Author Topic: HAS Advantage credit card (Read 12370 times)

Yoel · « **on:** July 21, 2008, 11:47:52 AM »

Does anyone know the details of the HAS Advantage credit card, like how many miles you get per purchase, and how many are enough for a free flight? Also is there a sign up bonus? Annual fee? I couldn't find any info on the website.

israeli · « **Reply #1 on:** July 21, 2008, 12:48:24 PM »

Doesn't come close to churning AA and Starwoods.
By HAS it's something like 52,000 for a ticket 1 point per dollar spent

yid · « **Reply #2 on:** July 21, 2008, 05:11:27 PM »

there is no annual fee and you get 1 mile per purchase, but some local stores have double miles

Charles The Govenor · « **Reply #3 on:** July 21, 2008, 07:19:06 PM »

Is it good for any airline?

Dan · « **Reply #4 on:** July 22, 2008, 01:24:18 AM »

It's nowhere close to as good as Starwood.

corny · « **Reply #5 on:** July 22, 2008, 09:57:42 AM »

Quote from: Yoel on July 21, 2008, 11:47:52 AM

Does anyone know the details of the HAS Advantage credit card, like how many miles you get per purchase, and how many are enough for a free flight? Also is there a sign up bonus? Annual fee? I couldn't find any info on the website.

they r sopposed to have a good deal with el al flights and there is a reference bonus so if you know anyone that has the card you can say he told you about it and split the money

Yoel · « **Reply #6 on:** July 22, 2008, 10:20:20 AM »

Quote from: corny on July 22, 2008, 09:57:42 AM

they r sopposed to have a good deal with el al flights and there is a reference bonus so if you know anyone that has the card you can say he told you about it and split the money

what is the good deal?

coralsnake · « **Reply #7 on:** July 22, 2008, 11:20:33 AM »

Quote from: israeli on July 21, 2008, 12:48:24 PM

Doesn't come close to churning AA and Starwoods.
By HAS it's something like 52,000 for a ticket 1 point per dollar spent

Im pretty sure that its 56k point for a ticket on ElAl only.

corny · « **Reply #8 on:** July 22, 2008, 11:57:41 PM »

Quote from: CharlesLight.com on July 22, 2008, 11:20:33 AM

Im pretty sure that its 56k point for a ticket on ElAl only.

yea if im not mistaken they give you a el al flight fot 56 and they claim it would cost you 80 with another card

Dan · « **Reply #9 on:** July 23, 2008, 11:26:01 AM »

Don't forget you are still responsible to El Al's ridiculous fuel surcharges.

coralsnake · « **Reply #10 on:** July 23, 2008, 10:59:46 PM »

Quote from: Dan on July 23, 2008, 11:26:01 AM

Don't forget you are still responsible to El Al's ridiculous fuel surcharges.

How Much?

Dan · « **Reply #11 on:** July 27, 2008, 05:14:00 PM »

Quote from: CharlesLight.com on July 23, 2008, 10:59:46 PM

How Much?

From reports I've seen online (I personally B"H don't have an El Al matmid account) they can be $400-$500 and up!

coralsnake · « **Reply #12 on:** July 28, 2008, 01:53:29 PM »

Quote from: Dan on July 27, 2008, 05:14:00 PM

From reports I've seen online (I personally B"H don't have an El Al matmid account) they can be $400-$500 and up!

That's ridiculous.

Daniel · « **Reply #13 on:** October 12, 2009, 08:45:49 AM »

What is better for racking up points with regular spending for a ticket to Israel. Starwood AMEX or the HAS advantage card?

Dan · « **Reply #14 on:** October 12, 2009, 10:09:29 AM »

Starwood AMEX by a mile.

Eli · « **Reply #15 on:** October 15, 2009, 01:21:27 AM »

I'm not so sure it's worth it for me to argue with Dan, but here goes. I did research into the HAS card today and found out the following:

Using the HAS card you get a point for every dollar spent, with a few stores offering 2 points per dollar spent.
The points transfer at a 40:1 ratio into Matmid, so 56,000 HAS points transfers into 1,400 Matmid (enough for a coach RT ticket), 120,000 transfers to 3,000 (enough for a RT Biz ticket) and 200,000 transfers to 5,000 (enough for a RT First Class ticket).
You need to have at least 2,500 HAS points to do a transfer, but transfers can be done with a minimum of only 40 HAS points, so if you are short 5 Matmid points, you simply transfer 200 HAS.
Transfers take 7-10 days but for $50 you can get them to transfer within 48 hours.
Transfers can go into ANY Matmid account, even if it's not in your name.
There is no Annual Fee
The Signature card offers no pre-set credit limit, and almost all the advantages of any other Visa Signature card. I have yet to figure out if it offers Purchase Protection and an additional year of Warranty like most other Visa Signature Cards.

Having stated all this, I feel that the HAS card is an awesome card for someone who lives in NY area and is constantly flying to E"Y. As for coach, you will not find any other program that after $56,000 of spending you can get a RT direct ticket to E"Y. With business coming up at $120,000 of spending, there is the same option of getting a Continental 120,000 mile ticket in Continental's Business First, but with CO, the SaverPass Awards are rarely available from a non-platinum account, and the SPG AMEX doesn't transfer well into Continental anyway. With First Class at $200,000 in spending, that is more than A"A would charge you to fly first (180,000), but then again, with A"A you will usually end up having to fly through LHR because of the limited availability that ElAl gives to A"A on their flights. And once you are trying to get on an ElAl direct flight from EWR or JFK, your best option for availability is to book directly with Matmid points. Another great thing about having Matmid points at your disposal, is using them on an upgradeable fare and using 1,400 points to upgrade your ticket to Business Class. Lastly, if you normally transfer from AMEX to Matmid at 70:1, this is a much better transfer ratio.

Dan, I am looking forward to hearing your rebuttal on the matter. I'm pretty sure I'm in for a beating from you.

Dan · « **Reply #16 on:** October 15, 2009, 02:18:59 AM »

Eli, The problem with Matmid are the fees!
Matmid membership fee: $20
Call center fee: $10
Fuel Surcharge from JFK-TLV: $344
Not only will you need to spend $56,000 for a free ticket, but you'll also need to spend another $375 in fees!

A few other things:
-You can go with a stop to TLV for 20,000 Starpoints with FlyingBlue promo awards, but those can be tricky.
-You can currently go nonstop to TLV for 40,000 Starpoints in coach or about 60,000 Starpoints in Business on Delta or Continental via FlyingBlue or Alitalia.
-AA will put you on a nonstop El Al flight without charging any fuel surcharge. AA also has a Oneworld chart for even cheaper TLV flights with creative routings. As far as I understand AA offers the same availability on El Al as El Al does to their own members.

Besides for all this the Has card is only good for TLV and you are at El Al's mercy to not charge even higher higher fees. By banking Starpoints you have 40 airlines (and hundreds of hotels) to choose from, so that your points aren't held hostage by the whims of one airline and you can leverage the best alliance partners rates and fuel surcharges.

I can go further in depth if you'd like but for now it's past my bedtime...

Eli · « **Reply #17 on:** October 15, 2009, 02:24:46 AM »

i concede. I knew I was in for a beating. It's past my bedtime as well so I'll look into the things you mentioned tomorrow and see if I can prove you wrong on anything you wrote.

Until then...

Deal Guy · « **Reply #18 on:** January 13, 2010, 02:17:37 AM »

Quote from: Dan on October 15, 2009, 02:18:59 AM

Eli, The problem with Matmid are the fees!
Matmid membership fee: $20
Call center fee: $10
Fuel Surcharge from JFK-TLV: $344
Not only will you need to spend $56,000 for a free ticket, but you'll also need to spend another $375 in fees!

A few other things:
-You can go with a stop to TLV for 20,000 Starpoints with FlyingBlue promo awards, but those can be tricky.
-You can currently go nonstop to TLV for 40,000 Starpoints in coach or about 60,000 Starpoints in Business on Delta or Continental via FlyingBlue or Alitalia.
-AA will put you on a nonstop El Al flight without charging any fuel surcharge. AA also has a Oneworld chart for even cheaper TLV flights with creative routings. As far as I understand AA offers the same availability on El Al as El Al does to their own members.

Besides for all this the Has card is only good for TLV and you are at El Al's mercy to not charge even higher higher fees. By banking Starpoints you have 40 airlines (and hundreds of hotels) to choose from, so that your points aren't held hostage by the whims of one airline and you can leverage the best alliance partners rates and fuel surcharges.

I can go further in depth if you'd like but for now it's past my bedtime...

I disagree, especially every winter Elal only charges 1050 matmid points from nyc-tlv, which is only 42,000 Has points (40-1). Plus if you get referred by someone,and you refer for example another 5 people, thats already 12,000 Has points (2,000 for each).

<Edit by Dan: No referral offers allowed on the forums.>

Dan · « **Reply #19 on:** January 13, 2010, 12:54:42 PM »

Quote from: moefl on January 13, 2010, 02:17:37 AM

I disagree, especially every winter Elal only charges 1050 matmid points from nyc-tlv, which is only 42,000 Has points (40-1). Plus if you get referred by someone,and you refer for example another 5 people, thats already 12,000 Has points (2,000 for each). Btw, anyone intersted in the Has card can PM me.

You disagree with what? You can't just say you disagree, you have to take my arguments that I wrote above and say why they're wrong.