Doc Holiday: ‘I’m a Qantas points millionaire but I can’t get a flight’

Even with more than a million Qantas points to spare, there might not be Classic Flight Reward seats available on the date and route you're looking to travel.

If there are no Classic Reward Flights showing as available on a certain day, customers can still see the “points plus pay” option of using their points to pay for a regular fare.

Escape's Doc Holiday, Dilvin Yasa, answers your travel-related questions.

I’ve got 1.25 million Qantas points and I want to book business-class return to the UK. Seats appear to be available only if I’m willing to part with 1.26 million points. It used to be 580,000 points per person. What gives?

I had a chat with the team at Qantas and they wanted to reassure you that a Classic Reward Flight (return) between Melbourne and London is still 289,000 in business class (578,000 Qantas points for a couple). If there are no Classic Reward Flights showing as available on a certain day, customers can still see the “points plus pay” option of using their points to pay for a regular fare.

“The points required for a ‘points plus pay’ flight booking are not fixed and do fluctuate depending on the cash price of a specific fare the member is purchasing,” Qantas says.

“It sounds like there might not be Classic Flight Reward seats available on the date and route this customer is looking to travel, and so he is seeing the ‘points plus pay’.”

I wish I had better news for you, but it seems it’s an issue of availability at the moment.

I have nothing but scorn for Istanbul Airport, which is well over an hour from the city.

What’s the best way to get from Istanbul Airport to Conrad Istanbul hotel, and are there many English speakers in this area to help us find our way around tourist sites?

I have nothing but scorn for Istanbul Airport, which is well over an hour from the city (you’ll drive through farmland for 20 minutes before you approach anything remotely resembling the outskirts of Istanbul). It isn’t all bad news – not only are taxis ridiculously inexpensive, your hotel is within easy reach of the city’s top sites. You can book a private airport transfer through Istanbul Shuttle Port for about $65, but I recommend jumping in a taxi, which will cost about $40 (dependent on traffic, of course, but if your flight arrives late at night or in the early hours of the morning, you should be fine).

Finding locals who speak English away from tourism heavy-hitters like the Grand Bazaar, say, or Dolmabahçe Palace, can be hit and miss (you’ll have more success with younger Turks, who have a stronger grasp of English) but you won’t struggle to get around. Turks are famously generous and hospitable, even if they have to rely on charades to get the information across. Download Google Translate to help with conversations, and also to decipher menus and signs. While you’re at it, also use Google Maps on your phone when you’re in taxis so your driver understands you know where he’s meant to be headed. It only takes a few “creative” drivers to let the whole industry down.

Someone else asked me about how best to carry currency in Turkey and I’ve always found it best to use my usual debit card (it has no international transaction fees and can be used everywhere) but also to carry some Turkish lira (about $100 or so) at all times. Some places – particularly taxis and the smaller bazaars – still insist on cash and you don’t want to be caught out.

While you’re staying at Conrad Istanbul Hotel, do yourself a favour and take a short stroll to check out Dolmabahçe and also the harbourside suburb of Ortaköy a little further up the road. It has a fantastic marketplace teeming with handicrafts and street foods, and you can hop on an hour-long Bosphorus sightseeing cruise from the pier (less than $10 a person). There’s no better way to see the city’s landmarks, palaces and historic homes. Iyi yolculuklar! (Have a great trip!)

Originally published as Doc Holiday: ‘I’m a Qantas points millionaire but I can’t get a flight’