Amex have released improved transfer rates for Membership Rewards points over to:
- Velocity – 15% bonus, or 30% on transfers over 100,000 MR points with 100 bonus SC’s
- Etihad Guest (which I’ve previously written about) – 20% bonus
- Virgin Atlantic – 30% bonus
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich – 25% bonus
- Thai Airways – 10% bonus
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer – 15% discount
- Asia Miles – 25% bonus plus 1000 points for new Members
- SPG – increase in 3:1 to 2:1 transfer rate (permanent)
All bonuses are valid until March 31 only, but the permanently increased Starwood transfer rate stands out as a real enhancement to Australian Membership Rewards.
With SPG’s 5,000 mile kicker on transfers of 20,000 points to Airline programs, and 1:1 transfers from SPG to almost every Frequent Flyer program out there, it becomes a real option for earning points to transfer over to American Airlines (for example), which have great redemption rates for First Class travel on oneworld partners. So 40,000 MR points now = 25,000 SPG = 25,000 AAdvantage or US Airways, etc.
I’ll do an analysis of the options in here in a future post. I can only assume the increased transfer rate is due to the appreciation of the $AU against $US, allowing American Express Australia to buy more SPG points for their money.
I’ve factored in the promotion bonus rates and the new SPG rate into the reward scheme transfer calculator so you can see the new bang for your Membership Reward point calculations.
Personally I won’t be making any bonus transfers during the March promotion period. I’m tempted to top up my Etihad Guest account for some specific future redemption opportunities, but I’ll run the numbers on that and see. I’d suggest still only transferring if you know you have a specific redemption in mind; all but the 30% bonuses on Velocity or Virgin Atlantic which are a bit borderline tempting are worth holding off on otherwise.
Kudos, as usual, to the folks over at AFF for picking this up.
How come you see the SPG 5,000 point bonus with every 20,000 point transfer now as a ‘real option’? The reason why I’m asking is because isn’t one already spending 2:1 MR to get SPG points?
Example: Transfer 200,000 MR points (under new rate conversion) to SPG = 100,000 SPG
Transfer 100,000 SPG points to airlines @ 1:1 ratio + 5,000 bonus per 20,000 = 120,000 airline points
Conclusion: You just spent 200,000 MR points to get 120,000 airline points?
vs.
Example 2: Direct transfer 200,000 MR points to Virgin 30% bonus = 260,000 points.
??? thanks in advance
It’s the non-local programs that become available via SPG which are interesting to consider.
QF F SYD-SIN = 90,000 QFF points or 45,000 AA Miles
90,000 QFF = 90,000 MR points.
50,000 AA miles = 40,000 SPG points + 2 x 5000 SPG bonus = 80,000 MR
QF F SYD-LAX = 144,000 QFF points or 72,500 AA Miles
144,000 QFF = 144,000 MR.
72,500 AA = 60,000 SPG + 3 x 5000 SPG bonus = 120,000 MR
I don’t have a platinum charge card, so I find these examples even more appropriate to me – I can use the MR points earnt on my Amex at high earn rates, for good value Business and First Class redemptions on oneworld carriers like BA, CX or QF through American Airlines – without even having to worry about the fact I can’t transfer to Qantas. It’s a whole new option that wasn’t available before, because the value wasn’t there.
These examples are simple so show a marginal difference, but there are plenty of routings using AA miles that are now even cheaper outright via SPG than by booking directly with QF – tacking on a connecting flight within the region for example with an AA redemption has no extra charge in points, whereas Qantas charge you outright for the extra leg.
It’s made possible by the likes of AA and US Airways using geographic zone based charts whereas Qantas is a distance based zone chart. Geographic redemption charts are much more open to higher value redemption opportunities.
It’s also so much easier to earn top up points using the consistent promotions for programs in the US market, like US Airways Grand Slam, or the common 25-30% bonuses on purchasing miles promotions. It’s not even possible to buy QF miles outright without making a specific redemption, and the costs of doing so are pretty extortionate.
All things considered, it’s the greater flexibility that appeals to me – I can now more efficiently top up an Emirates account, a US Airways account or one of the many others that SPG transfer to at a more reasonable rate. Long answer, but hope that helps.
Sources
QFF Calculator – https://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/do/dyns/InitialPointsRedeemed
AA Partner Chart – http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/aadvantageAllPartnerChart.jsp