Redeem Qantas Points For El Al Coach, Premium Economy, And Business Without Fuel Surcharges; Comparison Of Matmid And Qantas Point Requirements

Never Miss Another Deal - Follow DansDeals on Facebook

In October, I wrote about the long and convoluted process to redeem Qantas points for travel on El Al between North America and Tel Aviv.

In January, Qantas added the ability to redeem for coach and business El Al tickets on Qantas.com

You can now also book premium economy travel on Qantas.com. 

El Al’s premium economy class is currently offered for sale on the Newark and Hong Kong to Tel Aviv routes on El Al’s new 787s. It will be offered on the JFK to Tel Aviv route starting in July and from San Francisco to Tel Aviv starting in November. It offers wider seats, extra legroom, and footrest, more recline, and upgraded food and wine, a bigger entertainment screen, and an amenity kit.

To book, just login on Qantas.com and select “Use points – Classic Flight Rewards only.” Searching for JFK will include Newark in the results:

There are no fuel surcharges for El Al awards booked with Qantas points:

Earning Qantas points:

As you can see from this post, you can only transfer Citi ThankYou points, Starpoints, or Marriott points to Qantas.

• Citi points transfer at a 1:1 ratio.
• 23,333 Starpoints transfer into 70K Marriot points, which transfers into 17.5K Qantas points via a regular mileage transfers
• 90K Starpoints transfer into 270K Marriot points, which transfers into 7 nights at a Marriott hotel and 85K Qantas points via a miles+nights transfer. Those 7 nights can be refunded back into 15K Starpoints, which would mean that 75K Starpoints would turn into 85K Qantas points. You can read all about the nuances of how to maximize that reward in this post.

Earn Starpoints on the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express.

You can also earn Starpoints on the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

Here is the Qantas award chart:

Sample El Al 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
• Zone 7: Miami
• Zone 8: Los Angeles, San Francisco

How does that stack up with El Al Matmid rates?

First, some caveats about the comparison:

1. El Al Matmid adds fuel surcharges that can add up to $150 each way. Qantas doesn’t charge any fuel surcharges for travel on El Al.
2. Qantas can’t book El Al first class awards, though El Al first class is headed the way of the Dodo.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Qantas points will never expire if you have activity every 18 months. El Al points expire after 36 months and they can’t be extended with activity.
6. El Al rates 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.

Sample comparison of El Al Matmid Executive point requirements vs Qantas points requirements:

North America:

• A one-way coach ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv is 700 Matmid points (35K AMEX) in the winter and 800 Matmid points (40K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 42K points year-round and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way premium economy ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv is 1,100 Matmid points (55K AMEX) in the winter and 1,300 Matmid points (65K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 63K points and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv is 2,250 Matmid points (112.5K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 78K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

• A one-way coach ticket from Boston or Toronto to Tel Aviv is 700 Matmid points (35K AMEX) in the winter and 800 Matmid points (40K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 42K points year-round and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from Boston or Toronto to Tel Aviv is 2K Matmid points (100K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 78K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

• A one-way coach ticket from Miami to Tel Aviv is 800 Matmid points (40K AMEX) in the winter and 950 Matmid points (47.5K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 50K points year-round and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from Miami to Miami is 2,600 Matmid points (130K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 92K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

• A one-way coach ticket from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv is 900 Matmid points (45K AMEX) in the winter and 1,000 Matmid points (50K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 56K points year-round and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv is 2,750 Matmid points (137.5K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 104K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

• A one-way coach ticket from San Francisco to Tel Aviv is 1,100 Matmid points (55K AMEX) in the winter and 1,300 Matmid points (65K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 56K points year-round and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way premium economy ticket from San Francisco to Tel Aviv is 1,600 Matmid points (80K AMEX) in the winter and 1,800 Matmid points (90K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 84K points and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from San Francisco to Tel Aviv is 2,900 Matmid points (145K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 104K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

Outside North America:

• A one-way coach ticket from London to Tel Aviv is 350 Matmid points (17.5K AMEX) in the winter and 400 Matmid points (20K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 20K points year-round and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from London to Tel Aviv is 950 Matmid points (47.5K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 38K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

• A one-way coach ticket from Bangkok to Tel Aviv is 900 Matmid points (45K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 35K points and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from Bangkok to Tel Aviv is 2K Matmid points (100K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 65K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

• A one-way coach ticket from Johannesburg to Tel Aviv is 1,400 Matmid points (70K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 35K points and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from Johannesburg to Tel Aviv is 3K Matmid points (150K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 65K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

• A one-way coach ticket from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv is 1,800 Matmid points (90K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 42K points year-round and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way premium economy ticket from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv is 2,100 Matmid points (105K AMEX) in the winter and 2,400 Matmid points (120K AMEX) in the summer, plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 63K points and there are no fuel surcharges.
• A one-way business class ticket from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv is 2,300 Matmid points (115K AMEX), plus fuel surcharges. With Qantas it’s 78K points and there are no fuel surcharges.

Earning Matmid points:

You can transfer AMEX points into El Al points instantly, and as mentioned in the caveats section above, you can even earn El Al Executive status with a transfer of 5K AMEX points. See that section for more details on the transfers.

Have you redeemed Matmid or Qantas points for an El Al award?