BOV Flypass Visa card – no more Air Malta (Flypass) KMiles
In light of the upcoming changes to Flypass, there appears to be slight meltdown on the BOV-front, for all the KMiles-earning credit cards.
The basic deal was that you got 1 KMile per €1 spent on your credit card (i.e. that was the position with the Flypass Visa card, although there were bonuses for the more expensive credit cards).
From 31 May, this all changes. It does not appear to be for the good, either.
You will be able to redeem as normal up to 31 May. However, from this date you will no longer be able to redeem your BOV credit card points (Loyalty Reward Points) for KMiles.
Instead, you will be able to redeem your Loyalty Reward Points “against flights booked with any airline to any destination”.
In theory, that sounds quite good, but the truth is that it’s not. All it means is that for every 20,000 Loyalty Reward Points you have, you can get €45 off a flight with any airline (you just send through your booking receipt to BOV and they will make a refund to your credit card).
That, I am afraid, is a shocking deal. Whereas previously your Loyalty Reward Points were worth 1 KMile, this new arrangement values them each at a 0.225 cent credit off a booked flight.
Given that my “ballpark” figure (and it is a very ballpark figure, I accept – KMiles are exceptionally hard to value accurately) for the value of a KMile is 0.6 cents, and Air Malta’s valuation of them if you buy them directly from them is 1.1 cents, 0.225 cents instead of a KMile is a very, very bad deal.
In addition, the yearly free business class upgrade has quietly disappeared.
I don’t currently know what will be happening with the other KMile-earning credit cards at Banif and HSBC, as they have made no announcements. I expect them to be doing so soon, however.
I am very much hoping that BOV will come up with something better than this when the changes to Flypass manifest. I will also be monitoring any changes to the situation at Banif and HSBC – as things stand, I am likely to change my credit card from The BOV Flypass Visa to a Banif Gold card, which still (as of now) earns KMiles on a €1:1 KMile ratio.