Hi all,
first time poster here, please be gentle 
I currently have 289k Qantas points and am about to lose Gold Status as theres no way I can make up the required status credits ahead of my Anniversary in August.
I’m planning a trip to Europe (Syd-Lon then London to Spain) in Jan for my wife and 5 y/o daughter.
I’d love some advice on the following;
How best to use the 289k points for upgrades on the Lon-Syd and Madrid-Syd flights?
As I’d have lost Gold Status, what lounge options are there for our trip?
Am I tied to Qantas for flights if using points or points & pay (with upgrade in mind)?
Would love to be able to upgrade the family to business if I can, premium economy also OK
Looking forward to hearing from fellow hackers
cheers
The Qantas website lists the points required to upgrade from economy, flexible economy to premium economy or business. Upgrades are really your only option since 289k isn’t enough points for an outright booking. An upgrade is not guaranteed, so there’s the chance you could book an economy ticket and nothing comes through and you’re stuck flying economy. For this reason perhaps you’d rather booking premium economy and hoping for an upgrade to business?
You are tied to Qantas for your flights to upgrade. You’ll only be able to upgrade on flights operated by Qantas; make sure you’re not on a codeshare flight when you book, look for QF1, QF2 (Sydney to London via Dubai).
Qantas may offer you the opportunity to buy a one-off lounge access pass, but it’s not always offered, and that would only be in Sydney, unless you fly home via London and they’ve opened their new lounge by then. You could consider buying Qantas Club membership which would give you access in Sydney, Dubai and London but not Madrid. Having Qantas Club membership will slightly improve your chance of an upgrade. There are all sorts of promotions for Qantas Club membership out there, the one through the ANZ Black Credit card is one of the best. Don’t forget if you are upgraded to Business you’ll get lounge access anyway.
Otherwise, you can pay for single entry passes to some lounges at Sydney, Dubai and London airports, the quality of these lounges varies greatly, expect to pay $40-$70pp. I’m not aware of any lounges in Madrid that allow one-off paid entry.