Adelaide to Rome Award Business Class in May/July 2018 - tips and advice please?

Hi guys, currently planning a trip for two people to Rome sometime in mid may, coming back July (not sure exactly what time yet).

We currently have 200,000 AmEx Membership Reward Points (Gateway), 2x $400 travel credit from the Explorer card, about 12,000 Velocity points and about $4000-5000 of cash to purchase points / pay taxes. Was thinking of either converting points to Asia Miles (as they convert 1:1 on the Gateway scheme) or to Krisflyer and trying my luck getting a Business Saver fare. The problem is trying to find availability, I have been looking for a while and it is very, very hard to find any availability at all. Does anyone have any tips, or maybe some other FF program I should be using? Cheers and thanks in advance?

Hi there,

Afaik, Membership Reward Gateway transfers at 1 MRG : 0.75 FF points. This includes Asia Miles.

ADL-Rome one way costs 105k KF miles or 87k Enrich or 110k Asia Miles (175k return).

Flights for May 2018 generally open in June/July 2017. You can check how far in advance you can book today and extrapolate when to book for May and July 2018.

With your point balance, it may be a touch short (closest is via Enrich flying Cathay Pacific via HKG). Judging from what you said, your MRG may be in 2 separate accounts so it may be a challenge to combine and use.

If you are desperate, you can top up your Amex Points for 2.5c each (not cheap). Not sure whether you can top up Enrich point directly. They have a Point and Cash option but not sure how well it works. Have a read of some Point Hacks article on Enrich.

You might want to consider using your points for 1 way and buying the remaining flights with your cash.

Your amex travel credit can be used to subsidise your flights or accommodation.

You have options to buy American Advantage, United Mileage or Avianca Lifemiles. Not so sure how far you can go via buying miles. You have to do your own calcs as this can be a very involved topic.