Convert westpac altitude points to fly with airline freq flyer programmes

[Bob the Muso]

Well this is my first post - so be kind please! I am an absolute novice when trying to understand the jargon.
I have 332,700 Altitude points and wish to fly form Manchester to Sydney one-way early April 2014 for 2 pax. I already have used my QFF points for 2 one-way tickets to Manchester from Syd Dec 2013.

I understand I can fly with some airlines who can/will "convert" my points to their FF program. Is this correct? If so I would ask if someone out there with the experience I see as I trawl through this fantastic site can give some direction to use my points for 2 pax to the greatest benefit. I have Qantas Club - so allows lounge and 2x30kg bags + 1 extra 12 kg when going to UK in Dec. I have Priority Pass (complimentary with WPAC BLACK) as well to ise if needed coming back home.
Do I need to join another airline FF program? I am in your hands. Thank you, Bob.

 

[knasty]

Bob,

Yes you enrol in whatever program you want to use, then convert the Altitude points into miles. Singapore Airlines may be a good choice given Manchester is a destination they serve. Best thing is to enrol in the program(s) (they are all free), check availability, then convert the points. Remember it's 2 points :1 mile on conversion. It's 47.5k miles in Economy, 95k in Business (before 15% discount for online booking). By my calc that means you need 323k for 2 return business class....just less than what you currently have.

Frequent Flyer Information

 

[Bob the Muso]

Thank you for your quick response. I will check out Singapore Air for sure.

 

[day-heg]

Etihad also fly from Manchester. You can convert your Altitude points to Virgin Velocity at a rate of 2:1 and book through them.
You'll require 62500 velocity points (plus about $250 in taxes etc) per pax for an economy trip, meaning you'll need only need to use 250,000 altitude points.

Also, keep an eye out for future offers from Velocity that offer 15% bonus on points transfer. There was one such offer in April (sadly expired so no good for you) but historically they have been every October. Worth waiting for as with your current points balance it would earn you nearly 25k extra velocity points.

 

[Jack_OC]

Etihad also fly from Manchester. You can convert your Altitude points to Virgin Velocity at a rate of 2:1 and book through them.
You'll require 62500 velocity points (plus about $250 in taxes etc) per pax for an economy trip, meaning you'll need only need to use 250,000 altitude points.

Also, keep an eye out for future offers from Velocity that offer 15% bonus on points transfer. There was one such offer in April (sadly expired so no good for you) but historically they have been every October. Worth waiting for as with your current points balance it would earn you nearly 25k extra velocity points.

While what you say is correct, it seems Bob has enough Altitude pts for 2 people to travel in business with Singapore, compared to this option of economy with VA/Etihad. I like Etihad, but with a choice of Singapore business vs Etihad economy, I'd definitely go for the Singapore option. It will mean using pretty much all of his Altitude points, and the fees will be a bit higher (about $450 each), but it will be so worth it IMHO.

 

[Bob the Muso]

Both the last replies are appreciated and I have looked at the Westpac Altitude site and hidden away there is a 'site index' link - I am used to seeing 'site map' but not site index - well there is a 'Frequent Flyers Transfers' link. I did this as Altitude travel doesn't let you travel one way from overseas to AUS. Only flights starting from AUS.
Anyway - considering I have spent QFF points to get to UK and it would be nice to experience Business Class at such an economical rate with Singapore Air I took the leap on Friday and did the transfer from Alt to Kris - so as soon as it appears in my new Kris Card acc I will book. I will keep a copy of these posts in a folder for future trips as I see greater opportunity in researching instead of my past practice of - go to a number of airline sites and just try to get best purchase deal. Thank you each and everyone.

 

[newbieflyer22]

Hi Bob et al....

Lurking I found this link, and wondered whether you guys could help me...

I have hoarded Altitude points, and now have about 1.4 million....

Next year we need to get 4 adults (shame...the youngest will be 12) from Melbourne to Amsterdam, and then Prague to Melbourne.....leaving in June and returning late July....So cannot book yet....

We want to accrue qantas status credits....Hubby may just about be QFF platinum, so we want to get that up and running too..... I would like to keep my QFF Gold and had despaired of it, seeing how little Altitude points were able to buy with a direct flight purchase (ie not using FF points). I do not have enough QFF points....

I wondered about whether it would be possible to transfer Altitude points to Asiamiles, then book the flights on Qantas, even potentially business????

Would this earn Qantas status credits?!?

This would get Hubby his platinum (and maybe maintain my gold status)....

We would be pushing nearly enough points, by my reckoning, as we would have 750000 Asiamiles points, and a return flight to Amsterdam on Qantas, booked using Asiamiles in business would be 220,000 maximum each for a multicarrier multi stop over type trip... As Hubby may have to pay for his with $...so we will have enough for 3 of us.....If he does not we will be a bit short, but probably workable.......

What are the problems I have not seen?

Have I got it right?

Newbieflyer22.....