In the end it turned out well. I have no idea what was with the first supervisor I got and why he was so bothered by talking to me. He never did explain why I would not get those points nor why my travel purchase was ineligible. After the CS reps explained it many more times than was necessary I was very clear on Blue Sky not being eligible.

My confusion began due to a glitch on the card website that started many months ago. I wish I had a screenshot of it, but for at least 6 months the rewards tab on my card page showed that I had Membership Rewards Express points and not Blue Sky Rewards. This was obviously a mistake that I did not understand. It happened when AMEX introduced the gift card redemption to blue sky some months ago. It was only yesterday when I started complaining that the glitch was fixed.

I am still unsure as to what happened with the confusion on the travel purchase. I booked directly with Amex travel and asked repeatedly about the 2x rewards which the CS assured me I would get. I think they were also confused and did not realize I don't get MR points.

Another, much politer, CSR called me back and said he was sorry for the confusion and credited me 1500 MR points to make up for it.

Lesson learned here is simply that Blue Sky card seems to be a joke. Thank you for helping me figure out what was going on here as well ;)

Just when I thought I was doing good, you guys are worrying me. Here's what I am trying to do:

We are a family of four (2 kids, 13 and 9).

We need to fly out of the NJ/NY/PHL area on 7/23 to AMS (doesn't matter if it's non-stop or not but should arrive to AMS by 10AM on the 24th).

We need to fly out of AMS on 8/2 to ATH (need a morning flight, prefer non stop).

We need to fly out of ATH on 8/14 back to NJ/NY/PHL (prefer before noon, doesn't matter if non-stop or not).

I have 300,000 MR points from AMEX and 150,000 World Points through BoA VISA. I want to use all those points to purchase / defray the cost of the four tickets.

What I found was KLM flying out of JFK on 7/23 at 6pm direct to AMS, then KLM flying out direct to ATH on 8/2 at 9:30am and finally KLM flying back to JFK via AMS at 6:30am. Price is $1800.

Since the points come from two different sources, AMEX and VISA, I opened the account with KLM so I could move the AMEX points there and use them towards the tickets. The VISA points can be converted to cash ($1,400) and I can use that towards the remainder of the cost.

If I could use all the points as stated above, I would pay out pocket $2700.

Judging from your posts, there are restrictions on using points to pay for tickets? Is that correct? Do you see other issues with my plan? Do you have a better way to utilize those points since I have no other use for them and I do not do much traveling on a regular basis?

Thanks for everyone's input.

Jim

So, if I understand correctly, there is a way to use my points (from AMEX and VISA) to purchase the tickets, or part of them, even if I purchase them through a travel agent or "expertflyer"? I am not familiar with expertflyer, is it like an expedia or something similar?

Thanks.
Jim

If you are comfortable using all your miles and spending a bit out of pocket, then it works. You have very specific dates / flights that you want to be on. This limits your flexibility in saving $$ and points.

In general, if you can handle a non-stop or fly in a day earlier or later, you will be able to use less points. Even though you have no plans to use them in the future, it is always good to have some available.

Just be sure to reserve your tickets before transferring as you cannot change your mind. If KLM has no seats and you transfer the miles . . . you are up a creek. Sign up for a trial on expertflyer and play around with the DL options to get you where you need to go, or try dummy bookings, leg by leg on the DL skymiles site (as DL and KLM are both SkyTeam). You may get the seats you want. Put them on hold and transfer the miles.

Also try exploring other airlines that may be able to fly where you want to go, consider booking two sets of flights JFK-AMS-JFK and AMS-ATH-AMS on different airlines.