What is the best value frequent flyer program out there in the market? In terms of the number of credit cards that you can transfer to at a good rate – I would have to say the Krisflyer program from Singapore Airlines is a great program where you can aim to accumulate and transfer your points to.
To fly from Sydney to Singapore on Economy return is 40,000 Krisflyer points. Now compare that to Cathay Pacific which requires 45,000 points and Qantas which needs 60,000 points – assuming you have a transfer ratio of 1:1 – then you can see that Singapore Airlines is a great redemption partner for your credit cards. Of course not all credit cards provide a one to one transfer ratio – so just be wary of this. Singapore airlines also provides a great economy product with the incredible service that the provide.
In terms of a premium cabin – Krisflyer requires about 93,000 points to fly business class return from Sydney to Singapore. Cathay Pacific though only requires 80,000 points. Both business class products are great products – you can’t go wrong with either. My belief is that there are many more credit cards that you can earn Krisflyer points (or transfer to) than Asia Miles and also has a better transfer rate.
The Citibank Signature credit card for example has a one to one transfer ratio for Krisflyer but only two to one for Asia Miles which is Cathay Pacific’s rewards programme. American Express Membership Rewards has a one to one transfer ratio for both programs so if you are just transferring with Amex Membership Rewards – then obviously Cathay requires less points for a business class flight.
The great thing with Krisflyer when flying to Asia is that you could fly to Hong Kong and Singapore with the same amount of points as if you were just to fly to Singapore. So flying business or even first (123,000 Krisflyer points) makes sense to fly to both countries – really for the price of one nearly!
So if you can get the best bang for your buck – then I believe Krisflyer is marginally better than say Cathay Pacific. Amex Membership rewards is always great as there are nine airlines you can transfer to. So I rate Amex points much more valuable than say airline points because of the flexibility, the number of promotions and the numerous choices that are offered to you in terms of airlines. Of course you could go and buy a toaster with your points – whatever fits your style.
Sorry to say but Qantas is probably in my opinion is probably one of the worse frequent flyer programs out there – but with the strategy of signing up for credit cards just to earn a few thousand (usually tens of thousands) of Qantas points – is definitely worth signing up.
But pleas – PLEASE – do not transfer any points to Air New Zealand’s Air points program. Absolutely the worse redemptions I have every seen. Every 100 air points is equal to $1. So if a business class seat is $5000 – you are going to need to accumulate 500,000 Air NZ points. Transfer ratio for Air NZ on Amex is one to one. So compare that to say Cathay Pacific 80,000 Amex points – then you catch my drift.
The best value frequent flyer program at the end of the day will really depend on your personal preference in terms of award availability, points earning potential and a great transfer rate from credit cards.
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