St George Rewards Signature KrisFlyer Devaluation

Yes I have. I meant the bonus points. The daily spend appears relatively straight away
 
Oh great. Just received an email to say AMEX Ascent and Gateway redemptions to SQ are also going the way of 3:1. Previously 2:1.

Soooo this must be a SQ initiative and will probably filter through all cards. Not happy.
 
Not much. I stand to be corrected but I think the Gateway programme doesn't have the breadth of redemptions that the Ascent programme does.
 
Another alternative for KF miles:
ANZ Rewards Black Visa earns at 0.66 KF miles per dollar, up to $5k per month. Earn rate halves above $5k.
Sign on bonus of 180k ANZ rewards points (60k KF miles) is currently available.
Minimum spend of $3k + ($375-150 = $225) gets you 61k KF miles.
 
So St G effective transfer rate to KF post 31/07 is down from 0.825pts / $ spend to 0.55pts / $ spend uncapped is it not? Now whilst this affects me as much as anyone and is so so disappointing this is still best available for uncapped spend / month for a non AMEX Card is it not?
 
My options for the next best Visa/MC alternatives are:

Virgin High Flyer 1:1 up to $8,000 per month
ANZ Qantas Black 1:1 up to $7,500 per month
Qantas Premier 1:1 up to $10,000 per month

any other feedback or suggestions?

Does Velocity or QF have better domestic award availability?


Cheers
 
My options for the next best Visa/MC alternatives are:

Virgin High Flyer 1:1 up to $8,000 per month
ANZ Qantas Black 1:1 up to $7,500 per month
Qantas Premier 1:1 up to $10,000 per month

any other feedback or suggestions?

Does Velocity or QF have better domestic award availability?


Cheers
QF availability is horrendous for non-status J redemptions. Velocity is better but availability is subject to the whims of partner airlines (not in control of VA)

Nevertheless, the biggest advantage of Amplify points is their flexibility. You are not bound to one airline programme. The choices listed above are vulnerable to devaluations by either QF or VA.
 
Amplify is down to SQ or VA when I checked the other day - so not that big a choice going down to VA or reduced SQ earn (though one of only a very few uncapped earn cards).
 
QF availability is horrendous for non-status J redemptions.

Yes I agree you need status for QF to work the best for you.

But equally having status in Velocity doesn’t really seem to help I’ve struggled immensely to use Velocity points efficiently for anything interesting and have mostly ended up moving them out of Velocity to KrisFlyer to do so.
 
Yes I agree you need status for QF to work the best for you.

But equally having status in Velocity doesn’t really seem to help I’ve struggled immensely to use Velocity points efficiently for anything interesting and have mostly ended up moving them out of Velocity to KrisFlyer to do so.
<redacted>

There's many J cabin rewards to Europe with QR, I've posted a few examples in threads, takes literally minutes to find.

Many options of SQ mainly premium economy to anywhere. Still few J around.

Absolute heap of J cabin on United to USofA, sfo & lax.

<redacted>
 
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I concur with @MooTime that now with QR availability in the mix (and throttled to QF), Velocity compares very favourably with QFF for award redemptions in long-haul premium cabins.

If you want KrisFlyer (possibly backed with Velocity), it seems like the Coles Rewards MasterCard is now pretty competitive:
  • 2.00 FlyBuys per dollar
  • => 1.00 Velocity per dollar (even without bonuses)
  • => 0.65 KrisFlyer per dollar
  • Flybuys>Velocity and Velocity>KrisFlyer transfers are instant
  • 0.00% FX fee
  • $99 annual fee
Of course, NAB's takeover of Citi could devalue this, but it's pretty solid for now. Beyond the end of this month while I consider what to do with my Amplify Signature, this is probably better for daily spend.
 
I concur with @MooTime that now with QR availability in the mix (and throttled to QF), Velocity compares very favourably with QFF for award redemptions in long-haul premium cabins.

If you want KrisFlyer (possibly backed with Velocity), it seems like the Coles Rewards MasterCard is now pretty competitive:
  • 2.00 FlyBuys per dollar
  • => 1.00 Velocity per dollar (even without bonuses)
  • => 0.65 KrisFlyer per dollar
  • Flybuys>Velocity and Velocity>KrisFlyer transfers are instant
  • 0.00% FX fee
  • $99 annual fee
Of course, NAB's takeover of Citi could devalue this, but it's pretty solid for now. Beyond the end of this month while I consider what to do with my Amplify Signature, this is probably better for daily spend.
only issue is the $3000 cap then earn becomes $1 per 1 flybuys
 
With the STG & AMEX changes, it seems i will have to pivot away from SQ, and towards VA/QR/BA.

Im thinking i will retain my AMEX Explorer for the future 2:1 AVIOS transfer, with the focus on booking all internation flights with QA (only once or twice a year).

My new VISA card would be the Virgin Money High Flyer - earning 1:1 VFF on spend, upto $8K per month, and then changes to 1:0.5. This will allow me to book QA through Virgin as a safety net (even though the miles required isnt best use).

Thoughts on the above - any other cards out there for consideration for best VFF per $ earning capability?
 
Is there a cap? I didn't think so. But then it's never been my main spending card so maybe.
Well, son of a...!

I looked it up and apparently this is so.

I'm over $3k a month on nonAmex stuff so I may need one thing for domestic direct debits and keep the Coles for travel and incidentals, or something.
 
Still don't know what card to get for KF - probably get Virgin card (AF reduced with $129 voucher that I'll use somehow)

Looks like I have 2 weeks to MS this card before all the deval comes through. At a cost of ~1c per KF point, it isn't so bad
 

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