top tips for redeeming air miles

28
TIPS FOR REDEEMING AIR MI A SPECIAL PRESENTATION FOR IPAYMY 8 DEC 2016 © The Milelion, All Rights Reserved. No portion of the content herein may be used or reproduced without the prior written consent of The Milelion www.milelion.com | [email protected] | Slide design by June Fong 1

Upload: aaron-wong

Post on 07-Jan-2017

3.954 views

Category:

Travel


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Top tips for redeeming air miles

1

TOP TIPS FOR REDEEMING AIR MILESA SPECIAL PRESENTATION FOR IPAYMY

8 DEC 2016

© The Milelion, All Rights Reserved. No portion of the content herein may be used or reproduced without the prior written consent of The Milelionwww.milelion.com | [email protected] | Slide design by June Fong

Page 2: Top tips for redeeming air miles

2

PREFACE• The following slides were created for an iPaymy.com webinar and should not

be read in isolation without the accompanying video

• The Miles and Points Game is dynamic and information often quickly goes out of date. Future readers of this presentation should take into account the date of creation (8/12/2016) of this document.

• You should not play the Miles and Points Game if you have reason to believe you will have difficulty paying off your balance in full, on time, every month. Abuse of credit can lead to detrimental consequences for you and your loved ones.

• The Miles and Points Game may sometimes require you to engage in rather irregular behavior. Your friends and family may think you are mad. Try not to rub it in when you’re sipping Krug at 30,000 ft.

2

Page 3: Top tips for redeeming air miles

WHAT DID WE LEARN LAST TIME ROUND?We have seen how miles can be earned. Now, let’s look at what you can spend them on

Decide objectives

1 Analyze spending patterns

2 Assess card offerings based on (1) and (2)

3

• Where do I want to go?

• How do I want to get there?

• When do I want to go?

• How often am I likely to travel?

• Spend by category

• Big ticket items

• Expiry• Flexibility• Bonus

categories• Income

Start spending! (responsib

ly)

3

Last Session

This Session

• What do I do with all those miles? • How do I choose a frequent flyer program?

• What are my options?• How can I improve my chances of getting award space?

• How can I minimize surcharges on my awards?

Page 4: Top tips for redeeming air miles

DBS UOB OCBC Citibank ANZ American Express Maybank SCB HSBC

Singapore AirlinesAir AsiaBritish AirwaysCathayChina

AirlinesDeltaEtihad

EmiratesEVA

GarudaMalaysia Airlines

Thai Airways

Which frequent flyer program should I use?

WHERE CAN I CASH OUT MY POINTS?Almost all banks in Singapore offer transfers to SQ and CX; it is relatively harder to accumulate

miles in other programs

4

Page 5: Top tips for redeeming air miles

Buying items in Krisshop

Paying for revenue

SQ flights via Cash + Miles

OK, I CHOOSE KRISFLYER. NOW WHAT?Krisflyer is fairly limited in redemption options (compared to US programs).

However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing

Redeeming flights

on Star Alliance/ other partners

Redeeming Flightson SQ

1 2 3Redeeming

Tigerair or Scoot Vouchers

4 5

Bid on unique

experiences

Buy Broadway

Tickets

Shop for merchandi

seSend

flowersSend gift

cardsBuy restauran

t certificate

s

Magazine subscripti

onsHotel

awardsCar

awardsCruise awards

Lounge access

Inflight Wifi

Restaurants in

certain airports

TSA Precheck Donations

All boils down to one question: what value am I getting for my miles?

Awards

Upgrades

5

Page 6: Top tips for redeeming air miles

WHAT KIND OF SQ AWARDS CAN I REDEEM?SQ offers Saver and Standard awards - saver awards cost less but standard awards have greater

availability

Saver Awards

Standard Awards

Economy Premium EconomyBusinessFirst

SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

6

Page 7: Top tips for redeeming air miles

WHAT KIND OF SQ AWARDS CAN I REDEEM?The $100 Bangkok Trip (one-way)

SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

Singapore

7

Page 8: Top tips for redeeming air miles

WHAT CABIN SHOULD I BE REDEEMING FOR?Recall what we learned about the value of a mile - the greatest value is redeeming business or first

class tickets

• Your miles earn the greatest value when redeemed for Business or First class• Economy: ~1-2.5 cents• Premium Economy: ~2.5

cents• Business: ~4-5 cents• First: ~7-8 cents

• Economy class is Economy class• Alternatives?

• Premium economy redemptions are ~80% the cost of business• Implications?

Commentary SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

8

Page 9: Top tips for redeeming air miles

WHAT ABOUT UPGRADING REVENUE FARES?SQ only allows upgrades on its highest fare economy tickets, making mileage upgrades unrealistic on

holiday fares

Zone (One-way, before 15% discount)

Upgrade Y to PY

Upgrade Y to J

Upgrade PY to J

Zone 4: South China, Hong Kong & Taiwan 9 17.5 12

Zone 5: North China (Beijing & Shanghai) 14 27.5 18

Zone 6: South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Maldives & Bangladesh) 14 27.5 18

Zone 7: Japan & South Korea 15 30 20Zone 9:  Australia (ex Perth &

Darwin) & NZ 22.5 45 30

Zone 10: Africa, ME and Turkey 18 35 25Zone 11: Europe 32.5 65 45

Zone 12: USA (West Coast) 32.5 65 45Zone 13: USA (East Coast) 34 67.5 47

Zone 14: South America (Sao Paulo) 35 69.5 50

• Upgrading Y to PY

• Upgrading PY to J

• Upgrading Y to J• No upgrading to business

class from economy when premium economy is available• A380• 77W

• Be sure that award space is availablebefore buying!• Same pool as regular

awards

Commentary SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

9

Page 10: Top tips for redeeming air miles

HOW LIKELY AM I TO GET SAVER SPACE?SQ offers Saver and Standard awards- saver awards cost less but standard awards have greater

availability

• Charts on left are research based on (A) time to departure, (B) route and (C) standard vs saver awards

• A= Available, W= Waitlist, N/A= not available

• Key observation• Business Class- book just

before departure or >180 days out

• First Class- book >180 days out

Commentary SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

10

Page 11: Top tips for redeeming air miles

I ’M WAITLISTED. NOW WHAT?There is no scientific way of knowing when (or if) a waitlist will clear as the process is entirely manual

Status with SQSeats available

Route

1 2Factors Affecting Chances of Krisflyer

Waitlist Clearance

Solitaire PPS

PPS

KF Elite Gold

KF Elite Silver

Someone who doesn’t deserve it

You

Cabin Class

Travel Period

Seats Request

ed

What if I need a confirmed seat?

• Aircraft type• Demand

(GRU example)

• Holiday period

• Economy• Busines

s• First

• 1 vs 2 passenger scenarios (break up or not?)

SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

11

Page 12: Top tips for redeeming air miles

W H E N S H O U L D I R E D E E M M Y M I L E S F O R S TA R A L L I A N C E AWA R D S ?Star Alliance partner tickets may make sense of (1) SQ doesn’t serve a destination,

(2) saver space is not available or (3) SQ surcharges are too high

Scenario 1: SQ doesn’t fly there

Scenario 2: SQ Saver space is not

available

Scenario 3: SQ surcharges are

ridiculously high

1 2 3

• SQ levies high surcharges on redemptions

• Redeem an award to the closest city then book separate ticket?

• Or redeem one award with Star Alliance partner?

• SQ saver awards are cheaper than Star Alliance partner awards but not always available.

• SQ standard awards are

almost 2X the price of saver

• Green= *A (Star Alliance) partner awards cheaper than SQ

• Red/Yellow= *A partner awards more expensive than SQ

• It makes more sense to redeem *A partner awards over SQ Standard awards

• There are limited situations where the premium of *A partner awards is <20% that of SQ Saver- can also consider if SQ saver can’t be found

Commentary

SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

12

Page 13: Top tips for redeeming air miles

W H AT O T H E R S W E E T S P O T S A R E O N T H E S TA R A L L I A N C E C H A RT ?USA domestic flights and Europe to Middle East are two of my favourite sweet spots

on the Krisflyer partner chart

• USA domestic flights – first class prices as business• SFO/LAX-EWR• One way (OW)

20,000 miles business class

• Europe - Middle East• OW 25,000 miles

business class• OW 35,000 miles

first class

• Upgrading Star Alliance partner tickets

Commentary

13

SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

Page 14: Top tips for redeeming air miles

IS IT WORTH IT TO PAY WITH MILES?Krisflyer a l lows you to use your mi les to offset the cost of revenue fares at 1 cent per Kr isflyer

mi le

• Paying with miles allows you to use your miles on revenue fare tickets

• Your miles are given a value of

1.02 cents each and used to offset the total cost

• SIN-JFK in Suites = 187,000 KF miles (saver), 382,500 KF miles (standard) + taxes

• SIN-JFK paid with miles = 1.8 million KF miles!

CommentarySQ

Redemptions

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

14

Page 15: Top tips for redeeming air miles

A R E T I G E R A I R /S C O O T VO U C H E R S W O RT H R E D E E M I N G F O R ?Krisflyer miles can be redeemed for vouchers on Tigerair and Scoot

at a value of about 0.95 cents each

KrisFlyer miles required for redemption

Value of voucher (SGD)

Implicit value of 1 KF mile

(in Singapore cents)

3,200 30 0.9375

5,300 50 0.9434

10,500 100 0.9524

• Scoot and Tigerair vouchers can be bought in denominations of S$30, S$50 and S$100 for 3,200, 53,00 and 10,500 KF miles

• This yields a value of ~0.95 cents per mile, below the minimum 2 cents we should be getting

Commentary

SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

15

Page 16: Top tips for redeeming air miles

IS KRISSHOP WORTH REDEEMING MILES FOR?Krisflyer allows you to redeem your miles on Krisshop for 0.8 cents each

• Every 125 KrisFlyer miles gives you approximately S$1 in spend on KrisShop.com, subject to a minimum usage of 3,000 KrisFlyer miles per transaction

• Low valuation- 0.8 cents per mile, below the 2 cents we should be getting

• Inflated Krisshop prices- Amazon is much cheaper

Commentary SQ Redemption

s

Partner Redemption

s

Cash + Miles

Scoot + Tiger

Krisshop

1

2

3

4

5

16

Page 17: Top tips for redeeming air miles

A N Y O T H E R F R E Q U E N T F LY E R P R O G R A M S I S H O U L D C O N S I D E R ?

If you want to stretch your dollar further, Asiamiles is a good alternative to Krisflyerthanks to its much more reasonable surcharges

• Most banks allow the conversion of points to Krisflyer or Asiamiles at the same ratio

• Asiamiles awards have lower surcharges than SQ

• Example: SIN-JFK in Business• SQ: 144,500 miles + S$980• CX: 145,000 miles + HKD

744

• Pitfalls• One way prices on CX

>50% of round trip• Waitlist

Commentary

17

Page 18: Top tips for redeeming air miles

Fly INTO high tax airports, fly OUT of

low tax airports

WHAT OTHER TIPS DO YOU HAVE FOR REDEMPTIONS?

Redemption tips

Starting journey outside of Singapore

can save on surcharges

1 2

• High tax airports• UK• Germany

• Low tax airports• Norway• Turkey• Finland• Sweden• Ireland• Spain

• UK Air Passenger Duty• GBP73 for long haul

economy• GBP 146 for long haul

premium cabin

• Hong Kong, Philippines and Brazil do not have fuel surcharges

• SIN-SFO via HKG- 136,000 miles + S$768

• HKG-SFO- 127,500 miles + HKD 799 (S$147)

Always compare to revenue prices!

3

• It may sometimes not make sense to redeem miles based on sales available

18

Page 19: Top tips for redeeming air miles

19

?QUESTIONS

19

Page 20: Top tips for redeeming air miles

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

20

Page 21: Top tips for redeeming air miles

Alliance Member Airlines (selected) Tiers Pros Cons

Star Alliance

• Singapore Airlines• Lufthansa• Thai Airways• United Airlines• Eva Air• 22 other airlines

• Gold• Silver

• Avianca Lifemiles• Solid benefits at

Gold level• Asian-airline heavy

• Very weak Silver benefits

• Weak Middle East and South America coverage

OneWorld

• Cathay Pacific• American Airlines• Japan Airlines• Malaysia Airlines• Qantas• 11 other airlines

• Emerald• Sapphire• Ruby

• 2nd tier elites (Sapphire) get lounge access

• Generally the most open with inter-carrier award redemption

• No Africa coverage• Smallest overall

alliance

SkyTeam

• Delta Airlines• KLM• Air France• Korean Air• 16 other airlines

• Elite• Elite Plus

• Not as many “prestige carriers”, mostly tier 2 and 3 airlines

• Most dysfunctional alliance- members block award space on each other

• No Oceania/South America coverage

AIRLINE ALLIANCESThe first step in selecting an airline is determining which alliance you want to be part of.

This in turn determines your accrual, benefits and award redemption possibilities

21

Page 22: Top tips for redeeming air miles

MISCELLANEOUS CHARTSThese are for general reference. Refer away.

22

Page 23: Top tips for redeeming air miles

23MISCELLANEOUS CHARTSThese are for general reference. Refer away.

Page 24: Top tips for redeeming air miles

24MISCELLANEOUS CHARTSThese are for general reference. Refer away.

Page 25: Top tips for redeeming air miles

25

THANK YOUfor attending “ T O P T I P S F O R R E D E E M I N G A I R M I L E S ”

CONGRATULATIONS!Simply by attending this session live you have EARNED TWO BONUS PRIZE ENTRIES

in the iPaymy Maldives Holiday Prize Promotion.

Want to increase your chances of winning?

See next page for details.

See full details, terms and conditions on the prize website. *To qualify for additional prize entries the email address registered for each activity must be the same.

Win a luxurious getaway here!

25

Page 26: Top tips for redeeming air miles

26

WIN A TRIP TO THE MALDIVES WITHINCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING!!EARN MORE HOLIDAY PRIZE ENTRIES THIS DECEMBER BY:

See full details, terms and conditions on the prize website. *To qualify for additional prize entries the email address registered for each activity must be the same.

EARN AN EXTRA ACTION REQUIRED WHERE TIMELINE

1 prize entry See the Maldives Holiday prize details &ENTER the PRIZE DRAW OFFICIALLY

Maldives Holiday Prize page

By 31 December 2016

5 prize entries Make a successful Rental Payment over $1,500 via www.iPaymy.com

www.iPaymy.com By 31 December 2016

26

Page 27: Top tips for redeeming air miles

27

EARN AIR MILES WITH iPaymy has built solutions to enable you to convert your expenses into rewards. One of the solutions is a platform that provides a suite of services for tenants, agents & landlords. Through this platform tenants can pay rent & other expenses in Singapore on their credit card to earn huge air miles.

• Pay rental expenses in Singapore using iPaymy.com in “My Properties” • Make “Other Payments” including:

• Education expenses - school fees, transport fees & Extra Curricula Activities (ECA)• Condo Management Fees - Rental Security & Good Faith Rental Deposits• Trade Services - air con servicing, plumber, handyman services• Supplier payments – ideal for a variety of other supplier payments.

Other helpful services:• “My Alerts” - set reminders to keep you organised (never forget air conditioner

servicing again!)• “My Documents” - protect your rental deposit with transparent storage of important

documents & images.

Additional information:• iPaymy.com charges a 2.6% software licensing fee on payments made by credit cards. • Please allow 5 business days for payment to be processed. Refer to our FAQs for more

details.

27

Page 28: Top tips for redeeming air miles

28

TOP TIPS FOR REDEEMING AIR MILESA SPECIAL PRESENTATION

8 DEC 2016

© The Milelion, All Rights Reserved. No portion of the content herein may be used or reproduced without the prior written consent of The Milelionwww.milelion.com | [email protected] | Slide design by June Fong