Where should I transfer points from my American Express Explorer?

Credit Cards & Credit Card Programs
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I have an American Express Explorer card.

Should I link this to Qantas or Virgin, or some other program?

How do I decide?

Cheers
Rosemary

PS I also have a Westpac Altitude Black card.

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Hi Rosemary,

First things first: you can transfer your AmEx Explorer Membership Rewards to one of 8 Frequent Flyer programmes (including Virgin Velocity)… but not Qantas. If you want to fly Qantas using your AmEx points, you’ll have to transfer your points to Asia Miles or Emirates, whose points you can use to redeem Qantas flights.

You don’t need to “link” your AmEx card at all. You can transfer your points to whichever FF programme you choose, whenever you choose. I recommend that you keep your points in AmEx and don’t transfer them until you know what you want to do with them.

So decide where, and when you want to travel. Research how you would like to get there. And, when you’ve found out whose FF programme is best for where/when you want to fly, transfer the points accordingly when it’s time to get the tickets.

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Thank you sixtyeight.

For some reason, I find it hard to make enough distinctions between the various programs to commit to one.

Up until now, I have only used points for domestic travel. We will be doing more international in the next couple of years.

I like your idea of letting the points sit until needed. Do you happen to know how long it takes for them to transfer to Q and V once I decide I need them?

Cheers

Rosemary

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