2025 Amex Membership Rewards Devaluation

[MathNerd]

And I thought I was the only teacher on AFF in a sea of high-flying corporate types whose employers pay for their flights, and retired people using their superannuation!

Me too - I thought I was the only teacher here too! In my sample size of one school (and a large, 2000+ student, 200+ teacher population), I'm the only one remotely into the points (and dare I say, flying) game. The teachers I know, consider a drive down to Phillip Island or up to the Central Coast as the furthest they'd go during their school breaks. When I tell them "I'm heading to FRA this Xmas for some markets" they all think I'm mad.
I'll be honest, I've thought of doing a complete 180 and try out the corporate life and have employers pay for all-J travel around the country/world, but that's mostly management consultancy work and it's as far removed from maths (my method) as possible.

I'm a secondary teacher at a private school.

Likewise, secondary here too but government.

I totally agree with everything you said about the advantages we have and how doable this all is for us. We're not highly paid, but being able to plan ahead is a game-changer which makes this possible. I've also reached the point where I have access to long service leave, which is incredibly helpful -- I can plan my trips to co-incide with school holidays, but if reward flights are only available a day or two before they start, or a day or two after they finish, that's no big deal as I just take those few days as LSL.

Million percent agree with you here. The ability to plan ahead cannot be understated. It's the only way I've been able to get all my J award redemptions (bundled together with SQ's clockwork-like releases). I've literally burned the number 355 into my head.
I got access to LSL back in 2023, at which point I blew through 4 weeks of it (backing onto the June/July break) to do a nice jaunt around Europe. I still have lots of it left (in fact the aforementioned trip to FRA this year blows through 1 week of LSL, I'm taking the final week of Term 4 as LSL). A lot of my colleagues are sitting on very large LSL balances, I don't want to end up like them. The fact that LSL accrues while on LSL is also amazing. Some of my colleagues with large LSL balances are nearing retirement, and are going to 0.8 FTE but 1.0 pay, the 1 day off per week is taken as LSL. I'd rather be exploring another city on another continent rather than do that!

I must admit that I have only just begun to dip my toe in the water of purchasing points. I purchased several thousand Avios during a sale a year or so ago ... haven't needed to purchase points since, but I'm well and truly open to it if the circumstances and the price are right.

I've purchased only Aeroplan points (for some SQ J flights I couldn't get any other way) and Velocity points (my main point purchase system). Most recently I purchased United miles, but that was only to get onto the waitlist for an upgrade to Polaris (which did clear at the gate).
If you haven't, I'd highly recommend purchasing the max 250k VA points during one of their 40% off sales - it's only $3.5k and you can transfer over to KF and take advantage of their great availability at calendar open (which is what we cherish)!

I absolutely know about and experience the "disarray" that you write about. It's being able to travel (and look forward to travelling during the school holidays) that keeps me sane!

Another million percent in agreement here too - the ability to travel, and to have it all planned in advance, and in J, keeps me sane too!

Happy travels mate, and maybe next time you're departing MEL I might run into you at the SKL - come say hi!