I am one of the many people who was able to snag some Brex points during their 20% transfer bonus. As a result, I am now on my way to visit Iceland!
The chase points to dollars is a post about how I am spending my 215,000 Brex Points during their 20% transfer bonus.
How I’m Putting My 215,000 Brex Points to Good Use During Their 20% Transfer Bonus
on July 28, 2021 by Gary Leff
Brex is providing a 20% bonus on points transfers to various mileage programs through August 8, 2021.
We’ve teamed up with some of your favorite travel reward programs to make it even simpler to convert every charge into an opportunity to see the globe.
This month, every point you redeem with certain airlines will earn you 20% extra miles. As a result, 1,000 points now equal 1,200 miles / points.
The incentive is given in conjunction with the Aeromexico, Flying Blue, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, and Avianca LifeMiles transfers. It’s given out within a week of the transfer posting for Cathay Pacific Asia Miles transfers.
Brex points may be redeemed for:
- Aeromexico and Air France KLM are members of the SkyTeam alliance.
- Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Singapore Airlines
- Cathay Pacific and Qantas are members of the oneworld alliance.
- Emirates Skywards and JetBlue are non-alliance airlines.
I have approximately 215,000 Brex points thanks to the 110,000 point initial bonus offer that ran a few months ago, the 100,000 point Paypal deal, and fulfilling the Brex card’s minimum purchase requirement.
There is no such thing as a “obvious location” to transfer miles. Normally, I avoid transferring points out of a transferable program until absolutely necessary. The option’s value is too high. However, I don’t have complete faith in Brex as a point storage option, particularly because I’m not regularly using the account.
So, in order to determine what to do with my points, I’m going through a process of brainstorming ideas. You may exchange your points for gift cards, travel (at 1 cent per point), cryptocurrency (at a lesser value), or mileage.
Here’s how I feel about each of the partners:
- Don’t be misled by anybody touting Aeromexico’s round-the-world rewards; I’m not aware of anyone who has successfully redeemed a premium cabin round-the-world via this program. Their award costs are often more than those of the other SkyTeam programs to which you may move, and whatever value you get here is negated by interacting with their contact centers.
- Air France KLM: For clients located in the United States, this is arguably the finest SkyTeam package. Their prizes are often (and much) less costly than Delta’s. They do impose fuel surcharges, and their phone customer service is terrible, but the major catch is that your miles expire after 24 months if you don’t fly or use one of their co-branded credit cards (or have elite status with them). I already had a stockpile of Flying Blue miles from putting Chase points in for a trip I had to postpone before the pandemic.
- Singapore Airlines: These aren’t cheap awards, but they’re your best bet for premium cabin availability on Singapore Airlines flights, because long-haul business and first class aren’t usually available to partners. You may also use gasoline surcharges to redeem Star Alliance rewards. However, since miles expire after three years, it is not a long-term store of wealth (not 3 years of inactivity). More or less, it’s utilize them or lose them.
- Avianca: They have an excellent Star Alliance reward scheme, and throwaway portions may help you save money on your redemptions. They often offer miles at a low price. Customer service isn’t great, and you won’t get them to work with alliance partners if flights are canceled, so you’re stuck with whatever award space is available right now. (Rather of making English phone calls, you may communicate with them through e-mail or by speaking Spanish.) Without accrual, points expire after 12 months, however transfers into an account keep miles current.
- Cathay Pacific: costly distance-based rewards and fuel surcharges, however mileage expiry may be prolonged, and I often redeem miles on oneworld carriers, thus this is probably the most attractive to me.
- Qantas: While there are a few niche applications for points, this is a program that has only become worse with time. In most instances, their long-haul premium cabin rewards are too costly to be practical. (They do, however, have a beneficial relationship with Emirates.)
- Emirates: Expensive awards, fuel surcharges, yet you’ll be able to redeem Emirates first class rewards and JetBlue flights this way. Points expire three years after you earn them, and you can’t extend them, so this isn’t a good way to save money.
- JetBlue: a low-value program with virtually no value as a partner (and they partner with everyone), the only incentive to transfer is to top up your TrueBlue account when you already have most of the points you need.
First Class on Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific and Avianca are the only feasible transfer partners I can think of without particular redemptions in mind. Amex, Citibank, and Capital One all transfer to both of these partners, making it simple to add points to one of them.
I originally planned to transfer my Cathay Pacific Asia Miles to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles since I redeem with oneworld more than Star and have a good LifeMiles balance (they sell miles cheaply all the time). This alternative, however, does not inspire me.
Still, with this 20% extra offer, I’m inclined to transfer the points now because I’m pretty confident where I should move them anyhow.
What would you do if you had 215,000 Brex points to spend?