I just applied for a NAB Rewards Platinum credit card two weeks ago. They had a special offer going on last month where you can earn 80,000 NAB REWARDS BONUS POINTS after spending $2500 within the first 90 days of account opening. Before you start talking to me about annual fee, the card also comes with a $0 annual fee for the first year.
Technically, NAB is giving you 80,000 points for FREE. That equates to 40,000 Velocity miles or 26,666 Asia miles. So I was wondering where could I go after I have spent up to the required amount and given 80,000 bonus points.
I could go to Hong Kong. Just a quick brief check on Asia Miles website and with just 25,000 Asia miles, I could redeem it for a one way ticket to Hong Kong on certain dates. However, if you intend to use Asia Miles on Cathay’s codeshare partners as well as Oneworld partners, you can’t go very far.
I don’t think I want to go to HongKong or convert to Asia Miles. Velocity miles is more flexible than Asia Miles because you can leverage on Virgin’s extensive network in Australia and beyond. Based on the table shown on Virgin’s reward redemption website, one can travel on a return economy within a 2400mile (3862km) radius of say Melbourne. That’s anywhere in Australia and New Zealand. For 4600miles more ($168 to buy from Virgin), you can get a return trip to Bali. It is also enough for a one-way economy to Singapore on Singapore Airlines though.
In short, I have done my homework. It makes no sense for me to convert my points to Asia miles unless I wish to visit Hong Kong – one way. I would also not waste it on a Bali trip because you can usually grab cheap tickets to Bali during sale season. I would recommend using it to fly to Fiji or Auckland for holiday. But that’s me.