Qantas has announced the latest updates to the way you book flights at qantas.com that help you find the flight you want faster. You can now combine cash^ and Award˜ fares in the same booking and choose to use Qantas Points* for taxes, fees and carrier charges when flying domestically or leaving Australian shores for a trip overseas on Qantas (QF), Jetstar (JQ) and selected flights on partner airlines.
I’ll let the video tutorial do all the talking!
Don’t get excited, from what I can see it’s still a revenue based program meaning you earn “Airpoints dollars” and redeem based on the cost of the ticket you are buying. But if you are a member of this program you will have been emailed the following video.
Most of the changes seem to affect status credits which are usually not a concern of eco-tourists unless you happen to have a job that requires a lot of flying. What we are concerned with is REDEEMABLE MILES or in this case “Airports dollars”, the currency of the program.
The changes are listed in detail here. I have been trying to find some way to make use of this program since I live in Australia but the US programs such as United Mileage Plus, American AAdvantage and US Dividend Miles (soon to merge with AAdvantage) are so much better even with United’s recent devaluations.
The main thing I would like to see change is that Air New Zealand needs to start playing fair with its Star Alliance partners. It’s virtually impossible to get a business class seat and on some routes such as those to Pacific Islands and between New Zealand and several major Australian cities such as Brisbane, Gold Coast & Perth are non-existant.
Members of Air New Zealand’s program are able to redeem on Star Alliance airlines so they should be giving up seats for their partners to redeem on as well!
Here is an example of what you would earn if you credited a United flight from Frankfurt to Loos Angeles to Air New Zealand’s program.
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This is how you use Airpoints Dollars.
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This is what you need for a Star Alliance award.
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This is what you would need to redeem one way from Auckland to Tahiti (PPT). I just did a fare quote on a random date in low season to determine the price.
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Yes, that’s right. You would earn a whopping 26 Airpoints Dollars on a discount economy ticket from Frankfurt to Los Angeles which would be 6611 miles via Houston. But you need 481 Airpoints Dollars to redeem a one way ticket from Auckland to Tahiti, a distance of 2544 miles!
If this happened to US frequent flyer programs, it would be a disaster!
Back in February, I wrote a post about how to prioritize your airline miles. The one thing you can be sure of in the miles & points game is that it’s always changing. Devaluations happen. Unexpected miles earning opportunities happen. Things happen in your normal everyday life. That is why it is a good idea to revisit your travel goals, note your progress and how have any changes affected you. I will show you how I do this as an example of how you should be assessing your own goals.
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I will break this down into long-haul and short-haul from Australia as this affects which airline’s miles I choose to use. I need to prioritize long-haul trips as they are the most vulnerable to devaluations and also the most physically demanding and I am not getting any younger! The biggest challenge is that eco-tourism can add a lot of cash cost to your trip such as guided birding trips which we will need on the Africa & South America trips. We also have flights in Tahiti that can only be paid with cash. So it’s not just earn & burn miles, it’s also save up cash too!
LONG-HAUL (TOP PRIORITY)
1. Spain for World Parrot Congress with stopover enroute in Israel and a Mediterranean Cruise on the way back. Late 2014, no flexibility as conference is fixed and so is the cruise I booked afterwards. I already have the short-haul intra-Europe/Israel flights booked. I used United for TLV-NCE, Iberia Avios for NCE-TFN and TFN-VCE, all in economy as these are short segments. We can still access lounges using Priority Pass. I will be using US Airways miles for the main long-haul in business class since I got the miles cheaply with Grand Slam and I don’t trust them to not devalue their program before I could use any left over miles if I booked economy and with such long flights I would like to get some good sleep!
2. The “Mother of all African Adventures” as I blogged about in more detail. Sometime between Aug-Oct 2015, have flexibility on dates. These are more long-haul segments using Star Alliance partners and United miles.
I will be taking advantage of a stop-over and open jaw. BNE-ACC, ACC-JRO (Thai & Ethiopian) and JNB-BNE (South African & Thai or Singapore). I will need Flying Blue miles for JRO-TNR on Kenya Airways, may also possibly use them on Air Mauritius for TNR-MRU. For MRU-JNB I can use either United or Avios on South African or Comair.
United just devalued their program and while economy flights for Australia – Central/South Africa stayed the same at 50k each way or 100k round-trip, business class flights went up from 75k each way/150k round-trip to 85k each way or 170k round trip. This isn’t as bad as some other devaluations and it is unlikely United will devalue again before I can book these seats in late 2014 so I can work with these numbers. I do have enough miles for the economy seats. If we are going to travel in business, I need to somehow source an extra 140k in either Chase Ultimate Rewards or United Mileage Plus. I *may* be able to pull off 70k to upgrade the Thai & Ethiopian segments as far as Kilimanjaro but unless there is a major promo, I don’t think I can get 140k. Chase only barely approved my Ink a few months ago so I don’t think they will give me any more cards so I need to work on category bonuses as best I can from Australia. But the trip is secured as I do have enough for economy so it’s not a matter of not going it’s a matter of what class. This trip will use up my Mileage Plus balance in any case since I will use any extra miles to upgrade rather than leave them to possibly devalue further.
3. Peru, Bolivia & Chile. This will be a revisit of Tambopata since I love that place so much, plus adding on Manu Biosphere and several places in Bolivia including the Blue-throated Macaw reserve with a side trip to the Patagonian Conures in Chile. I need American AAdvantage miles for this trip using a combination of Qantas & LAN for BNE-SYD-SCL-LIM-CUZ and a return originating somewhere in Chile back to SYD, then BNE. There will be a few short hops between PEM, CUZ, LIM, VVI & SCL which I can use Avios & Avianca Lifemiles on.
The cash components of this trip won’t be cheap so I need time to save up money so I can’t do this trip before 2016, but we have complete flexibility as to when we do it. It would be booked in 2015. By then, either AA & US will have merged or remained separate. If a devaluation happens, it will probably go the same way as United with economy being left alone and increases to business class. Business class is extremely difficult to get so I figure we will be going in economy. We need 77.5k each for economy or 115k each in business. An unexpected windfall courtesy of churned Citi cards has brought enough miles to do this trip in business class at current prices with a few thousand left over. I have no idea how hard it will be to get business class awards in late 2015 so we also have the option of traveling via the USA in economy to South America for roughly the same price. This trip is secure, just need the cash now!
Since short-haul trips require fewer miles, they are less vulnerable to devaluations. Also, as my husband & I get older we won’t want to be on super-long flights so we are saving these easy trips for after the long-hauls are done.
1. Tahiti for Ua Huka, Marquesas & Rimatara to see the lorikeets. Can use Air New Zealand with left-over US Airways miles (if I keep the Mastercard one more year for the anniversary bonus) and also thanks to the rebate promo. I brought a trip to India & Sri Lanka forward because the rebate basically gives us a free trip to any Pacific Island. There are other options using Krisflyer on NZ or American AAdvantage on Qantas & Air Tahiti Nui. The bad news is the flights to the Marquesas & Rimatara are very expensive and can’t be bought with miles so that is why this trip is on hold. I have the miles already, need the cash.
2. Indonesia (Maluku) – will probably use Qantas points acquired slowly over the years from grocery shopping & similar. Alternatively, I need to watch Garuda & Sky Team for possible miles-earning opportunities.
3. Rarotonga – my husband’s home country and also home to some gorgeous lorikeets! Can use Virgin Velocity points built up slowly as above.
4. South-East Asia (Vietnam, Laos) for birding – not yet on the planning stages but possible due to proximity to Australia and cheaper awards.
5. Fiji with visits to several islands that have parrot populations. Good candidate for either Qantas or Flybuys.
6. New Zealand south island for Kakapo, Kea, Kaka & Kakariki. Good candidate for Flybuys as there are usually cheap fares bewteen Australia & NZ.
Now that I know where we want to go and which trips I have the miles already, I know where to concentrate my efforts. I am the only one who can get credit cards since my husband is not American so I need to put the miles in my accounts and redeem for us both. For long-haul, all trips are secure in economy and the Spain trip & South America trip are secure in business class if space is available and no devaluations happen before I can book them. I would like to do at least half the Africa trip in business (those are loooong flights) so I need to prioritize earning United Miles. Despite the devaluation, no other program will get us THAT itinerary for THAT price and the devaluation has only cost us 40,000 extra miles if we do it in business class.
For short-haul, the Tahiti trip is secure and based on my grocery spending patterns the Rarotonga one is too since it won’t happen for awhile. I’d like to explore Garuda more once it joins Sky Team and hopefully they will offer a credit card in Australia seeing as they have a lot of flights here!
Next, I will look at how to achieve these goals using mileage earning strategies for both Americans & Australians.
The entire list has been released on FlyerTalk and numerous blogs so I am only going to focus on the ones that stand out for eco-travelers.
Tahiti is a gateway to one of my bucket list birding destinations, Ua Huka in the Marquesas for the dazzling Ultramarine Lorikeet and also Rimatara where you can see the beautiful Rimatara Lorikeets. The bad news is that it’s almost impossible to get an award to PPT from AKL (Auckland) on Air New Zealand. You may be able to get one on Air Tahiti Nui with American miles but it’s not searchable online so you have to call them. As of this time, awards are available on:
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Notice how February (when the deal is over) has heaps of availability!
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Although this is a city based hotel, it is fairly close to the Metropolitan Natural Park and about a half hour drive from Soberania National Park so get up earlier!
INTERCONTINENTAL JOHANNESBURG SANDTON TOWERS
Useful as a gateway to Kruger, Magoebaskloof and other South African national parks.
CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL BENGALURU ELECTRONICS CITY
Bangalore is the gateway to many of India’s wonderful national parks & birding paradises such as Wayanad, Coorg, Nagarhole and Mudumalai. I will be there in a month or so. I am currently booked at the Park Plaza which has a better location and free breakfast for all guests so considering switching to this hotel. I probably won’t do it though because I don’t want to be in Electronic City and the breakfast costs extra here.
Gateway to Thattekad Bird Sanctuary but it may not be necessary as it’s just as quick to go from the airport directly to the sanctuary by taxi as it is to go to the city.
FULL LIST OF POINTBREAKS CLICK HERE
My Feedly has erupted with blogs announcing the massive devaluation of United Airlines’ premium cabin awards, especially for partner awards. There is a massive thread on FlyerTalk as well. Since different blogs write for different types of travellers (luxury travel, domestic USA, backpacker travel, etc), I am only going to give my view on how this devaluation affects eco-travelers who want to go to the top birding hotspots in the world. So far, I have looked at travel ex-Australia and ex-USA. SInce I am planning a trip to Africa in 2015, I also looked at intra-African awards.
United Airlines has arguably the world’s best rates for business & first class travel of all the major carriers. True, US Airways may be cheaper but they are far less flexible. Most miles & points collectors prefer to use them for business & first class awards on some of the world’s top rated airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Lufthansa & Swiss.
If you live outside the USA, you may or may not be aware that it is very easy for Americans with good credit scores to get 1000’s of miles from signing up for Chase credit cards to get the huge 40-50,000 miles sign up bonuses. I have done this myself although to a lesser extent. It has also been fairly easy for people resident in the USA to “manufacture spend” by purchasing Vanilla Reloads at CVS drugstores, loading them onto a Bluebird card and using the Bluebird to either withdraw cash at an ATM or pay the credit card online. This has resulted in millions of United Mileage Plus miles floating around and it was inevitable there would be a devaluation. What is really frustrating is that people who can’t manufacture miles (don’t live in the USA or near a CVS) have also been caught up in this devaluation. This is the award chart as it is now.
This is what it will be in 3 months’ time. I must say, at least they had the courtesy to give us 3 months warning! Unlike Club Carlson who devalued their miles redemptions without warning.
The good news is that MOST destinations remained the same price if you travel in economy. This blog is geared towards destination orientated travelers not journey orientated travelers so I will assume that my readers would rather travel in economy with the possible exception of long-haul overnight flights when having a flat bed to sleep in can be a big advantage. Honestly, we all know economy sucks but it’s bearable for flights during the day and less than 6 hours. The most popular destinations for birders are Central/South America, Australia, South-East Asia, Central Asia & Africa.
EX-USA
Economy awards remain the same with the following exceptions: Central Asia increases by 5000 miles round trip. South-east Asia increases by 15,000 miles round trip.
Business class awards have gone up across the board with Southern South America taking the smallest hit at 10,000 extra miles round trip. Australia will cost an extra 25,000 miles, Oceania will cost an extra 30,000 miles round trip & all Asian destinations have increased by 40,000 miles round trip.
EX-AUSTRALIA
Economy awards remain the same except for Oceania & Central Asia which increases by 10,000 round trip.
South-east Asia appears to be going DOWN by 25,000 miles which is surprisingly good news!
Business class (round trips) have gone up by 25,000 to USA, 40,000 to Central America,Northern South America, 25,000 to Southern South America, 30,000 to Central Asia & 20,000 to Africa.
South-east Asia has gone DOWN by 30,000 miles round trip!
I am planning to use my United miles to go to Africa in 2015. My 2014 travel plans have been allocated to US Airways and all but one trip are booked. I can’t bring this trip forward as I won’t have the cash to pay for the safaris and everything else that can’t be paid for with miles & points until I have been saving for a couple years. Since I plan to use Ethiopian and they have been stingy with business class awards, I was already budgeting for economy awards which have not changed. There is one flight between Mauritius & Port Elizabeth via Johannesburg which has gone up by 5000 for the one-way in economy or 10,000 in business. Test-runs show that this route is difficult to get in economy so we may have to redeem business which won’t be all bad since it is South African Airways.
First, don’t panic! If you were planning to use your miles for an economy ticket, in most cases you won’t be affected. If you were planning to book business class (if you want FIRST class you are probably in the wrong blog), make sure you book your 2014 travel before the increases on 1 Feb, 2014. With the 331 booking window, this will cover travel up to the end of 2014.
If you are an Australian wishing to travel to South-east Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) which has excellent birding, then WAIT until after 1 Feb 2014 to book your trip.
If you are a Chase customer, keep your miles in Ultimate Rewards as long as possible to retain flexibility. Avios are also an option and may work out to be a better deal so compare both before you transfer your miles.
Yes it is true, very few economy awards have increased in price. This also means that people who would have booked business class but can’t afford it now will downgrade to economy. It will be harder to find availability as more people will be trying for these tickets so book as soon as you know your plans are solid.
Even though the swapping rate is terrible, it at least provides something to do with orphaned points. I’d rather have 153 AA or UA miles than 1001 useless Frontier miles when I don’t collect in that program. So I went onto Points.com and saw that the trade and exchange sections have been greyed out on both United Airlines and US Airways. It should look like the American Airlines account with trade & exchange in blue with a hyperlink. Not wanting to get stuck with orphaned miles, I requested the exchange of 300 Best Buy & 1001 Frontier miles to AA before that program also drops out of the swapping options. If you have any points or miles accounts with small balances you can’t use, you might as well swap them into an account you plan to use!
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This is one of those bonuses many of us wait for to get rid of those extra hotel points we may have accumulated but can’t use. Since most of our travel is staying in eco-lodges where you can’t pay with points, we value airline miles more as we still need to get to the place! So here’s the deal:
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Here’s the link to register if you didn’t get the email. Make sure your transferred points earn at least 5000 miles or you won’t get the bonus. The normal 5000 miles becomes 6250 miles with the 25% bonus. This is a complete table of conversion rates.
So is it a good value to make these conversions? This is where you need to have an idea of how many hotel point redemptions you will be making in the next couple years or so and if you have enough points to do them with anything left over. You may have a surplus of hotel points if you got the affiliate credit card or bought some on special during a promo.
Wyndham is currently selling their points with a 20% bonus. This can work well if you need to top up your United account for an award. For example:
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Buy 20,000 Wyndham points for $220 and get 4000 points as a bonus for 24,000 all up. These 24,000 points convert in 3 x batches of 8000 (3 x 3200) so you end up with 9600 United miles. Add on the 25% bonus and the final total is 12,000 United miles for your outlay of $220.
If you wanted to buy 12,000 United miles at the regular price, it would cost you $451.50 so you are buying them at less than half price. I don’t advise buying miles on speculation as they could devalue before you get a chance to redeem them but this is a good way to top up for an award you will be redeeming soon.
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Many people on FlyerTalk are members of Avianca-Taca Lifemiles due to some very generous promos such as the buy/give/share 100% bonus promos. Most people are collecting the miles to redeem on Star Alliance awards so very few have actually flown on Taca so I hope this post will be of interest.
This route is a special bargain whether you are using Lifemiles or United Mileage Plus. Look how much it would cost to buy the tickets. Before you get too excited about “business class” remember these are only small planes so there is no business class unless you connect again in El Salvador.
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You can choose from a daytime connection that gets you to SJO in the evening or an overnight connection in GUA. If you go for the morning connection, you would need to spend the night in Flores. We did the overnight connection so we could maximize time at Tikal, arrive in San Jose at a decent hour and use Club Carlson points for a free night at the Radisson.
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Using Lifemiles more miles/more money toggle you can bring the cost of these flights down to 3500 miles plus $45 (plus tax).
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Using United Mileage Plus it’s still a pretty good deal, especially if you have the usual credit cards. The $51.50 is the tax added on to the flights, you have to pay this on Taca as well. Scroll down if you want the overnight connection because UA lists flights by duration of travel.
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There are no lounges in the Flores airport, there is a United Club at Guatemala City. This is the first plane from Flores to Guatemala City, all economy seats but a very short flight so who cares?
Arriving in Guatemala City is strange because you have to wait in line at customs even though it is a domestic flight. We had our boarding passes out ready to show that we were on a domestic flight and they waved us through once we got to the front of the line. Luckily we had carried our backpacks on so we avoided further delay. This was relevant as we found the Radisson’s shuttle waiting for us and one other couple. The other couple didn’t show up so the shuttle took us to the hotel, then the driver got a call that the other couple finally made it out of the airport and were looking for the shuttle!
Next morning, waiting to board plane to San Jose.
Guatemala City airport does have some pretty cool shops which take credit cards without a surcharge. I succumbed to the temptation!
Last week I blogged about the opportunities to buy airline miles with US Airways Dividend Miles and Avianca-Taca Lifemiles at greatly reduced costs through sharing them with someone else who shares them back to you. These two promos will be ending on 15 Oct so if you had it in mind to take advantage, then do it now! I didn’t partake this time as I have enough miles in these two programs to meet our needs for the next couple years. You shouldn’t buy miles unless you plan to redeem them within a year or so as they may depreciate. Here’s the details in case you missed it the first time.
Australians need not feel left out of the October promo frenzy that seems to be going on this month! Virgin Velocity is one of the programs I recommend Aussies join as it is very easy to get points from everyday living and also the American Express Membership Rewards program. If you are new to my blog, please take a few minutes to read the posts I linked above.
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Transfer your credit or charge card points from 1 October to 31 October 2013 and you will receive 15% bonus Velocity Points*.
Participating Banks
For individual bank partner terms and conditions please click here.
Plus, get even better value by saving 15% off Reward Seat and Any Seat bookings on Virgin Australia domestic and international flights^. Velocity Frequent Flyer offers the best Reward Seat availability out of all Asia Pacific region programs, now that’s rewarding†.
Recommended Virgin Australia destinations for eco-travelers
Virgin Austalia serves all the major domestic airports too.
Terms and Conditions
* Available to Velocity members only and points transfers with participating banks only. For full details on points transfers, including minimum Points transfer requirements and Card Partner Terms and Conditions click here. The earning and redemption of Card Partner points is subject to the Terms and Conditions of the Card Partner reward program. Once Card Partner points have been redeemed for Velocity Points, they are governed by the Velocity Membership Terms and Conditions and cannot be reversed. Conditions apply, see www.velocityrewards.com.au. Transferred Points will be available in your Velocity Account subject to the Partner Points transfer timeframes. The 15% bonus Points offer is only available with, ANZ Rewards credit card accounts, Commonwealth Bank Awards credit card accounts, ANZ Business One Visa Rewards accounts, Westpac Altitude Rewards, St.George Amplify Rewards, BankSA Amplify Rewards, Bank of Melbourne Amplify Rewards, Citibank Rewards accounts, Diner Club Reward accounts, Suncorp Rewards accounts, Card Services Rewards accounts (Citibank Rewards, Diners Club Reward, Suncorp Rewards and Card Services Rewards customers enrolled in direct-earn airline rewards programs are not eligible to participate) and Australian American Express Card holders, including David Jones American Express Card holders enrolled in the Membership Rewards program (this offer excludes American Express New Zealand Card holders). Velocity members must transfer their credit card or charge card points between 1-31 October 2013 to receive the 15% bonus Velocity Points calculated on the total number of Velocity Points when transferred to the Velocity Account.
^This offer applies to Reward Seat and Any Seat bookings made on Virgin Australia marketed and operated flights between 1 October 2013 and 30 November 2013. Flights operated by partner airlines are not eligible for this offer. Any Seat refers to seats in any fare class available to the general public on Virgin Australia operated flights. Reward Seats and Any Seats are subject to availability and to the Velocity Membership Terms and Conditions and must be booked at www.velocityfrequentflyer.com. 15% discount is only applicable to minimum Points pricing and does not apply to taxes, fees and surcharges which are payable in addition to Velocity Points redeemed. Any taxes, Booking and Service fees and surcharge components are not eligible for Points earn. Refunds and itinerary changes are permitted prior to travel, subject to a service fee, fare differences (if applicable) and fare restrictions as outlined on the Virgin Australia website. For a redemption booking, the payment amount will comprise of taxes or, where the total cash component of a booking exceeds $50 and this amount is paid for by credit card or debit card, the payment amount will comprise of taxes and a Booking and Service fee of $7.70 per person per booking for Virgin Australia domestic flights, $10 per person per booking for Virgin Australia international short haul flights and $30 per person per booking for Virgin Australia international long haul flights. A phone booking fee applies: $35 per person per booking for Virgin Australia domestic and international short haul flights and $60 per person per booking for Virgin Australia international long haul flights. Checked baggage allowance is not included for Any Seat redemptions booked as a Saver Lite fares. If a checked baggage allowance is required members can make an Any Seat redemption booking for a baggage inclusive fare or purchase excess baggage at the airport for $40 for the first piece. Baggage Allowances for Any Seat redemption bookings vary by fare class and Velocity membership level and can be viewed by clicking here. Baggage Allowances for Economy Reward Seat fares include a checked baggage allowance and vary by membership level and destination. Red members receive 1 piece up to 23kg on domestic and international short haul flights, 2 pieces up to 23 kg each on flights to Los Angeles, or 30kg on international long haul flights to Abu Dhabi. Additional complimentary baggage allowances apply for Silver, Gold and Platinum Velocity members and can be viewed by clicking here. Additional fees will be charged for baggage in excess of the published allowances. Fees are chargeable at the time of purchase and are more expensive if not purchased prior to arriving at the airport.
†Velocity Frequent Flyer awarded Best Redemption Ability for Middle East & Asia/Oceania category in 2013 Freddie Awards, and ranked highest of all Asia Pacific region programs in Ideaworks Company’s 2013 SwitchFly Reward Seat Availability survey.
To earn and redeem Velocity Points you must be a member. Velocity membership and Points earn and redemption are subject to the Member Terms and Conditions, as amended from time to time.