Hi, I've recently signed up and have gained around 4,000 points by transferring Woolworths points and the Qantas surveys etc that earn you free points.
I'm wanting to save points so I can use them to travel overseas for free in the future, do you have any more tips on how I can earn points?
Thanks.
^ CC's seem to be the most efficient. If you want to just chip away remember little things like 1 point per $ on ebay https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/318428 or 1 per $ spent at Kogan etc. it's just remembering to use the FF link before purchasing. Buy from BWS, fill up at selected Caltex etc.
https://www.qantaspoints.com/earn-points/shopping
Unfortunately I'm not eligible for a Credit card as I'm under 18, but yes they do seem to be one of the best ways to accumulate your FF points.
You could use the Qantas Cash card for all your spending, it's a prepaid card but if you prepay it you can basically use it as a debit card. It doesn't pay much, I think it's like a point for every 2 dollars spent or something, but if you cant get a credit card at least you'll earn something.
And keep your eye out for these things, set up a notification.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/318714
Yeah I luckily got in before the offer expired, how do I set up a notification?, thanks.
Do a search then click on the "Create Alert" link once the results come up.
Also subscribe to qantaspoints https://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals/qantaspoints.com (click the subscribe button)
You can manage these under My Account > Subscriptions
Credit card sign ups are the main way you earn points. Sure you can earn 20,000 or 30,000 points a year through spending, but that is nothing compared to signing up for two credit cards a year and earning 150,000 bonus points or more.
Unless you've got business spend you can put through high-earning cards, churn credit card signup bonuses. And then churn some more. And then churn some more.
I hope that you realise that Qantas redemptions have high fees and taxes.
Your best bet is to book restaurants if you regularly eat out. The booking system runs on dimmi. If you see a dimmi special book through dimmi as you can't get the 50% off specials if you want the 100 points per diner you get when booking through Qantas.
Being under 18 pretty much rules you out of most of the lucrative ways you can normally earn points.
Opening bankwest Qantas transaction account might be a way to get points.
Or maybe keep an eye on promotion if they're going to give bonus points upon signing up.
but agree with others, it would take a long time to get a sizeable number of points without the big bonus points from the credit card signups.
any specific reason why you want to get Qantas points?
have you considered flybuys/velocity points? since you won't have to pay so much for the fees/taxes for the redemption?
Thanks, yeah to be honest I'm not really sure why but I do prefer Qantas.. how much for example, would the taxes/fees for a return flight to LA with points redemption. That's really the only reason I want to earn points, is enough to fly overseas without having to pay too much for a holiday.
Thanks everyone for their replies.
for economy it's 90k points + $435.42
considering you could get less than $1000 when Qantas is having a sale, it might not be beneficial to spend so much to get the points.
90k points = $900 if you (illegally) sell it to someone else at 1 cent/point (which is the normal)
Even if you calculate that 90k points, that will get you around $450 of wish gift card.
so it means you will at the very least "pay" $450 + $435.42 = 885.42
so if you're after an economy reward seat, I'd say save yourself the trouble and just wait for the LA sale to come up.
Oh really, that's quite ridiculous to be honest, there's really no point.
Yeah I've seen those sales from Sydney to LA with Qantas for around $850 sometimes, so spending half that in fees and then spending so much unnecessary money to earn points is pointless, I'd end up spending more in the long run.
Do you know anything about the Virgin "Velocity" rewards system? I'd honestly rather shop with Coles and Flybys points are so much easier to earn than Woolworths, I sometimes earn around 2,000 points in my fortnightly shop if I use the Flybys specials.
Would you recommend Velocity over Qantas? Probably the only reason I preferred Qantas FF is because of the joining fee and it being more exclusive and I had to pay for it, this was unfortunately before I found you could sign up for free.
If you could choose one over the other, or which do you personally use, Velocity or Qantas FF?
Thanks!
Probably the only reason I preferred Qantas FF is because of the joining fee and it being more exclusive and I had to pay for it, this was unfortunately before I found you could sign up for free.
D'oh!
I think Virgin sometimes offers better value but it all depends on when you travel, where you're going to, and most importantly any deals that you can stack to get the best value.
Check this out for virgin
https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/Redeem/Airline…
I've never tried to redeem a seat with virgin, but i think the availability is a bit better with Qantas than with virgin.
For service, i think Qantas is a wee bit better, but it's really hard to say.
For exclusivity, I'd say both are the same, everyone has the same access to both airlines easily and for about the similar price.
If I were you, I wouldn't bother with points, especially if you want to redeem a seat for international flight, at least until you can apply for credit cards that has high bonus points
Thanks everybody for your help,
I think I'll just earn Velocity points as I may as well seeing as though I can earn them through Flybys etc and then once I can apply for a credit card I'll have more to go towards a flight.
I do agree, Virgin and Qantas are very similar in service, Qantas being a little better, but for value for money.. definitely Virgin as flights with Qantas can sometimes be twice the price (depending on the region) for flights leaving from where I live so probably a good idea to switch to Virgin.
Thanks!
My advice for points:
- it really depends on your lifestyle,
1. if you fly a lot eg. for work, you can rack up points and status etc. so loyalty makes sense in this circumstance as you get the perks when you fly with them.
2. if you don't fly a lot but want to fly well when you do, you can churn credit card bonuses to build up enough quite quickly for a business/first class redemption.
3. If all that matters is getting somewhere as cheaply as possible, then the best option is to buy the cheapest sale ticket outright and if you happen to earn points eg. from insurance etc. then thats a bonus. use both qantas and velocity so that you can earn in either whenever you get the chance. check out sites like secretflying.com
If you are in the 2nd category, then it might pay to look at airline programs outside australia. you can book the same flights that you could through qantas (as some are part of the same airline alliance oneworld) but the points requires can often be much better value. You realise how poor value the qantas scheme can be compared to other international airline programs. You can also buy chunks of points outright in promotions and redeem immediately for a cheap flight assuming the math is favourable. obviously this is time consuming deal hunting as you need to be flexible on availbility.
A good strategy is to work out how much each point is worth to you eg. pick a flight you would like to redeem and think of the maximum you would like to pay while still considering it to be a really good deal (make sure you include the taxes). For me I couldn't find value in Qantas points above 1.1c based on how I valued the redemptions as I found better value redemptions elsewhere.
Its definately a lot of work to make it work for you, but you do get the satisfaction of feeling like a deal ninja when you get a first ticket for not much more than an economy ticket (70% off)
Thanks heaps!
I've made the decision to follow your advice and earn both, seems like a good decision seeing as though I may as well earn the points instead of letting them go to waste.
I don't fly too much, maybe 2-3 times (return) flights a year, but my family does! Hahaha, combined my whole family probably flies 20+ times a year (Return flights) and that can easily earn me 32,000 points a year which is not bad for doing nothing.
Thanks for your help!
credit card sign up bonuses are a good way, but you need to exercise financial responsibility / restraint.