Reply To: 120k points with Amex Gold – best transfer options for Sydney flights?

[Lyn]

FrizzelDizzel wrote:

Finally, if booking economy flights, the surcharge for taxes and so on means the cost of the flight is a minimum of £300 irrespective. There are one way flights for £600 which represents much better value for money. This probably is a misunderstanding on my part but hoping someone can clarify for me.

As you have discovered, economy awards aren’t always the best use of avios / miles / points for long-haul flights because of the carrier surcharges (in addition to actual taxes). You will often see comments on HeadforPoints warning of this. Sometimes they come into their own for one-way flights or for a mixed cabin round-trip combined with a premium cabin in the other direction. They also provide flexibility to change or cancel flights, which is important sometimes. There are also programmes, such as some of the US frequent flyer programmes, which don’t usually charge these, but they are not necessarily Amex transfer partners,

If you are really are completely new to all this there are a lot of basic articles available on HfP that you might find useful to read before your start trying to make any bookings. There are lots of helpful and knowledgable people here to ask for advice.

As you probably realise, Australia is a popular destination and not necessarily the easiest one to start off with. You may want to look at short-haul European redemptions, even just pretend bookings to learn how they work if you don’t want to spend your points on a European holiday or weekend break.

It probably goes without saying, but you should hold off on transferring any Amex points until you know exactly what you want to do with them and which programme lets you do that most efficiently. Good luck with exploring!