What is the cheapest way to to do Europe, North America, Japan trip with Qantas points?

Hi all,

I’m an ok points collector but very inexperienced points user. Have 4.5 months leave from early Sep to mid Jan. I am platinum level QFF and current have just over 600K QFF points. I have a young family of 5 who love traveling and skiing trying to do a combination of Europe, North America & Japan. Goal is the cheapest classic rewards way to get around the world starting with Europe (Sep - Dec), North America (Dec - Jan), Japan (Jan) before coming back home again.

Using classic rewards, being flexible with dates and not caring where I land or leave these countries/continents - using internal train/car/flights to travel where the climate/snow is good - I have found the below route for mid 600k points plus 2K in taxes.

Sydney to Paris CDG via Dallas in September on Qantas & AA
London Heathrow to Philadelphia in December on AA
San Francisco to Tokyo (Narita) in January on JL
Tokyo to Singapore in January on JL
Singapore to Sydney via Hong Kong on CX

Anyone more experienced know of a cheaper points way to get to these countries/continents if I don’t care where I land and when I go? Using classic rewards it seems difficult to get seats if I come direct from Japan to Aus without going through China which I am avoiding for obvious reasons.

Any advice or route suggestions greatly appreciated.

Hi @barrard

Sounds like a great holiday you’re planning with your family!

Have you considered using your Qantas points to book a Oneworld Round The World redemption? It costs 132400 points per person in Economy, 249600 points in Premium Economy, and 318000 points per person in Business. So for 662000 points – a little over what you have right now, but definitely attainable – you can fly your family around the world in Economy class.

Carefully read this comprehensive Point Hacks guide (I mean that – carefully read it!) and go from there.

Regarding your specific query about how to get to Australia from Japan – this Point Hacks guide contains a lot of material, much of which is relevant to you with Qantas points.

All the best!

3 Likes

Excellent. Thanks @sixtyeight

Hi @barrard,
As an avid skier with teenage kids I am aware of the issues you face of getting to the resorts when the snow is best.
I’m not sure if your original route description fits the Oneworld Round The World because it virtually has to be in the one direction so you couldn’t go via the US to Europe then back to the US.
The US definitely has better early skiing than Europe unless you want to ski on glaciers like Zermatt Switzerland and Ischgl in Austria. The resorts in the Rockies open late November with very skiable snow but in general European resorts don’t have reliable snow until around Christmas.
I have skied in Canada, US, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Australia NZ (well over 100 weeks in total) some good seasons some not so good, it is still pot luck in getting it right.
If you are low on points you could always start your trip in Singapore/Japan (some cheap QF flights return to SIN/NRT at the moment with QANTAS) and land in Europe somewhere different like Helsinki or Frankfurt as there is usually good availability, that ensure you get away and home when you want and allows you to be more flexible with your RTW flights.
If you need any ski resort advice just msg me and I might be able to help out.
Remember a lot of North America resorts have children prices up to 17 years of age so this can save heaps of money.
All the best and may you have many POW days on your trip.

Another tip is that if you hold Platinum status with Qantas, you can request the release of additional award seats. While it isn’t guaranteed, it may help you piece your trip together/have a few more options.