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The issue recently got some coverage in OMAAT: The Sad Decline Of United Polaris Business Class Award Availability

That's basically what they're worth these days: How Much a Frequent Flyer Point is Worth: Our Valuations

Partner awards are becoming more difficult on many airlines. Just the way the industry is heading.

One follows from the other if your guiding principle is maintenance of well-functioning competition. The RBA regulates interchange fees because competition does not work — as the RBA has said, 'in contrast to normal markets for goods and services, competition in well-established payment card...

An interchange fee cap is simply a price control. Amex also charge prices. The RBA can control that too. What's so hard to understand?

The RBA can regulate any aspect of Amex's payment business through the setting of standards it must follow. That is very clear from s 18(1) of the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998.

It's relatively common for the WW/Coles portals to reject foreign-issued cards. Whether that practice spreads is TBD. I think it would be unlikely for in person transactions anytime soon.

Both are true: https://archive.md/LvLJM

Amex doesn't pre-empt legislative changes. Indeed, it is often the last to react. A good example is the last big legislative change to credit card earning structures in Australia. In 2017, the RBA began to regulate interchange fees. It only applied to Visa and MC. They devalued quickly. Amex...

And go where? The Big Four will move first with a further devaluation once the interchange reduction kicks in. We'll probably see even more of them drop their international transfer partners as well. Amex merely needs to stay one step above them.

I don't see the AU Amex devaluation as a preemptive strike. It was a response to other conditions — weak AUD, which hits transfers to foreign airlines where they purchase points in USD; overly generous base earn rate as you say in the next paragraph; reduction in competitive landscape in...

This isn't a flight with low passenger numbers. This is a flight with almost no passengers.

I'm not that surprised. When the flight is almost entirely empty, they will prob open to partners: As I've mentioned in other threads, with US travel weakening, carriers are getting desperate to fill seats. Qantas has award availability to the US in historically one of the busier travel...

I'll also add. I follow J sale fares to the US. Qantas has had 7 sales this year: March, May, June, July, September, October, November.

J down to $7-8K as well. Equal lowest sale fares this year.

There have been very few NLL links in circulation in recent months. Mostly they have been targeted offers that appear in the Amex portal when you're logged in. Danny Deal Guru is a good public source of such links, but as I said, they're almost always targeted. I have two columns in my budget...

Looks like a big nothing burger to me. Hilton continues to be an excellent program for the credit card gamer through large numbers of uncapped free night certificates + free Diamond status.

Yes it is, welcome to the brave new world of credit card points earning (or lack thereof).

I'm sure NAB is happy for the optimisers to self-select out & quit NAB/Citi, leaving only people who use credit cards in a sub-optimal fashion, making the bank lots of money.

The BITRE data does not break down arrivals by nationality. The article is making a claim about nationality.