Amex credit card holders will have seen some recent changes in the Points space with airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines. These are important changes to know if you are thinking of turning your Amex Points into a premium travel experience.
Learn more about the changes below or chat to a Rewards Travel Specialist to book your next trip using Points.
As of August 10, Emirates Skywards has joined PayRewards with an incredible transfer rate. This partnership allows Australian business owners to convert their PayRewards points directly into Emirates Skywards Miles. Meaning you can enjoy a premium travel experience with your accumulated points. With a rate of 3.5 PayRewards = 1 Emirates Skywards mile, this is an even stronger transfer rate than Amex Rewards. Currently, Amex is 4 points to 1 Skywards Mile. Once earned through PayRewards and transferred to Emirates Skywards, redeeming your miles for Business Class reward seats to Europe is one of the best ways to travel in luxury, for less. Especially considering the high price point of a typical paid fare on Emirates which is consistently between $10,000-13,000 ex-Australia.
How to Convert PayRewards Points?
Starting from mid June of this year, you now need to add companions to specific lists before you can redeem your Avios for them. These lists are called My List and Friends and Family. Privilege Club members looking to earn and redeem Avios points on flights will need to meet certain requirements before booking Reward flights.
‘My List’ allows you to invite up to four people who are already Privilege Club members who have held a membership for over 30 days. Only the My List owner can redeem the Avios on behalf of the people on this list. Members on the list cannot be a part of any other Privilege Club member’s lists.
The ‘Family and Friends’ list works a little differently. You can add up to six people who are not Privilege Club members into the list. All earned Avios in this group get pooled together, so it can be useful for adding kids who won’t use their Avios. However, they cannot appear in any other member’s Family and Friends list.
In order to add people to these lists, you must have held a Privilege Club account for 30+ days and flown with Qatar or any partner airlines and earned Avios from that flight, or have converted points from a co-branded Qatar Airways credit card. However, transfers from flexible points programs (including American Express Membership Rewards and Pay.com.au) don’t count. There are no co-branded Qatar Airways credit cards in Australia.
Singapore Airlines now requires your KrisFlyer account to be active for 72 hours before you can make a Reward booking. It’s also important to note that Japan Airlines have a similar restriction. We recommend that you sign up to both reward programs now, even if you don’t have an immediate trip planned. For Krisflyer, also add any family members you may want to book as you can have up to five redemption nominees. Having your account ready to go avoids the situation where you may find perfect flights but are unable to book them.
If you would like to learn more about any of the above changes, we suggest getting in touch with one of our Rewards Travel Specialists who can discuss more.
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