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Buy Aadvantage miles for cheap Qantas and oneworld business class award seats

Kris
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Buy Aadvantage miles for cheap Qantas and oneworld business class award seats

Qantas’ partner American Airlines is selling miles in its frequent flyer program, AAdvantage, for the cheapest price we’ve seen for a while.

You can redeem AAdvantage miles for award seats with Qantas and other oneworld alliance partners.

This can be a useful hack for scoring cheap business class seats, as I’ve written about previously.

Until 30 June, American is offering miles for as low as US1.73 cents each – on par with the lowest we’ve ever seen.

As usual, the cost varies depending on how many you buy, with the ‘sweet spot’ being purchasing the maximum 150,000 miles and getting a 100,000-point bonus for a total cost of US$4,315.

If you choose to buy fewer miles, the price goes up a bit. For example, you can buy 101,000 miles and get a 45,000 bonus for US$2,917, which works out to be around US2 cents per mile.

You need to have been an AAdvantage member for at least 30 days to qualify for the promotion.

If you’re not a member, you can join for free now to be ready next time.

As I’ve written before, my favourite uses of AAdvantage miles are:

  • Qantas domestic business class flights, which require 20,000 miles one-way no matter the distance within Australia, and can include layovers (if you paid US1.73 cents per mile, the cost is USD$346 or around AU$500 – a bargain on some routes)
  • Anywhere in Australia to anywhere in New Zealand in business class for 25,000 miles one-way
  • Australia to Asia in business class for 40,000 miles one-way (Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Japan).

You’ll also have the usual taxes and fees, which are typically quite low with American Airlines (eg. just $13 for a Melbourne-Perth Qantas business class booking).

Note that American allows you to put award seats on hold for five days before confirming a booking, so you can find an award seat first, get it held, then purchase the miles to pay for them.

More information is available on American Airlines’ site here.

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Earn triple Qantas Points on business-related flights

Kris
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Earn triple Qantas Points on business-related flights

Qantas Business Rewards (QBR) is Qantas’ loyalty program for small and medium-sized enterprises, and is quite useful for business owners looking to get more out of their travel.

Program benefits include discounted flights, extra Qantas Points earned when flying, savings on Qantas Club memberships, and more. Membership is open to all business owners, including sole traders – and right now you can join for free.

QBR occasionally runs promotions offering bonus points and/or status credits. One has just been launched, offering triple points on new flight bookings made between 11 – 21 June 2019, for travel by 31 August 2019.

Eligible flights are domestic and international flights with a QF flight number purchased in Australia and operated by Qantas, Emirates or American Airlines.

To take advantage of this promotion, you must register for it.

It’s worth exploring all the other ways your business can earn points through QBR, because the rewards can really stack up.

One lucrative offer right now is a massive 120,000 bonus Qantas Points with the American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card, which delivers a range of valuable perks including triple Qantas Points on flights and complimentary Qantas Club passes. You can read our review of that card here.

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Get two Qantas lounge passes by loading FX onto the Qantas Travel Money card

Kris
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1
Get two Qantas lounge passes by loading FX onto the Qantas Travel Money card

Qantas is running an interesting promotion until 12 June offering two Qantas lounge passes to customers who load AU$5000+ worth of foreign currency onto their Qantas Travel Money card.

Qantas Travel Money is the pre-paid debit Mastercard facility available on all Qantas Frequent Flyer membership cards. It allows you to lock in exchange rates on up to 10 currencies.

Normally I wouldn’t suggest using this card because you can get better FX rates elsewhere (I use the fee-free Citibank Plus transaction account, which adopts the Mastercard overnight FX rate). However, this opportunity to get two lounge passes could be a worthwhile deal – depending on how badly you want lounge access, of course!

Qantas doesn’t sell lounge passes, so their value is entirely subjective. You need to work out what the value is to you and then compare it with the ‘cost’ of using Qantas Travel Money.

Let’s do some math! Right now, for example, AU$5000 converts to 2943 Euros with Qantas Travel Money, whereas with my Citibank Plus account I’d get 3096 Euros – that’s 153 Euros more (= AU$245).

Now, one benefit of using Qantas Travel Money is I’d earn 1.5 Qantas Points per AU$1 spent on purchases (no points are earned on ATM withdrawals, plus there’s an ATM withdrawal fee of around $2 – but this is waived until July.)

If I were to use all the money on the Qantas card for overseas purchases, I’d earn 7500 Qantas Points, which I value conservatively at 1 cent per point = $75.

So, the final ‘cost’ of the two lounge passes for me would be $245 (the exchange rate difference) minus $75 (the value of the points earned) = $170, or $85 per lounge pass.

Is that a good deal? Well, it depends. I’d never pay that much to use a domestic Qantas Club for an hour, but if I had four hours to kill in Hong Kong, I would probably go for it.

You really have to work out whether it’s a good deal for you. 

Note that the lounge passes are valid at domestic Qantas Clubs and Qantas International Business Lounges, but this excludes the LA lounge (which is technically a oneworld lounge) and the Singapore Lounge until it’s expanded later this year (date TBC).

For more details, check out the Qantas Travel Money promotion page here (ends 12 June).

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Australians can now use e-passport gates when entering the UK

Kris
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1
Australians can now use e-passport gates when entering the UK

Here’s some welcome news for Aussies travelling to the UK: you can now use automated e-passport gates to clear immigration at all UK airports and Eurostar train stations – avoiding the often-long queues at staffed immigration gates, as well as the often-grumpy immigration officials themselves!

This is available to all adults, as well as children aged 12 to 17 who are accompanied by an adult.

Visitors from New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Canada and the USA can also take advantage of the new system.

Until now, Australians who regularly visited the UK could pay a fee to join the Registered Traveller program and use automated gates, but now they are open to all Aussie passport holders – and using them is now free, with no pre-registration requirement.

The changes were announced by the UK government last year and were ‘switched on’ overnight – just in time for the peak travel season.

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Enjoy a memorable Vivid Sydney festival with American Express

Kris
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Enjoy a memorable Vivid Sydney festival with American Express

To celebrate the return of the hugely popular Vivid Sydney festival from this Friday 24 May to 15 June 2019, American Express (a Vivid partner) is offering new and existing Card Members a range of exciting benefits and experiences in and around the event.

Chief among these is access to the American Express Lounge at Circular Quay, where guests can enjoy panoramic views of Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Opera House with a drink or snack in hand.

American Express Lounge at Vivid Sydney. Image: Studio Messa

Card Members can also save money with discounts on dining, transport, accommodation and experiences in Sydney.

To top it off, if you’re not yet a Card Member, we’ve partnered with American Express to bring you an exclusive offer of 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards points with the popular American Express Explorer Credit Card: your gateway to a memorable Vivid Sydney festival. This offer is available via this exclusive link  (you won’t get this deal if you go to Amex’s website directly).

Designed for people who love to travel, the Explorer card is packed with benefits including a strong points earn rate on spend, the flexibility to transfer points to eight airlines and two hotel partners, a $400 annual Travel Credit and airport lounge entries.

Here’s more info about these opportunities.

Enjoy the Vivid lights from the American Express Lounge

Take in the sights and capture Vivid Sydney from the comfort of the American Express Lounge, located at the Cruise Bar Rooftop at Circular Quay with sweeping views of Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Opera House.

You can kick off your Vivid Sydney light walk there, drop in mid-way to take a rest, or swing by to finish off the night with a refreshment.

American Express Lounge at Vivid Sydney. Image: Studio Messa

Beverages and snacks will be available for purchase, and you can save an offer to your American Express card at the ‘Tap & Save’ kiosk in the lounge to get $5 back when you spend $30 by 16 June (exclusions apply).

American Express Lounge at Vivid Sydney. Image: Studio Messa

The lounge is open every day during the festival from 5.30pm to 10.30pm. Simply show your card at the door to get in, and each Card Member can bring in one guest.

Money-saving offers

The Amex Offers program gives Card Members exclusive discount and cash-back offers with some of Australia’s biggest and best brands.

At Vivid Sydney, you can enjoy savings on just about every part of the experience with these offers:

  • The Fork: Sync, book and dine on TheFork and get $20 back when you spend $50 at TheFork participating restaurants (14 May – 16 June)
  • Rydo Taxi app: get 10% back on every ride (23 May – 15 June)
  • Europcar: spend $200 or more and get $30 back up to two times (23 May – 28 June)
  • Public transport: get 30% back up to $15 on Sydney Trains, Ferries or Light Rail (21 May – 16 June)
  • Red Balloon: spend $240 or more and get $40 back (15 May – 16 June)
  • Captain Cook Cruises: spend $300 or more and get $60 back (23 May – 30 June)
  • Taronga Zoo: spend $20 or more and get $5 back (23 May – 16 June)
  • BridgeClimb: spend $300 or more and get $50 back (15 May – 16 June)
  • David Jones: spend $75 or more and get $10 back at participating stores (23 May – 16 June)

You can save these offers to your card via the Amex app or online (T&Cs and exclusions apply). For more info visit https://www.americanexpress.com/au/vivid/index.html

Receive 100,000 bonus points with the American Express Explorer Credit Card

If you’d like to become an American Express Card Member so you can enjoy the American Express Lounge and exclusive offers during Vivid Sydney 2019, here’s an enticing deal.

We’ve partnered with American Express to bring our readers an offer of 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards points with the popular American Express Explorer Credit Card. This card comes with:

  • a strong points earn rate on spend
  • the flexibility to transfer points to eight top airlines including Virgin Australia, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, as well as two hotel partners (Marriott and Hilton)
  • a $400 annual Travel Credit that you can redeem for flights, hotels, experiences or car hire online through Amex Travel – this fully offsets the card’s $395 annual fee
  • up to US$100 credit and a complimentary room upgrade at check-in when you book a hotel through Amex’s Hotels Collection, which includes more than 600 properties in over 30 countries
  • complimentary travel insurance covering medical, trip cancellation, travel delay and baggage-related costs, as well as many other expenses
  • smartphone screen insurance, with $500 available for repairs up to 2 times every 12 months (with a 10% excess)
  • two entries each year to the American Express Lounge at Sydney Airport international or Melbourne Airport international
  • up to 4 free additional cards for family members over 18 years of age – an easy way for your household to earn points faster.

More details about these card features can be found in our comprehensive Explorer card overview, here.

To receive 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards points, you must apply online via this exclusive link by 18 June 2019, be approved and spend $1,500 on your new card in the first 3 months. This offer is available to new Card Members only (T&Cs and eligibility criteria apply).

The 100,000 points convert to 50,000 airline frequent flyer points with almost all partner airlines. That’s enough for one or more domestic economy return flights in Australia with Virgin Australia (15,600 to 35,600 Velocity Points plus taxes per return flight, depending on route length).

Take off anywhere in Australia with Virgin Australia

You could also put the points towards an overseas trip. For example, a Singapore Airlines return economy flight to South East Asia, Hong Kong or Taiwan costs 56,000 KrisFlyer miles plus taxes from eastern Australia, or just 40,000 KrisFlyer miles plus taxes from Perth or Darwin.

You could also redeem the 100,000 points for $500 of spend with Webjet, Helloworld Travel or Amex Travel, or as $500 of credit on your card account.

Summing up

Whether you’re a Sydney local or a visitor, there’s no better time to see the city than when it turns on the lights for the Vivid Sydney festival.

American Express Card Members have much to look forward to during Vivid Sydney, with benefits available throughout the festival – and the American Express Lounge is especially exciting.

If you’d like to become a Card Member to enjoy these benefits, the 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards points offer with the Explorer credit card is available via this exclusive link (and not by visiting Amex’s website directly) for a limited time.

A more comprehensive overview of the Explorer card is available here.

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Earn triple Qantas Points on hotel bookings until Thursday

Kris
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1
Earn triple Qantas Points on hotel bookings until Thursday

Qantas is offering a generous 9 Qantas Points per A$1 spent on hotel bookings worldwide made through its portal until midnight Thursday. That’s triple the usual earn rate of 3 points per dollar.

This is a great opportunity to boost your points balance if you have a trip coming up.

I generally advise people to use Qantas Hotels only if they’re not chasing loyalty status or claiming loyalty perks with a hotel chain (which would normally require making bookings directly with the hotel), or if they’re not already accumulating benefits with an online travel agent (OTA) loyalty program, like that of Hotels.com, where you can get 1 free night for every 10 booked – effectively a 10% discount.

If you do want to use Qantas Hotels, first compare the prices with other OTAs, as occasionally I’ve noticed that Qantas Hotels can be more expensive.

The triple points promotion ends 11:59pm (AEST) this Thursday 9 May 2019. More information is available at Qantas Hotels.

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Get 5,000 bonus points by adding an additional card to your Amex account

Kris
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0
Get 5,000 bonus points by adding an additional card to your Amex account

American Express is offering 5,000 bonus points to card members who add an additional (i.e. supplementary) card to their account.

This is an easy way to boost your points balance.

Amex generally offers free additional cards for family members (and sometimes friends, depending on the card you hold).

I don’t know if this is available to all card members, but a lot of people have already reported seeing this offer in their accounts.

When I logged into my Amex account online, the following pop-up appeared.

There’s also the following banner at the top of my account homepage.

As you can see, this offer is limited to one additional card, and they must spend $500 on that card by 31 July 2019.

If you’d like to take advantage of this deal, log into your account to see if the offer appears.

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Get 4 Qantas Points per $1 with Woolworths online until Friday

Kris
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Get 4 Qantas Points per $1 with Woolworths online until Friday

Around a year ago, Woolworths joined the Qantas Mall shopping portal (now known as Qantas Shopping) allowing Qantas Frequent Flyer members to earn 2 Qantas Points per dollar when shopping with Woolworths online.

Shopping online via Qantas Shopping (and Virgin Australia’s similar Velocity eStore) is one of the easiest ways to boost your points balance.

Until Friday (tomorrow), you can earn double the usual points with Woolworths online, bagging 4 Qantas Points per dollar spent, which of course is in addition to any points you’ll earn through Woolworths’ own loyalty program or your credit card rewards program.

As is usual with Qantas Shopping, you’ll have to first log into your Qantas Frequent Flyer account and then follow the link to Woolworths, making sure cookies are enabled on your browser so Qantas can track your purchase (you can check if cookies are enabled here).

The bonus points will be credited to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account within a few weeks.

Once you’ve made your purchase, you can pick it up for free or get it delivered.

And, of course, make sure you pay with a high points-earning credit card, like the Qantas American Express Ultimate Card which earns 1.25 Qantas Points per dollar spent and has a huge 100,000 bonus points available right now for new Card Members.

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