'I've been hoarding Qantas points and now I'm in panic mode as huge changes come into effect tomorrow'

"Can we book a holiday in the next ten hours?"

That's a text message I just sent to my partner, when I realised that the massive amount of Qantas points that I'm sitting on is about to become a lot less valuable.

I knew that changes were coming to the airline's frequent flyer program... I just forgot that it came into effect tomorrow.

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Earlier this year, Qantas announced an overhaul of its frequent flyer program, increasing the number of points needed to book a flight.

I've been hoarding Qantas points for years, doing all the classic tricks.

I've opened and closed three different credit cards, all of which came with a big points bonus. I've used these cards to pay for everything, watching my points balance slowly creep up. I've linked apps, done surveys, entered competitions.

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Now I wish I'd used them up after earning them.

Over the last few years, I've made a few bookings with my points - return flights to the US, a trip to visit a friend in Adelaide - but I still have just over 200,000 points right now.

The plan was to use them for an upcoming family holiday... but now I'm in panic mode. I feel like I need to use the rest of them to book something before the end of the day.

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I thought I was a savvy traveller, taking all these efforts to rack up my Qantas points. But now I'm realising that you also need to be smart about how you use them, too.

Instead of hoarding, I should have been collecting and spending, taking advantage of sales and Double Points events.

The upside is that you can book 11 months in advance. The downside is that I find it hard to plan a week into the future, let alone nearly a year.

Qantas points devaluation

With the new changes, the majority of Qantas reward flights will cost an additional 15 to 20 per cent of points.

Nine finance editor, Effie Zahos, told Today that rising inflation is behind the drop in the value of points.

"If you wanted to book a flight from, say, Sydney or Melbourne to Tokyo and return for two people, you'll need 126,000 Qantas frequent flyer points today, but tomorrow you'll need more and the same if you want a holiday to Bali."

So, she says, if you want your points to go further, book your trip today.

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Qantas frequent flyer changes

These are the major changes for Qantas Frequent Flyers, coming into effect August 5th.

• Increased points needed to book Classic Upgrades and Reward Seats on domestic, international, and partner airline flights.
• Jetstar short-haul domestic flights will be available for as few as 5,700 points - the lowest one-way Economy reward seat in Australia.
• Members will have access to up to one million more Classic Reward seats with new and existing partners.
• Members will be able to use their Qantas Points to upgrade to Business on Jetstar flights.

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Qantas has been flying internationally for 90 years