We’ll have plenty of good economy class examples very soon, but I wanted to start this new feature on rewards redemption examples with something more “aspirational,” my amazing 12-hour flight experience in the world’s best business class. The famous Qsuite is so much more accessible than you think — thanks to travel rewards.
Welcome to Flytrippers’ new feature with concrete examples of travel rewards redemptions, including testimonials from YOU, our beloved fans. We know you’ve earned at least 3 million dollars just with the travel rewards deals we shared, so we want to share your testimonials!
Here’s an extreme example to kick things off and show the extremely high-value travel rewards of the more lucrative type can provide. We already shared many examples of good uses for Avios points and Aeroplan points, but this here is a different format with real-life examples.
About me
This section will be especially useful for when our fans, like you, will share a testimonial — so you can know at least a little bit about them.
In my case, for those who haven’t been following my travel stories over the last 7 years since I co-founded Flytrippers, my priority is traveling more — I travel about 10 times per year. So, I make decisions accordingly and try to save on almost everything. I travel solo more often than with my girlfriend or friends.
My trip
Last summer, I was part of the Canadian delegation invited to the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit in India.
Luckily, we were given a fixed amount of money to cover our flights, so I decided to cash that in and use travel rewards to splurge on my 1st-ever true business class redemption (and my 2nd-ever long-distance business class flight).
I didn’t want to use up too many points, so I decided that the long 12-hour overnight flight from Montreal to Doha (Qatar) in business class was enough for me. I’ll share my return redemption from Sri Lanka to Montreal separately soon (I booked a separate cash ticket from Doha to India since cash prices were very low; that’s the self-transfer tip).
I really wanted to at least try out the Qsuite, which is often voted the world’s best business class with its closed door and amazing service. And especially since it’s one of the best travel rewards sweet spots for Canadians.
My business class flight experience
Here are the details of my business class flight:
- From: Montreal (YUL)
- To: Doha (DOH)
- Type: One-way
- Stops: None
- Airline: Qatar Airways
- Date: July 5, 2023
There’s a reason the Qsuite is often voted the world’s best business class. It was nothing short of amazing.
Many airlines have good lie-flat pod seats, but having a door you can close to make it a private suite space makes it so much more exclusive and luxurious.
All the unlimited food I ate was delicious. Qatar Airways even had poutine!
The champagne and alcohol are obviously free too.
The desserts were all great.
The flight attendant was great, as you’d expect from a premium Gulf airline — a reminder that everything related to hospitality is so much better outside North America; too many people are unfortunately unaware of this.
She set up my bed as soon as I asked and was very quick to bring whatever I wanted — and I wanted a lot. I love maximizing everything!
The amenity kit was by Diptyque, and a year later, I still use the comfortable pajamas from The White Company brand at home.
The seat is roomy and comfortable. It’s really the pinnacle of luxury in flight, and I can’t recommend it enough.
I’ll share a more detailed flight review separately soon.
My business class flight’s cash price ($3856)
Prices for business class flights are always completely insane in cash; don’t ever pay that.
My one-way was actually much more expensive than $3856, but that’s just because long-distance one-ways are often more expensive. So, instead of the real $6000 price for my exact flight, I used half of the regular roundtrip price of $7712 to be more realistic and fair in my valuation.
My travel rewards redemption ($161)
Here are the details of my travel rewards redemption:
- Program: Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Price: 70,000 Avios points
- Taxes/fees: $161
- Cash price: $3856
- Value: 5.3¢/pt*
- Flytrippers Valuation: ≈ 1.5¢/pt
It’s one of the best business class sweet spots to get many hours in a lie-flat seat for not too many points. Just 70,000 points, that’s a really good price, and the taxes/fees are very reasonable at $161 (although taxes/fees did increase slightly recently, it’s still an amazing deal).
That’s an amazing value of 5.3¢/pt because I saved $3695 (ticket at $3856 in cash minus $161 in taxes/fees paid) with 70,000 points. You can read the basics of reward value.
That’s why it’s so bad to waste points of the more lucrative type at the terrible 1¢/pt value like so many people sadly do. I got 5 times more value! I even got way more value than our conservative Flytrippers Valuation, which is ≈ 1.5¢/pt for Avios points.
But actually, I got even more than 5.3¢/pt, hence the asterisk above.
My strategy to earn these travel rewards
Those particular Avios points I used were less than the amount I got with just the welcome bonus on my RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card. It’s crazy to get $3000+ in value with just 1 welcome bonus!!!
That card’s record-high bonus is back and is available right now, but that will often not be the case in this testimonials feature since welcome bonus offers change constantly — that’s why the next section will always be there to tell you how you can get the points now in an actionable way.
RBC Avion points are the 2nd-best bank points in Canada because they’re transferable points. The regular transfer rate from Avion RBC to the British Airways Executive Club is 1-to-1, but I took advantage of the annual transfer bonus, which gave me 30% more points (back now too!).
So, it cost me only 53,847 RBC Avion points, giving me a real value of 6.9¢/pt. Make sure you sign up for our free newsletter specifically for travel rewards to never miss out on that amazing transfer bonus deal (which will give you an easy 30% extra value) or on the increased welcome bonus offers on any card (which can give you twice as many points when you get them at the right time)!
Avios points are unique in that they can also be transferred between a few airline programs at a rate of 1-to-1. That’s why I booked with Qatar Airways Privilege Club. To be clear, I could have booked that Qatar Airways flight with the British Airways program too, but in this case, it was the same price with Qatar Airways, and it’s better to book directly with the operating airline on these rare occasions where it’s the same price.
How you too can do the exact same thing right now
In Flytrippers’ infographic with all the basics of travel rewards, you can read THE most important thing to understand in the entire wonderful world of travel rewards: the best way to earn a lot of rewards is always with welcome bonuses.
Here’s Flytrippers’ ranking of the best credit cards for Avios points right now.
Best credit cards for Avios points |
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American Express® Gold Rewards Card | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. income (card): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. spend (bonus): $1k/month for 12 months | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION) |
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Rewards: ≈ $1180 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Card fee: $250 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avios points: 72,000 pts + 4 lounge passes and $100 travel credit |
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American Express® Business Gold Rewards Card | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Card: no business required | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. spend (bonus): $7.5k in 3 mos. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION) |
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Rewards: ≈ $713 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Card fee: $199 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avios points: 47,500 pts + quicker unlocking of pts |
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RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. income (card): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. spend (bonus): $5k in 6 mos. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION) |
ends November 25th
apply now |
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Rewards: ≈ $900 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Card fee: $120 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avios points: 60,000 pts + wider acceptance than Amex |
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RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege Card | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. income (card): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. spend (bonus): $5k in 6 mos. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION) |
ends November 25th
|
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Rewards: ≈ $919 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Card fee: $399 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avios points: 60,000 pts + 6 passes for airport lounges |
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American Express Cobalt® Card | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. income (card): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. spend (bonus): $750/month for 12 months | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION) |
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Rewards: ≈ $900 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Card fee: $156 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avios points: 60,000 pts + 5X the points best card in Canada |
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NEW |
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Min. income (card): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Min. spend (bonus): $10k in 3 mos. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION) |
ends January 28th
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Rewards: ≈ $2051 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Card fee: $799 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Avios points: 150,000 pts + unlimited lounges and $200 travel credit |
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Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
Best credit cards for Avios points |
WELCOME BONUS ( VALUATION) |
Avios points |
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Min. income (card):
Min. spend (bonus): $1k/month for 12 months
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Rewards: ≈ $1180
Card fee: $250
|
72,000 pts
+ 4 lounge passes
and $100 travel credit
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Card: no business required
Min. spend (bonus): $7.5k in 3 mos.
|
Rewards: ≈ $713
Card fee: $199
|
47,500 pts
+ quicker
unlocking of pts
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Min. income (card):
Min. spend (bonus): $5k in 6 mos.
|
Rewards: ≈ $900
Card fee: $120
|
60,000 pts
+ wider acceptance
than Amex
|
ends November 25th
apply now |
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Min. income (card):
Min. spend (bonus): $5k in 6 mos.
|
Rewards: ≈ $919
Card fee: $399
|
60,000 pts
+ 6 passes
for airport lounges
|
ends November 25th
|
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Min. income (card):
Min. spend (bonus): $750/month for 12 months
|
Rewards: ≈ $900
Card fee: $156
|
60,000 pts
+ 5X the points
best card in Canada
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NEW |
Min. income (card):
Min. spend (bonus): $10k in 3 mos.
|
Rewards: ≈ $2051
Card fee: $799
|
150,000 pts
+ unlimited lounges
and $200 travel credit
|
ends January 28th
|
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Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
The highest amount you can get in a quick timeframe is with the RBC Avion Visa Infinite Card!
Don’t miss our detailed guide on Avios, business class flight redemptions, and so much more soon! In the meantime, you can read an introduction to how airline point redemptions work.
Learning how to travel for less
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Summary
Flytrippers is launching a new feature showcasing concrete examples of travel rewards redemptions. My impressive 12-hour business class flight in the Qsuite is a great way to kick off this initiative, as it’s often voted the world’s best business class. You are now invited to reach out to us by email if you have a travel rewards testimonial to share so you can inspire others and even receive a $25 gift card.
What would you like to know about sharing your examples of travel rewards redemption? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Me in the Qatar Airways Qsuite (photo credit: Andrew D’Amours/Flytrippers)