New Amex redemption rates for SQ/EK; adding transfers to QR/HA

[Jacques Vert]

there are many more people with lots of points out there.

I think this is the main problem. We all kept accumulating points during the pandemic but coldn't spend them. People with points balances in the millions was quite rare (AFF members excluded), now it has become quite common.

 

[Ktan89]

Looks like AMEX US gets QR transfers now too. And, of course at better rates 1:1

 

[Stone]

Out of interest, what is the difference between Saver and Advantage rates? Is it around 50%? If points balances return to more historical averages, and Saver availability returns, we might end up being cost neutral. (A big if I know, maybe I should get a job writing the marketing spiels for these "enhancements".)

 

[lilkid28]

Out of interest, what is the difference between Saver and Advantage rates? Is it around 50%? If points balances return to more historical averages, and Saver availability returns, we might end up being cost neutral. (A big if I know, maybe I should get a job writing the marketing spiels for these "enhancements".)

I think 30-40% more

 

[am0985]

Looks like AMEX US gets QR transfers now too. And, of course at better rates 1:1

Rates are the same effectively, Australian earn rates are double too so it evens out.

US Amex transfers are a bit of a shame as it'd probably be a fun (though long) way to get to JFK...

Post automatically merged: Jul 29, 2023

Out of interest, what is the difference between Saver and Advantage rates? Is it around 50%? If points balances return to more historical averages, and Saver availability returns, we might end up being cost neutral. (A big if I know, maybe I should get a job writing the marketing spiels for these "enhancements".)

Saver availability is often quite good though if you book early enough. Eg booked LHR - MEL for early July 2024 on a saver J award.

Also changes that affect the Australian market might only have a bit of an effect on routes to/from Singapore, they're unlikely to affect onward routes to Europe/North America.

 

[levelnine]

Australian earn rates are double too so it evens out.

Which Australian Amex cards earn 10x on airfares, 8x on dining/groceries, 6x travel & 4x on all spend (ie double what a US Amex Plat/Gold/Green/BBP earn)?

 

[Franko Costa]

Which Australian Amex cards earn 10x on airfares, 8x on dining/groceries, 6x travel & 4x on all spend (ie double what a US Amex Plat/Gold/Green/BBP earn)?

Zero AU amex cards - they are all US

 

[Salmonderiel]

Amex have just announced a Velocity bonus points offer, looks like transferring to Velocity as a way to preserve value of points (only 15% devaluation) now an option:

American Express - Membership Rewards Transfer

How you use Membership Rewards points is up to you. Explore all the possibilities and choose the rewards that are right for you.

www.americanexpress.com

 

[lonewolf]

If I mainly fly from Sydney to Asia (Thailand, Vietnam , Malaysia, Singapore), Am i still better off transferring to KF (until October then i wont be), or is this 20% Avios bonus worth it to transfer now? I havent flown Qatar before, Do they have many flights from Sydney to Asia, or are they all through to Qatar first and then change flights?

Also I presume KrisFlyer is still generally thought of as being easier to get Business seats compared to Qatar?

 

[luxury-lizard]

flying Qatar to anywhere (in Asia or the rest of the world) ex-Australia requires you to fly via Doha. But you can redeem Avios on any One World airline; e.g. Qantas, BA or Japan Airlines who all fly more directly to Asia.

 

[muppet]

If I mainly fly from Sydney to Asia (Thailand, Vietnam , Malaysia, Singapore), Am i still better off transferring to KF (until October then i wont be), or is this 20% Avios bonus worth it to transfer now? I havent flown Qatar before, Do they have many flights from Sydney to Asia, or are they all through to Qatar first and then change flights?

Also I presume KrisFlyer is still generally thought of as being easier to get Business seats compared to Qatar?

I find KrisFlyer excellent for redemption availability from Aus as a nothing status KrisFlyer member.

Recently booked AUS-SIN business on boxing day and returning in first on 1 Jan. Advantage awards admittedly, but QF had nothing and even paid Y was $2,500+ return.

If you travel Australia to Asia, I tihnk your miles are more valuable in KrisFlyer than as avios.

 

[lonewolf]

I find KrisFlyer excellent for redemption availability from Aus as a nothing status KrisFlyer member.

Recently booked AUS-SIN business on boxing day and returning in first on 1 Jan. Advantage awards admittedly, but QF had nothing and even paid Y was $2,500+ return.

If you travel Australia to Asia, I tihnk your miles are more valuable in KrisFlyer than as avios.

My most common route at the moment is Sydney to Thailand and i have been using KrisFlyer for the last couple of years for J class to thailand and has always worked of course there is a transit in singapore. Sounds like KF is better for me than Avios till October at least.

 

[Must...Fly!]

With the QR bonus finishing tomorrow it's still hard to know whether the equivalent of 90k avios is worth transferring, as I aim to be closing my account to start the 18 month dance again in October. Is there still lots of restriction on J award space from QR? The best alternative is probably to lump the lot on to Velocity, really.

 

[tassie6]

EK Executive on Skywards & Amex transfers on Point Hacks with some interesting comments:

‘Amex … they made this decision to go to from 2:1 to 3:1.... We haven’t changed the rate on them,’

Under the hood of the Emirates Skywards program

We catch up with Emirates' loyalty boss, Dr Nejib Ben-Khedher, for an exclusive look behind the scenes at Skywards.

www.pointhacks.com.au

 

[albyd]

Thanks for sharing - looks like this change was Amex's initiative to price to market ‘because they could’. Doesn’t help that the currency keeps falling …

 

[ANstar]

I find KrisFlyer excellent for redemption availability from Aus as a nothing status KrisFlyer member.

Recently booked AUS-SIN business on boxing day and returning in first on 1 Jan. Advantage awards admittedly, but QF had nothing and even paid Y was $2,500+ return.

If you travel Australia to Asia, I tihnk your miles are more valuable in KrisFlyer than as avios.

I think SQ will always have better availability.

Qantas have something like 14 millions members and fly a handful of flights to Europe and several to Asia. SQ's Krisflyer has something like 4.5 million members and a quite a lot of flights to Singapore and then significantly more to Europe. With QF... more people competing for less seats and inflated prices.

 

[bulldog88]

QR availability isn't bad compared to KF.. and will get much better if they are allowed their 28 extra weekly flights.

SQ KF is getting greedy with surcharges... try searching business class on Lufthansa USA-Europe or Thai Europe-Australia

 

[shuuy]

Is it even possible to find QR awards to Europe?

I could find SQ SYD-Italy in July/August for 3 seats in J (maybe because I'm PPS).
NOTHING May-Aug on QR... ?

 

[fkcn]

I haven’t seen any for various dates I’ve looked at, Italy and UK. I transferred some AMEX points to QR Avios for 20% bonus. Will be wary of transferring more.

 

[bulldog88]

Qatar seems to offer two levels of business award, standard/saver for 90k one way , and Flex for 180k one way (Europe-Australia). SQ is about 130k saver and 154k flex.

Appears to be lots of Qatar flex availability but much limited saver awards, and it seems very difficult to search for saver-only on their website. But 180k is not bad if you value Amex points at 0.5c each (180k avios = 360k Amex MR * 0.5c = $1800).