Earlier today I wrote about the 25% bonus for transferring points from Citi to Qantas.
You can also transfer Marriott points to Qantas at a 60K:25K ratio.
Qantas partners with El Al and is a great way to book award travel to Israel as they don’t charge any fuel surcharges for travel on El Al.
As you can see from this miles expiration post, Qantas points won’t expire as long as you earn or redeem 1 mile every 18 months.
To book with Qantas, just login on Qantas.com from a computer and select “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only.” Searching for JFK will include Newark in the results:
Newark to Tel Aviv for 78K Qantas points+$9.60:
You can get 1,250 Qantas Points for every 1,000 Citi ThankYou points that you transfer by 4/13.
With this promo that means a transfer of:
- 34K Citi ThankYou points will become 42.5K Qantas points, which is more than enough than the 42K Qantas points needed for one-way coach award ticket between NYC and Tel Aviv.
- 51K Citi ThankYou points will become 63.75K Qantas points, which is more than enough than the 63K Qantas points needed for one-way premium economy award ticket between NYC and Tel Aviv.
- 63K Citi ThankYou points will become 78.75K Qantas points, which is more than enough than the 78K Qantas points needed for one-way business award ticket between NYC and Tel Aviv.
How does Qantas point requirements compare to El Al?
El Al Matmid points are hard to compare, so for simplicity sake, I’ll multiply their requirements by 50 to convert it into a number that is easily comparable with regular airline miles. You can transfer 50 AMEX points into 1 El Al point, so that ratio will make sense for a comparison.
Of course that doesn’t account for fuel surcharges that El Al adds onto their flights. Those are estimated in the chart below, though won’t always be exact.
The El Al rates in the chart below are for Executive members. A transfer of just 5,000 AMEX points from the US AMEX Membership Rewards program to El Al’s Matmid program will earn El Al executive status for a year. Points transfer instantly from AMEX to El Al, though it takes about a day after the transfer for the executive status to take effect on your El Al Matmid account.
El Al will devalue Matmid yet again on 4/1/19, so I’ve included rates under the current program and the future program rates starting 4/1/19.
The chart below includes rates for round-trip travel, though both programs allow for one-way travel at half of the round-trip rate.
Not all routes offer a premium economy option, so those have been excluded from the chart below.
Prices vary by travel season with Matmid points, so cities are broken down by season.
It’s worth noting that Miami-Tel Aviv flights don’t show up on Qantas site for some reason, so you would need to call Qantas to book that route.
- The 1st column is the amount of Citi points you’ll need to transfer for a round-trip award when transferring with a 25% bonus.
- The 2nd column is the amount of Qantas points you’ll need for a round-trip award.
- The 3rd column is the amount of Matmid points you’ll need before 4/1 for a round-trip award, multiplied by 50 in order to show the number of AMEX points you would need to transfer for the award.
- The 4th column is the amount of Matmid points you’ll need as of 4/1 for a round-trip award, multiplied by 50 in order to show the number of AMEX points you would need to transfer for the award.
Flying between Tel Aviv- | Citi points with 25% transfer bonus to Qantas for a round-trip.................... | Qantas points for a round-trip................ | Current El Al points for a round-trip for Executives, multiplied by 50............................ | Future El Al points for a round-trip for Executives, multiplied by 50............................ |
---|---|---|---|---|
NYC winter | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 70K+$350 Economy 110K+$350 Premium 225K+$350 Business | 88K+$400 Economy 140K+$400 Premium 255K+$450 Business |
NYC summer | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 80K+$350 Economy 130K+$350 Premium 225K+$350 Business | 104K+$400 Economy 180K+$400 Premium 255K+$450 Business |
Boston winter | 67.2K Economy 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 156K Business | 70K+$350 Economy 200K+$350 Business | 64K+$400 Economy 212.5K+$450 Business |
Boston summer | 67.2K Economy 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 156K Business | 80K+$350 Economy 200K+$350 Business | 104K+$400 Economy 212.5K+$450 Business |
Toronto winter | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 70K+$170 Economy 105K+$170 Premium 200K+$170 Business | 88K+$270 Economy 140K+$270 Premium 178.5K+$320 Business |
Toronto summer | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 80K+$170 Economy 125K+$170 Premium 200K+$170 Business | 104K+$270 Economy 180K+$270 Premium 178.5K+$320 Business |
Miami winter | 80K Economy 120K Premium 147.2K Business | 100K Economy 150K Premium 184K Business | 80K+$350 Economy 142.5K+$350 Premium 260K+$350 Business | 88K+$400 Economy 184K+$400 Premium 297.5K+$450 Business |
Miami summer | 80K Economy 120K Premium 147.2K Business | 100K Economy 150K Premium 184K Business | 95K+$350 Economy 172.5K+$350 Premium 260K+$350 Business | 104K+$400 Economy 200K+$350 Premium 297.5K+$450 Business |
Los Angeles winter | 89.6K Economy 134.4K Premium 166.4K Business | 112K Economy 168K Premium 208K Business | 90K+$350 Economy 160K+$350 Premium 275K+$350 Business | 112K+$400 Economy 184K+$400 Premium 297.5K+$550 Business |
Los Angeles summer | 89.6K Economy 134.4K Premium 166.4K Business | 112K Economy 168K Premium 208K Business | 100K+$350 Economy 180K+$350 Premium 275K+$350 Business | 128K+$400 Economy 220K+$400 Premium 297.5K+$550 Business |
London winter | 32K Economy 48K Premium 60.8K Business | 40K Economy 60K Premium 76K Business | 35K+$255 Economy 50K+$255 Premium 95K+$255 Business | 32K+$300 Economy 56K+$300 Premium 93.5K+$300 Business |
London summer | 32K Economy 48K Premium 60.8K Business | 40K Economy 60K Premium 76K Business | 40K+$255 Economy 50K+$255 Premium 95K+$255 Business | 40K+$300 Economy 72K+$300 Premium 93.5K+$300 Business |
Johannesburg winter | 56K Economy 104K Business | 70K Economy 130K Business | 70K+$320 Economy 150K+$320 Business | 64K+$370 Economy 178.5K+$370 Business |
Johannesburg summer | 56K Economy 104K Business | 70K Economy 130K Business | 70K+$320 Economy 150K+$320 Business | 80K+$370 Economy 178.5K+$370 Business |
Hong Kong winter | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 90K+$160 Economy 105K+$160 Premium 230K+$160 Business | 88K+$210 Economy 140K+$210 Premium 212.5K+$210 Business |
Hong Kong summer | 67.2K Economy 100.8K Premium 124.8K Business | 84K Economy 126K Premium 156K Business | 90K+$160 Economy 120K+$160 Premium 230K+$160 Business | 80K+$210 Economy 180K+$210 Premium 212.5K+$210 Business |
Bangkok winter | 56K Economy 104K Business | 70K Economy 130K Business | 90K+$180 Economy 200K+$180 Business | 88K+$230 Economy 212.5K+$230 Business |
Bangkok summer | 56K Economy 104K Business | 70K Economy 130K Business | 90K+$180 Economy 200K+$180 Business | 80K+$230 Economy 212.5K+$230 Business |
Will you transfer Citi points to Qantas with a 25% transfer bonus?
Hmm, I got a Citi signup bonus recently so have about 65k TYP, with the idea of one day using for just this type of redemption. Probably makes sense to take advantage of this 25% offer, right? Rather than holding the TYP for another usage…
There’s always the risk of a devaluation if you wait too long.
When do you think you might want to redeem for a trip on El Al?
Probably not this year, good chance in 2020.
Why am I having such a hard time after logging in to my account on qantas mobile finding the option for classic rewards. And even then ewr/jfk tlv route not coming up
Try from a computer.
Qantas on the App and on the Mobile site doesn’t work well booking mileage. That’s been my experience for a while.
After logging in from a mobile device click on the account logo (top right corner) in the drop down menu there is an option “make a reward booking”
I tried doing that but it doesn’t recognize TLV
Wonder if Capital Once will make transfer promotions too
What’s the transfer time from Citi to Qantas?
Usually by me its 1-2 days (depending when in the day you send it) although the first time I transferred it took 14 days
my transfer went in a couple days. 3 if i recall correctly
I went on the Quantas website, it states you need to pay membership to join, us this accurate?
No
Do they work with Award space or as long that they have an open sit it’s good?
Thanks
Award space that elal offers tgen
Dan how about the Capital one spark deal that was 300k points? What is the ratio to Qantas and how many tickets will that get me from nyc to tlv in economy? The big question is once I hit the 300k points is it still worth it to use the spark or go back to chase freedom unlimited and book Elal tickets via ultimate rewards? Need 4 tickets
Economy or business?
I wrote economy
Is it worth to use Marriott points for elal business?
thanks for the charts
I can not put in TLV as a destination
It comes up no airport found
Read the post’s instructions again.
How is El Als Biz class…. true lie flat?
depends on which aircraft. the dreamliner is
Do any points transfer into Citi ty points?
i paid $27.90 taxes in business class from jfk-tlv
can you transfer any other points to Qatar?
What is the cancellation policy on Qantas?
What about zrh-tlv
is it my imagination or is TLV – YYZ actually getting cheaper in business class….
can i fly from tel aviv round trip
I transferred 58k points Citi to qantas on Friday – 58k points posted, but no bonus. Was told they have to look into it it might take up to 5 business days for them to get back to me.. any ideas?
i am trying to join the quantas frequent flyer program. The system is making issues. Is there any other way that i can join the program?
does it work from London to TLv?
My 16 yo son will be attending a program in Israel this summer. The group flight is via ElAl from NYC and I can get a $1400 credit on the program if he flies on his own. There is availability at 42k Qantas points for the outbound flight which is the same flight that the rest of the group is taking. Qantas seems to define children as 2-12, so could he fly without being an unaccompanied minor? Anything else to be aware of before transferring the Citi points to Qantas?
Is it possible to book el al First class through Qantas?