In just 10 days – on Monday 15 April 2019 – major changes to the points earn and redemption rates across American Express’ card range will kick in: a key event for those of us who rely on Amex cards to maximise points earn.

I covered these changes in detail when they were first announced six months ago and I also shared my plans for how I would respond.

In short:

• the changes to cards that earn Qantas or Velocity Points directly are straightforward: points earn rates will fall by a modest 0.25 points per $1 for all purchases except with government, which remains the same (overall, I don’t think this is a big deal)
• the changes to Amex’s own-brand cards, which earn flexible Membership Rewards points, are more complicated, because both the earn and redemptions rates will be adjusted – and sadly in most cases the rewards are being significantly reduced.

Amex has displayed the new points earn and redemption rates on its website for a few months now, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise even to new customers. You can read my summary of the changes here.

As I outlined in my earlier post, in anticipation of this I have brought forward a lot of spend to take advantage of the current, higher earn rates.

There’s still a little time left to do this, but I assume the transactions will have to clear by 14 April 2019 – and that usually takes a few days.

Since the points transfer rates from Membership Rewards to airlines will fall on 15 April, next week I’ll be transferring all of the MR points earned on my Explorer card to my favourite airlines (mainly Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer).

I’ll do this a few days before the 14 April deadline just to have a buffer in case there are any unforeseen IT issues or glitches.

Again, if you have a balance of Membership Rewards points, you should consider doing the same – but note that some airlines set a ‘hard’ expiry date for points, which is three years in the case of the popular Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. (Virgin Australia, on the other hand, imposes a ‘soft’ expiry, where points don’t expire so long as you keep your account active by earning or redeeming a point every two years).

Overall, while I’m disappointed about the changes Amex is implementing, I understand the commercial rationale for them given the major regulatory shake-up we’ve seen recently in the credit card space.

I strongly believe Amex cards will continue to provide excellent value when you take into account all of the points, travel, lifestyle and money saving perks they provide.

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Qantas partner and oneworld member Qatar Airways will bring its award-winning business class product, Qsuite, to Perth later this year.

In a recently filed update to its schedule, the carrier has swapped the A380 currently operating on the Doha-Perth route daily to a Boeing 777-300ER with Qsuite from 12 September to 12 December 2019. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this extended into 2020.

While this does mean the loss of first class, which is available only on the A380, it’s more than made up for with Qsuite. Widely regarded as the world’s best business class, the Perth route will become the second in Australia to host the product, after Sydney.

Qsuite features the first-ever double bed in business class …

… as well as private cabins for up to four people that allow passengers to create their own private “room” – a first of its kind in aviation.

These features provide the most customisable travel experience you can have in the air.

Qatar Airways is also well regarded for its service and dining on board.

Unfortunately I can’t see any award seats available for those looking to book with points, but it’s something to keep an eye on moving forward.

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The global airline alliance oneworld, which counts Qantas as a member, is celebrating its 20th birthday, and one of the announcements made around the festivities is the roll out of alliance-branded and managed airport lounges later this year.

Collectively, oneworld member airlines offer more than 650 airport lounges worldwide. All of these lounges are currently owned, branded and operated by member airlines individually or by third-parties on their behalf. At some airports, several member airlines offer multiple lounges, even in the same terminals, all accessible to the alliance’s top-level customers.

oneworld CEO Rob Gurney added: “By working together, it may be feasible at some locations for our members to offer customers improved facilities – bigger and better lounges than they could justify individually.”

A number of airports are now being considered for the development of the first lounge to be branded as “oneworld” and managed by the alliance on behalf of its member airlines with the location of the first due to be unveiled later in 2019.

In the meantime, the number of critical co-locations projects at key airports worldwide being managed by the alliance is increasing. These include:

• Beijing:  oneworld member airlines are evaluating options to operate from the new Beijing Daxing International Airport with a goal to achieve a much higher level of colocation. Ten alliance carriers – American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, S7 Airlines and SriLankan – currently offer around 175 flights a week at Beijing
• Sao Paulo:  All five oneworld member airlines serving GRU are working with the airport authority there with the aim of co-locating all of their domestic, regional and international operations in the new Terminal 3A, which is slated to open in the mid-2021. Five alliance carriers operate there – the airport’s biggest home carrier LATAM, plus American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia and Qatar Airways – offering nearly 1,000 departures a week, with services split between two different terminals.
• London Heathrow:  With 12 of oneworld’s 13 established member airlines operating there, LHR is the alliance’s biggest connecting hub worldwide. Because of the size of their operation and the nature of the airport, they are currently based in three of its four passenger terminals. With plans for a third runway, oneworld and its member airlines are progressing discussions with the airport operator to strengthen the alliance proposition there. Meantime, enhanced alliance facilities are being rolled out at Terminal 3, where nine oneworld airlines operate, including improved check-in, along with better shared self-service kiosks, plans for e-gates and facial recognition technology.
• Frankfurt:  With the new Terminal 3 scheduled to open in late 2023, the 10 oneworld airlines currently flying there are in discussion with the airport authority on potential alliance opportunities.  At present, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL, LATAM, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and S7 offer 175 flights a week from the airport.

The new oneworld lounges will presumably be accessible to Qantas gold and platinum status holders as well as passengers travelling in business and first class.

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