200,000 AMEX MR Points = 2 Concorde RT
 

This seems to work:

Until Sept. 30th AMEX is allowing conversion of 1,000 MR points to 500 Starwood points, this is 50% more than usual. With this in mind do as follows:

1. Convert 200,000 AMEX MR points to 100,000 Starwood points.

2. Convert 100,000 Starwood points into 250,000 Qantas points. Note: Starwood throws in 5,000 Starwood points for every 20,000 Starwood points you convert.

3. This should add up to 250,000 Qantas points which can be used to get 2 BA 1st class awards, also usable for Concorde RT JFK-LHR.

Is this a specific reward on Qantas that requires 250k for 2 Concorde tickets? Or can you do 100k AmEx MR for 1 ticket?

Remember, the QF award allows not only JFK-LHR, but indeed on BA metal it allows one to fly to pretty well ANYWHERE in Europe or North Africa that BA services.

The actual First Class award IIRC cover 10,000 miles of flying of your choice. If transatlantic to LHR is Concorde both ways, then you go Business class to St. Petersberg, or Morocco or wherever.

We did the Concorde flights in May using QF points. A great experience. Go for it. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

(n.b. - in hindsight we would have done Concorde one way, and BA 747 sleeper bed First Class the other.)

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~ Glen ~ Calling all United 1K Members - please join .. www.1Kflyers.com

I suggested this as 2 tickets because I'm not sure how Starwood would handle moving 50,000 Starwood points. As far as I know they only throw in 5,000 points for every 20,000 points you move, no proration. If that's the case, you'll get 120,000 Qantas points for 50,000 Starwood points, short 5,000 Qantas points.

It seems to me that for a single ticket you would have to exchange 55,000 AMEX points which convert to 27,500 Starwood points which then convert to 125,000 Qantas points.

I'm about to do the same thing with 40000 Amex points.

You are correct that Starwood only give you a free 5000 points per 20000 SPG you transfer, or complete multiples of 20000. If you tansfer 55,000 Amex rewards to SPG you would get 27,500 SPG.

Add the free 5000 at the time of transfer (32,500 total) and you would get a rate of 1:1 for UA & AA. QF gives a rate of 2:1 so your 27,500 SPG points become 65,000 QF points !!!

Hope this helps.

David

Oops !!! Someday I'll learn how to count.

What I meant to say regarding one ticket is that you would take 105,000 AMEX MR points which convert to 52,500 Starwood points. Then convert those to 105,000 Qantas points. Starwood will throw in 10,000 Starwood points which convert to 20,000 Qantas points and voila !!! You've got 125,000 Qantas points.

Sorry for the earlier mistake.

Wow.. I've been REALLY bad about paying my amex card while travelling.. so I called amex.. they found 60000 MR points I could reinstate.. (I said REALLY bad).. add that to the 40000 in my account and I'm almost there for the free ticket..

Thats TOO cool.. thanks.. All I have to do now is find some other way to get another concorde ticket.. maybe there'll be another magazine special http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

**** .. I could REALLY fly concorde this year.. TOO cool... As an AA flyer with over 300000 miles that are worthless for BA transatlantic this was an excellent opportunity..

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

i am in the uk & have 125000 points on my amex platinum card.
can some one tell me if & how do i change them to get concord or first class tickets?

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airmilesking

OK

1. You need to have a *wood Preferred Guest account number. You can get this @ http://www.starwood.com/preferredguest/index.html

1. You need to have Amex show Starwood Preferred Guest as one of your Frequent Traveller Programme - can be done on-line or by phone.

2. The Amex website says that you need to have stayed @ a *wood hotel in the last 12 months (not sure how true this is) to qualify to transfer.

3. Amex will then transfer the 125,000 points to SPG, giving you 62500 SPG points.

4. You can then transfer these to any airline, but QF gives you the best return (2:1).

As I said earlier in this thread, when you transfer them, *wood will add another 15,000 points to your total (5k for every 20k you transfer). Your total is then 77,500.

If you transfer this to BA or AA you'd get a 1:1 transfer rate, but QF gives you 2:1, so you'd end up with 155,000 Qantas points.

To get 10,000 miles on BA metal, First Class, you need 125,000 QF points so you have more than enough for this.

This is more than enough for a Concorde return to JFK + another FC or BC flight with the balance.

Hope this helps

David

SPG have clarified the position on the minimum stay requirement for me. Information is @ http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum69/HTML/001294.html

Can anyone think of a way to use USAir miles for Concorde tickets?

While this is a good way to get on the Concorde:

1. QF has a more expensive award redemption schedule than many other airlins, including OW;

2. Transfering miles to other obscure AMEX partners can get you good FC int'l rewards...

Food for thought.

Check the SPG forum - there were heaps of folks that could comp you instantly to Gold SPG, AND earn you both points too IIRC.



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~ Glen ~ Calling all United 1K Members - please join .. www.1Kflyers.com

If one doesn't have a Qantas account, is it easy to set one up, transfer miles, and redeem an award without ever taking a flight?

How tough is snagging award tickets on BA JFK-LHR?

[This message has been edited by jtrader (edited 09-10-2002).]

Just a caution: if you need to make any changes to your flights after the ticket has been issued, you can only "pay" for the changes with QF miles. So keep this in mind when transferring and setting your flight dates. If you don't want to convert any more than the minimum needed for each Concorde ticket, consider having a few of your hotel stays at other properties put into your new QF account. Hilton stays earn 1500 per stay, which is three times what double dipping with US carriers yields.

A little confused here. On their site, and from a past thread, I've been informed that there is a disclaimer associated with the tranferring of certain points:

"You may transfer up to 99,999 Starpoints(1) with the exception of Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and United Airlines, who set their own limits."

"(1) Award can only be redeemed with Starpoints earned at Starwood Preferred Guest participating hotels or Preferred Guest earning partners. Starpoint bonus based on a 1 to 1 conversion ratio. Equivalent bonus will be awarded in accordance with other airline conversion rates."

Aside from the hotels, the only partners mentioned on their EARN page are: AT&T, Avis, BostonCoach® and SIXT rent a car.

Yet, at the bottom of the TRANSFER/Airlines page, it is stated, without any noted disclaimer:

"For every 20,000 Starpoints, Starwood will award you with an additional 5,000 Starpoints, which will automatically be added to your transfer."

So, it seems if one is able to transfer points, the extra 5,000 is a given and since so many have transferred pts from AM EX to Airline FF accts (?), then AM EX is a for sure EARNing partner, but just not listed as such on the site?

I just setup a Qantas account online. Go to https://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyns/joinff

I have not heard of anyone having trouble booking BA001 or BA002 (these are the Concorde flight numbers) thru Qantas.

Sorry for the previous confusing response inbedded in quoting your post, let me try again....

I just checked with Starwood and following are the limits for Starwood point transfers to Qantas:

- Daily transfer limit = 39,999 Starwood points

- Total transfer limit = 365,000 Starwood points. This amounts to 910,000 Qantas points.

To deal with the daily transfer limit, its probably best to transfer exactly 20,000 / day to ensure that you get the 5,000 point bonus. I've already transferred 80,000 Starwood points in 4 separate sessions online, no problem.

As I said, I had no problem transferring 100,000 AMEX MR points into Starwood. Did it online all at once.

Hundreds of FT'ers did the Inside Flyer >> Starwood >> Qantas >> Condorde transfer in recent months. Have not read of any hassles (other than it being slow) or hassles getting BA1/2 on first or second date choice.

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~ Glen ~ Calling all United 1K Members - please join .. www.1Kflyers.com

Anyone know if it is also easy getting regular FC seats? I'd probably want to go over on Concorde and return in First Class (or the opposite...not sure which is preferable)

In transferring AMEX MR points to Starwood, the transfer was posted next day. I must have lucked out and hit the last day before a weekly sweep. Starwood says in should take 2-3 weeks for Qantas to post.

From my experience- New York- London F availability is very good (think of the capacity on that route, with Concorde and 5 or so subsonic flights from JFK, plus EWR). LAX-LHR, for instance, is another story.

If you have a BA account, check out www.britishairways.com/spendmiles to see award availability. You don't need to have enough BA miles in your account to check, either.

[This message has been edited by landspeed (edited 09-12-2002).]

From a time-maximization standpoint, it makes more sense to fly F on a 747/777 from the US to Europe. It's a night flight, you can sleep, you don't lose any time. By comparison, the Concorde leaves JFK at 830am and arrives at LHR at 5pm local time. You lose that whole day (as far as the clock goes).

Taking the Concorde on the return flight, you leave at 1030am, and arrive back in NY at 925am - the SAME day. Thus, you've given yourself extra time.

My wife and I just did this very itenerary. I transferred 100K SPG points over 5 seperate transfers. When I called BA, I simply requested the F award and gave my specific flight numbers, including BA001. You don't even have to say Concorde - just tell them you want that specific flight. Unless BA pulls their 'Z' inventory from the Concorde flights.

We left on a Thur. night and returned Monday. We got 3 full days in England (Fri-Sun). The service in F on the 747-400 was out of this world. Concorde travel was 'neat' and 'cool', but cramped. The meals are served from a cart, just like in coach. I'd take it again only if I 'absolutely, positively' had to get home from LHR.

I just noticed some fine print on the Qantas Web site:
* Additonal points may apply for stopovers. Additonal charges/levies/taxes are payable on Flight Awards at the time of booking. Not valid on British Airways Concorde services. Route and airline restrictions may apply. Flight Awards are subject to capacity controls and availability is limited. The above information is intended as a guide only.


See the bottom of the page at:
http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/...s/pointsTables


Is this new?

I just rang AMEX in Australia and they said that this offer was only available to US card holders.

Has any Australian cardholder had success with this transfer ?

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keep those miles (km) coming ... paul

I've thought about it from your point of view. I'm not sure which I prefer (was discussing with my wife last night). Her concern is that she really can't sleep long on planes and will be just wiped out on arrival in London if we take a red eye. Taking that perspective, if you leave on concorde, arrival is in time to get dinner in London and get a full night's sleep. On the return, taking an evening flight means you get most of the day in London and arrive home sufficiently tired that jet lag isn't a problem. If you take the concorde home, it is a really long day.

Given my usual international travel schedule, I figure I'll adjust no matter what. I'm more concerned about what will be easier on my wife (and our kids who will be left behind).

Just to let you know that today all 250,000 Qantas points (100,000 Starwood points I transferred) posted on the account. This happened in less than 2 weeks !!!