Advice: Best way to use my points

Hi All,

First off. I'm a complete noob with points and using them. I know they can be beneficial which is why I'm here but I have limited knowledge so please be kind.

I currently have 35,000 points on an AMEX David Jones card (I got it without doing research and before finding this site :( ). And will soon have 60,000 Qantas point through the St.George Amplify Signature Card card that was promoted here :).

I'm heading to Hawaii in September and want to know the best, strategic way to use my points. I want to fly with either Jetstar or Qantas but am open to ideas. I went through the webjet site just to see how much my points took off the total and was pretty disappointed to see that my AMEX points only deducted $300. Can I get more bang for these points by converting them to Qanatas points or something like that?

I'm aware that flying business class will result in better yield per point but I'm mainly concerned about saving $$$

Any help\advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Matthew,

Can you clarify please?

1. Are the 35,000 David Jones AMEX points in the American Express Rewards program or the Qantas FF program?

2. Are the 60,000 St George Amplify points in the Qantas FF program?  Did you nominate the QFF program when applying for that card?

I ask because you say in your post "Can I get more bang for these points by converting them to Qanatas points or something like that?".

Thanks,

Jack

St.Georges signature visa car sign up bonus will be deposited in your nominated points program. You will need to opt for QFF when signing up otherwise they will go to the Amplify scheme which is not as valuable as QFF.

David jones points are for as follows: 35k Amex points or 22.5k Qantas points. Future points earn will be either Amex or Qantas. So you need to decide which one is better for you.

As far as I'm aware Matthew, there is no way to convert your Amex Rewards points into QFF.  

You can transfer your Amex Rewards into a range of other frequent flyer programs, Virgin Australia, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer, Etihad and Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles.   Asia Miles is a very good program to accumulate miles in where you can, but this is usually done by flying or transferring points into their program.  

I've had a quick look on Asia Miles and they require 40,000 miles for a one-way economy award from Syd-Honolulu or vice versa with Qantas or American Airlines.  AMEX Reward Points transfer 1:1 into Asia Miles, so if you used your David Jones card until you reached 40,000 AMEX Rewards points, you could then transfer to Asia Miles, and have 40,000 Asia Miles points.  At a quick glance, there are hardly any award seats available though, PLUS it's difficult to see what the taxes and charges would be (I believe they can be quite high, similar to what Qantas charge).

The 60,000 QFF points are enough to get you a return trip to Hawaii with Jetstar through the QFF webiste (you'd have to look carefully for Jetstar only award flights.  If you choose any segment of the journey, for example, Syd-Brisbane, on a Qantas leg, the amount of miles required will increase above your 60,000).  Hopefully by the time you get the 60,000 points though, you'll have incurred some more spend and more points anyway.  While there is plenty of award availability through Jetstar on there, the problem is Qantas' taxes and fees.  So while you can get a return direct trip to Hawaii through QFF website on Jetstar planes for 60,000 QFF points, the taxes and fees charged by Qantas are around $470!!

I've just had a quick look and Jetstar (on their own website) are offering plenty of DIRECT return flights in September to Hawaii from Sydney for $573 return (including taxes).  For that price, I'd be looking to book with Jetstar, pay cash and hold onto those 60,000 points.  It's an excellent price.

You'll see from searching around the QFF and Jetstar websites that those 60,000 QFF miles will only save you around $100 at the moment (while those Jetstar flights are on sale to Hawaii).  That would be a waste. Plus, most of the award flights on QFF website fly on Jetstar but make you fly via Melbourne or Brisbane on the way there and back (I'm assuming for some reason that you are in Sydney. If you're in Melbourne or Brisbane, than it's not so bad).  

At this stage, my advice would be to hold your AMEX points in the AMEX rewards program, and hold onto your QFF points when they arrive.  

A challenge with the whole points hack thing is having points spread over different programs, and this can be frustrating at times.  There is plenty of info on this site about the various programs and approaches to points.  If you are in a position to snap up one of those Jetstar direct return fares to Honolulu in September for $573, I'd be doing that.  If you decide to go for that option, don't forget to use POLi to pay for your flight so you avoid Jetstar's booking fee!

If this was helpful mate, push that little 'up arrow' on the left of the original reply!

If you have any more questions about the above, ask away...

Jack