New to The CC Rewards Game - Seeking Reassurance

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  donbot on 26/09/2016 - 16:30

  +2

  In my experience, yes. That will be the case - as soon as the transaction settles on the card (generally a few days), generally the explorer points will hit. Did in my case thats for sure.

  That said, how are you flying to your honeymoon destination? Are things already booked/planned? You could get a lot of mileage out of those points being used for pointy-end travel.

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  deeds89 on 26/09/2016 - 16:38

  Excellent! Cheers.

  Flying from Melbourne to Bali (paid)
  Flying from Bali - New York (paid)
  Internal flights around US (not paid)
  Flight from Hawaii to Melbourne (not paid)

  I was just going to use the points to contribute to a business class trip home from Hawaii. Any input into how I could use them/the card travel voucher would be really appreciated.

  • 

    kiribatian on 26/09/2016 - 20:17

    Agree with tizey- points value-wise, much more worthwhile to use for upgrades. However $1000 is $1000 when it comes down to it. You also get $400 travel credit with the Explorer card as well. (for a $395 annual fee of course)

    Jetstar is the only airline that flies Honolulu to Melbourne direct. They fly the Dreamliner on that route- their business class is only in name only. eg no lie flat bed. Also with the AMEX Explorer- the 100,000 points are Membership Rewards points. Unfortunately you cannot transfer MR points to Qantas Frequent Flyer. You can transfer to Skywards/Asia Miles/Enrich though- and might be able to book Jetstar flights through them.

    Out of interest, how are you getting from Bali to NYC? Via Australia? You might be able to use the points towards an upgrade there.

    • 

      Diji1 on 26/09/2016 - 20:31

      +1

      their business class is only in name only. eg no lie flat bed.

      As long as there's no plebs around AMIRITE!?

    • 

      Kangal on 26/09/2016 - 22:52

      Hey Dane…. double-check your Entry/Visa Conditions to both USA and Bali.

      They might block you from boarding your flight to Bali, if they don't have you registered for a return flight in a specific range of time.
      Or, they might block you from flying to the USA, if they don't have you registered a return flight to Bali/Australia by a specific date.

      • 

        deeds89 on 27/09/2016 - 07:56

        Cheers Kangal, got all that Visa stuff covered.

        @kiribatian pretty sure we're flying Bali to Sydney to New York w/Qantas. The missus really wanted to get the flights home business so we're not too depressed leaving our Honeymoon. I don't think it'll be a deal breaker that Jetstar's business isn't the bees knees.

      • 

        NotAMoodle on 12/10/2016 - 14:02

        Have done LAX to Bali one way before with no issues, the OP will be fine.

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  easternculture on 26/09/2016 - 21:09

  -1

  I have over 500k QFF points now. My credit score is very good. Ive had ~15 different card applications in the past 3 years

  Hope this helps

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  djkelly69 on 27/09/2016 - 02:03

  Can the points from this card go to Qantas/QFF? If so, I would look at using the points to redeem for domestic flights in the US instead, as taxes are really low on US domestic flight redemptions through QFF.

  Could also look at transferring to Virgin/Velocity or other airlines and doing the same thing.

  Given you are new to this, you should be aware that buying giftcards/vouchers is usually the worst value you can get for your points, and redeeming for flights is usually the best.

  • 

    redwood on 27/09/2016 - 02:27

    No for QFF as mentioned above. You can transfer to Asia Miles/Krisflyer/Virgin Velocity.
    OP: If your aim is to transfer to SQ Krisflyer, doing it through VA Velocity will come up with higher points per MR point. You might also wanna consider transferring the points through SPG to other international FF program, i.e. Alaska Mileage Plan/AAdvantage etc., or just to SPG for some decent redemption on Ritz Carlton stays (thanks to the recent Marriot-SPG acquisition). Atm Alaska Mileage Plan got some pretty decent rate for premium cabin travels on CX, i.e. 70000 Alaska Miles (~120000MR points) for OW first class, or 50000 Alaska Miles (~80000MR points) from Asia to US, so you might wanna reconsider the use of your MR points as I don't think your HNL-MEL flight would be much good use of points, YMMV though. You can also top up your Alaska Miles cheaply using this promo. AS Bonus

    • 

      deeds89 on 27/09/2016 - 08:00

      Thanks Redwood. Most of these acronyms and programs mean nothing to me, I'll definitely do some more research!

      • 

        brazen00 on 27/09/2016 - 08:08

        Spend some time trawling through the AFF forums. You'll get the hang of it soon enough.

        Also have a look at Point Hacks for a lot of good info!

      • 

        redwood on 27/09/2016 - 11:06

        +2

        No worries. If you get your wife to be to sign up as well, I think you'd be easily able to have the Bali to New York sector covered, and I reckon that would be the most worthy sector to use points to travel on since you'll get more than 20hrs of flying. IMHO, CX's got a pretty damn good product for the amount of points they're charging. 80000 Membership Rewards points per person for more than 20 hrs of flying in business class, that's a steal to me. Leave some time at HKG for some lounge hopping as well!
        Or alternatively, if you must get home on business, I think you can do the same for the same amount of points to redeem a flight from Honolulu to Melbourne on CX Business as well(although I don't think CX flies there, I'd reckon you'll be either routed through Japan or backwards to US). Feel free to PM if you'd need help with these.

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  The Champagne Mile on 27/09/2016 - 12:33

  You probably already know this, but just a reminder that the Explorer card uses the MR 'Gateway' program (so points are transferred at a rate of 1 to .75 for all airlines (and 1 to .5 for SPG). Hence, you're looking at 75,000 miles if you convert to an airline.
  The airline conversion rate is different to the MR 'Ascent' program, which converts at a rate of 1 to 1.

  • 

    deeds89 on 27/09/2016 - 14:16

    Thanks, yeah I just realised this a couple of hours ago!

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  NotAMoodle on 12/10/2016 - 14:20

  Hey mate,

  For your internal USA trips go and get yourself this card: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/255389 - 80,000 Velocity points when you use a referral link from the AMEX referal wiki. You will then have a choice of using a few airlines within the USA, but the best and easiest to book would be Virgin Atlantic. I can highly recommend them within the USA and their economy/business award fares are fantastically priced through Virgin Australia.

  For your Hawaii to Mel travel go and get yourself one of these - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/270113 (make sure you have an ANZ online banking account first, otherwise open one before trying to sign up otherwise you will be whacked the annual fee)

  All up you should only be paying a $349 annual fee and you will net 155,000 points between the two carriers, which can be used on a huge amount of airlines.

  On your Hawaii to Mel trip, make sure you plan ahead and are flexible as the direct flight to Melbourne is normally hard to find, more than likely you'll need to route through Sydney on Qantas or Nadi (Fiji) on Fiji Airlines. Both of those tickets are 35,000 points per person in economy.

  Hope this helps :)

  Cheers