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Dont forget to move your AMEX points today before they go from 2:1 to 3:1 for overseas airlines

Hey Jimmy, Im sure you are the man to ask, Im looking to maximise my points over the coming years what is the best resource to track all the deals and tricks out there?

Jimmy_041 wrote:Dont forget to move your AMEX points today before they go from 2:1 to 3:1 for overseas airlines

AMEX, Adelaide Club … there’s a pattern emerging here.

Dutchy wrote:Hey Jimmy, Im sure you are the man to ask, Im looking to maximise my points over the coming years what is the best resource to track all the deals and tricks out there?

There are several FFP websites I use:
https://www.pointhacks.com.au/
https://iflyflat.com.au/
https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/
But there's a heap more

AMEX is the outright best card to use.
Do not get a Qantas or Virgin card. QF is a $hit airline with a $hit FFP programme. You can book VA or BA via Avios (Qatar)
Flexibility is the key. Avios and Cathay are probably the best for seat availability.
I pay all my bills on AMEX. I have a Platinum Edge and Business Explorer.
The Platinum gives me 3 points per $ for supermarkets and petrol
The Business Explorer gives me 2 points per $ except government where its 1/$ (see below)

If they dont take AMEX, I use: https://pay.com.au/
For government charges (ASIC, ATO, Super etc) I use https://sniip.com/ as I get 2 points per $

I put all wages on Mastercard / Visa via pay.com.au as AMEX wont do it
NAB just bought Citi and have absolutely gutted their card FFP so I am getting an ANZ card with sign on bonus and good rate

I just transferred 2.7m AMEX points (earned this year) which cost me about $20,000 in charges (less the tax deduction for the business expense).
Used wisely that's around 6-8 business class return trips to London.

You can now use a points booking company who search for seats for you so its best to keep points in AMEX so you can transfer to any airline (eg) this year, we needed seats for Bali. They found seats on Garuda via the Etihad FFP scheme. I joind Etihad and transferred points there. It cost me $150 for the service

I wrote a guide for some friends about how to maximise points which I am about to update so happy to send it to you

dedja wrote:

Jimmy_041 wrote:Dont forget to move your AMEX points today before they go from 2:1 to 3:1 for overseas airlines

AMEX, Adelaide Club … there’s a pattern emerging here.

Collingwood supporter?

Jimmy_041 wrote:

dedja wrote:

Jimmy_041 wrote:Dont forget to move your AMEX points today before they go from 2:1 to 3:1 for overseas airlines

AMEX, Adelaide Club … there’s a pattern emerging here.

Collingwood supporter?

Legend, thanks Jimmy, great starting point for me.

Got a mate who uses Amex wherever he can, makes sense now, I thought it died off a few years back

Dutchy wrote:Legend, thanks Jimmy, great starting point for me.

Got a mate who uses Amex wherever he can, makes sense now, I thought it died off a few years back

Go onto Point Hacks page and have a dig around
There is some good info in there

Jimmy_041 wrote:

Dutchy wrote:Hey Jimmy, Im sure you are the man to ask, Im looking to maximise my points over the coming years what is the best resource to track all the deals and tricks out there?

There are several FFP websites I use:
https://www.pointhacks.com.au/
https://iflyflat.com.au/
https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/
But there's a heap more

AMEX is the outright best card to use.
Do not get a Qantas or Virgin card. QF is a $hit airline with a $hit FFP programme. You can book VA or BA via Avios (Qatar)
Flexibility is the key. Avios and Cathay are probably the best for seat availability.
I pay all my bills on AMEX. I have a Platinum Edge and Business Explorer.
The Platinum gives me 3 points per $ for supermarkets and petrol
The Business Explorer gives me 2 points per $ except government where its 1/$ (see below)

If they dont take AMEX, I use: https://pay.com.au/
For government charges (ASIC, ATO, Super etc) I use https://sniip.com/ as I get 2 points per $

I put all wages on Mastercard / Visa via pay.com.au as AMEX wont do it
NAB just bought Citi and have absolutely gutted their card FFP so I am getting an ANZ card with sign on bonus and good rate

I just transferred 2.7m AMEX points (earned this year) which cost me about $20,000 in charges (less the tax deduction for the business expense).
Used wisely that's around 6-8 business class return trips to London.

You can now use a points booking company who search for seats for you so its best to keep points in AMEX so you can transfer to any airline (eg) this year, we needed seats for Bali. They found seats on Garuda via the Etihad FFP scheme. I joind Etihad and transferred points there. It cost me $150 for the service

I wrote a guide for some friends about how to maximise points which I am about to update so happy to send it to you

Have been playing the points game for about 15 years and is a bit of a hobby but gets harder and harder each year
We have had some incredible steals over the years but constant devaluations plus the US points whales means the best seats are often long gone unless you are diligent and put in the hard yards.

Jim05 wrote:

Jimmy_041 wrote:

Dutchy wrote:Hey Jimmy, Im sure you are the man to ask, Im looking to maximise my points over the coming years what is the best resource to track all the deals and tricks out there?

There are several FFP websites I use:
https://www.pointhacks.com.au/
https://iflyflat.com.au/
https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/
But there's a heap more

AMEX is the outright best card to use.
Do not get a Qantas or Virgin card. QF is a $hit airline with a $hit FFP programme. You can book VA or BA via Avios (Qatar)
Flexibility is the key. Avios and Cathay are probably the best for seat availability.
I pay all my bills on AMEX. I have a Platinum Edge and Business Explorer.
The Platinum gives me 3 points per $ for supermarkets and petrol
The Business Explorer gives me 2 points per $ except government where its 1/$ (see below)

If they dont take AMEX, I use: https://pay.com.au/
For government charges (ASIC, ATO, Super etc) I use https://sniip.com/ as I get 2 points per $

I put all wages on Mastercard / Visa via pay.com.au as AMEX wont do it
NAB just bought Citi and have absolutely gutted their card FFP so I am getting an ANZ card with sign on bonus and good rate

I just transferred 2.7m AMEX points (earned this year) which cost me about $20,000 in charges (less the tax deduction for the business expense).
Used wisely that's around 6-8 business class return trips to London.

You can now use a points booking company who search for seats for you so its best to keep points in AMEX so you can transfer to any airline (eg) this year, we needed seats for Bali. They found seats on Garuda via the Etihad FFP scheme. I joind Etihad and transferred points there. It cost me $150 for the service

I wrote a guide for some friends about how to maximise points which I am about to update so happy to send it to you

Have been playing the points game for about 15 years and is a bit of a hobby but gets harder and harder each year
We have had some incredible steals over the years but constant devaluations plus the US points whales means the best seats are often long gone unless you are diligent and put in the hard yards.

The credit cards are reducing their payouts and airlines are increasing their points costs
Qantas needs to lose a good chunk of their turnover to force them to change but it wont happen.
These seat booking services are fantastic. They have always found me what I need. Unfortunately, I had to move my AMEX points out so I am a bit hamstrung at the moment.
I also transferred around 2,500,000 pay.com.au points this year at 3:1 so they were more expensive than AMEX.
You pay extra for the points but I wait for the 30% bonus points which brings the cost down.
It is constant work and study but worth it as want to travel even more in the coming years.

Jimmy_041 wrote:



The credit cards are reducing their payouts and airlines are increasing their points costs

As well as increasing carrier charges, making less seats available and when they do it’s for their own frequent flyers plus heading down the dynamic pricing road.
Having said that in the last 2 years we have still managed to fly about 50 International sectors in Business or First class for the three of us including 2 trips to Europe, 1 to the US the long way, 2 seperate trips to the ME and 4 trips to Asia so they are still out there
Even managed 4 tickets to Vietnam on Singapore Airlines and took my parents along