ITA Airways and American Express, how to turn Membership Rewards points into airline tickets. Spoiler alert not good news
An invitation to buckle up is arriving in the e-mail inboxes of American Express holders, the new [...]
ITA Airways
SkyTeam
In the mailboxes of American Express holders. is coming an invitation to buckle up, the news is the announcement of a first real collaboration between Amex and ITA Airways. What is new, however, is not the debut of co-branded credit cards between the two companies, but of a collaboration at the gift card level: an opportunity is offered to transform Membership Rewards points in vouchers to be used to book airline tickets.
How ITA Airways American Express voucher works
In this article:
From today, September 28, 2022, until next February 12, 2023, it will be possible to convert Membership Rewards points into an ITA Airways voucher. Please note that it is important to know that ihe trip must be booked and the coupon used by the validity date of the electronic code.
Coupons claimed during the promotional period can be used until FEBRUARY 12, 2023 and will be valid to obtain a reduction equivalent to the face value of the same on net fare and/or surcharges YQ, YR (fuel adjustment charges). The voucher is not named and can be used by anyone who holds it. It cannot be applied on taxes and charges and ancillary services (e.g. extra baggage, choice of seat if it is paid for, travel with a pet, lounge if paid for, etc.).
Vouchers will not be cumulative with each other and cannot be converted to cash.
Did you get your flight cancelled, miss your connection, land late?
You could get up to 600€ compensation per person
ITA Airways is committed to accepting them (within the promotional period) without any limitation whatsoever, for all the days on which its website and APP will be accessible to the public and on all the services offered, provided that they fall within the cases listed below. In the event that the services offered On-line and/or on APP are offered at a lower price or are otherwise subject to promotions, the use of the voucher will not limit the holder's right to take advantage of such discounts and/or promotions. Vouchers may only be used for reservations related to a single adult passenger 12 years of age or older. For reservations with multiple adult passengers, the voucher may be used by making separate purchases.
The voucher can only be used for flights sold and operated by ITA Airways. The use of the voucher must be made through ITA Airways website at (www.ita-airways.com) or via APP in localizations with Euro currency. Vouchers can be used for all travel tickets originating from both Italy and abroad. The voucher must be used by its expiration date of 12/02/2023. Purchases made using vouchers do not qualify for the accumulation of VOLARE points for the portion of the ticket covered by the voucher.
It is understood that should the holder submit a request to ITA Airways for reimbursement for a ticket purchased, in whole or in part, through the use of a voucher, ITA Airways, upon verification of the fare conditions of the purchased ticket, agrees to reimburse the holder only for any portion of the requested price not covered by the voucher. Vouchers applied for using Membership Rewards points that will not be used by the holder, and/or will be used to purchase a ticket for which a refund will be requested from ITA Airways, such as Membership Rewards points used to apply for vouchers, may not be refunded as per the Membership Rewards Sweepstakes Rules Article 7.4.
How many Membership Rewards points does it take to get an ITA Airways voucher.
If until now the news could be positive, The time has come for a rude awakening or an icy shower. For those unfamiliar with the matter I'll give just one example: in 2019 with Alitalia by taking advantage of Membership Rewards points I had managed to get 3 round-trip business class tickets to Japan using a total of 192 thousand MR points .
There are 4 denominations of e-coupons available:
- 6000 MR points allow you to get a €30 discount
- 12 thousand MR points allow for a 60€ discount
- 20 thousand MR points allow you to get a 100€ discount
- 40 thousand MR points allow for a 200€ discount
The conversion rate offered is 5 euros for every 1,000 MR points, thus better than the basic standard, which is 4€ per 1000 points. But it is certainly bad when you think of the many other ways in which it is possible to use the same MR points in other airlines.
Here, then If before with 80 thousand MR points you would get. one round-trip business class ticket in Magnifica class to New York City, today with the same points you don't cover the cost of a ticket at economy light in the same route.
5 +1 reasons why it does NOT make sense to use MR points in ITA Airways vouchers
- The conversion rate is bad. Of course, it is better than the basic one, but as we have repeatedly reported on TFC sometimes it is possible to book business class travel in the U.S. with just over 40,000 MR points
- The limit to 40k usable MR points limits the possibilities so much
- Limitations prevent the accumulation of multiple vouchers
- Restrictions prevent vouchers from being used for routes not operated entirely by ITA
- Vouchers expire at the end of February 2023, if not used they are lost
- If for some reason the flight is cancelled, there is no refund and you will not get your MR points back
Why vouchers and not a transfer to Volare
There are no official answers here, and it is only my assumption. At present, Volare points cannot be used to redeem award tickets, but only with the cash&miles function, which is not convenient at all. I therefore understand that the most logical choice to start collaborating is to generate vouchers with a certain and secure value.
In conclusion
We had said that the rumors were about a collaboration at the starting tapes, of course we did not expect such a "disastrous" start, Almost worse than the very first collaboration.
