Category Archives: Miles and Points

20% Bonus On SPG Transferred To AA Extended Through 31 Aug

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Good news especially for Aussies who rely on Amex MR to SPG then to AA to build up their accounts!   This is the best way to get award flights on OneWorld members without the ridiculous YQ surcharges that Qantas imposes!

Offer Extended! Earn more miles toward your next trip with the American Airlines AAdvantage® and Starwood Preferred Guest® programs.

Now through August 31, 2015, convert your Starpoints® to AAdvantage miles and earn a 20% bonus on the amount of AAdvantage miles you receive from the conversion.

As always, for every 20,000 Starpoints transferred within the same transaction, SPG® will automatically add another 5,000 Starpoints.

With the additional 20% mileage bonus offered by the AAdvantage program, you’ll receive 30,000 miles from the transaction.

20,000 Starpoints = 20,000 AAdvantage miles
5,000 Standard SPG bonus = 5,000 AAdvantage miles
AAdvantage 20% mileage bonus = 5,000 AAdvantage miles
Total = 30,000 AAdvantage miles

Converting your Starpoints into AAdvantage miles will bring you closer to reaching your dream destination faster.

Convert now >>

Terms and Conditions

 

Aussies Can Earn Airline Points For Everyday Spend

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Maybe a few of you saw the Ben Schlappig interview on Sunrise over the last 2 days and are enviously sizing up the opportunities Americans have to earn easy airline miles and points.  It’s true, Americans do have better credit card deals with lower (or waived) annual fees and easier-to-get cards while the Aussie cards do occasionally have good sign up bonuses but they are not easy to get.  The real value for Americans over the past few years has been churning these cards – that is applying, getting the bonus, canceling the card, then doing it again in a few months although US banks have been recently cracking down on churners.

It’s not easy getting miles in the more lucrative USA programs such as AA and UA unless you are a business traveller with company paid travel that you can credit to these programs.  Amex Membership Reward members can transfer MR points to SPG at a rate of 1000 MR = 500 SPG and certain cards have up to 3 points per $ based on categories  so you may be able to get a reasonable amount of AA miles using the 20k SPG = 25k AA but unfortunately United’s ratio for SPG transfers is half of American’s so it’s not a good option.

So what CAN the average Aussie with a modest income and no employer-paid travel do?  One of the easiest ways is to join Woolworth’s Everyday Rewards in any of their supermarkets for free and scan the card when you pay for your groceries.  The 1 point per $ after $30 spend is nothing to get excited about but they do start sending you targeted promos by email.  Last week, I had one where I got  a 1000 bonus QF points if I spent $120 on groceries that week.  This week I have an ever better promo – 5000 QF points if I make an online order for delivery of at least $50!

EDR1When shopping online with Woolworths you get the same great prices and specials as in store delivered right to your door. With this Member exclusive offer, if you order today, you’ll receive 5000 bonus points and free delivery. Simply select a delivery window between 23rd July and 2nd August and spend $50 or more on your first online shop.

 

T&Cs:  This offer has been selected especially for you and can be redeemed once. Make sure you enter your Everyday Rewards card number when you register with Woolworths Online to qualify for your reward. The qualifying amount must be spent in one transaction and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers. You’ll find your reward in your Everyday Rewards account up to 7 days after the offer end date.

Offer valid for orders delivered from 00:01 23rd July 2015 to 23:59 AEST 2nd August 2015 when you spend $50 or more. Minimum spend of $50 excludes any other coupons/discounts and delivery charges. $50 or more must be spent in a single transaction. Free delivery will apply automatically at the checkout. Orders must be placed by 15:00 AEST 1st August 2015. Offer valid only once per shopper during the offer period. Order cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Orders may be cancelled by us without notice to you if the above terms and conditions are not adhered to. Excludes Delivery Saver, flowers, liquor, tobacco items, gift cards and selected services. Offer can only be redeemed at Woolworths online. Available delivery times will vary between areas.

Now I usually prefer to do my own shopping and grab anything that’s been marked down but for this promo I will find some non-perishable staples to fill the order.  Not gonna pass up 5000 free QF points!

I may even up the ante and order $100 of groceries as I have a $10 off $100 voucher from the petrol station!  Yes, you can stack these kinds of promos and also earn credit card points when you pay so that would be a nice triple-dip!

Always check the Velocity and Qantas pages for deals on electricity, phone, utility, dining and shopping before you buy anything, you never know what you may find!  Velocity has a good deal for car servicing as well!

While we don’t have the super deals Americans have, there are a few ways to get easy, free points if you stay alert and are willing to redirect your normal spend from one company to another!

Earn 10,000 Bonus Velocity Points On Your July Service

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Update posted on 30 July in Brisbane:

Velocity website now shows end date of 31 July.  There must have been a data entry error.  I’m really glad I had my car serviced on Monday as my points have already posted – they have a posting date of the day after the service!  I really hope Velocity and Midas do more of these promos!

 

Very lucrative bonus for having your car serviced!  Please note that there is a discrepancy on the end date.  Velocity website says 31 August, Midas website says 31 July.  Either some data entry clerk goofed up or they extended it but I decided with so many points at risk not to take a chance and scheduled my car for a service in July.  We’re doing a road trip in a couple months for birding Outback Queensland so we need the service anyways!

Earn 10,000 bonus Velocity Points on your July service

Kick start the New Financial Year with 10,000 bonus Velocity Points when you have your car serviced with Midas by 31 August 2015*. Plus, earn 3 Velocity Points per $1 spent on the service cost.

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Getting To Malaysia With Airline Miles, Getting Around By Bus

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Since I already have a more detailed post on South-east Asia, I will only add some Malaysia specific tips here.  The good news is that there are lots of airlines flying here so you have plenty of choices no matter which alliance you participate in.    You can get a full list of airlines flying to KUL (KLIA) on Wikipedia.  The first step is to identify which airlines that participate in one of the 3 alliances serve the airport in question.  You can do this by looking the airport up in Wikipedia and making a note of which airlines fly there and cross referencing with my guides on Star Alliance, OneWorld Alliance and SkyTeam.  Since this list is so long, I will only put a snippet here to give you an idea.

KUL flightsYou don’t necessarily need miles to get to Malaysia, especially if you are already in Asia or even Australia.  Air Asia is an excellent low-cost carrier (LCC) which has a huge network of flights around Asia.  They usually have good sales on so it pays to check with them before spending your miles.  Here’s some examples.

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KUL’s KLIA airport is easy to navigate with everything well signposted.  There are some interesting shops downstairs near the bus kiosks as well as a food court.

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If Kuala Lumpur is your first destination, you have a choice of buses, trains or taxis to get downtown.  But if you are headed elsewhere in Malaysia, you can usually get a bus direct to your final destination.  Here are some bus schedules showing departures to our final destination – Taiping.  SInce our Air Asia flight from Surat Thani got in around 4pm, the soonest we could get away was that 17:30 Starmart bus.  Although you can book buses online, there is no need to unless possibly during public holidays.  Just go to the bus kiosk downstairs and they will sell you a ticket on the next available bus.

KLIA - TaipingMalaysia buses are an excellent way to get around peninsular Malaysia.  They are timely and very comfortable.  They pick up at a specific bay which will be on your ticket just outside the airport at both KLIA 1 and KLIA 2.

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The seats rival domestic business class on Australian or USA based airlines with an even better recline.  Surprisingly it was half empty – good for us, maybe not so good for the bus company!  If it had been full, I wouldn’t have used the recline so much as I would have been in the lap of the person behind me.  Since we were pretty tired already, I had no problem dozing off before we reached Taiping, thankfully the driver woke us up when we got there!

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I’m trying to show how deep the recline is.

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SPG 50% Bonus When Transferring To AAdvantage

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This promo will be especially welcome if you aren’t American and can’t get the AAdvantage co-branded credit cards.  If you have an Aussie Amex MR you can change 40k MR to 20k SPG, then transfer then to 30k AAdvantage.  We still don’t know what the AAdvantage program will look like when the dust settles after the merger so don’t go too crazy.  Just transfer enough to cover your needs for the next 18-24 months.  I’m only transferring 40k Amex this time just in case J space opens up on next year’s plans.

SPG AA dealConverting your Starpoints into AAdvantage miles will bring you closer to reaching your dream destination faster.

Convert now >>

Terms and Conditions:

 

AAdvantage® Bonus Mile Offer Terms and Conditions

To qualify for this AAdvantage® bonus mile offer, member must initiate the AAdvantage mileage conversions with the Starwood Preferred Guest® program between 12:00 am Central time July 1, 2015 and 11:59 pm Central time August 7, 2015 (the “Promotion Period”), and be in good standing in the AAdvantage program. Members can convert multiple times during the Promotion Period.

To earn the 20% conversion bonus, member must convert points from the Starwood Preferred Guest program. This offer is non-transferable and non-reversible.

Bonus miles will be posted by American Airlines to the qualifying AAdvantage member’s account within 7 business days after the initial conversion activity has been posted by Starwood Preferred Guest. Bonus miles earned in this promotion do not count toward elite status qualification.

American Airlines, AAdvantage, the Flight Symbol logo and MileSAAver are marks of American Airlines, Inc.

 

Starwood Guest Preferred Transfer to Miles Terms and Conditions

Starwood Preferred Guests can transfer up to 79,999 of their Starpoints® per transaction per program within a 24-hour period to the American Airlines AAdvantage® program. Plus, for every 20,000 Starpoints transferred within the same transaction, Starwood will automatically add another 5,000 Starpoints! This means that up to 94,999 Starpoints can be transferred into your AAdvantage account.

There is no minimum Starpoint transfer requirement for Platinum Preferred Guest members. Gold Preferred Guest members have a minimum transfer requirement of 1,500 Starpoints, and Preferred Guest members have a minimum transfer requirement of 2,500 Starpoints.

Transfer maximums are based on a combination of member Starpoints and the Starwood Preferred Guest airline transfer transaction bonus. Only one airline transfer transaction per member per 24 hour period is allowed; multiple transfer transactions within the same 24 hour period will reject. Both the Starwood Preferred Guest and AAdvantage account must have identical member names in order to complete this request; different names will cause the transfer to reject. Airline transfers are one-way, non-reversible, and non-refundable.

 

Best & Worst Frequent Flyer Programs

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This interesting interview takes a look at how the 25 largest frequent flyer programs in the world stack up when it comes to redeeming your miles.

Here are the best and worst airlines for using travel rewards.  I have bolded the programs that I use and added my observations.

1. airberlin, top bonus

1. Southwest, Rapid Rewards – I joined this one just because it seems to be the only way we can fly from SJU (Puerto Rico) to mainland USA.  No availability on other programs the date I wanted.

3. Virgin Australia, Velocity – easy to redeem on their own flights, even managed to snag a domestic USA route I needed for next year on Delta!

4. Air Canada, Aeroplan

5. Singapore, KrisFlyer – yes, easy to get flights but crazy expensive fuel surcharges!

6. JetBlue, True Blue

6. Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian, Miles & More

8. Air Asia Group, BIG

9. Alaska Group, Mileage Plan

9. British Airways, Executive Club – my go-to program for shorthaul OneWorld flights

9. China Southern, Sky Pearl Club

12. United, MileagePlus – partner availability better than their own flights but excellent online booking interface.

13. Qantas Group, Frequent Flyer – easy to book but expensive fuel surcharges.

14. Alitalia, MilleMiglia

14. GOL, SMILES

16. American, AAdvantage – better availability on international than domestic, no fuel surcharges!

17. Cathay Pacific, Asia Miles

18. Emirates, Skywards

19. Air France/KLM, Flying Blue – useful for flights in exotic places on KQ & GA

20. Turkish, Miles & Smiles

21. Delta, SkyMiles

22. Scandinavian, EuroBonus

23. Air China, PhoenixMiles

24. Avianca, LifeMiles – easy to use on their own metal but I hear not so easy on partner awards.

25. LAN, LANPASS – had to join as I couldn’t get flights to Galapagos any other way.  Call centre is useless.  They take your complaint, raise a “case number” when apparently disappears into a black hole.  Why do they even bother?

 

 

Copa’s New Program Has Good Deals For Eco-tourists – 4000 Free Miles For New Members

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Copa is based in Panama and serves most airports in the Americas so it is well positioned for people wanting to get from the USA to the birding hotspots of Central & South America.  As an incentive to get new members, they are offering up to 4000 free miles (which is almost a one way ticket within Panama or Colombia) to join ConnectMiles and fill out your profile up to 30 June.

Use this link to join.  You will get 1000 miles straight away and 1000 miles in about 4-6 weeks.

Then go to this profile page and click on the blue link that says “Complete and win 3000 miles”.  It’s not a contest, everyone wins!  You will finish this exercise with 3000 total miles and 1000 more to come in 4-6 weeks.  The program is in its infancy so no one knows yet what credit card partners they will have but hopefully they will partner with Citi Thank You, SPG and/or Chase Ultimate Rewards.

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Complete the steps in order.  You will need your passport for step 2.

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The award chart for Copa flights is pretty good for both business and economy.  They don’t have online redemptions yet but they expect to soon.  It’s not likely anyone will have enough miles for a redemption at this early stage anyway.  The Star Alliance chart is similar to United Airline’s chart and is too big to copy here so please view it on their website.

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The fees aren’t too bad.

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Getting To Thailand With Airline Miles

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Since I already have a more detailed post on South-east Asia, I will only add some Thailand specific tips here.  The good news is that Thailand is one of the easiest countries in the world to get to on airline miles because everyone flies there!  You can get a full list of airlines flying to BKK (Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) on Wikipedia.  The first step is to identify which airlines that participate in one of the 3 alliances serve the airport in question.  You can do this by looking the airport up in Wikipedia and making a note of which airlines fly there and cross referencing with my guides on Star Alliance, OneWorld Alliance and SkyTeam.  Since this list is so long, I will only put a snippet here to give you an idea.

BKK snippetIf you are using Star Alliance miles on Thai Airways, you can continue on the same award to other airports in Thailand such as Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Krabi, etc.  Some airlines such as Malaysian, Air China, Korean, Singapore, China Eastern, etc also serve different airports in Thailand thus avoiding BKK all-together.

Connecting in BKK to another destination such as Chiang Mai on Thai Airways is quick and easy.  Just follow the signs to a special immigration counter for domestic connections which in our case was closer to the gate we arrived at.  See photos here.  The lines are much shorter too!  You will still claim your luggage at the final destination airport and clear customs there.  We were through immigration in 5 minutes flat and quickly found the gate to Chiang Mai.  Our connection was around an hour so I had time to use the free airport wifi to check my emails.

If you are on a longer connection and not in Thai’s business class you can still get a massage at the airport.  It’s much more expensive than massages in the city which are around 200 Bhat but if you are pressed for time but have sore muscles it might be worth it.

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