After D-Day, Whats your new strategy?

[SOPOOR]

so now I have 200,000 amex points, should I convert it to asiamiles, or krisflyer ?
this is after the deadline,

what do you think ?

You might as well leave them now!

 

[Chicken]

so now I have 200,000 amex points, should I convert it to asiamiles, or krisflyer ?
this is after the deadline

Do you want to fly SQ / *A? Or do you want to fly CX via HKG and OW?

Completely different kettle of fish (why fish?)

 

[Bell21]

Depends where you fly but in general kf has better availability from what I can gather

 

[FL360]

Completely different kettle of fish (why fish?)

this is the hard bit, I will be OWE in the coming few weeks or so.
Personally I don't have enough experience in redeeming KF or AM flights, from a simple points I believe AM need less points to redeem J/F seats on CX, but in real life how hard to get I am not sure.

I have stopped using Amex and this year will be my last year with their cards, because basically, Amex and AM, stuffed up my transfer before the deadline.

so my strategy is do some referrals only to get more points, transfer them to KF / AM, and cancel the card before the next renewal - the card has been paid off.

 

[Chicken]

this is the hard bit, I will be OWE in the coming few weeks or so.

Just personally, I pick by these orders:
- Is the number of points / miles required stupid (read Qantas)
- Does it take me where I want to go
- Am I happy to fly the class I will be in

So, if I am just flying short, like up and down asia, I would just pick whatever, because I would just fly Y (my commute on a bus in Sydney is between 2 to 4 hours per day, flying in Asia is just like taking a bus in Sydney)

If I am flying across some kind of an ocean, then I would fly J, so I would pick based on miles required, then whether I could get there with the airline in question.

So, I guess, if I were you, I would be thinking, am I flying Y? OWE is important if I am flying Y, but if I am flying J, then I would not fuss.

And yes, Singapore is really the easiest to redeem among everything I tried.

 

[FL360]

And yes, Singapore is really the easiest to redeem among everything I tried.

Thanks for the experience

yes I can see for AM, there is the Standard Award and Choice Award, I would assume for busy days (for example Australia / HK holidays and aus school holidays the availability for standard award will be quite poor ?

 

[Chicken]

Your question would be best asked in CX forum. SQ has the same thing like what you described about Asia Mile

 

[FL360]

Your question would be best asked in CX forum

This is not an easy question, as someone need to have points under both programs to perform a direct comparison... I guess I will just send all the amex and credit card points to KF, I will just accumulate enough for a SQ J flight to Europe / Asia etc...

 

[SOPOOR]

Got my statement, first ever zero statement

Feels a bit weird

 

[FL360]

I will get my zero statement in one month's time too ! They keep offer me some rebates like opal, but it only worth $15. Not worth my hassle to keep the card in my wallet..

 

[daft009]

Got my statement, first ever zero statement

Feels a bit weird

I'm not quite there yet. Still managed around 30k, mostly business expenses, 95% without a surcharge, some with a 1-1.5% surcharge.

 

[SOPOOR]

I'm not quite there yet. Still managed around 30k, mostly business expenses, 95% without a surcharge, some with a 1-1.5% surcharge.

now that its only 1-1.5 ppd, it just doesnt have the same satisfaction as before of earning points

 

[daft009]

now that its only 1-1.5 ppd, it just doesnt have the same satisfaction as before of earning points

I'm still on the old scale till 30 June

 

[SOPOOR]

given the deval, and the fact that most amexs are earning 1-1.2 pts now,
there still is a 25% give or take advantage over the earn rates for visa and master card,

and since amex are supposedly dropping their merchant fees to be competitive,
I thought eventually possibly amex will be seen as another visa or MC, and they will probably drop their points down to even less down the track,

 

[daft009]

given the deval, and the fact that most amexs are earning 1-1.2 pts now,
there still is a 25% give or take advantage over the earn rates for visa and master card,

and since amex are supposedly dropping their merchant fees to be competitive,
I thought eventually possibly amex will be seen as another visa or MC, and they will probably drop their points down to even less down the track,

guess it could happen.
will be time to find another way to play the game lol

 

[SeaWolf]

These days my philosophy with credit cards is that first and foremost, the card has got to be worthwhile without the earning of points. Whether that's travel credits, free flights, lounge access etc. I'm only going to be interested if those benefits offset the annual fee for me.

The points are then a bonus on top of that. Obviously I want a good earn/burn rate but the constant devaluations, shifting earning rates, availability of flights, shifting redemption rates etc. means that you're never really sure how much (if anything) the points are going to be worth. So when I'm looking at signing up for a card I always assume the points are worth nothing.

Fortunately there's a good range of cards that offer solid benefits (both Amex and Visa/MC) so there's lots to choose from.

 

[FL360]

For me it had to be worthwhile without annual fee.....
Travel credit, you can forget to use it, and if you only have to book it via their site the availability and the price is almost less desirable...

has got to be worthwhile without

 

[SOPOOR]

for me I consider annual fee minus bonus points minus travel credit
plus consider any other factors such as statement credits, screen insurance

 

[Bell21]

Depends where you fly but in general kf has better availability from what I can gather

Dr Ralph, why that emoticon? Curious