Finally able to use my Qantas points

I had been looking for flights from Australia to the USA and noticed rewards flights seemed to be a bit higher than last year. United was still 40,000 each way plus taxes and fees of $99, but Chase was not giving me good redemptions on travel. Most if not all of the flights I saw were going through China and they were 45,900 Ultimate Rewards Points.

Early in the year I had seen flights through the Chase travel redemption tool for around 33,000 points with the Sapphire Reserve card benefit of getting 50% more on travel redemptions compared to the 25% on the Sapphire Preferred card. This could be in part the result of ticket prices going up from Darwin (DRW) to Bali (DPS) as Airasia stopped flying the route and left Jetstar with no competition. Many of my Google Flight searches to Bali now go through Singapore (SIN) first. I also think ticket prices are higher than the same time last year in general.

In an effort to come up with something better I bought a cheap ticket to Brisbane (BNE) thinking that I might use it as a better starting point. I was even considering going through Auckland (AKL) using some Qantas points I had accumulated when I did a few searches to see how much a Australia to USA flight would be. I usually do not consider this as a good option due to the high taxes and fees Qantas imposes on flights leaving Australia, but this time I ran across an American Airline flight that imposed much smaller fees. AA reward flights to the US are not common on Qantas classic rewards, but when you can find them they are a great way to us your points without getting hit with heavy fees.

I was able to book one way flights for 60,000 Qantas points and $160. While this may not seem as good as the 40,000 point and $99 option from United, I do not value Qantas points nearly as much as Chase Ultimate Reward Points which can be turned into cash, transferred to many partners or redeemed for travel. This flight is from Darwin to Indianapolis, which I was not able to see on the United website when searching for reward flights.

Last year there some very cheap flights from the US to SE Asia which I took advantage of (LAX to DPS for around $475) . I am hoping ticket prices will drop a bit for the return leg or that some better redemptions will come up.