Newbie in search for advice!

[Bianca]

I am an absolute newbie to this site! FANTASTIC! Is anyone willing to share their expertise as I had never considered transferring points from credit cards to Frequent Flyer programs before and am not currently a memebr of any FF clubs. I have been saving points for what seems to be an eternity! I have about 154000 points with Citibank on a silver card and my husband has 184000 with cba. Any advice on how we might maximise the use of our points- we would love to go to QLD this year and maybe USA in the future! I know this is probably hilarious as so many people in this online community have a clue and I am clearly clueless! willing to take any advice on offer!

 

[Bianca]

Ok guys replying to myself because noone is replying to me!!! Keenly awaiting a response!No pressure though- I know huge question, right!?

 

[kpc]

I have about 154000 points with Citibank on a silver card

welcome to AFF. For starters, I would quickly transfer (well before June 11) these pts eg to Qantas as they are about to be devalued by 1/2 !
http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...ing-exchange-rates-when-13403.html#post173414

 

[JohnK]

Hi Bianca and welcome to AFF.

First of all I would not be wasting any of your points to go to Queensland. They are far too valuable to be used on short haul trips especially when you have to pay the surcharges as well. Just look out for cheap airfares and plan your holiday this way.

As for going to the USA you have a few options. You can either try to redeem an award with Qantas to Los Angeles which will require 96,000 points each or save up some more and incorporate this into a Round the world trip for 140,000 points each. You will still need to pay for the taxes and surcharges associated with the trip though.

I am not certain how Citibank or CBA credit card reward programs work but I think your Citibank Silver credit card points will transfer to Qantas at 2:1 and you CBA credit card points will transfer to Qantas at 1:1. So for now you have approximately 260,000 QFF points. More than enough to get 2 people return to Los Angeles but a little less than the round the world award.

What you need to consider is that these awards are not always easy to redeem so you need to be flexible. There is a wealth of information on this site so what I would recommend is for you to start reading some of the relevant threads. Once you have done the research I am sure you will have specific questions which will be easier to answer.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[Bianca]

Thanks so much for advice guys! Really helpful

 

[aus_flyer]

I am not certain how Citibank or CBA credit card reward programs work but I think your Citibank Silver credit card points will transfer to Qantas at 2:1 and you CBA credit card points will transfer to Qantas at 1:1. So for now you have approximately 260,000 QFF points. More than enough to get 2 people return to Los Angeles but a little less than the round the world award.

Not entirely true about the CBA credit card...

Standard credit card = 0.5 QFF point per CBA point
Gold card = 0.75 QFF point per CBA point
Platinum card = 1 for 1

So... if the card isn't platinum, pay the extra $200 (I think) annual fee and upgrade so you can benefit from 1=1.

 

[JohnK]

Not entirely true about the CBA credit card...

Apologies for any misleading advice on transfers to QFF from CBA credit cards. I should have checked before posting....

 

[Bianca]

Not entirely true about the CBA credit card...

Standard credit card = 0.5 QFF point per CBA point
Gold card = 0.75 QFF point per CBA point
Platinum card = 1 for 1

So... if the card isn't platinum, pay the extra $200 (I think) annual fee and upgrade so you can benefit from 1=1.

Thanks fo the advice. Anyone know if there is a capp on the transfer of CBA platinum points to QFF annually as there is with citibank(60000 on gold card). I am thinking of upgrading my husbands CBA awards credit card to platinum so as to ensure we get the best out of transferring our points to QFF. He currently has around 185000 points.

 

[Mal]

Thanks fo the advice. Anyone know if there is a capp on the transfer of CBA platinum points to QFF annually as there is with citibank(60000 on gold card).

No cap on transfers that I'm aware of, but there is an earning cap of 150000 base points per calendar year with the Platinum Card and 100000 with the Gold Card (There are sometimes specials with certain vendors where you can earn additional points over your base - these aren't included in the cap).

A Platinum Credit card is only $200 / year, vs the Gold at $114/year and other cards at various prices.

 

[Bianca]

Apologies for any misleading advice on transfers to QFF from CBA credit cards. I should have checked before posting....

Thanks for the help anyway John. FYI-. I ended up upgrading to gold card for free with citibank over the phone. I found out I will keep the ratio of 1 citibank point to 1 QFF even after June 11. Just saved myself heaps of points by doing this thanks to this online community! Will be tranferring my gold card annual limit of 120000 citipoints to QFF on monday!

 

[Bianca]

Will be tranferring my gold card annual limit of 120000 citipoints to QFF on monday!

Woops should clarify I meant 60000 points!Still happy!

 

[Alanslegal]

As far as I know, there is no limit to how many points you send from Citibank to QFF per 12 months.

However there is a limit of 120k points you may earn on a Citibank card per 12 months (but some AFF CB card holders report that they have earned much more than 120K per 12 months at times when CB do not regularly enforce their T&C's)


As JohnK mentioned an economy RTW redemption (upto 35k miles) would be 140K QFF points per person and you could go to both Brisbane, then onto LA and so on.