Buying Velocity points

[burmans]

TBH, buying points from VA or QF I might have assumed it was aussie based.

I’d want the warning of any conversion fees to be pretty prominent.

Well, we do actually know that despite the name, VA is actually a foreign owned company and points.com is definitely one. Things are frequently not as they seem with companies, plenty of websites with an .au suffix are not Australian!

 

[bussyboy]

Needing 140k KF for an SQ first reward, buying 220k Velocity is significantly (over $2,000) cheaper currently than topping up directly with SQ.
Yes, i know there's other options, this would be simple and quick.

 

[ols]

I had bought my years worth but this 40% sale allowed me so I grabbed 250K.
Hope they don't say next year that i had bought my year's worth now.

 

[bodog]

Needing 140k KF for an SQ first reward, buying 220k Velocity is significantly (over $2,000) cheaper currently than topping up directly with SQ.

And they’re running their discount offer at the moment so depending on how many you buy you can get 40% off list price

 

[bodog]

Hope they don't say next year that i had bought my year's worth now.

No the terms are very clear - this purchase doesn’t count so go for your life - I’m also going to grab 250,000 points with 40% off list

 

[ols]

No the terms are very clear - this purchase doesn’t count so go for your life - I’m also going to grab 250,000 points with 40% off list

Then I'll get 250K on my wife's as well
Booked PER-DOH First class for two people and SIN-PEN J for two people.
$3.5K plus $1.4K charges for roughly $25K of airfares.

 

[bodog]

Then I'll get 250K on my wife's as well

Yes those award flights are great - I did the same with two Qatar business seats to Rome - big saving over the full retail price - better than 2.6 cents per point value

The only challenge for the wife is she needs at least 1 point in her Velocity account - I don’t have that with mine as she family pools to me all the time so sits on zero points

Solution would be to unlink - go buy something at Coles to generate a transfer then buy the 250,000 for her - then relink for family pooling

 

[bussyboy]

Seems I miscalculated - a top up of 140k KF Miles with SQ would have been charged in USD, around AU$8,800
VFF equivalent 220k is just AU$3,346 in the current promotion.

No brainer really.

 

[MathNerd]

The only challenge for the wife is she needs at least 1 point in her Velocity account - I don’t have that with mine as she family pools to me all the time so sits on zero points

Solution would be to unlink - go buy something at Coles to generate a transfer then buy the 250,000 for her - then relink for family pooling

I have the same issue too, my wife's VA account sits at a 0 balance due to pooling.
What was the timeframe on the 3 steps - unlink, Coles purchase, link again, then buy the 250k?
Is it possible to get this all done before the promo expires or do I have to wait for the next round?
Thanks

 

[bodog]

Is it possible to get this all done before the promo expires or do I have to wait for the next round?
Thanks

Unfortunately I believe it ends today so no way to do all that in time

 

[ols]

Up to 40% till 25.2

Buying Points

Are you almost ready to use your Points on a reward, but don’t quite have enough Points yet? Great news, you can buy the extra Points with Points Booster and get to your dream reward sooner. You can purchase as few as 1,000 Points or as many as 250,000 Points.

www.velocityfrequentflyer.com

 

[Blindwilly]

Up to 40% till 25.2

Buying Points

Are you almost ready to use your Points on a reward, but don’t quite have enough Points yet? Great news, you can buy the extra Points with Points Booster and get to your dream reward sooner. You can purchase as few as 1,000 Points or as many as 250,000 Points.

www.velocityfrequentflyer.com

Am I missing something with this offer. It seems too good to be true.
If it costs $5,850 to buy 250,000 velocity points that would increase by 40% to 350,000 points.
Converting to Singapore KrisFlyer at 1.55 results in 225,806 KF points.
Syd to London Business Class Saver award is only 130,500 KF points.
So spending $5,850 for Velocity points is nearly enough KrisFlyer points for a return Business Class ticket.
I am new to the forum, so maybe I don’t understand the offer.

 

[ols]

Am I missing something with this offer. It seems too good to be true.
If it costs $5,850 to buy 250,000 velocity points that would increase by 40% to 350,000 points.
Converting to Singapore KrisFlyer at 1.55 results in 225,806 KF points.
Syd to London Business Class Saver award is only 130,500 KF points.
So spending $5,850 for Velocity points is nearly enough KrisFlyer points for a return Business Class ticket.
I am new to the forum, so maybe I don’t understand the offer.

Usually they do it it with the % reduction in $ you pay which I believe is better.
Still pretty damn good though.

 

[MELso]

Am I missing something with this offer. It seems too good to be true.
If it costs $5,850 to buy 250,000 velocity points that would increase by 40% to 350,000 points.
Converting to Singapore KrisFlyer at 1.55 results in 225,806 KF points.
Syd to London Business Class Saver award is only 130,500 KF points.
So spending $5,850 for Velocity points is nearly enough KrisFlyer points for a return Business Class ticket.
I am new to the forum, so maybe I don’t understand the offer.

Of course there has to be Saver availability on the days you want to fly. And there'll be carrier charges (which could be exxy ex-UK due to the APD - maybe fly out of AMS or BRU?). And if there is Saver availability, it'll typically be months out, meaning cash fares may not be much more. And you miss out on points and status credits.

But it's definitely worth pricing out buying points and redeeming vs paying cash as despite this, the savings could be large.

(Another option may be to use the points to fly on an F Saver SIN-LHR for 141K points and pay cash for Oz-SIN?)

 

[Blindwilly]

Usually they do it it with the % reduction in $ you pay which I believe is better.
Still pretty damn good though.

Thanks “ols”. So is my logic and calculations correct?
I have enough KF miles to buy my wife a Business Class Saver Award return trip Syd to London with enough KF points left over that the Velocity top up would get me a Saver Award ticket as well
This outlay of $5,850 is far cheaper than paying cash for my Business Class ticket.
Why isn’t everybody doing it.

 

[ols]

Why isn’t everybody doing it.

Because most people think buying points for any reward program is usually not worth it.
Let's just not tell everybody

 

[ols]

Thanks “ols”. So is my logic and calculations correct?
I have enough KF miles to buy my wife a Business Class Saver Award return trip Syd to London with enough KF points left over that the Velocity top up would get me a Saver Award ticket as well
This outlay of $5,850 is far cheaper than paying cash for my Business Class ticket.

I usually only deal in Velocity rewards and am more QR focused so can't really comment

 

[MathNerd]

Am I missing something with this offer. It seems too good to be true.
If it costs $5,850 to buy 250,000 velocity points that would increase by 40% to 350,000 points.
Converting to Singapore KrisFlyer at 1.55 results in 225,806 KF points.
Syd to London Business Class Saver award is only 130,500 KF points.
So spending $5,850 for Velocity points is nearly enough KrisFlyer points for a return Business Class ticket.
I am new to the forum, so maybe I don’t understand the offer.

This is exactly what I've been doing as of late. My point-earning (via AmEx Explorer/Platinum Edge and CommBank Smart/Ultimate) is not as rapid as I'd like (no MS or biz trx to funnel through '000s), so I've resorted to waiting for promos for either Velocity (usually 40% off) or Aeroplan (usually 80% bonus) to redeem SQ J seats. Works out much cheaper than buying cash J fares outright.
Of course doing it this way does require careful planning (usually understanding the release timelines of each carrier's J seats and ensuring your account is loaded up with the points prior to these releases), and a comparison of cash J fare purchases vs the point purchases, but it's a great way to get discounted J seats without stumping up the full cash fare.
I've done the maths (if the username doesn't give it away), and for the routes I've redeemed for, especially for 2 pax, I've been able to wrangle a ~55% discount (Business Standard fare = $11,174 vs. Points + Tax = $5,008). This is substantial, just requires good timing, good planning and good luck!

So no, it's not too good to be true!

 

[Blindwilly]

This is exactly what I've been doing as of late. My point-earning (via AmEx Explorer/Platinum Edge and CommBank Smart/Ultimate) is not as rapid as I'd like (no MS or biz trx to funnel through '000s), so I've resorted to waiting for promos for either Velocity (usually 40% off) or Aeroplan (usually 80% bonus) to redeem SQ J seats. Works out much cheaper than buying cash J fares outright.
Of course doing it this way does require careful planning (usually understanding the release timelines of each carrier's J seats and ensuring your account is loaded up with the points prior to these releases), and a comparison of cash J fare purchases vs the point purchases, but it's a great way to get discounted J seats without stumping up the full cash fare.
I've done the maths (if the username doesn't give it away), and for the routes I've redeemed for, especially for 2 pax, I've been able to wrangle a ~55% discount (Business Standard fare = $11,174 vs. Points + Tax = $5,008). This is substantial, just requires good timing, good planning and good luck!

So no, it's not too good to be true!

Thanks for your response. It certainly makes me feel more confident. I book Europe flights 12 months out, with flexible dates and airports, so am confident I can get the saver fares to make it worthwhile. I too am suffering from the “devaluation” of my Amex earning capacity.

 

[zainman]

Am I missing something with this offer. It seems too good to be true.
If it costs $5,850 to buy 250,000 velocity points that would increase by 40% to 350,000 points.
Converting to Singapore KrisFlyer at 1.55 results in 225,806 KF points.
Syd to London Business Class Saver award is only 130,500 KF points.
So spending $5,850 for Velocity points is nearly enough KrisFlyer points for a return Business Class ticket.
I am new to the forum, so maybe I don’t understand the offer.

Once you factor in the charges/taxes/fees it's probably closer to $6500 to $7000 at which point you could actually look at cash fares probably (not SQ but others like China Eastern etc or Vietnam airlines)