I have 140,000 Qantas FF points, and 130,000 Virgin Velocity points. In April/May next year I am going on my honeymoon and I want to find the most cost effective way to upgrade or purchase business class fares for me and my fiance. We are flying from Melbourne to London return and want to stop in Hong Kong for a couple of days on the way over (way back we are not fussed where as we will go straight home). I would like at least one leg of the journey over to be in business, ideally the HK to LDN given it’s a longer flight. I’m finding it difficult to find the right combination given my points are split across two programs. I am open to whatever the best combination of purchasing, upgrading or points use works best. Does anyone have any advice on best way to go about it?
Unfortunately you’ll need a minimum of 184,000 Qantas Points or 167,000 Velocity points for 2x seats from HKG to LHR in Business Class on Cathay Pacific/British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.
I wouldn’t recommend buying upgradeable Economy tickets as they will be quite pricey and you’re not guaranteed an upgrade, let alone two.
Perhaps use your points to fly Business from Australia to a mid-way point (e.g. Singapore or Hong Kong). You could do Melbourne to Hong Kong with Velocity Points (119,000 Velocity Points for 2x Business), and Singapore or Hong Kong back to Melbourne in Business with Qantas Points.
The HKG-LHR-HKG/SIN ticket could be purchased with cash depending on the fares.