ANZ Rewards has removed the ability to transfer points to most frequent flyer programs online.
ANZ Rewards points can be transferred to four frequent flyer programs; Virgin Australia Velocity, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Air New Zealand Airpoints. Previously, it was possible to transfer points to any of these airlines by logging into the ANZ Rewards website. But online transfers are now only possible to Virgin’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program.
Transferring ANZ Rewards points to any other airline now requires a phone call to the bank. This can be done by calling 1300 367 763 during business hours, which are from 8am to 8pm (AEST) Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
As several AFF members have commented, this is a backwards step as it makes the process of transferring points more complicated. The most likely reason that a rewards program would remove online transfers is to discourage members from transferring their points to the affected airlines. There doesn’t seem to be a technical reason for the recent change because Velocity transfers are still available online, and you can still transfer points online from other credit card rewards programs to KrisFlyer, Asia Miles and Airpoints.
The length of time it takes to transfer points from ANZ Rewards to the KrisFlyer and Asia Miles programs is also concerning. The ANZ website says to allow up to 15 business days for transfers to KrisFlyer, and up to 18 business days for Asia Miles. In practice, that means it could take nearly a month for Asia Miles to arrive in your account. By this point, any award availability you were trying to book could be well gone.
It’s good that ANZ Rewards points can still be transferred to your choice of four airlines; the more airline partners, the better. But this recent change makes transferring points just a little harder.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: ANZ Rewards – transfering to airlines
