10,000 bonus points per 20 transactions

[lovetravellingoz]

2.4 million MR points would convert to 792,000 SPG Rewards points, which could be converted to AA at 987,000 miles, which would put you just shy of the "million miles" required for Lifetime Gold.

However, Lifetime Gold is pretty ordinary in AA - it's like Silver in QFF.

I tend to gauge these rewards in terms of Business Class RTW flights of 35,000 miles - if you dumped these points into AA, you would only get 5 RTW J flight with AA. If you took those 2.4 million points and put them into SQ Krisflyer, you would have enough for exactly 10 RTW J flights on *A - which is a much better deal.

So unless you have a big investment in AA, I'd say it might not be a valuable dumping the points into AA as a "burn" strategy. Much better value with other airlines.

My "massive" AA total is only 1750 at present.

So that is why as you have illustrated I am leaning towards SQ.

Initially I will keep them at Amex as I already have 600K at SQ......as various special may arise with VA, MH etc.....or even another attractive transfer rate to to SPG.

Long haul (ie Europe return), or RTW Business redeem are in my current thoughts.

With SQ booked on-line with Savers (admittedly limited cities) that is about 20 Business Class returns to Europe

 

[futaris]

I tend to gauge these rewards in terms of Business Class RTW flights of 35,000 miles - if you dumped these points into AA, you would only get 5 RTW J flight with AA. If you took those 2.4 million points and put them into SQ Krisflyer, you would have enough for exactly 10 RTW J flights on *A - which is a much better deal.

So unless you have a big investment in AA, I'd say it might not be a valuable dumping the points into AA as a "burn" strategy. Much better value with other airlines.

Don't forget that miles in Krisflyer expire after 18 months of being deposited.

Try calculating the cost of the +++ surcharges on AA and compare it against the cost on SQ Krisflyer. Krisflyer will charge you a LOT more for a similar routing, and don't forget that you can do a 50,000 mile Oneworld route, and it doesn't have to be a RTW.

5 x 50,000 J awards in AA = 250,000 miles in J on Oneworld
10 x 35,000 J awards in SQ = 350,000 miles in J on Star Alliance

Plus the miles that go into AA (for lifetime status), can always come out at HHonors for a small fee. And for every million miles you earn, you will get 4 eVIPs on AAdvantage.

For a simple SYD-SIN-FRA return on SQ:
Airport/Government Taxes AUD 156.78
Carrier Surcharges AUD 632.40

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Don't forget that miles in Krisflyer expire after 18 months of being deposited.

Which is why I intend keeping the bulk of them at Amex till they are needed...or opportunity provides a better home.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

What was your average transaction value?

I have done a quick calculation now.

About $10.

However as stated some were a grand.

I took the promo as per it's name..and shopped Everday.

My strategy was to have tx at lots of different stores/businesses each day including on-line. By being different businesses the tx were clearly legit.

Some days were bigger days than others though.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

5 x 50,000 J awards in AA = 250,000 miles in J on Oneworld
10 x 35,000 J awards in SQ = 350,000 miles in J on Star Alliance

Thanks for the interest & tips...and yes I have a nice problem to have.

One problem with RTW or 50K rewards is that you need a lot of time to make best use of them.

With basically 4-6 weeks of time per year at present better use for some flights might say just be going to say France for the whole time...rather than zapping around a lot just because I can.

At the moment a mix is likely. Some multi-city trips or RTW...and some to basically just the one country (or in the case of Euorope, adjoining Countries)

Also at present the GFC providesa bit of a Catch 22 for me....I now have ample FF points..but my personal cashlow over the next year, or so, to pay for accommodation and other expenses will be reduced to what it has been over the lst few years.

 

[beardoc]

I have a nice problem to have.

Actually, now that this is in your realm of possibilities, I might as well mention it - you could transfer 2 million of those points (or 1.67 million if they're having a 20% bonus special) to Virgin Atlantic, and these could be used for a free Virgin Galactic flight!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

you can do a 50,000 mile Oneworld route, and it doesn't have to be a RTW.

5 x 50,000 J awards in AA = 250,000 miles in J on Oneworld
10 x 35,000 J awards in SQ = 350,000 miles in J on Star Alliance

I must be miising your intent here...

5 by 50K awards in J on AA would cost more than 50K each...???? Ditto for SQ 35,000 J awards???

A SQ saver to Europe return is about 130K (rounded) return with 1:1 transfer from Amex.

AA from memory (??) is about 150K but with less than 1 transfer rate the cost goes up.

 

[simongr]

I must be miising your intent here...

5 by 50K awards in J on AA would cost more than 50K each...???? Ditto for SQ 35,000 J awards???

A SQ saver to Europe return is about 130K (rounded) return with 1:1 transfer from Amex.

AA from memory (??) is about 150K but with less than 1 transfer rate the cost goes up.

An AA RTW 30K miles award is 150K AA points.

 

[futaris]

Sorry, If I was a bit unclear, I was talking purely about redeeming 2.4 Million Amex MR into solely AA or Krisflyer for J "RTW" awards and comparing flown miles:

AA.com:
220k AA miles = 35-50k RTW in Business Class
190k AA miles = 25-35k RTW in Business Class

2,425,000 Amex MR = 800,250 SPG = 1,000,250 AA = Lifetime Gold
5 x 220k AA = 1.1 Million AA (250k miles flown in Business)
5 x 190k AA = 950k AA (175k miles flown in Business)

Singaporeair.com:
240,000 KrisFlyer miles = 35k RTW in Business Class

2.4 Million Amex MR = 2.4 Million KrisFlyer miles = 10 x 240,000 KrisFlyer miles (350k miles flown in Business)

As I said before, flying on a AA Oneworld RTW award is less restrictive than flying on a *ONE* flight, as you can fly in any direction, and don't have to cross both oceans, etc. You can even stopover in your home town (to break the trip in 2) if you don't start your RTW award there. And you can leave Australia multiple times as long as you don't stopover in the same city twice.

So 350k flying on Star Alliance, vs ~230k on Oneworld, or 65% of the Star Alliance flights. Of course once the credit card miles are used up, with a higher lifetime status you will earn more miles on paid flights in Oneworld. Eventually when you reach AA Lifetime Plat, two trips on a longhaul route should give you enough miles for the same longhaul route, e.g. SYD-LAX-JFK-LAX-SYD is ~20k flying, and will earn you 40k if on AA codeshare, if you're Plat. Do that twice, and you'll get 80k miles, which is enough for Australia - USA on AA. Although, I suppose that if you never plan to fly on a paid flight again, then the point is moot.

Of course this is an overly simplistic calculation, that doesn't take into account where you want to fly, how much hard cash you spend (on taxes, etc) and how much time you want to take off, availability on various airlines, whether you actually fly on paid flights, etc.

NB, There are some good deals on hotel rooms using HHonors points or SPG points.
e.g. 6 nights in Hilton Bora-Bora for 175k HHonors points
Fly there using 25k SQ miles for economy or 35k for business (on Air NZ). Alternatively 40k AA miles for economy, or 60k AA for business (on Air Tahiti).

Note that a lot of hotels have recently changed categories in SPG, and so are cheaper (in points).

NB, If the Amex -> SPG 1000:600 mistake rate was still in effect:
2,400,000 Amex MR = 1,440,000 SPG = 1,800,000 AA = Lifetime Gold (and close to Plat)
8 x 220k AA = 1.76 Million AA (400k miles flown in Business)
9 x 190k AA = 1.71 Million AA (315k miles flown in Business)

So with SPG mistake rate, you'd get roughly the same amount of flight mileage, lifetime status and less taxes to boot.

 

[beardoc]

NB, If the Amex -> SPG 1000:600 mistake rate was still in effect:
2,400,000 Amex MR = 1,440,000 SPG = 1,800,000 AA = Lifetime Gold (and close to Plat)
8 x 220k AA = 1.76 Million AA (400k miles flown in Business)
9 x 190k AA = 1.71 Million AA (315k miles flown in Business)

So with SPG mistake rate, you'd get roughly the same amount of flight mileage, lifetime status and less taxes to boot.

Yes, and that's why I shifted enough points over to SPG for a J RTW flight through AA at that time. If it was still in effect, SPG -> AA would get all my points. But for now it's SQ for me and my points from now on. I see what you're saying, but the advantages you mention aren't all that useful for me. And besides, I love flying SQ (but really don't like UA - but that might be different in J!)

 

[futaris]

For someone who already has QP Life, having AA Lifetime Plat doesn't mean much. For the rest of us, since QANTAS Club stopped offering Lifetime membership, the only two equivalent options are AA Lifetime Plat or QF Lifetime Gold.

Incidentally you can redeem for SQ flights from Virgin Atlantic. Has anyone here done this? Are the fees/taxes similar? Some of the redemption rates are slightly lower than on Krisflyer, even taking into account the 15% discount, e.g. Europe - Australia/New Zealand = 150k Virgin Atlantic miles.

 

[Flashback]

For someone who already has QP Life, having AA Lifetime Plat doesn't mean much. For the rest of us, since QANTAS Club stop offering Lifetime membership, the only two equivalent options are AA Lifetime Plat or QF Lifetime Gold.

Not completely equivalent; I believe AA Life Plat and QF LTG include OW status also, whereas QP does not.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

, how much hard cash you spend (on taxes, etc) and how much time you want to take off, availability on various airlines, whether you actually fly on paid flights, etc.

.

Hi again Futuris. Thank you for taking the time and effort to write and explain all that. It was helpful to me and I am sure to others. I certainly will not be rushing into things.

However the key is probably the part I have higlighted in bold.
"whether you actually fly on paid flights, etc."

While a number of years back I was a Star Alliance Diamond and Ansett Plat I then dropped down to being just frequent paid flyer mainly on Qantas and Virgin (say a return domestic flight per fornight) to my present circumstances (with a better more balance lifestyle) where I have about:

• 6-10 domestic work flights per year
• 2-4 domestic leisure flights per year
• and a very occassional paid international return flight.

On the last point I say very occassional, as my main objective in aquiring FF points is to do so as cost effectively as possible to redeem for International Airflights for a family of 5...these days Internationally (but back when domestic was good value it included such things as Melb- Whitsundays-Alice Spings - MEL).

To this end over the last six years I have managed trips to Cairo, Thailand twice, New Caledonia via FF points...all fora family of 5 each time.

Hence status for paid flights is not too important to me as I try and not pay for International flights. I do have access to very cheap QF Club Corporate Membership which is also tax-deductable making it's real cost only abouta $100 per year which is cheap for the showers, food, drinks etc..not to mention prioirity queueses and other benefits. this serves me well for my domestic flights if they are on QF or JetStar...and some of my international trips.

If I redeeem J on SQ that will come with lounge access.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Update;

• I have gone back and looked through all points awarded now
• Amex would seem to have fully paid for all tx (or close enough)
• The bonus points awarded would also seem to include return of the points I was POCed in Oct.
• Therefore final Promo Points gained would appear to be 2.825 Million

Goodluck to the many members I have been PM-ing with for a while over gaining of the points owed to us as we swapped tips and advice, some of whom are still awaiting their final payouts..

 

[beardoc]

Update;

• I have gone back and looked through all points awarded now
• Amex would seem to have fully paid for all tx (or close enough)
• The bonus points awarded would also seem to include return of the points I was POCed in Oct.
• Therefore final Promo Points gained would appear to be 2.825 Million

Goodluck to the many members I have been PM-ing with for a while over gaining of the points owed to us as we swapped tips and advice, some of whom are still awaiting their final payouts..

An impressive result!

That really was some serious rewards points running - at least 2825 transactions in four months is no mean feat!

Glad they've finally paid up in full!

 

[Flashback]

An average of approximately 27 transactions per day (Sep 20-Dec 31)

 

[oz_mark]

An average of approximately 27 transactions per day (Sep 20-Dec 31)

More than one an hour, every hour. Take sleep time etc out, that is some impressive card usage.

 

[js]

Therefore final Promo Points gained would appear to be 2.825 Million

Truly an exceptional result lovetravellingoz, well done! This will no doubt go down in history.

We bow down in your presence

And here I was thinking I'd done pretty well... Any prizes for second place? :-|

 

[straitman]

And here I was thinking I'd done pretty well... Any prizes for second place? :-|

Just the points you have collected :!:

 

[Flashback]

Just the points you have collected :!:

You beat me to it straitman :evil: