This is about being keen2travel as an envelope across Australia

Well not across Australia, a little hop from Cairns, Queensland to Sydney, New South Wales using our beloved national postal service Australia Post.

I received the  letter as returned only a few days ago. Take a look at the postmarks...!!

Postmarked as sent 01 AUGUST 2012 postmarked as returned 23 FEBRUARY 2016 

- That's over 1,200 days to NOT deliver. 

+Australia Post truly delivering a service that takes so long you do forget 

#australiaconnected 

This seems to be one of my favorite miles collecting programs as they always are throwing deals around that add up......!!

More importantly I needed to top up the account after a little bit of miles usage.

Just booked the award components of a trip to Vancouver BC with 4 days on the ground

Tokyo - Los Angeles : ANA in first class on a  B777

Los Angeles - Vancouver : Air Canada in business on a A320 

Vancouver - Tokyo : ANA in business on a B787

Tokyo - Sydney : ANA in business on a B787

There most recent deal being transferring miles from one account to another at a rate of US$15 per 1,000 transferred, the receiver gets 2,000 - a bonus of 100%. Not to shabby given the USD - AUD exchange is crap at the moment. This is putting it at just above AUD$20 per 1,000, this takes into account what I purchased the original 1,000 for.

I also did a test of 3 different credit cards to see the value of the conversion + fees.

Transferring 10,000 miles per card  @ US$150.

The cards:

NAB (National Australia Bank) American Express - A$214.32

28 Degrees MasterCard - A$208.33

American Express - A$218.67

Once all cards have loaded the transaction and fees (if charged) I will update this page. As you may be aware when a transaction hits your account some institutions show a variation from the charge date to the settlement date. So far this has happened with 28 Degrees (to my benefit) this time. 

This is how the 3 cards converted US$150 including all fees. They all settled by 26 February 2016

  

Frequent flyer Points (Miles) 

A deal to be had

Being a new comer to the world of Frequent flyer Points or Miles as they are known in other parts of the world, here is my first jump in the deep end and see what happens when you buy into a deal that you read about online. 

I have been reading many blogs and websites relating to building a bank of miles either by earning them through multiple avenues or buying them when a deal is on offer.

Yes a deal came around where I could buy bundles of 1000 for a price and the offer was get 2 for 1. So I did, I purchased 50,000 and got 100,000 credited to my account. Still cautious as to the thought that I have just paid for frequent flyer points (miles) from the national airline and flag carrier of Colombia : Avianca. A Star Alliance member at least when you know nothing about the airline itself.

Yes I have trialled the use of these lovely miles and they do work. I purchased an award ticket from Singapore to Shanghai to Sydney in business class and it cost a little over A$800. The first leg was with Singapore Airlines and the second leg with Air China.  It's not just the business class seats that converts into a flat bed and french champagne, It's the priority treatment at the airport, It's the lounge access in the terminal before you even get on the airplane.

So when the offer pops up again I'm in for every miles or Point I can get...

If you decide to have a go please let me know how it went for you.

Cheers and happy traveling at the pointy end...