Newbie with a bunch of points I can't use XD

[DrGear]

Name's Six and I got a Qantas Amex for the business literally right as Covid struck last year. The aim was to use the points for my annual holiday with my fiancee, which obviously ain't happening now. All up I've racked up a little over 550K in points since April last year. The aim was to use the points on return first class to Japan for our honeymoon, however the whole Covid thing put both things on hold.

So now we're just biding our time and reading up on all sorts of things and ways to accumulate more points and such.

When we were originally booking things the plan was to do return via JAL in first. Now all the QFF Classic Rewards only have the first class for the Sydney to Tokyo leg, not the return.

So now we play the waiting game and see how many points can be accrued in the meantime.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Welcome to AFF @DrGear. And welcome to the club that's sitting an a whole lot of points that they'd rather be spending on travel.

 

[Matt_01]

Welcome, when were you looking to travel to Japan. I am only asking as I was looking for JL F rewards and around late Oct 21 the aircraft switches from a 777 to a 789 which does not have the F seats. It is also worth noting that have not operated the 777 SYD-HND since late Mar so just check on the likely operating aircraft so as not to pay the F points rates and end up in J.

 

[DrGear]

Welcome, when were you looking to travel to Japan. I am only asking as I was looking for JL F rewards and around late Oct 21 the aircraft switches from a 777 to a 789 which does not have the F seats. It is also worth noting that have not operated the 777 SYD-HND since late Mar so just check on the likely operating aircraft so as not to pay the F points rates and end up in J.

I've noticed that there's only like 6-8 months in advance the JAL flights come up. We were looking between October and January to fly out. As it stands, they still have the 777-300 running the route Sydney to Haneda and the last one I could see was the 25/10/21 departing Sydney in the am.

Even if we only do first on the outbound journey, then it's an experience to remember and we can take advantage of it being a day flight departing at 8am or so.

 

[Steady]

Welcome aboard DrGear

 

[Matt_01]

I've noticed that there's only like 6-8 months in advance the JAL flights come up. We were looking between October and January to fly out. As it stands, they still have the 777-300 running the route Sydney to Haneda and the last one I could see was the 25/10/21 departing Sydney in the am.

JL reLease seats out to about 360 days in advance, can see the 777 F seats SYD-HND until around 30 Oct. I suspect that the 777 will not operate and it will be either a 789 or a 788. The 777 was only put on the SYD-HND route in about Sep 19 however since Covid hit according to flight radar 24 the operating aircraft switched switched to the 789 from 29 Mar 20 and then to the 788 about 6 weeks later. I would not get you hopes up but would happy to be wrong, I like the JL F product and cough they bring back the 777.

 

[DrGear]

JL reLease seats out to about 360 days in advance, can see the 777 F seats SYD-HND until around 30 Oct. I suspect that the 777 will not operate and it will be either a 789 or a 788. The 777 was only put on the SYD-HND route in about Sep 19 however since Covid hit according to flight radar 24 the operating aircraft switched switched to the 789 from 29 Mar 20 and then to the 788 about 6 weeks later. I would not get you hopes up but would happy to be wrong, I like the JL F product and cough they bring back the 777.

We hold no major hopes, but would be pleasantly surprised to be able to do it. Otherwise, we’ll do a trip to the US one day and go LA to Tokyo and do it that way. I’m gonna be accumulating points like mad so as long as JAL don’t go bust it could be cool,

 

[Dr Bob]

You might not want to put all your eggs in the one basket with a "Qantas" Amex. Amex ascent rewards transfer to many airlines & if you get an "up market" card (higher earn rate) that has ascent premium rewards then it transfers to Qantas as well. If you are churning lots of amex points then this is very handy as it brings Singapore Airlines into play. As most here say 'why fly direct when you can connect' particularly via Singapore and The Private Room. This will give you a much greater chance of flying F when we return to normal. Happy "points" hunting DrGear.

 

[DrGear]

You might not want to put all your eggs in the one basket with a "Qantas" Amex. Amex ascent rewards transfer to many airlines & if you get an "up market" card (higher earn rate) that has ascent premium rewards then it transfers to Qantas as well. If you are churning lots of amex points then this is very handy as it brings Singapore Airlines into play. As most here say 'why fly direct when you can connect' particularly via Singapore and The Private Room. This will give you a much greater chance of flying F when we return to normal. Happy "points" hunting DrGear.

I wish I could get something fancier, but the grim reality is I’m a millennial who doesn’t own a home and my business is only 3.5 years old (only 2 as a Pty Ltd company), thereby limiting what cards and such I can get. Hell, I couldn’t even get any finance to open our second store despite having triple digit growth since we opened the doors simply because we don’t own a house. Then when we went to discuss getting a mortgage, no one would lend us enough to buy a property (we were getting figures of $275K). Amex even put a hard limit on our charge card during Covid despite never missing a payment and putting 40-60K a month through it. Had to argue with them to at least bring the limit to a useable one as the 12K they locked it to was nowhere near enough.

Still, having this card has given us the first lot of points to play with and hopefully we can use them late this year (optimistic) or sometime next year (realistic). One day I’ll hopefully be able to play the game more so and see what I can amass and learn all the tips and tricks from those far more acquainted with the system than I.

 

[Dr Bob]

Go and browse the Amex threads in the credit cards banking forum. Really good info in here but some now outdated. I don't use a business card just personal cards, started with a charge, got upgraded to a Rewards Advantage charge (no longer available) was then given a complementary Platinum Credit Card and was able to up the limit every 1 or 2 years. The next one was a co-branded Westpac card which they have changed to a "Elevate Premium" Amex card and all were linked to my original ascent premium rewards account. So if you only have a charge card make some inquiries about getting a credit card "linked" and research their cards so you know which one you want & if it has the "right" rewards program then get it & link your charge card program to it. I've had good experiences with their phone centres being polite & helpful & they try & give you what you want.

 

[kermatu]

Welcome aboard.

 

[prozac]

Welcome to AFF DrGear.

 

[rurounimaikeru]

Go and browse the Amex threads in the credit cards banking forum. Really good info in here but some now outdated. I don't use a business card just personal cards, started with a charge, got upgraded to a Rewards Advantage charge (no longer available) was then given a complementary Platinum Credit Card and was able to up the limit every 1 or 2 years. The next one was a co-branded Westpac card which they have changed to a "Elevate Premium" Amex card and all were linked to my original ascent premium rewards account. So if you only have a charge card make some inquiries about getting a credit card "linked" and research their cards so you know which one you want & if it has the "right" rewards program then get it & link your charge card program to it. I've had good experiences with their phone centres being polite & helpful & they try & give you what you want.

Hey Dr Bob,

What's been your experience on getting the complementary cards with Amex? Is it longevity or how much you spend?
I have tended to rotate through different cards/banks rather than 'stay' loyal. Although Amex has always impressed with its customer service and just general ease of use.

 

[prozac]

Hey Dr Bob,

What's been your experience on getting the complementary cards with Amex? Is it longevity or how much you spend?
I have tended to rotate through different cards/banks rather than 'stay' loyal. Although Amex has always impressed with its customer service and just general ease of use.

I have a $196 a year Platinum Edge. In past couple of years I have been offered points to take on additional supplementary cards, more points for the no-annual fee Qantas Discovery, then more points to take on supplementary cards for for the Qantas card, and recently points to apply for other varieties of Amex. Have recently taken advantage of a number of cash-back offers for everything from petrol, to simply spending $500 anywhere. Quite happy, better than any bank issued card imo.

 

[Lukestro]

In the same boat - lots of QFF points accumulated mostly using an Amex card but struggling to use them!