Whats Your Industry Secret/ Loophole That Gets You Perks?

Hi guys

I am in the aviation industry and I travel a lot
I know a really good trick/secret/loophole which gets me priority boarding, immigration express lane and bunch of other things usually devoted for first class and business class passengers only or people with silver/gold memberships with their relevant airline.

I am too scared to share the secret as it will mean airlines/airport staff will find out eventually since everyone will try to use it and then it wont be there for me anymore.

However, as a sweetener I can share my other secret.
So 4 years ago Subway email me an offer which was buy any 600ml drink and get any 6 inch sub for free - it was a mobile offer, but the loophole is it has no expiry date.
So I can confirm I have been eating $3.80 6-inch Sub and Drink for past few years. And it tastes amazing after a good sat night out.

Comments

        • -7

          @CI:
          Good point

          Why not just set up your own fan page and shower yourself with love and praise

        • +2

          @slipperypete: man honestly I have got nothing against you. I don't know why you are investing so much of your time on this thread. I'm not bragging about anything or trying to seek praise from the internet. It's just a forum post man chill out

        • @CI: he’s just mad because full price sucks.

        • @CI:
          No worries….

          you are right I've just had a grumpy couple of days. Too much rain here in the West and sick of it….I've gone all narky and venting my frustration.

          I don't have anything against you. Funnily enough I've followed similar to what you posted about career and early retirement in your earlier thread. 27 years in aviation and now semi retired since my mid 40's.

          Obviously you don't wanna say who you work for but am curious. You said you're an engineer and work in aviation. Are you a L.A.M.E. or work in the office side?

          Good luck with it. Having two salaries you should easily be able to knock off work pretty early in life…just don't miss out on your best years by being too tight and not enjoying yourselves

        • +1

          @slipperypete: all good mate. I am on office side but active within airside. I wish to be a LAME (as I am degree qualified for it) but career is headed in different direction.

          Yes you are right about enjoying my time now and that's what the Mrs says, but I am just too damn tight all the time, always thinking before spending even for a meal! It's disgusting, I don't know how to stop myself.

          Hope the wet weather blows over for you :)

        • @CI:

          Ha Ha. I was fortunate to work private, taking home stupid amounts of tax free money, especially for an uneducated fool like myself. I have no concept of saving…just been lucky.

          sounds like you are doing well

          Good luck with it, hope it takes you to interesting places

      • +2

        Sorry @VicKiwi I cant post it here because it will get ozbargained and those who still use it wont be able to do so. I don't think it's un oz bargain, I post on here when ever I find a good deal or atleast I try to :)

    • +4

      I think he just wanted to tell people about his travel perks and had no intention of sharing anything

    • OP out curiosity did you discover this hack by accident or did you actively studied the loopholes for creating the hack or did you learn it from someone or did you observe someone do it and then just copied it. What is the consequence if you are caught, i.e. how much is the risk?

  • +3

    I have a yD voucher for 20% off (including sale items) that had an expiry of 2013 yet still works!

    • +4

      80% rrp at yD still aint that attractive

      • LOL, no surprised they're still honouring that sucker

        Yay! my plain white T-shirt is only $80 now! BARGAIN!!!

  • +13

    My industry secret is to stay jobless to claim social welfare payments.

    • What industry would you call that?

      • +18

        Government sponsorship?

      • +5

        Vote buying

    • My industry secret is to stay jobless to claim social welfare payments.

      And live heavily sub-standard life, often in housing trust accommodation? Not worth it.

  • +4

    Pay less tax due to fringe benefits for working in a non-profit research organisation. Was earning the same net income as my partner a couple of years ago, even though his gross income was about $10K higher.

    • +1

      No reportable FBT on my home loan interest payments

      • this is a huge one

      • How? using the PBI/NFP exemption? Isn't that capped at like 30k gross for a NFP and 17k gross for a PBI?

        Doesn't go very far in Sydney with a million dollar mortgage.

        • yeah nah, if you earn 90K PA you basically drop your taxable income to the next bracket- brillant savings.

        • @rodripa:

          brillant savings

          Depends which way to look at it. 90k working for a NFP is probably equivalent to 120k in the private sector. Maybe even 150k, if you're a contractor.

          You'll probably net a little more in the private sector, but would have to work harder/longer hours.

        • Remote housing working in health sector, the FBT on entertainment is good also

    • +5

      Why the downvote?!

      That's not a secret perk, its a very small "thank you!" from the Australian public for choosing to put your (no doubt) considerable research skills into a profession which benefits humanity and pays you considerably less than other professions with similar levels of training/education. So on behalf of humanity: thanks!

      • +2

        I didn't DV, or even thought to, but this used to be the case to get the required help for NFPs.

        These days there are that many jobs in these organisations that don't require research, social or medical skills that it's turning into a bit of a rort, I expect Govt to keep cracking down on this as is has already. A marketer or an admin officer getting fbt exemptions? Please.

      • +3

        Thank you - to clarify I do research not admin/HR etc.

        Agree that this is a small perk that somewhat increases our value. We hit a salary ceiling pretty quickly given our funding is dependent on Government.

        Watching friends in other industries getting promotions and perks makes it tough sometimes, but love what I do and wouldn't change it for slightly more salary

  • +10

    I work at a supermarket.

    Free unlimited fruit and sometimes snacks to eat while on shift.

    Keeps me healthy for free!

    • Aren't you meant to buy it or does your manager/boss allow it?

      • +3

        We get a budget I think, for quality control.

    • +4

      while on shift

      Surely you mean on breaks? It couldn't be a good look for the shop to have staff standing around and munching into the stock.

      • Yes, on break, before and after.

        But not to take home.

      • Or could help sell if theyre thoroughly enjoying that delicious, sweet, ripe, juicy fruit coupled with mouth slurping sounds. I feel like some fruit now.

  • +8

    There were some myer discount codes, im assuming were only supposed to be for the month of April 2017, however something went wrong and is listed as 2018, so effectivly can use it until next year on every online purchase no worries

    • ohh care to pm one? :)

    • Keen

    • also keen for a pm pls !

    • Pm me too please

    • ANNIVERSARY20?

    • +1

      Don't send them out, man. I know that sounds selfish - but as soon as they see a bunch of people doing it Myer will kill it for everyone.

    • are you able to pm me too? cheers mate

  • -4

    I take printer paper home and stationary, just put it in my bag whenever I need when nobody is looking

    • +12

      Pretty sure that's not a hack or a perk. But I'm not the one to judge

    • +26

      Pretty hard to take home stationary. It just doesn't want to move. Stationery on the other hand…

  • +18

    I learnt how to complain properly, I consider a bit of a perk from seeing the inner workings of how complaints are handled in Telecoms and Finance. There are a few key things and ways to frame the situation.

    Biggest success was clawing back $6k in historical insurance premiums (for my business). Heaps of discounts on my utility/phone/internet bills over the years.

    My tips

    • Record everything, screenshots and names of who you spoke to at different times.
    • Communicate via email/webchat if possible. Webchat is the best, the customer service person often makes mistakes and you can take more and more ground with everything recorded.
    • be clear about what you want them to do to resolve things and show justification.
    • Never ever lose your cool, the person you're speaking with likely has little direct power over the outcome, but can make it hard if you're overly aggressive. Never threaten them, they will take a defensive position when you actually want them on your side.
  • +21

    If you didn't want to share, why talk about it at all ?

    • +6

      coz he wants to know other people's perks. Selfish cant

  • +13

    I work for the government.

    As a perk, we get to buy our own coffee in the office, you know the instant coffee. We also buy our own pens from time to time when the office is low on them.

    0 perks, nothing, zip, zero.

    • You're working for the wrong sector then. There are lots of great government perks depending the area.

    • I used to work for the government (not full time, as a contractor), the benefits you get as FTE were very good, even though the take home pay was not very big, taking into consideration everything (less hours worked, benefits if your job was terminated, holidays etc) it was extraordinary good. Together with the fact that is a very steady and secure job, I would really not complain. Do you want to try your hand at the private sector?

    • +1

      Slippage in his comment above details the benefits of working for the government.

    • I can relate to this. Contracted for the Feds 2006-2009, and we had to pay for our own tea, coffee, milk, bikkies. To be honest, found that to be fair, as we were being paid by the taxpayers.
      Moved on ever since, and even the drinks are free occasionally for special celebrations.

    • Sounds like you either have a tight arse department head who is only trying to achieve a budget or you don't know who to talk to.

      Pens/Pencils should be available to all and coffee/tea/biscuits all come from the same place as the Pens/pencils. So makes sense that if you don't have one, you don't have the others. Maybe you need to find out who does the ordering? If it's anything like where I work, they are all locked away to avoid excessive theft and you just need to ask the key holder for access as required. We have one per building, so it could be that they don't know your floor/section/area has run out of supplies!

      On a side note: I buy my own coffee as I'm not a fan of International Roast and buy my own pens as I go through 1 maybe 2 a year, usually only use them for signatures and I prefer a weightier pen. This extra cost is something I'm fine with absorbing. especially with 40/32 hour weeks.

      • Pens/Pencils should be available to all and coffee/tea/biscuits all come from the same place as the Pens/pencils. So makes sense that if you don't have one, you don't have the others. Maybe you need to find out who does the ordering? If it's anything like where I work, they are all locked away to avoid excessive theft and you just need to ask the key holder for access as required. We have one per building, so it could be that they don't know your floor/section/area has run out of supplies!

        Some departments in my are are better than others in terms of pencils. But there is NO free instant coffee or any other perks.

        We also struggle with:

        • broken printers
        • sending faxes (yes, we still use fax machine on a daily basis)
        • receiving emails (our dept has lass than 200megs for /employee)
        • low quality equipment

        P.S. the government body is in Victoria

        • That sounds like a PITA!

          for what it's worth, I'm in a Commonwealth dept

  • +4

    I don't ask for it, for generally doctors bulk bill medical students.

  • +16

    i work every week and money appears in my bank account late Wednesday….i guess thats a perk

    • +7

      Weekly would be amazing. I get paid monthly which sucks massive dog's balls

      • +4

        What I do is have a second savings account where my pay goes in, then have weekly scheduled payments to my spending account eh uh then goes to bills/rent etc. So exactly like getting paid weekly without temptation :)

      • damn…is that eating like a king on payday, and then Mi Goreng in the last 3 weeks?

      • +1

        What's dogs balls is your cash management skills

        • +1

          I didnt say I ran out of cash. it just sucks. Getting paid feels good. I only get to experience that 12 times a year. You know what assuming does?

  • +26

    Health Inspector/ Environmental Health Officer
    I know where to NOT eat

    • +2

      Is KFC a good place to eat?

      • +6

        I had KFC yesterday haha

        • I don't think anything could put me off KFC lol, everything tastes good there!

      • Yep, high standards… just not that one on Richmond Rd at Blacktown…

        • Or the one in Aspley QLD, they got hit with a $45,000 fine not long ago

  • -6

    There maybe a coffee shop near where i work that uses a simple hole puncher to stamp there loyalty card so instead of ever 5th coffee free its usually every 3rd because magically it has a few more holes then it should ….

    • +12

      Jeez that's pretty low/dishonest…

      There is a place I know where you stamp your own card and the cards are all stuck to the wall collage like. Theoretically could do the same there, but I guess there they could potentially see you being dodgy…

      Another has a big box where you pay and take the change yourself (if paying in cash).

      • where is this take the change yourself joint?

        • Somewhere in Sydney.

        • +1

          Careful, it could be run by bikies.

  • +9

    my wife is a porn star

    When business is quite she gives me freebies

    • +16

      When it's busy she charges you?

      • +3

        I would think she lets him watch …

      • +1

        I just have to wait my turn

        • +5

          Username checks out?

        • @montorola:

          I just threw up my dinner…need to change my username now ;-)

    • +4

      You mean she gives you free DVDs of her getting it on with other people?

      • +2

        DVDs in $current_year no thanks

        • +3

          4k or gtfo lol

    • +2

      Her stage name isn't Angela White is it?

  • +1

    Interesting audio equipment and useful cables that I save from being thrown out if I want to find a use for it

  • +30

    I only take a dump at work

    • +21

      The old work dump, my old housemate used to say "why waste time having one at home when I can be paid to have one at work"

      • +7

        there's the ozbargin spirit. Thanks for sharing!

      • saving water and electricity bills as well by doing this at work =)

        • +10

          Do you use an electric suction tool or something? What electricity do you need to take a dump? haha

        • +5

          @bobbified: do you take a dump in the dark???

        • @angelkulit025:

          You mean, your shit doesn't glow?? haha

          There's enough natural light in my bathroom for doing natural business.

        • @bobbified: have to power the lights and the exhaust fan

        • @bobbified: lights on, hot water at the tap?

        • +2

          @PVA:

          hot water at the tap

          Funny you say that - my grandma was the only one that ever used hot water. Never understood how she never got burnt.

          Annoyed the crap out of me (no pun intended) because I'd sometimes go in to wash my hands.
          Turn on the cold tap and cop the leftover hot water straight onto the back of my hand when I'm not expecting it!

    • +6

      "If you spend 10 minutes a day pooping at work, at the end the year you'll have been paid for over 40 hours worth of defecation."

      Plagiarised from reddit

      • I would be worried if it took 10 minutes!

        • +3

          I stretch it out to 15-20mins if I have my smartphone with me

        • I agree! 10 minutes is like diarrhoea territory! 15-20, or longer if I haven't finished scrolling new deals by then..

        • +1

          @Slippage: Or the complete opposite…hernia territory!

        • Leave your desk, walk to toilet, do the job, wash hands, walk back, sit back down, start work … probably is ten minutes.

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