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Amex Platinum Metal offer
- Thread starter eve
- Start date
Others are getting offer of 115k
It's a very good offer
Add another 5k points so total of 120k
Transfer 80k to asia miles and redeem it against return Economy flight to Japan ( Haneda )
And remaining 40k to Virgin Atlantic and get return flight to London
From Del/BOM
Card fees 70800 and taxes for thes flights about 30k
In 1 lakh rupees you would get return flight tickets to both Japan and London
Or else you can redeem for business class/premium economy to on one of the either sector
PiperatGatesofDawn
TF Premier
I would disagree with completely on the value here.
So the fees for DEL-TYO on CX is ~25k. And DEL - LHR on VS ~35k.
Buying cash return tickets for both TYO & LHR in Y is ~1L total. Plus any additional miles from CC spend (smartbuy/traveledge/mmt vouchers etc) + miles you can accumulate.
You are at minimum 50k loss with these redemptions.
You will be hard pressed to do a good value miles redemption with Amex points. The only way you can do a good value redemption is through an outsized Marriott points stay.
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Redemption is an art , you need a lot of efforts to extract good value especially if you are redeeming against economy.
The above is revenue fare for CX Del to Tokyo during cherry blossom which goes around 95k-115k return in Economy for 1 pax .
The same return using miles would cost 40k Asia miles that is 80k Amex MR plus 10k in taxes.
Now if you get the Amex Plat charge with 70,800 you would get 115k Amex points , you can use 80k from that and another 10k in cash you are getting Return Japan tickets in cherry blossom in CX plus unlimited lounge access , unlimited golf, access to centurion lounge , a premiere metal card to brag.
What is the harm or loss in it ?
PiperatGatesofDawn
TF Premier
What are your travel dates?
Random dates in cherry blossom
29th March to 10Th April
PiperatGatesofDawn
TF Premier
Direct flight on a significantly superior airline at less than half the time. Not to mention that when ticket prices are 90k+ on CX, award availability will be next to nil.
And only because you brought up the art... I've been doing this art for close to 20 years now. 🙂
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I will say again , redemption is an art .
Let's take your example of 48k a return of 96k .
Now Amex is giving 115k points for 70800 plat charge . Another 5k of points and you can get 1 return plus 1 one way at 70800+15000 that is 85800.
The same would cost 72k on revenue
For the remaining 13-14k you are getting the plat charge with all its benefits .
Take an example of the below booking , 3 Pax on J return del to HK
The revenue is approx 4.2 lakhs at current and when I booked it was at 3.8L .
I booked the same using 3L Amex + 45000 INR
Getting a value of 1.2-1.3 per Amex points.
I agree that economy you won't get a good value , but when you compare it with J or F that's when you actually start leveraging miles.
PiperatGatesofDawn
TF Premier
We were discussing fee recovery of 115k from the 70k expense. And all I'm saying is that you don't have a fee recovery from that at all.
What other value you can extract from your card and how it compares with other cards is a separate topic.
I don't know what you mean here. 48k is for a JAL return ticket. Buy it from TE. So I'd get back 11k miles + 1-2 miles accumulation in JAL.
Assuming I can redeem those miles at Re. 1/mile, my effective ticket price on the day that I want to travel (not award availability day) is 35k. Why would I ever do a CX miles redemption for that when I'm getting this rate on JL?
The closest availability I could get to your dates is 40k CX miles + 25k INR. So the effective value of 80k Amex points is is 0.125 INR/Amex point!
Is a return rate of ~3% on J awards an argument for or against Amex Plat? 😎
What other value you can extract from your card and how it compares with other cards is a separate topic.
I don't know what you mean here. 48k is for a JAL return ticket. Buy it from TE. So I'd get back 11k miles + 1-2 miles accumulation in JAL.
Assuming I can redeem those miles at Re. 1/mile, my effective ticket price on the day that I want to travel (not award availability day) is 35k. Why would I ever do a CX miles redemption for that when I'm getting this rate on JL?
The closest availability I could get to your dates is 40k CX miles + 25k INR. So the effective value of 80k Amex points is is 0.125 INR/Amex point!
Is a return rate of ~3% on J awards an argument for or against Amex Plat? 😎
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There is nothing to argue
My initial post stated that what all you can get in the 115k Amex points
By paying 70,800 + 30k in taxes
You could get return flights to Japan and London
I agree to your point that cheaper flights are available , but it also depends on the timing too
Just like you mentioned
In 48k return trip to Japan in Cherry blossom
A return trip to London during Christmas should easily cost 45k to 60k
Let's assume both trips costs 1 lakhs , then as per your points can you tell me how are you at a loss of 50k INR by opting for the plat charge upgrade?
I agree that cheaper options for both are available but what if I want to visit during the peak season ?
CX and Vs both have excellent availability, VS sometimes runs promo where return to London was available at 15k miles or 30k Amex points
.
Now coming to your point of why opting a hop flight of CX instead of direct flight to Japan , there are many people like me who travel with an infant and like to take hopping flights instead of direct flights as that is more relaxing for the child, it completely depends on the individual .
When looking for redemption you need to compare economy fares with your dates and not just search for some random date cheap flights .
I guess everyone here knows searching Skyscanner and kayak
Also I would like to end the debate here , we both suggested our opinions here , it's entirely on the OP now what he decides.
PiperatGatesofDawn
TF Premier
This part is incorrect.
Amex fees - 71k. CX taxes & fees to TYO - 25k. VS taxes & fees to LHR 35k. Total = 131k
Revenue tickets - 100k. Less 24% TE. = 76k. Airmiles earned ~2k. So you're losing ~50k.
Also, I searched on the dates you gave me. During the peakiest peak season in Japan. Notably when award tickets were not available through CX. 🙂 And we can't be arguing about date flexibility when comparing awards to revenue tickets can we? 🤔
If you're logic is that you're going to spend 5.5 hours in the air followed by 7 hours in an airport and then 4 hours in the air again and spend 2x the cost to do that, to give your kid a break from from a 7 hour direct flight... well.. ummm.... oookkkkkk......
Again we are completing digressing from the point... that if OP is looking to recover his fees through air travel. In all likelihood that will not be possible.
Agreed on everything
What if one wants to fly business
To Tokyo in the cherry blossom time one way
What is the best possible revenue rates that one can get
Or may be a Business class to London oneway
On any given dates
Can you please tell me the lowest possible business class fare in a full lie flat metal ??
Let's take this example
A business class from Del to LHR
37500 + 35000 INR
An premium Economy Return LHR to Del
Total Amex points = 110000
Total Cash = 35000 + 37000 + 70500
In total 1.43 lakhs you get a return plus you get plat charge card.
You can get even more value if booked using VS sales where PY was getting sold at 13200 miles .
I am saying again if you want you can easily recover your joining fees , I am not an expert in redemptions still I have managed quote good returns on Amex points
Plus VS can also be used to book other Skyteam members flight like Air Kenya , Ana etc through call.
Anyways Bhai let's not complicate things .
And leave it on the OP to decide.
To summarise there are two types of people
1) Reward value maximizers(RVM): These are people who analyse various options of redeeming points and maximimize the value by selecting the right redemption option at the right time. They enjoy the activities that provide maximum value to thier points even if that activity wouldn't have been a part of thier plan, if not for the reward points.
2) Reward value optimisers (RVO) : These people have a list of activities they want to do. Then figure out what is the most value they can derive for the rewards to do those activities. They do not get the maximum value, but they are happy that they are able to do the activities that they want to.
Both kind of people love what they are doing. Both are right in thier own spirit. The credit card offers are targeted to make you spend for things that you don't need. So one needs to be slighlty cautious while using thier benefits.
1) Reward value maximizers(RVM): These are people who analyse various options of redeeming points and maximimize the value by selecting the right redemption option at the right time. They enjoy the activities that provide maximum value to thier points even if that activity wouldn't have been a part of thier plan, if not for the reward points.
2) Reward value optimisers (RVO) : These people have a list of activities they want to do. Then figure out what is the most value they can derive for the rewards to do those activities. They do not get the maximum value, but they are happy that they are able to do the activities that they want to.
Both kind of people love what they are doing. Both are right in thier own spirit. The credit card offers are targeted to make you spend for things that you don't need. So one needs to be slighlty cautious while using thier benefits.
CARDBITRAGE
TF Legend
The only way redeeming MR in airline FFP will ever make sense is if they offer a 1:1 point transfer. Until then, Marriott is your best bet at maximizing the value out of your points.
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