough.

The Harry Potter expansion at Universal opens next year, I think they are saying Summer, but they are always pretty vague about a date until very close.

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

And many of the off-site hotels are resorts in their own right, just without the Hidden Mickeys. You can get Marriotts, Hiltons, Sheratons, etc, ridiculously cheaply, though it does mean you have to pay for parking at Disney and Universal and free dining doesn't get a look in. If you have a car, staying offsite can be an amazing bargin. I've stayed on site and off site, and I'm quite happy staying offsite if the savings are big enough.

The Harry Potter expansion at Universal opens next year, I think they are saying Summer, but they are always pretty vague about a date until very close.

Thanks Cola. I'm looking at all the options and we will have a car, so plenty of flexibility. Free dining not such a biggie for us as it is just the two of us and we will spend time in Orlando as well as at WDW.

We will be there early to mid October, so fingers crossed on the Harry Potter expansion!

 

[crazy Cat Lady]

Hi all. Just an update on this, now you can book hotels with FF points! We've booked our flights with FF points and will now see how effective the points are to use with hotels. I'll report back!