Hi all, my name is Ash and I am based in Melbourne Australia and I am looking to book a European holiday for August 2019. I currently have close to 2,000,000 American Express points on a Platinum American express Credit Card Account and want to purchase international flights on points (Internal European flights also if that was viable/advantageous)
I have both a Velocity Frequent Flyer and Qantas Frequent flyer and I understand throughout the year they often have deals where if you transfer your AMEX points over they will give you bonus points (40% ect on what is transferred)
I am wondering what the best way to go about purchasing these flights…
Should I be transferring my points to Velocity or Qantas now and book flights?
or should I be waiting until there is a deal to take advantage of?
or is there an alternative airline I should be considering to make them go further?
Hi Ash,
Sounds exciting! The good news is that you have more than enough AmEx points for you and one other (or 2-3 others!) to get to Europe and back in Business or even First class. Here are some things you should be considering:
As of April 14, American Express points will basically halve in value. If you’re one of the customers who’ve received a letter from AmEx promising to double your points after April 14, you don’t have to worry about this. If you haven’t, you have until April 14 to transfer your points.
In any case, August 2019 is soon! You should be looking to snaffle what flights are still available now. My advice is that you should transfer your points and book your flights NOW, without waiting for a transfer deal. The last thing you want to happen is for flight availability to disappear while you’re waiting for a transfer bonus deal.
In the same vein: check availability, and THEN transfer your points into whatever programme you can use to book those available flights with. The last thing you want to do is to transfer your points into, say, Velocity, only to discover that the only award flights available need to be booked with Qantas points! Do your research, find out what flights you want, and then transfer.
I would also consider starting a KrisFlyer account, for two reasons. First, award flight availability on Singapore Airlines is pretty good. Second, Singapore is part of the Star Alliance group, and there is arguably a greater availability of Star Alliance airlines within Europe than Oneworld (which you can use your Qantas points for). So that will probably help you in your quest to use points to fly internally within Europe.
Much more can be said, but really now it’s over to you: do your research, find out what flights you want and are available, and go from there. Oh, and don’t forget to read the helpful articles on Point Hacks which will most definitely point you in the right direction!
Thank you so much for your reply, that is super helpful! I best make some quick decisions:)
I’ve signed up for KrisFlyer account and tried searching for return flights. We are looking to fly Melb to London return (Depart 31st July, return 9th September)
A little confusing as they speak in miles not points so I assume that’s the same thing…?
I assume if I transfer say 500,000 AMEX points it will = 500,000 Kris flyer points. It’s also confusing as next to some flights it shows saver/advantage tick box options. It’s like they are encouraging stop overs??? Some also say wait list on the return flights? What is that and is it dangerous to transfer to them if there is uncertainty?
From what I can see… and I could be so wrong
Velocity = 1,940,200 business return
Qantas would be 2,430,200 business return
KrisFlyer 600,000 “miles” + $1069 business return
Qantas “classic rewards seats” (almost impossible to find on site) 396,000 points but half the stop overs would be economy…
I’m assuming velocity may be best as the current bonus is up to 25% if I transfer 500,000+ points.
Have you any suggestions or recommendations based on the above as to which one is best or should I be investigating further elsewhere. Almost thinks the reward seats make more sence based on the huge difference in points used. I could deal with economy for half a trip…
Hi Ash,
Yes, Krisflyer calls their points “Krisflyer miles”.
Yes, you should be looking for “reward” or “award” seats and not waste your valuable points on “any seat awards”.
The key to finding reward seats is flexibility – regarding airlines, dates, destinations etc. If you can’t find seats on Singapore, search on Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Malaysian, Cathay, Thai etc. If you can’t find seats on the dates you want, try the day/s before or after. If you can’t find seats to London, try searching for seats to Manchester (where there is generally much greater availability). Qantas rarely releases award seats to London so you’ll probably be flying on another airline.
Be patient, be flexible, be prepared to take some time on this.
Yes, Velocity is good value but only if you can find seat availability using Velocity points! Otherwise, the FF programme with the best value is the FF programme that you can actually use.
Hope this helps!
