Originally Posted by
ryann1491
Looking to purchase a business class (qsuite! Yay!!) one-way ticket from AMM to DUR in May. I have about 60,000 AMEX points that I would like to use for this purchase. What is the most cost effective way to do this? I have a few options that I can think of...
1. Purchase airfare on AMEX travel site, use all points and pay the difference on my Amex Platinum Card. (ticket cost is $2,005, points are 100:$1 I believe. So I would save $600)
2. Transfer AMEX points to qmiles (3:2 ratio), purchase flight through Qatar and pay difference (Qcalculator says that the flight would cost 87,000 which seems low to me. Not sure how accurate the Qcalculator is)
3. Transfer AMEX points to qmiles, purchase economy seat ($754) and upgrade using points through Qatar (Qcalculator says it would be 29,000-58,000pts depending on ticket class - O,T,N,Q,S, etc.)
Alternatively, I could book this flight in cash, collect the 5x points, and use the points to purchase other legs of my flight (I have 3 separate trips).
New to the whole points, transfers, upgrades world and would love any advice. Thanks in advance!
Are you a member of the Qatar QR frequent flyer program?
There is
no guarantee that awards or upgrade are available on the day you want to travel. This is a BIG if.
Have you checked for award availability?
Depending on the airline, not all economy tickets can be upgraded. You may need to buy a more expensive economy ticket to be eligible to upgrade
If an award is available that may be available with another ffp (BA. AA)
If want the business class seat pay cash or Amex points (~cash). Every else is a "maybe"
Have you at other airlines?