Two weeks ago, Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth predicted that the airline’s first-ever Points Auction would cause a “points bidding frenzy” amongst Qantas Frequent Flyers looking to spend their points on something a bit more impressive than a new toaster. Turns out she was right. Confirmed today, the Qantas Points Auction results reveal that 12.3 million Qantas Points were exchanged for a range of exclusive items and experiences.
The Qantas Points Auction featured a different item each day across five days, ranging from a private charter flight on a Dash-8, and a luxury Queenstown holiday, to a soccer coaching clinic, two pre-loved A380 business class seats (sold as a pair), and a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator session.
Those two A380 Business Class Seats clearly drew the most attention. The opening bid skyrocketed to 350,000 Points and continued to push up until the winning bid of 2 million points, placed just three seconds before the auction finished. Qantas claim that there were a total of six bids in the final minute of the auction and one particular bidder placed 19 bids throughout.
Tens of thousands of visitors either participated in the auction, or headed along to the website while it was on, including Qantas Frequent Flyer, Melbourne rich lister, and The Block serial-bidder Danny Wallis, who was the successful bidder on both the 787-9 simulator session, and the private Dash-8 charter flight, which he plans to use for a day trip to Tasmania for 30 of his mates.
“Normally I spend my points to upgrade my family to First Class on our annual trip to Europe, but with international travel off the cards at the moment, the Points Auction was a fantastic way to break the monotony of lockdowns and give us an experience to lock forward to”.
Aside from that points king, others who struck gold include Matthew Hartley, who exchanged his hard-earned points for a children’s soccer coaching clinic with Socceroos’ coach Graham Arnold. Not a bad way to purge your points, considering Hartley told Qantas he’d usually just use them for redemptions on Qantas Wine and Business Class tickets.
Qantas is already planning for a second Points Auction later this year, with early requests for unique offerings including more luxury travel experiences and Qantas memorabilia. In the meantime, check out the full Qantas Points Auction results below.
● Spin in the 787 simulator with one of Qantas’ most experienced Captains
o Starting bid = 50,000 Points
o Winning bid = 1,200,001 Points
o The winning bid was placed at 2 PM.
● Luxury holiday for four people to Queenstown
o Starting bid = 300,000 Points
o Winning bid = 3,765,000 Points
o It attracted the greatest number of bids of all five items
o There were five bids placed in the last 60 seconds – the winning bid was placed three seconds
before the auction ended.
● Kids soccer coaching clinic with Socceroos Coach Graham Arnold
o Starting bid = 100,000 Points
o Winning bid = 501,000 Points
o The winning bid was placed three seconds before the auction ended.
● Two Qantas A380 Business class Skybeds
o One bidder placed 19 bids
o Starting bid = 350,000 Points
o Winning bid = 2,000,000 Points
o There were six bids placed in the last 60 seconds – the winning bid was placed three seconds
before the auction ended.
● Private charter flight to Byron Bay, Hamilton Island or Devonport inclusive of premium Qantas hospitality
o Starting bid = 1,200,000 Points
o Winning bid = 4,848,484 Points
o The winning bid was placed at 7:41 PM.
