AmEx Credit Card Points - Round The World Tickets?

Optimistic Goat on 09/02/2022 - 20:47

I'm somewhat new to credit card points, but I've read about the excellent value that can be found in Round the World tickets, especially the Qantas tickets. Qantas Round the World tickets cost around 130,000 points for economy, so will likely only need 1 sign up offer and a bit of spending per ticket, if the recent deals are anything to go off.

As an Amex holder/user, I look at this somewhat enviously, as there doesn't appear to be anything even remotely close in value for those of us collecting Amex points.
I've had a quick look at the Asia Miles Round the World ticket, but this costs 130,000 Asia Miles, or 260,000 Amex points when converted (2:1).
Similarly, the Krisflyer Round the world ticket costs 180,000, or 360,000 Amex points at again, the 2:1 ratio.
Most of the good Amex offers I've seen offer around 150,000 points, sometimes a bit more, which makes saving up for 2 Round the World tickets appear rather daunting.

With the knowledge that I already have a sunk cost of 240,000 Amex points saved up, what would be the most cost-effective way to use points to buy a couple of round the world tickets?

Financial American Express Credit Card Reward Points

Comments

  • salmon123 on 09/02/2022 - 21:32
    +1

    130,000 points for economy

    Economy redemptions tend to be terrible value. The taxes and fees can end up being more than the cost of a discount economy ticket.

    Whenever I've looked at it, I've been better off buying a ticket for cash.

    I don't know if something has changed.

    as there doesn't appear to be anything even remotely close in value for those of us collecting Amex points

    It use to be a 1:1 conversion, but Amex devalued the points a few years ago. Now it sucks.

    will likely only need 1 sign up offer

    I believe Amex Platinum is offering 250k signup points, so it leaves you in a similar position, if you can stomach the annual fee.

    • Optimistic Goat on 09/02/2022 - 21:42

      Thanks for clarifying the above, it's always very useful for me!
      Since the Amex devaluation, do you know what airline is generally regarded as the best value for redeeming points?

      • salmon123 on 09/02/2022 - 22:02
        +1

        do you know what airline is generally regarded as the best value for redeeming points?

        It's a bad way to look at it.

        Most of the time, there will only be 1-2 airlines flying the route you're looking for. Redeem the points on whoever flies the route you need.

    • Tech5 on 09/02/2022 - 22:47

      The devaluation is not terrible unless you are looking at pre-devaluation accrued points. They've doubled the points for most spend now

  • randomusername2017 on 09/02/2022 - 21:33
    +1

    Qantas Round the World

    Good deal as long as you plan ahead (1year?) and are extremely flexible on dates etc… even better if you can swing enough points for business or first. Don't forget to factor in fees and taxes when comparing.

    Can you not transfer Amex to QFF? especially when the bonus points deals are on.

    • Optimistic Goat on 09/02/2022 - 21:40

      I'm pretty flexible with dates, so I don't think that will be an issue. Do you know how much taxes are generally for these Round the World tickets? I hadn't factored that in.
      And last time I looked, only Amex Platinum card holders can transfer to QFF and I have the Explorer card instead.

      • randomusername2017 on 09/02/2022 - 21:43
        +1

        Seen this?

        Upwards of 1k per ticket

        • Optimistic Goat on 09/02/2022 - 23:55

          Ok that's a bit steeper than I expected!

      • salmon123 on 09/02/2022 - 22:05
        +1

        I hadn't factored that in.

        If you're looking at cash fares, try to factor in how many miles you'll earn too.

        Two RTW tickets, might generate enough points to upgrade a leg to business class.

        In general, upgrades are the best value for money, because you don't need to pay any extra.

  • djkelly69 on 09/02/2022 - 22:04
    +2

    I recommend doing a bit of reading on PointHacks and AusFF. What are your actual travel goals? When and where are you looking to go?

    Business class is definitely the sweet spot, for the reasons stated above.

    I am almost finished booking a OneWorld Award for 3 people in business for the end of this year, and it is a lot of work. You definitely need to be flexible with when and where you are going.

    The Asia Miles OneWorld Award is based on distance, so how many points it will cost you will depend on how far you want to go. However I would be pretty hesitant about transferring your Amex points to AM, as Cathay is not in a good way and consensus on AFF seems to be that they might not even exist in a year. I have personally just spent all my points on there for this reason.

    I would look at transferring the Amex points to KF and, with a few more sign up bonuses, save up enough for a couple of return business class seats to somewhere maybe a bit closer.

    • salmon123 on 09/02/2022 - 22:06

      I recommend doing a bit of reading on PointHacks and AusFF.

      There's also several Facebook groups dedicated to points redemptions.

    • FW190 on 10/02/2022 - 01:41

      as Cathay is not in a good way and consensus on AFF seems to be that they might not even exist in a year. I have personally just spent all my points on there for this reason.

      any suggestions on what to spend on? I have the same worry and has been browsing their rewards website lately, but nothing jumps out at me.

      I guess redeeming something for the heck of it is still better then some worthless points………..

      • djkelly69 on 10/02/2022 - 12:12

        I don't think anything stood out as great or even good value compared to using the points for flights, but obviously something is better than nothing.

        I just used the AU giftcards as a baseline value, and then looked at the cost of various things based on that and compared to the normal cost here in Aus.

        Ended up getting Sony XM4s for about AU$370 and a DJI Pocket 2 Creator Combo for about $530 (based on the potential AU giftcard value). Both were delivered in less than a week.

        USD giftcards looked like they gave slightly better $/point value if they would be of use to you.

        • FW190 on 10/02/2022 - 13:36

          thx, gotta keep looking

          I saw the Nintendo Switch console there last night, but that won't even cover half of my points :(

          but yeah, with the way things are going in HK, not only Cathay, but a lot of business probably won't be around in a year……..

  • itx on 09/02/2022 - 22:28
    +3

    Round the world economy tickets using points is not as good as it sounds - particularly for flights between Europe and North America (and also Asia and Europe), where fares (the bit covered by the points) can be $100 but taxes (the bit you have to pay regardless) are $250+. This is because airlines conjure up random "fuel surcharges" in the ticket price, which get passed on to you when you redeem points for tickets.

    Some ways to get outsized value:
    *Fly to destinations that are usually harder to get to (e.g. visit Laos instead of Thailand, Northern Norway instead of Southern Norway, etc)

    *Choose partner airlines that are "fuel surcharge friendly" (there's lots of information out there on this, such as this: https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/airlines/airline-fuel-surc…)

    *Consider paying for a flight to a low fuel surcharge starting country (such as Thailand), then starting your round the world there - sometimes a good starting country means you pay lower surcharges for the entire ticket. The link above explains this as well.

    *Use cash to fly the bulk of it and your points for a nice fancy business class leg

    As for which program to transfer to:
    - Krisflyer is good in terms of having availability on Singapore Airlines (and the program doesn't pass on fuel surcharges for Singapore Airlines flights)
    - Asia Miles is the most similar to Qantas in terms of partners, etc
    - Etihad is no good as you have to call in for most redemptions, the call centre staff are hit and miss, and they have quirky rules around how you can stitch together flights from different partners).
    - Velocity doesn't have round the world options I don't think and doesn't thread together multiple partners in a single ticket as far as I know, so points are harder to use
    - Air NZ is hopeless poor value so don't bother
    - Emirates, Malaysia, Thai - not sure about them but haven't heard anything terribly exciting about their programs
    - Virgin Atlantic can be quite good for some partners, but no round the world option.

    Note that there might be some risk with Asia Miles, Malaysia and Thai as they're the ones under the most pressure financially right now.

    And remember to check up points expiry rules! Only transfer once you've sussed out if there's availability that suits you!

    • salmon123 on 09/02/2022 - 22:52
      +2

      Another tip:
      - Airport taxes in Netherlands/Italy/Spain are substantially lower than UK. Fly to one of those airports and use low cost airlines within europe.

    • Optimistic Goat on 09/02/2022 - 23:55

      This is an awesome write-up and gives me A LOT to think about!
      Thanks for providing some new resources as well for some further reading.

  • Shwibble on 16/03/2022 - 23:11

    Save the points until you can afford a first class round the world! Even business, with some of the better airlines. I’ve done it with Emirates and it is an incredible expedience.

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