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American Express Velocity Platinum Credit Card

Saturday, May 27th, 2017

American Express Velocity Platinum Credit Card – 100k Bonus Points

One of our favourite Australian credit cards is the American Express Velocity Platinum credit card.

American Express has just released their latest promotion on this card and the initial sign on bonus is 100,000 Velocity points!

What we do like about this card

  • 100,000 Virgin Velocity reward points – Enough for a business class trip to Asia or North America.
  • Complimentary return domestic flight each year from select destinations
  • 2 Lounge access passes to the American Express Sydney International Airport lounge
  • 2.5pts/$1 spent with Virgin Australia
  • 1.5pts/$1 on all  other transactions except government bodies

What we don’t like about this card

  • Annual fee is $375 – However this can easily be offset by your complimentary domestic flight included
  • Lounge access passes only usable at Sydney International Airport – We expect Melbourne airport to be next in line

Best uses of 100,000 Velocity Points

  • One-way in Virgin Australia ‘The Business’ Australia > North America – 95,000pts + $102.05 in taxes/surcharges – Availability is generally good close to departure but harder to book further out.

  • One-way on Singapore Airlines Business Class to Singapore using Velocity Points, 65,000points + $80.59 in tax

We feel that nearly everyone can get great value out of this card and this is one of the best deal’s we will see this year.

Make sure you apply now so you don’t miss out!

Qantas Frequent Flyer – The worst FF program in the world?

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017

Is the Qantas Frequent Flyer program the worst frequent flyer program in the world? Perhaps not however it leaves a lot to be desired.

Key Facts

  • The Qantas Frequent Flyer program as we know it was originally created in in 1987
  • Over 6 millions members
  • More profitable than Qantas the airline itself
  • Member of the huge OneWorld airline alliance
  • Over 1 million Australians have a credit card that directly earns QFF points

Positive’s of the QFF Program

  • Oneworld Alliance – Allows you to earn/burn your points across a wide range of carriers, including Americn Airlines, British Airways and Cathay Pacific
  • Convenient flight schedules to North America – The quickest way to get there is a on a direct Melbourne/Sydney > Los Angeles flight.
  • Quality and consistent service from the Qantas cabin crew
  • Easy to earn points towards redemptions within Australia with many earning partners

Negatives of the QFF Program

  • Not a free membership, no airline should charge a membership fee to join their program in my opinion
  • Minimal availability of seats bookable on points trans-pacific
  • Very-high fuel surcharges comparable to many others carriers
  • Limited route network on their own aircraft e.g Melbourne/Sydney – London is the only option into Europe
  • Many members who are looking for flights thus reducing the amount of available seats

Example of little to no availability.

  1. Searching for 1 First class seat – Melbourne to London – 270+ days from search

As you can see there is availability showing on the online calendar however when you proceed to the next step:

You will notice no available seats on any Qantas aircraft, not even in business class on this particular day.

Avianca Lifemiles – The basics

Thursday, May 18th, 2017

Here is our breif guide on how to buy and redeem Lifemiles to cheap first/business class to/from Australia.

Avianca Lifemiles is our favourite South-American frequent flyer program. Through Lifemiles you can buy/redeem miles on Star Alliance carriers operating around the world. See our other Lifemiles posts for more information.

1) Register a Lifemiles accounthere

2) Goto the buy lifemiles link – If there is a current promotion on you will be able to buy miles for your desired trip. Make sure check out the award chartto see how many miles you will require.

3) Once you have purchased your Lifemiles you will then be able to search availability using their online search engine.

4) Using the search box select your desired trip as below.

Continued in a follow up post…

Current Promo: Lifemiles 2×1 Buy Miles – Cheap First & Business class

Wednesday, May 17th, 2017

Avianca Lifemiles, our favourite South American loyalty program is back at it again with another 2×1 buy miles promotion.

We especially like this promotion as it allows you to fly to/from Asia in Business/First class for under $1000 each way. This is at least a 50% saving on what you would normally pay if you were booking through traditional airlines.

With Avianca being a Star Alliance member you will have a range of airlines to chose from when booking your trip.

Thai Airways – Offers the most availability out for Australian flyers. First class available out of Sydney airport with business the remaining major Australian airports.

Singapore Airlines – Limited availability but is possible. We prefer the Singapore Airlines hospitality and fleet as it is more consistent.

EVA Air – Taiwanese carrier flying Sydney > Taiwan – A consistently top airline that flies direct to Taipei. A great seat and service option for those that don’t wish to travel through Singapore/Bangkok.

ANA – A top class Japanese carrier operating the Sydney-Tokyo route. Availbilty can be scarce however the most direct option to/from Japan with great crew!

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