Amex Membership Rewards Adds Qantas — Book Short-Haul Flights for 8,000 Miles One-Way
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INSIDER SECRET: Qantas is part of the oneworld alliance, so you can use Qantas miles to book award flights with Cathay Pacific, British Airways, American Airlines and others.
Today, Amex Membership Rewards quietly added Qantas as their 22nd transfer partner. It’s never bad news when a program adds a transfer partner and there are a few sweet spots with Qantas that can be worth booking.
Let’s take a look at a few of them.
Amex Membership Rewards Points Now Transfer to Qantas
Amex Membership Rewards points transfer to Qantas at a 1:1 ratio in 500-point increments. Qantas operates a distance-based award chart so the price fluctuates with the distance of the trip.
This award chart covers flights with Qantas and these partners:
- Airnorth
- Air Vanuatu
- American Airlines
- Fiji Airways
- Emirates
- Jetstar
- QantasLink
And this award chart applies to these partner airlines:
- Aer Lingus (only through June 30, 2019)
- Air Niugini
- Alaska Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- China Eastern
- Dragonair
- El Al
- Finnair
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- Jet Airways
- LAN
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Jordanian
- S7 Airlines
- SriLankan Airlines
- TAM
There is also a separate chart for Jetstar awards (Qantas’ low-cost airline) when the trip is only on Jetstar planes. To figure out the price of your trip, you can easily calculate the distance using the Great Circle Mapper. If you want more Qantas miles, you can also transfer points to Qantas from Citi ThankYou, Capital One and Marriott.
Qantas miles can be a solid choice for booking short-haul American Airlines flights. You’ll only pay 8,000 miles for one-way flights of 600 miles or less. This can be great for short flights to the Caribbean or Mexico as these are often in different zones with other programs and can cost more. But keep in mind that you can book domestic one-way flights under 650 miles for only 7,500 British Airways Avios points.
You can also use Qantas miles to book flights to Fiji from Los Angeles on Fiji Airways for 35,000 miles one-way in economy or 72,000 miles one-way in business class. Or if you wanted to fly on Qantas first class, Qantas miles are a good option because they make award seats available for booking 353 days in advance, so you can book your flight before Qantas’ partners have a shot at the seats.
Be aware that Qantas only allows you to book award flights for family members, although family members include cousins, in-laws, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces.
You can stock up on Amex points with these cards:
| Card | Welcome bonus & minimum spending requirements |
|---|---|
| The Business Platinum Card® from American Express | Earn 85,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases within your first three months of Card Membership. Terms Apply. |
| American Express®️ Green Card | Earn 30,000 Amex Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in your first three months of account opening. Terms Apply. |
| The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express | No welcome bonus |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | 75,000 Amex Membership Rewards® points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first six months of opening your account. Terms Apply. |
| American Express® Gold Card | 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards® points after spending $4,000 in purchases in the first six months of account opening. Terms Apply. |
| American Express® Business Gold Card | Earn 70,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer ends 4/7/21. Terms Apply. |
| Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express | 15,000 Amex Membership Rewards® points after spending $1,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening your account. Terms Apply. |
| Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express | 10,000 Amex Membership Rewards® points after spending $1,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening your account. Terms Apply. |
For the latest tips and tricks on traveling big without spending a fortune, please subscribe to the Million Mile Secrets daily email newsletter. Earn 75,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Earn 10x points on eligible purchases on your new Card at U.S. Gas Stations and U.S. Supermarkets, on up to $15,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of Card Membership. That’s an additional 9 points on top of the 1 point you earn for these purchases. Enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member and Additional Centurion Cards only. Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel. Starting January 1, 2021, earn 5X points on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year. 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com. Enjoy complimentary access to the Global Lounge Collection, the only credit card airport lounge access program that includes proprietary lounge locations around the world. Receive complimentary benefits through American Express Travel with an average total value of $550 with Fine Hotels & Resorts® program at over 1,100 properties. Learn More. Get up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue on your Platinum Card®. That’s up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required. $550 annual fee. Terms Apply. Intro APR on purchases N/A Regular APR See Pay Over Time APR Annual Fee $550 Balance Transfer Fee N/A MORE INFOThe Platinum Card® from American Express
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