[German Dave]

Hi

I'm new to this forum but just need a few simple pointers. My Wife and will be emigrating to Australia in the near future, having been regular visitors to Australia in recent years, with a preference for using Singapore Airlines.

In short, in setting up our banking facilities in Australia, are there any Credit Cards on the Australian market (preferably Visa) that offer Kris Flyer mileage accumalation per Dollar spent? We are the the type who pay our balances in full at the end of each month. We do plan on spending at least one holiday in Europe each year but are looking to supplement our miles in the best way possible.

Having not researched the market that thoroughly I am only aware of Virgin Blue's Velocity programme, which of course only offers rewards on domestic flights (I think), and Qantas's Amex rewards plan. I want to avoid Amex if I can.

Despite a preference for Singapore Airlines, I (we) are open to any suggestions regarding the best mileage reward schemes with any airline flying between Australia & Europe.

Thanks in advance -

Dave.

[JohnK]

Hi German Dave and welcome to AFF.

The only credit card in Australia, that I know of, that allows transfer of points to SQ is Amex Ascent and only on a 2:1 basis.

It is probably not what you want to hear but it is not that bad. There are many threads on this board that discuss this subject in detail and you do get a very good deal with Amex maximiser receiving 1.5 points for every A$ spent. Most places accept Amex but some people have a second credit card, Visa/MC, to supplement Amex where it is not accepted.

[oz_mark]

From memory the ANZ Rewards Visa allows redemptions to Kris Flyer.

[Mal]

While you still have a German address, I suggest that you sign up for Qantas Frequent Flyer as well.

German residents (actually anyone not resident in Australia or New Zealand ) get the joining fee waived saving around $80. There are no ongoing fees.

You'll tend to find that credit cards in Australia want to push points towards Qantas. Additionally with Qantas being the dominant Australian domestic carrier, you would be likely to fly it at some stage


As mentioned by oz_mark, ANZ (ANZ HomePage) does offer the ANZ Rewards visa which allows transfer from card to Krisflyer at a 50% ratio.

[German Dave]

Thanks Mal -

For what its worth we're keeping homes at the moment in both the UK & Germany! I've got a UK British Airways Amex card which obviously rewards my BA Exec Club membership - the reason I was steering towards Visa is purely because Amex doesn't have such widespread acceptance in the UK and the charges (or rather the exchange rate) is significantly less when I use it in Germany. Acceptance of Amex is less widespread in Germany as well.

My preference towards Singapore Airlines in recent years is borne purely out of flexibility on return legs of flights, and the absence of "Tier Points" which BA insist on in order to change status. 25,000 miles on Singapore Airlines (or 1 1/4 trips to OZ) guarantees Silver Club status on Kris Flyer - hence lounge access at LHR when I'm flying Lufthansa.

Incidently - does anyone know of any points exchange programmes with BA Exec Club/Qantas Frequent Flyer? Or card fees that might be waived when transfering from BA Amex UK to Qantas Amex AUS? Or is that a naive question to ask?

Thanks in advance again - I'm very encouraged by everyones willingness to help!

Cheers - Dave.

[Kiwi Flyer]

With SQ you need to watch for the cheap economy fares which earn NO points.

However awards and upgrades are considerably cheaper than QF.

I would be careful with Krisflyer.
From my experience they are nothing less than incompetent. A group of circus monkeys could perform better than these people.

I flew business class from Sydney - Bangkok return in November 2005, and after 9 months they still haven't credited my miles, despite providing all the documentation.
These morons have assured that my documentation was received and that everything is OK, but they just don't allocate the miles.

On 4 occasions I have asked that my membership be cancelled. They can't even do that.

I now avoid Singapore Airlines, and fly Qantas exclusively. Their system works.

[sadlier]

I have to say that Ray Cary's experience with SQ and Krisflyer is in complete contrast to mine.

My experience is that almost everyone at 'the rat' has an attitude that is brusque and unhelpful.

Maybe I have a tattoo on my forehead that only QF staff can see that says 'this guy used to support Ansett".

[dajop]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer

With SQ you need to watch for the cheap economy fares which earn NO points.

Especially package fares, their "airfare only" fares usually are OK. Also be wary of unscrupulous agents (especially ones with red in their logo and pictures of flight deck crew in their advertising material), who will book you into a fare in a different class than SQ has it available. This happened last year, took a SQ fare to that particular agent, who have a price beat guarantee and they booked into a non-points earning class, even though on the SQ website it was in a points earning class. Needless to say we complained bitterly and were rebooked in the proper class, but most would not be so vigilant.

[Kiwi Flyer]

Originally Posted by dajop

Especially package fares, their "airfare only" fares usually are OK.

There are quite a lot of airfare only fares that are non mileage earning. The good thing is these are well labelled as such on their website (and also other websites that display relevant part of the fare rules - eg zuji).