Precisely on point! I was looking at one-way tickets between Sydney and Singapore. Economy cost approximately $800 (or 30,000 points) whereas business class cost approximately $5200 (or 60,000 points). I got much more bang for my points by purchasing the business class ticket on points.

Last year, I queued up in the TRS line at Sydney Airport. I arrived at the airport 3 hours ahead of my scheduled flight to New York, but check-in took 1 hour and customs took another 45 minutes. By the time I finally got to the TRS area, I only had 60 minutes to claim my GST. The TRS li...