Qantas/Amex Changes [consolidated threads]

[oz_mark]

And why 1 April 2009?

I imagine it is a date set by some contract. Obviously the contract has been up for renegotition, and maybe that is the date that thechanges need to be/can be implemented.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I wonder if this also due to say SQ now beinga better destination for Award Points....and that QF are trying to force punters to go their way before they might actually think which burn is better.

Personally I will be keeping my points fora SQ Award anyway...but what this will do will lock me out of maybe having burnt some points to QF if an attractive special came up.

I will still get some QF Awards, but will only use points gained from flying,hotel rooms, car-hire etc...

 

[dajop]

but should take the opportunity to transfer the Green & White points to Qantas points now?

Only if you want to pour your points down the drain. Or only if you have a small number of points that wouldn't be useful anywhere else. ( Or , lastly, if you live in an area only served by Qantas or Jetstar, as far as flights go).

IMHO, there are vastly superior options on the Amex program than Qantas, such as Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic (and both with their extensive list of partners), Virgin Blue Velocity, Starwoord Preferred Guest etc. Even Travelkey, which basically allows you to pay any cash fare with points or the voucher you can purchase (at 1c per point) can be better value than Qantas awards [especially Anyseat Awards]

 

[JohnK]

Even though I feel the QF Oneworld RTW Award is good value at 140,000 FF points I am not moving my Amex MR points to QF. It would be nice if one of the other Amex airline partners had a similar type of award for the same number of points/miles.

 

[Masonic Phantom]

Even though I feel the QF Oneworld RTW Award is good value at 140,000 FF points I am not moving my Amex MR points to QF. It would be nice if one of the other Amex airline partners had a similar type of award for the same number of points/miles.

Hi JohnK
I hate to get of the track here,But how does one go about a RTW QF Oneworld for 140,000 ff points??.
Can you please advise.
Regards Gary.

 

[JohnK]

On the Qantas website when doing an award booking use the multi city destination feature and put in the city pairs for multiple sectors. The award booking engine will calculate the required number of points as you start selecting flights. There are some rules like you must include 2 carriers other than QF on the itinerary, must keep it down below 35,000 miles, limited to 16 sectors, 5 stopover cities, no more than 2 stopovers in the same city etc.

If you can't book online then you can certainly use the QF service centre and they may charge you an extra 2,500 points. Total cost 142,500 QFF points for a Oneworld RTW award. In my opinion it is the best value for QFF points or even Amex MR points.

There are a some threads on AFF with more detail if you are interested in the booking process.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Hi JohnK
I hate to get of the track here,But how does one go about a RTW QF Oneworld for 140,000 ff points??.
Can you please advise.

That type of award (oneWorld Partner Award) is listed in the bottom table here:
Frequent Flyer - Using Points - Qantas & Partner Classic Awards - Points Tables

The Zone 10 award for 142,500 points (including 2,500 assisted booking fee) allows up to 35,000 miles of travel and 5 stops (>24 hours). You must use two OneWorld carriers in addition to QF, but that's pretty easy.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

That's pretty standard these days. They know all our spending habits and they target us accordingly. It's the information super highway, such a benefit for us.

I think simongr is being sarcastic. I got the same letter, and I don't think I've ever used my Amex at Tiffanys

 

[Masonic Phantom]

On the Qantas website when doing an award booking use the multi city destination feature and put in the city pairs for multiple sectors. The award booking engine will calculate the required number of points as you start selecting flights. There are some rules like you must include 2 carriers other than QF on the itinerary, must keep it down below 35,000 miles, limited to 16 sectors, 5 stopover cities, no more than 2 stopovers in the same city etc.

If you can't book online then you can certainly use the QF service centre and they may charge you an extra 2,500 points. Total cost 142,500 QFF points for a Oneworld RTW award. In my opinion it is the best value for QFF points or even Amex MR points.

There are a some threads on AFF with more detail if you are interested in the booking process.

Thanks JohnK,
For that information, I am interested in the threads you mentionedif you could point me in the right direction that would be great.
Regards Gary.

 

[simongr]

I think simongr is being sarcastic. I got the same letter, and I don't think I've ever used my Amex at Tiffanys

Actually for once I wasn't :shock: If that is a form letter then they must have used me as the model having used Amex at all three locations :shock:

 

[albatross710]

Not sure why they picked that particular date but with a change this big and the potential backlash Amex faces from their credit card holders Amex had to give plenty of notice for them to decide what to do with their MR points.

I think the longer notice period relies upon human 'latency' behaviour. The change is too far away to react. The next thing you know, it is introduced and points start accruing in the new regime.

If it was a 30 day notice period, many people would take action immediately.

Amex and Qantas have highly paid consumer behaviourists plotting.

 

[JohnK]

I am interested in the threads you mentionedif you could point me in the right direction that would be great.

Here are some threads. I hope they are useful. It would also be handy to read through the QF website to understand the terms and conditions associated with booking a QF Oneworld award.

RTW Planning using FF points -Newbie!
Value and cost of FF point
QF Oneworld award and notoriously late AA flight!
Oneworld award planning
RTW flight utilising FF points
QFF program or AAdvantage
Oneworld exploer or FF points
Award booking issues

 

[Masonic Phantom]

Here are some threads. I hope they are useful. It would also be handy to read through the QF website to understand the terms and conditions associated with booking a QF Oneworld award.

RTW Planning using FF points -Newbie!
Value and cost of FF point
QF Oneworld award and notoriously late AA flight!
Oneworld award planning
RTW flight utilising FF points
QFF program or AAdvantage
Oneworld exploer or FF points
Award booking issues

Thanks JohnK,Well Done.
Regards Gary.

 

[armanie]

Accent Premium coming!

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is old news, but it's new to me.

I just received a letter from Amex this morning, saying that Qantas is going to quit the Accent program. Therefore, you will no longer be able to transfer your MR points to QFF.

However, if you want to continue to access QFF, you will have to join Amex's new Accent Premium program.

I think it's going to be introduced sometime in Apr 2009?

No idea of costings.

(Call me cynical, but it looks like another grab for cash to me. They're forcing people to upgrade to a new rewards program which means more fees!)

armanie

(Unless I've misinterpreted the letter?)

 

[albatross710]

Re: Accent Premium coming!

Your not the only one to receive the letter. Check out this thread:

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...-flyer-program/qantas-amex-changes-14509.html

 

[armanie]

Re: Accent Premium coming!

Oh, ok.

Thanks.

armanie

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Re: Accent Premium coming!

Your not the only one to receive the letter. Check out this thread:

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...-flyer-program/qantas-amex-changes-14509.html

Um - that thread is this thread...

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Accent Premium coming!

Um - that thread is this thread...

Seems some merging happened.

 

[simongr]

Re: Accent Premium coming!

Oh, ok.

Thanks.

armanie

The big question is whether it mentioned DJs, Tiffany and Aria

In reality we all knew this was coming - direct sweep was well publicised in that AFR article back in June. What I am impressed with is that Amex have been able to retain flexibility for "premium customers".

S

 

[oz_mark]

Re: Accent Premium coming!

However, if you want to continue to access QFF, you will have to join Amex's new Accent Premium program.

Are you a platinum charge card holder, or something else. Reading the letter posted previously there is no 'have to join' the premium program, it was just going to happen. So I wonder if this was the same letter.