NAB Rewards has added the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program to its line-up of airline transfer partners. This means that NAB Rewards points can now be transferred directly to four airlines.
NAB Rewards points are earned with the NAB Rewards Classic, Platinum and Signature credit cards. They can be redeemed for a range of rewards including merchandise and gift cards, or transferred to an airline. NAB also offers co-branded Qantas credit cards that only earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
With the addition of KrisFlyer, NAB Rewards points can now be transferred to the following airline programs:
- Virgin Australia Velocity: 3,000 NAB points = 1,500 Velocity points
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: 3,000 NAB points = 1,000 Velocity points
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles: 3,000 NAB points = 1,000 Velocity points
- Air New Zealand Airpoints: 3,000 NAB points = 15 Airpoints Dollars
More options are generally good news, and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is an excellent frequent flyer program. But it actually doesn’t make sense to transfer NAB Rewards points to KrisFlyer due to the conversion rate. At a 3:1 conversion rate, this means you’ll earn 0.33 KrisFlyer miles for every NAB Rewards point. But you can transfer to Virgin Australia Velocity at a 2:1 rate. You can then transfer Velocity points to KrisFlyer at a rate of 1.35:1. Using this method, your 1 NAB Rewards point will become 0.5 Velocity points and then 0.37 KrisFlyer miles.
This is also the case when transferring ANZ Rewards points to KrisFlyer. The same conversion rates apply to both Velocity and KrisFlyer transfers.
Transferring to Velocity first would make even more sense during one of Velocity’s bonus point promotions on credit card transfers.
Many Australian credit card rewards programs partner with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, making it easy for Australians to earn valuable KrisFlyer miles. This includes Amex Membership Rewards, ANZ Rewards and Westpac Altitude Rewards. A notable exception is CommBank Awards, however CommBank did recently add 10 new airline transfer partners to its rewards program.
NAB’s highest-earning card, the NAB Rewards Signature, awards 1.25 points per dollar spent. With these conversion rates, you’d be earned just under 0.42 KrisFlyer miles per dollar spent on the card. This is not particularly competitive compared to Amex credit cards and the St George Amplify Signature card.
You can discuss the NAB Rewards program on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: National Australia Bank Rewards
