DansDeals will receive compensation if you are approved for a credit card via a link in this post. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers, visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Update: Thanks to the 20% and 44% bonuses for AMEX transfers to Qantas, I’ve updated the comparison chart below to include points required based on no bonus, a 20% bonus, and a 44% bonus. If you are targeted, you may even get another 15-30% bonus!
Having problems linking your AMEX account to Qantas? If you have a 7 digit Qantas mileage number, try adding 000 before your mileage number to make it into a 10 digit mileage number.
Originally posted on 5/31:
“All about” posts take an in-depth look into various topics. See all of them here. Have a topic you want to read more about? Sound off in the comments!
Earlier today we broke the news about AMEX points instantly transferring to Qantas at a 1:1 ratio.
You’ll want to read that post for more information about what you need to do today in order to get targeted for even more points on future transfers!
This new transfer option is great news for travel to Israel as Qantas has a fantastic award chart for travel on El Al, even if you don’t take advantage of any transfer bonuses.
For a long time, the best way to book award travel on El Al was with American miles. That relationship crumbled 4 years ago during the USAirways merger.
Luckily, Qantas added the ability to redeem points on their website for El Al flights last year.
That’s good because El Al does have decent award availability to Israel, but their Matmid frequent flyer program is expensive to use.
Personally I start searching for El Al award space on their own website, which has a calendar view. You will need a Matmid account in order to search for award space.
You can also search for El Al award space using Expert Flyer.
When you find award space in your desired cabin you can often save points and money by booking with Qantas.
To book with Qantas, just login on Qantas.com and select “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only.”
You can use this link to search for award flights.
Searching for JFK will include Newark in the results:
Best of all though, Qantas doesn’t charge any fuel surcharges on El Al flights:
Here is the Qantas award chart:
Sample destinations to/from Tel Aviv:
- Zone 1: Larnaca
- Zone 2: Athens, Sofia
- Zone 3: London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Venice, Warsaw, Zurich
- Zone 4: Mumbai
- Zone 5: Bangkok, Beijing, Johannesburg
- Zone 6: Boston, Hong Kong, JFK, Newark, Toronto, Tokyo
- Zone 7: Chicago, Miami
- Zone 8: Los Angeles, San Francisco
- 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.
- El Al awards have fuel surcharges, so those and taxes are listed in the chart below. Qantas awards only have government taxes and are not listed in the chart below.
- 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 can take up to a day after the transfer for the executive status to take effect on your El Al Matmid account.
- Not all routes offer a premium economy option, so those have been excluded from the chart below.
- Qantas points will never expire as long as you have any account activity every 18 months. El Al points expire after 36 months and they can’t be extended with activity.
- Qantas.com isn’t able to book flights between Miami and Tel Aviv, you’ll need to call for these or use Matmid points for those.
- Qantas allows you to book infant lap children for just the minimal cost of the taxes, while most other airlines charge 10% of the cost of a ticket.
- Note that Qantas.com won’t let you search for same day flights, though you may have better luck over the phone. Otherwise you’ll want to use Matmid points for same day flights.
- You can change a Qantas award for a fee of 5K points or cancel a Qantas award for a fee of 6K points. El Al charges between $60-$150 for award changes and cancellations.
- Qantas only allows you to book award travel for eligible family members. You can add other people as an additional user on your AMEX card and transfer points to their Qantas account.
- If you stack a bank transfer bonus to Qantas or a targeted Qantas transfer offer you can save even more. Last time, you were able to stack Citi’s 25% bonus together with Qantas 40% repeat transfer bonus! That means significant savings off of the numbers in the chart below.
- You will need to round-up to their nearest 500 points for AMEX transfers to Qantas.
- The chart below includes rates for round-trip travel, though both programs allow for one-way travel at half of the round-trip rate.
| Flying between Tel Aviv and: | AMEX/Citi points transferred to Qantas at a 1:1 ratio for a round-trip on El Al:::::::::::::::::::::::: | AMEX points transferred to Qantas with a 20% bonus for a round-trip on El Al::::::::::::::::::::: | AMEX points transferred to Qantas with a 44% bonus for a round-trip on El Al::::::::::::::::::::: | AMEX points transferred to El Al points for a round-trip for Executives on El Al, with fuel surcharges::::::::::::::: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYC winter | 84K Economy+$57 126K Premium+$57 156K Business+$57 | 70K Economy 105K Premium 130K Business | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 80K+$300 Economy 140K+$200 Premium 255K+$350 Business |
| NYC summer | 84K Economy+$57 126K Premium+$57 156K Business+$57 | 70K Economy 105K Premium 130K Business | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 88K+$350 Economy 180K+$200 Premium 255K+$350 Business |
| Boston winter | 84K Economy+$57 126K Premium+$57 156K Business+$57 | 70K Economy 105K Premium 130K Business | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 60K+$350 Economy 140K+$200 Premium 212.5K+$300 Business |
| Boston summer | 84K Economy+$57 126K Premium+$57 156K Business+$57 | 70K Economy 105K Premium 130K Business | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 88K+$300 Economy 180K+$200 Premium 212.5K+$300 Business |
| Chicago winter | 100K Economy+$57 150K Premium+$57 184K Business+$57 | 83,333 Economy 125K Premium 153,333 Business | 69,444 Economy 104,166 Premium 127,777 Business | 80K+$350 Economy 184K+$300 Premium 297.5K+$350 Business |
| Chicago summer | 100K Economy+$57 150K Premium+$57 184K Business+$57 | 83,333 Economy 125K Premium 153,333 Business | 69,444 Economy 104,166 Premium 127,777 Business | 88K+$350 Economy 200K+$300 Premium 297.5K+$350 Business |
| Toronto winter | 84K Economy+$73 126K Premium+$73 156K Business+$73 | 70K Economy 105K Premium 130K Business | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 80K+$270 Economy 140K+$270 Premium 178.5K+$320 Business |
| Toronto summer | 84K Economy+$73 126K Premium+$73 156K Business+$73 | 70K Economy 105K Premium 130K Business | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 88K+$270 Economy 140K+$170 Premium 178.5K+$320 Business |
| Miami winter | 100K Economy+$57 150K Premium+$57 184K Business+$57 | 83,333 Economy 125K Premium 153,333 Business | 69,444 Economy 104,166 Premium 127,777 Business | 80K+$350 Economy 184K+$300 Premium 297.5K+$350 Business |
| Miami summer | 100K Economy+$57 150K Premium+$57 184K Business+$57 | 83,333 Economy 125K Premium 153,333 Business | 69,444 Economy 104,166 Premium 127,777 Business | 88K+$350 Economy 200K+$300 Premium 297.5K+$350 Business |
| Los Angeles winter | 112K Economy+$57 168K Premium+$57 208K Business+$57 | 93,333 Economy 140K Premium 173,333 Business | 77,777 Economy 116,666 Premium 144,444 Business | 100K+$300 Economy 184K+$350 Premium 297.5K+$450 Business |
| Los Angeles summer | 112K Economy+$57 168K Premium+$57 208K Business+$57 | 93,333 Economy 140K Premium 173,333 Business | 77,777 Economy 116,666 Premium 144,444 Business | 112K+$350 Economy 220K+$300 Premium 297.5K+$450 Business |
| San Francisco winter | 112K Economy+$57 168K Premium+$57 208K Business+$57 | 93,333 Economy 140K Premium 173,333 Business | 77,777 Economy 116,666 Premium 144,444 Business | 100K+$300 Economy 184K+$350 Premium 297.5K+$450 Business |
| San Francisco summer | 112K Economy+$57 168K Premium+$57 208K Business+$57 | 93,333 Economy 140K Premium 173,333 Business | 77,777 Economy 116,666 Premium 144,444 Business | 112K+$350 Economy 200K+$300 Premium 297.5K+$450 Business |
| London winter | 40K Economy+$191 60K Premium+$310 76K Business+$310 | 33,333 Economy 50K Premium 63,333 Business | 27,777 Economy 41,666 Premium 52,777 Business | 32K+$270 Economy 48K+$425 Premium 93.5K+$455 Business |
| London summer | 40K Economy+$191 60K Premium+$310 76K Business+$310 | 33,333 Economy 50K Premium 63,333 Business | 27,777 Economy 41,666 Premium 52,777 Business | 40K+$270 Economy 70K+$310 Premium 93.5K+$455 Business |
| Johannesburg winter | 70K Economy+$68 130K Business+$68 | 58,333 Economy 108,333 Business | 48,611 Economy 90,277 Business | 60K+$260 Economy 178.5K+$160 Business |
| Johannesburg summer | 70K Economy+$68 130K Business+$68 | 58,333 Economy 108,333 Business | 48,611 Economy 90,277 Business | 70K+$260 Economy 178.5K+$160 Business |
| Hong Kong winter | 84K Economy+$77 126K Premium+$77 156K Business+$79 | 70K Economy 105K Premium 130K Business | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 88K+$210 Economy 140K+$210 Premium 212.5K+$210 Business |
| Hong Kong summer | 84K Economy+$77 126K Premium+$77 156K Business+$79 | 70K Economy 105K Premium 130K Business | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 70K+$330 Economy 180K+$180 Premium 212.5K+$330 Business |
| Bangkok winter | 70K Economy+$61 105K Premium+$61 130K Business+$61 | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 48,611 Economy 72,916 Premium 90,277 Business | 60K+$265 Economy 140K+$315 Premium 212.5K+$285 Business |
| Bangkok summer | 70K Economy+$61 105K Premium+$61 130K Business+$61 | 58,333 Economy 87.5K Premium 108,333 Business | 48,611 Economy 72,916 Premium 90,277 Business | 70K+$315 Economy 180K+$180 Premium 212.5K+$285 Business |
If you’re on a paid El Al flight you can also credit that flight to airlines like Alaska (starting 7/1) or Qantas to earn valuable points for your flight. Just give El Al your Alaska or Qantas mileage number.
Do you use El Al or Qantas points for travel to Israel?
- You can transfer AMEX points into Matmid points at a 50:1 ratio.
- You can transfer AMEX Or Citi points to Qantas at a 1:1 ratio, Barclays points at a 1.4:1 ratio, Capital One points at a 2:1.5 ratio, or Marriott points to Qantas at a 60K:25K ratio.
AMEX cards with transferable Membership Rewards points to El Al or Qantas include:
Barclays doesn’t currently offer any cards to new customers with transferable points. If you have a discontinued Arrival Premier card you can transfer points.
Capital One cards with transferable points to Qantas include:
Citi cards with transferable points to Qantas include:
- Citi Premier offering 50,000 points for spending $4,000 in 3 months, 3 points per dollar on travel and gas, and 2 points per dollar on dining and entertainment. $95 annual fee waived for the first year.
- Citi Prestige offering 50,000 points for spending $4,000 in 3 months, 5 points per dollar on airfare and dining, and 3 points per dollar on hotels. $495 annual fee.
Marriott cards with transferable points to Qantas include:
- Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Consumer Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express®Card
- All 3 of these cards offer 75K points, elite status, and free annual nights at Marriott hotels.
Will you transfer points to Qantas?
Basically same value as united points
Nope, El Al has much better availability in all classes.
But amount of points to be used up are about the same.
United business is better then elal business though.
LY 787 hard product is the same as UA
On which plane?
The 777 is a wider plane than the 787 and I’d imagine the seats/aisles would have to be wider as well.
But yes, they are very similar business class cabins.
Is it possible to book a flight on Fiji airways with Qantas points?
Not with a Jedi
What is a Jedi?
can you transfer miles/points from barclays arrival plus to Qantas 1:1 ratio?
No, only from the discontinued Arrival Premier card.
What about adding an infant using Qantas points to book an El Al. How would that work? Would I book with Qantas or El Al? Thanks Dan.
You should be able to do that through Qantas and it may even be free!
If you try please let us know.
free? never heard of that for international travel
A few airlines do that on award tickets: https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=12574.msg161584#msg161584
Try it out and let us know.
I booked a flight on United through Aegean to Israel, they only charged me the taxes.
I have booked numerous award lap infant tickets with Qantas . Only had to pay the taxes.
On a one-world redemption you can even cancel out the adult ticket after the booking and leave the infant e-ticket valid (without a reservation) and re-book the adult using aa miles.
Given the number of new Elal bookings with Qantas I’m sure it will be devalued soon.
Awesome, do you book the El Al awards online and then call Qantas for the infant ticket afterward?
How much was the tax?
Don’t see why this will be devalued just because of the addition of AMEX.
I have had no trouble booking the infant online as well (although calling works just fine…)
The tricky part is to get a good rep who knows how to cancel the reservation while keeping the infant ticket number in place.
For Example you can book a ticket from SYD to LAX with on AA with Qantas points for an adult and an infant, call Qantas to cancel out the reservation while leaving the infant ticket in place [can only be accomplished with huca] and rebook the adult with AA miles. When you get to the check-in, as the infant does not have a reservation [only an E-Ticket], and is no longer linked to the adult booking you will need to provide the actual ticket number in order to receive a boarding pass.
In regard to the devaluation I have written before that I think its only a matter of time until Qantas adds fuel surcharges to elal awards
I booked an elal flight with Qantas online for my wife and baby and I had to pay with cash for the baby’s ticket.
How much? Did you try calling to book?
I don’t remember how much it was, it was a year ago, if you really want to know, I could dig it up from my email archive, and show you privately. As for why I didn’t call, it was urgent, and I didn’t have time, we literally left for the airport after I booked the ticket.
Ok, I found it. I paid $62 for the baby’s ticket.
That sounds like they only charged you the taxes
Added a infant free of charge tlv-ewr just $16.20 taxes
Added the infant online when I booked my flight
Dan , assuming you have the option to book to tlv united busniess vs elal busniess which one would you go with ?
All else being equal, I prefer El Al from the west coast over United. Both have excellent business class seats, as long as you are not stuck in United’s 787 with the 6 across seats. However, United arrives in Tel Aviv late in the evening, and El Al arrives very early in the afternoon, giving you another half day to enjoy your vacation. Moreover, El Al got rid of their terrible 777-200 with the wedgie seats from LAX, while United still occasionally uses the sub-par 787 from SFO.
Dan I’m trying to sign up for a Matmid account to be able to check availability, but I keep getting an error message that your embedded campaign code is invalid. When I try with no campaign code, they’re charging me $25 to sign up for an account. Please advise.
Sign up using the American website (I think elal.com vs elal.co.il)
didn’t the El Al fuel charges go up in business to New York City to 550?
I checked the fuel surcharges for all of these flights today.
Anyone know why flight from Athens to NY on Qantas came with a $300 surchage?
El Al flights are surcharge-free, not all partner flights.
i was charged 29.60 for JFK-TLV on QF
For flights from LHR to TLV are there still no surcharges?
No fuel surcharges for any El Al flights.
So this is a way to avoid the hefty London fuel charges? Or do they charge separate taxes/surcharges for that?
( Wouldn’t usually be asking such trivial questions but I can’t price out the flights on Qantas website without having the points in the account :/ )
its goverment taxes not fuel surcharges
Which business card with no forex fees is best for general spending in Israel?
I use the platinum business. If you are getting a card just for going to Israel then you might want to get the blue for business card, unless you want specific benefits like the $300 travel credit (but if that is the only reason, then don’t get it. The platinum charges nearly $600 a year! And if you are not taking advantage of most of the benefits,its not worth it)
Chase Ink Unlimited has an 80K bonus, no foreign charge.
preffered
is it possible to book with qantas business with points upgrade?
when i try to make a search from JFK to TLV using money it doest give me the option for TLV. only when i switch to points only.
Is there direct flight to Israel from jfk or. Ewr with quantas points flying with Elal? Tried searching today and wouldn’t work
I just booked Lap Infant with my El Al Tickets via qantas – You can add the Lap Infant with the initial search (No need to call to add) and only charged minimal tax.
Direct flight? It doesn’t seem to work for me when I check from ewr to tlv
As Dan said, “Searching for JFK will include Newark in the results:”
Where is the “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only.” on Qantas site?
Qantas doesn’t recognize Tel Aviv airport as an option when I am looking for flights.
How much is YQ for JFK-TLV JFK?
Is a OW half of that or, more?
@dan you wrote “Qantas points will never expire as long as you have any account activity every 18 months” , But does that include transferring points to Quantas? I read somewhere else that they do not consider transferring points account activity.
You can extend the life of Qantas’ points by buying points on their website (the call it a top off”). With the current favorable exchange rate, they are about 1.8 Cents per point which is excellent. Use your AmEx Platinum and get 5 points per $ spent, effectively lowering the price of a Qantas point to about 1.7 Cents. You end up paying around $1800 or less for a one way LAX TLV ticket in Biz. That’s an awesome price for El Al’s brand spanking new 797!
Is it still huca with Mia tlv
Hidden city hack using award points? I’m trying to book an Aeroplan award flight JFK-LIS-JFK which shows no avail; but when searching multi-city, results DO show avail on TAP air, but with stopovers in LHR (JFK-LIS-LHR, LHR-LIS-JFK) If I get off the plane in LIS (hidden city) on my outbound, will they cancel the award return making my LIS-JFK return dead?
Did you try calling? Tell them what you found and see if they can remove the -LHR segment. I believe it’s called a married segment and there may be ways to “divorce” it. I think @Dan has some experience with this.
can you do a all about post on amex cards kind of like you did for chase
i have booked elal awards on qantas on day of travel. for example checking qantas.com now it lets you book tonights elal flight, with matmid points you cant book online samr day
What about uses besides israel?? Any value? (Example using Qantas via bonus VS Asia Miles or Alaska from NYC-Hong Kong) or for domestic travel vs booking via BA.
Thx
What is the Qantas redemption cancelation? (Example BA allows for 24 hours b4 and loos eonly taxes etc) This is very important info
i got 5,700 points for round trip travel on basic econ paying under 1000 for a rt ticket, that is alot? do all people get that much im just curious if i should credit my flights in the future on elal to qantas?
how do they enforce the family booking only rule?is there anyway for them to know if i book for a 3rd party not related to me? i want to book for a friend who would pay me to book for him
how much would taxes be from ny to tlv in business? like a few dollars or so so thats how much you pay for a lap child?
if you fly from los angeles its alot more then using united 208k versus the 150 or 160k
Hmm, I had 600 points in my Qantas account. I looked today and now there are 25,000+
What’s pshat??
Dan, I booked a flight with Qantas, but the points is still available for another booking. How long does it usually take till it reflects the balance?
I booked Elal via qantas. I didn’t pay for the infant. Only $24 for taxes and fees.
Qantas only allows you to book award travel for eligible family members,
How strict are they about this ?
Hey Dan, thanks for all the well-researched info as usual.
If I were to book an award ticket (Economy) via Qantas, Could I upgrade to the premium economy via Elal? On flight, I recall being charged $100- $150 – Would that be possible online or via the call center of Elal, or is the booking locked to qantas?
The cheapest way to upgrade is on the actual flight. No reason you can’t do that.
I’m not positive how advance paid upgrades might work.
Qantas lowered the points requirement to just 75,600 points for economy round trip, 112,500 premium economy and 260,000 business
Zone 6 is now 37,800 each way economy but Prem Eco and Business is unchanged and will be increasing 9/18
will the increase for Zone 6 be 15% then? so 89,700? Or is that as-yet unknown?
90,000 business
Hi,
When I search for flights on Qantas from TLV to JFK, it shows me economy, which is available, and it shows me premium econom, which is not available. Does anyone know why it is not showing me business? Even if it is not available, shouldn’t it show it to me?