“I Got Approved For The AMEX Premier Rewards Gold Card…Now What Do I Do With The Points?”

so which one do you think is better for a trip to europe ana or continental because it sounds you can use both of them for the same airlines? but which one do you spend less miles for the same flight?

Dan van you please advise as well what can be done with the 50 000 bonus miles that united offered for signing up for their credit card .
Can they be transfered as well to priority club for hotel stays

@tzvi:
ANA will charge fuel surcharges on airlines that charge a fuel surcharge. So they won’t charge for Continental, USAirways, or United, but they will for most other airlines.

Air Canada is a good option for Europe as long as you don’t fly on Air Canada as they dont don’t charge fuel surcharges on Star Alliance awards and have good mileage rates.

Continental is also a good option for travel to Europe.

@israel:
Only points like AMEX or Starwood are so flexible that they can be transferred to all kinds of different programs.
Once they are in an airline program like United you are generally stuck with those miles-they can’t be transferred.

Dan, it seems to be that you may as well transfer your points to ANA and get a trip to israel for low ANA mileage, but just use continental since they are partners…
can that be done?

thank you. which airline charges the least for a business ticket to europe?plus fees of course. thank you so much for your help

Hi Dan! Just applied for the gold card thru your link. Any recommendations for redeeming one-way tickets? I have enough SPG points & Delta skymiles to redeem for a one-way ticket from Minneapolis (MSP) to Beijing (PEK) in late june/early july, but i still wanna save as many points as possible.. It’d be greatly appreciated if you could give me some suggestions.. Thanks!!

who is ana also do you get anything when you have this card and fligh

@PIMPLE:
Absolutely!

@tzvi:
Air Canada for 80,000 miles is probably the cheapest with no fuel surcharges.

@Tian:
I believe that British Airways has one-way awards. Delta has notoriously bad availability.

when you have amex points do you only transfer them right before you want to book travel bec of the specific airline that has availiblity or just put in continetal for example and just use it any other of there 25 partners

So then why would anyone even bother transferring any miles to continental? they may as well just transfer it over to ANA, but fly continental. getting the ANA rates
right?

Starwood: 1,000 AMEX Points=333 Points.
what way around is it b/c i want to know does it make sense to transfer my point to starwoods then transfer them to american on a 25,ooo for 20,000

@tzvi:
You just need to transfer the points before you close the credit card.

@PIMPLE:
ANA can be great, but…
ANA has a distance based chart, it won’t always be less miles that Continental.
Additionally
-ANA miles expire after 3 years, while Continental miles never expire.
-Continental never charges a fuel surcharge on award tickets, while ANA does for travel on many airlines.

@starwoods:
There is no way around it, transferring AMEX to Starwood is a bad idea.
If you want Starwood points your best bet is to open a Starwood card.

Can I transfer these points to my SPG account, and then on to the airline of my choice from there?

Just as an FYI, Transfers from AMEX to ANA (or SQ) are not instant and can take 5-7 days to process.

Dan if your flying to or from Israel your best bet would be to do it through ANA not continental is that correct?
Also is ANA availability the same as continental to from Israel?

Can you book any one way tickets from Israel with ANA or others?

One more reason to transfer to one airline over the other: If mileage needed is the same (always check before transferring), when you book on one airline for another airline’s seat, you sometimes (usually in my case) do NOT get to pick seats ahead of time. When you book that airline’s seats with that airline’s miles, you usually get to pick seats ahead of time. This matters to some people like me who travel with children and needs certain seating assignments.

@PIMPLE:

The Amex link says that the 25,000 miles offer NOT for existing AMEX card members. Anyone with a AMEX Starwoods card can’t get the 25K bonus??

@David:
Good to know, thanks!

@abe:
ANA availability will be the same as Continental Saver availability. You generally can’t book an airlines “Anytime” availability via partners.

@bob:
I believe you can book one-ways with ANA, but it will be more than half the miles.

@MrsM:
You can almost always pick the seats by calling up the carrier that you are actually flying on.
True, the ticketing carrier may not be able to assign seats, but a s quick phone call to the actual airline you are flying on is all it takes to reserve seats and a kosher meal.

@M. Pipuk:
AMEX means that people that already have a Premier Rewards Gold card do not qualify for the 25,000 points.

As a Starwood cardholder you will absolutely get the points.

And even if you got the Premier Rewards Gold card last time, I’d say based on past experience with AMEX charge cards that there’s a very good chance of getting the signup points again.

but when i look on ana chart lets say for a flight to paris it would only cost 68,000 vs 80,000 on air canada so isnt this a better option?

Given the talk about a possible merger of United and Continental, it would seem like a great idea to rack up mileage on both these airlines.

@tzvi:
Correct, NYC-Paris would be 43,000 miles in coach and 68,000 miles in business via ANA.
https://www.ana.co.jp/eng/amc/reference/tukau/teikeiair_1.html
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=jfk-cdg-jfk

However be prepared to pay fuel surcharges unless you only fly Continental, USAirways, and United.

Whereas with Air Canada miles you have way more options to Europe without paying fuel surcharges. And business class on Swiss or Singapore for example will probably be a lot nicer than on, say, United.

@Yossi:
If I had a buck for each airline merger rumor…

i see bec on air canada it makes no difference what airline you fly there is no surcharge?

alos it said on air canada website that us to europe 1 it would be 85,000 for a business class seat. is this correct?

How long do you have to have the AMEX card open for? Can I close it after a month?

@tzvi:
As long as you don’t fly on Air Canada there shouldn’t be fuel surcharges. Of course this can change at any time. Also bear in mind that Air Canada miles have expiration dates, whereas Continental miles do not.

@tzvi:
You need to look at their Star Alliance chart for the correct rate:
http://www1.aeroplan.com/use_your_miles/travel/flights/air_reward_chart.do?p=staralliance

@Ike:
Yes. You should get the points on the statement right after spending the $1,000 and you can then transfer the points out and close the card.

Dan, that has not been my experience. I always call the other airline as that is what I am instructed to do and 100% of time, only a request for an aisle or window is accepted at best. Never a seat assignment. I recently went through this problem and since I am flying with kids, it became a real issue. I posted on flyertalk for advice and was surprised that many airlines do this when the award travel was booked through a partner. Perhaps some airlines are more accommodating but not the ones I have flown with.

@Dan/Ctownbochur:

I live in Toronto and I have never been able to redeem on partner airlines to israel with aeroplan, except for crazy prices and crazy stopovers.
How would you suggest I book it, when I call them they say, I should check online for availability, but there is nothing there.
can i make my own tickets with Continental and a stopover in new York
PLEASE HELP I HAVE SO MANY AEROPLAN MILES and i need to get to israel often, but it never works out.
THANKS

@MrsM:
Which airline did not give you seat assignments?

@spgguy:
Air Canada miles are not worth using to Israel. They charge a whopping 105K in coach and 150K in business for Star Alliance flights. You can search award availability on Continental.com. ANA also hasa good search too but it’s a little complicated to use.

I have 80,000 delta miles.. there is never availability to israel… any ways around? does delta have a partner airline? also the 30,000 amex points im getting now , should i transfer them to delta?

@LEVI CH:
Delta availability is the pits…absolutely awful.

You can check their Skyteam partner availability, like on Air France, KLM, or Alitalia.

And no, I don’t recommend transferring points to Delta.

For Aerolplan itself, its not bad but the fuel surcharge is over $500.
Any way to trade them for Continental miles.

@spgguy:
Yes, if you use Air Canada miles for travel on Air Canada miles they charge a huge fuel surcharge…which is why you should use those miles for Star Alliance flights.
Their Star Alliance rates are great for Europe and Asia, but poor for Israel.

Trying to find a ticket from TLV to NY direct for succos nothing avail through ANA, I also checked random dates from TLV to NY can not find anything is it me or is it very hard to get award tix with them?

@abe:
You need to click on “connecting flights,” and there should be plenty of availability.
What dates did you try?

can you fly BA transatlantic with other oneworld partners (not AA)?

@anon:
Yes.

@Dan/Ctownbochur:

You CANNOT book one way on ANA!

@abc:
Thanks for clarifying.
From their site it seems open-jaws are permitted, but the final destination city must be in the same country as the origin city.

is there a hefty canadian tax to pay when booking a star alliance flight through air canada

hey dan, regarding the chase one-pass debit card for the 25k mile deal…i called chase to link my one pass account and no one knows how to do it! They send me to the continental department- which is basically the one pass reservation center. This has happened 10 times now! any suggestions?

@sholom:
Not for non-Air Canada flights.

@mordy:
Try 877-292-4273.

what else do you do witn aeroplan miles, if I am not going to Asia or europe
Any good uses

number worked! thanks.

@MrsM I flew CO and Delta on an Air France award. Continental gave me all the seats I requested, including the bassinet and an empty seat for a car seat. Delta would not confirm bulkhead seats as they are on a first come first serve basis, even for an infant.

@spgguy:
You can fly domestic if you’d like.

@mordy:
Great!

@flyingace:
Driving Every Loyal Traveler Away.

Hi Dan , thank you so much for all your hep, I was looking to sign up for a credit card, I have the jet blue one now but I wanted one with points that I can use for other airlins to , and going to like Isreal . So which credit card to you sugest I sign up for
, THE GOLD CARD OR THE STARWOODS. Thank you so much

What does ANA charge for fuel surcharge on a TLV – NY business class flight if booked on a Lufthansa flight?

dan please give me some suggestions what to do with the 80,000 delta miles? should i use it to go to australia? i have to fly there in december?

also i have e – certificates from united any idea on what to do with them.. does anyone want to buy them off me..

i have like 2,800 in e certificates with united.

Dan, thanks again for all the advice and help. Can you provide a summary as to how often you can apply for cards from the same bank/company? Eg: Amex, Chase MC or Visa, Citi MC or Visa. Are personal and business cards considered totally separate so that I can apply for both within a couple of days of each other? Are MC and Visa considered totally separate or is based only upon which bank it is that’s issuing it?

Hey Dan, quick q about SPG points. I was just checking my account, and noticed that while every month I was paying my bill and getting the points (about 1000 a month), suddenly a month ago, I was randomly given 85,000 free points. I checked my account history, and found it described as “SPG AX LOYALTY BONUS OPEN-ALL”. Don’t know what that means and looking for help. I’m slightly afraid that if I ask them, they’ll confiscate them or something, but I wanted to make sure it’s ligit. Thanks.

The most recent case was booking Singapore Airlines through CO. CO couldn’t do it, called Singapore and they couldn’t do it. I will get seat assignment when I check in they said. They did accept a request for an aisle but could not assure me I will be seating with the rest of my party. Said they try and sit everyone together but that was it, try. One leg has aisle confirmed, the other leg has aisle only requested.

I fly CO and USAir on award so the other problem was probably with a US partner. Can’t remember which.

@Dan/Ctownbochur:

Okay, so im trying to figure out the cheapest way to get from NY to Israel on points. I have 40,000 SPG which turns into 50k when i transfer. So It seems Alitalia requires only 50k but then i have to pay a fuel surcharge? How much is that surharge? What Airlines don’t require a surcharge that are only 50k? Any????

dan, if I just got the gold rewards card, can I apply for the starwoods amex or do i have to wait a certain amount of time?

I recently saw that Capital One has a new card that awards double miles for every purchase, every day. Granted they probably are not transferrable like starwwods is, but in terms of more miles per dollar it would seem this is a way better deal, no?

Dan- just want to thank you for being so thorough and answering everybody’s questions. It is really appreciated, especially to learn the ins and outs of this sugya. thanks!

@Mordy:
There’s no official time that you have to wait.

@Moshe:
I’m not familiar with the exact card, but Capital One and Citibank are notorious for launching cards with one set of rewards and then severely devaluing the rewards. Leaving you with lots of work towards building up a nice balance and having the rug pulled out from under you.

Whereas with Starwood or AMEX points even if one mileage program has a bad devaluation there are so many other programs to transfer to.