Power Point: Frequent Flyer Farce.

I recently became a member of the Woolworths Everyday Rewards program which is linked to the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme.

At the time I thought it was a great idea. I can shop at Woolies and their affiliates and earn points so I can fly around Australia should I feel the need.

But all that changed about 10 minutes ago (10 minutes ago when I started writing this).

After the usual sequence of terms and conditions and detail filling, I immediately checked how many points it took to claim a return-trip to Sydney, ex. Melbourne Tullamarine.

The results weren't in Qantas' favour.

It takes a whopping 16,000 points to claim a return trip to Sydney. And that doesn't include accommodation.

16,000 POINTS?!?!?! YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT?!?!?!

Going off the Woolworths Everyday Rewards/Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme, you earn one point for every dollar spent over $30 at any Woolworths branch. So, in theory, I'm spending $16,000 for a trip that usually costs $120 or less for an economy ticket purchased online.

Yes, that $16,000 also includes to the cost of the milk and eggs purchased in earning those points, but 16,000 points seems excessive. Surely it doesn't take $16,000 worth of milk and eggs to earn a return trip to Sydney.

Browsing through the latest issue of Qantas' Frequent Flyer 'Reward' (they must have a different definition of rewards) catalogue, humble Nintendo Wii accessories cost 6,300 points. A $100 BIG W gift card requires 13,500 points.

Who designed the point scheme? 13,500 points for a gift card only worth $100, that's just absurd.

I understand the need for Qantas and their 'rewards' partners to have slightly inflated costs for the products available, but this is 16,000 points to claim an airfare worth approximately $120 with Qantas or Jetstar is just too much.

It gets worse though.

Even the amount of points earned through the purchase of international flights is minuscule. A return trip from Melbourne to Singapore earns you 7,498 points. Now, the flight does cost upwards from $1400, but 7,498 doesn't even cover the points required for a one-way journey to Sydney.

Now, I know there's been a lot of Qantas bashing lately in the newspapers thanks to their recent troubles with their Airbus A380s and other aircraft, but this post is by no means an attack on Qantas.

I firmly believe Qantas is one of the best airlines in the world in both service and safety, but the amount of points required for something of such low monetary value (in terms of other things in the catalogue) is just outrageous.

I'm sure that Qantas isn't the only airline that does this, and there are probably many more in the industry that do the exact same thing.

But 16,000 points for a trip to Sydney and back? For the $16,000 I need to spend to get those points, I'd be better off buying a relatively cheap new car (a Kia Rio costs $11,000 for the base model), filling it up with petrol and driving to Sydney and back.

And even then I'd still have a lot more left over for accommodation and spending cash.

And a car.