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100 free SPG Points for a Facebook like, and an update… May 18, 2012: It’s all been a little quiet on the Point Hacks front recently – I’m working on an amazing project in my day job which is keeping me uber busy, and cutting into my blogging time – and also sending me to Hong Kong twice in the last 2 or so months. Things will pick up [...] Read more – ‘100 free SPG Points for a Facebook like, and an update…’.
A year of Priority Privilege membership – my discounts, and a voucher giveaway April 29, 2012: I joined Priority Privilege in early June last year, and I’ve used it sporadically over the course of the last 12 months. You’re probably not aware, but it’s a paid up membership scheme that gives members a series of vouchers to use for significant discounts on stays at hotels in the InterContinental Hotels Group (Holiday [...] Read more – ‘A year of Priority Privilege membership – my discounts, and a voucher giveaway’.
100 free Velocity Points for liking Europcar on Facebook April 23, 2012: No brainer this one – Europcar are giving away 100 free Velocity Points for anyone who likes them on Facebook. Just input your Velocity number after granting Europcar’s Facebook App permission, and you’re done – it takes about 30 seconds, and you can always unlike after. Go grab those points… Read more – ‘100 free Velocity Points for liking Europcar on Facebook’.
How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 2, Star Alliance, Etihad & Virgin Australia/Atlantic redemptions April 22, 2012: In part one, I outlined how a series of recent changes that American Express have made to Membership Rewards have significantly increased the value of Membership Rewards points, and why MR is now my primary way of earning points from Credit Card spend. That post focused on a comparison of oneworld carrier redemptions as a [...] Read more – ‘How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 2, Star Alliance, Etihad & Virgin Australia/Atlantic redemptions’.
Extending your Virgin Australia Status by using parental leave April 19, 2012: It’s coming up to a year since Virgin Australia relaunched the Velocity program and ran a program to match the elite status of competing airlines (primarily Qantas). I’ve enjoyed my Velocity Gold status (with the primary benefit being Virgin and partner lounge access) but haven’t flown anywhere near enough with Virgin to retain Gold, as [...] Read more – ‘Extending your Virgin Australia Status by using parental leave’.
Register for Virgin Atlantic bonus miles on VS coded flights April 18, 2012: Virgin Atlantic ply the Sydney-Hong Kong-London Kangaroo route out of Australia, and are offering up to 15,000 bonus miles for flying with them before 15th June (and registering for this promo by 13th May). The registration page is here, and you’ll receive 5,000 extra miles for flying Economy, 10,000 bonus miles for Premium Economy and [...] Read more – ‘Register for Virgin Atlantic bonus miles on VS coded flights’.
How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 1, oneworld redemptions April 16, 2012: Over the last few months, a series of improvements have taken place to American Express Membership Rewards which have fundamentally changed the landscape for those primarily earning their points through credit card spend. Previously, I’d consider Virgin or Qantas direct earn cards, or Amex Membership Rewards, about equal when making a recommendation to somone about [...] Read more – ‘How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 1, oneworld redemptions’.
1000 free BMI miles maybe = 1000 free BA miles, or more if you combine with household accounts April 12, 2012: via One Mile at a Time, here’s a quick, neat way to potentially earn a nice stash of British Airways Avios (maybe up to 7,000) by capitalising on the sale of BMI from Lufthansa to IAG (owner of British Airways). BMI’s Diamond Club is offering 1000 miles for new accounts. You can sign up with [...] Read more – ‘1000 free BMI miles maybe = 1000 free BA miles, or more if you combine with household accounts’.
Park Hyatt Sydney – 2012 reopening photo tour: The Park Hyatt Sydney is arguably the best hotel in the Sydney – it can certainly claim to have the position for wow-factor, sandwiched between the two Sydney icons on Circular Quay, underneath the Harbour Bridge and opposite the Opera House. It’s been closed for most of 2011 and was due to reopen in December. [...] Read more – ‘Park Hyatt Sydney – 2012 reopening photo tour’.
Photo summary: to the 2012 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne! April 7, 2012: Although it’s mostly what you’d presume from this site, I’m not completely obsessed with points and travel. One of my other ‘things’ is motorsport and a general interest in cars, and I promised myself that this year I’d try and get to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. With a friend coming along for the [...] Read more – ‘Photo summary: to the 2012 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne!’.
QF128 SYD-HKG Qantas A380 Business Class review April 1, 2012: I was originally booked into Qantas Premium Economy as per my outbound ticket, and was considering burning 25,000 Qantas points on a upgrade to Business to maximise sleep opportunities on this overnight flight. As luck would have it, on rechecking my seat assignment on the morning of the flight, I was no longer shown in [...] Read more – ‘QF128 SYD-HKG Qantas A380 Business Class review’.
Membership Rewards news – bonus partners, transfer rates and Platinum Edge changes: Latest Membership Rewards bonus partners The second quarter bonus partners for 2012 have been released, and there’s nothing particularly notable to show. The ongoing 5x bonus points at BP have gone, which is a shame, but AAMI, APIA and GIO insurances all come back, also at 5x. They previously offered 10x points with these partners [...] Read more – ‘Membership Rewards news – bonus partners, transfer rates and Platinum Edge changes’.
This week in points – April 1st: Etihad Program Changes Etihad have made a few changes to Etihad Guest – nothing too major, but slight devaluations to the way you earn and use miles. These kick in on June 1st. The number of Etihad Guest Miles earned on paid fares will now be dependant of the fare class (rather than class of [...] Read more – ‘This week in points – April 1st’.
Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard – 20,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $89 annual fee March 26, 2012: The latest offer from Woolworths on their Everyday Rewards Mastercard is pretty good, coming in at 20,000 QFF points for an $89 annual fee. It’s a pretty straightforward card which earns Qantas points at $1:1QFF, which makes it a great non-Amex backup card – or even one to use for your primary spend if you [...] Read more – ‘Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard – 20,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $89 annual fee’.
US Airways 100% bonus on miles purchases is back… March 20, 2012: US Airways are running another 100% points bonus for purchasing points through to April 15th. Many people have already written about this, and you’ll get a better run down on the specifics of the deal from them than me – so I won’t cover it again. For those of us in Australia & NZ, the [...] Read more – ‘US Airways 100% bonus on miles purchases is back…’.
QantasLink relaunches Sydney – Mount Hotham route for Winter 2012, sale fares and award availability loaded March 14, 2012: A quick post for Sydney-siders who are thinking about heading to the snow this winter – QantasLink have loaded their schedule for Winter 2012 for Sydney – Mount Hotham flights, with sale fares available for the next few days and Classic and Any Seat award availability as good as it will ever be. Sale fares [...] Read more – ‘QantasLink relaunches Sydney – Mount Hotham route for Winter 2012, sale fares and award availability loaded’.
US Airways offering a 50% bonus on hotel program transfers to Dividend Miles March 13, 2012: If you’re considering the new Membership Rewards -> SPG -> Airline Program transfer options now that the transfer rate between MR and SPG has recently improved, there’s no better time to consider stocking up on US Airways miles – as they are running a 50% bonus promotion on transfers into Dividend Miles from Hotel Programs. [...] Read more – ‘US Airways offering a 50% bonus on hotel program transfers to Dividend Miles’.
Cathay Pacific’s ‘The Cabin’ Lounge review March 11, 2012: When Cathay Pacific opened the Cabin in late 2010, it gave a glimpse into a new modern design philosophy for their ‘hard product’ – lounges, seating, etc. – which would be rolling out across their network in the coming years, such as the refurbishment of The Wing, and their new Business Class seating. I was [...] Read more – ‘Cathay Pacific’s ‘The Cabin’ Lounge review’.
Membership Rewards transfer rate bonuses for March; and SPG goes 2MR:1SPG March 1, 2012: Amex have released improved transfer rates for Membership Rewards points over to: Velocity – 15% bonus, or 30% on transfers over 100,000 MR points with 100 bonus SC’s Etihad Guest (which I’ve previously written about) – 20% bonus Virgin Atlantic – 30% bonus Malaysia Airlines Enrich – 25% bonus Thai Airways – 10% bonus Singapore [...] Read more – ‘Membership Rewards transfer rate bonuses for March; and SPG goes 2MR:1SPG’.
250 free Priority Club points for survey completed by 31st March: Pretty straightforward this one – complete this survey by 31st March 2012 and receive 250 Priority Club points. 12 questions took me about 4 minutes. Too easy. 250 PC points aren’t much, but neither is the effort required. Read more – ‘250 free Priority Club points for survey completed by 31st March’.
Qantas Business Class Lounge, Hong Kong – Review February 25, 2012: Before spending some time in The Wing, one of Cathay Pacific’s many Business Class lounges in Hong Kong, I scouted out the Qantas Business Lounge which is used for Qantas & British Airways departures to Melbourne, Sydney and London. You’d be able to access this lounge if travealling with Qantas or British Airways in Business [...] Read more – ‘Qantas Business Class Lounge, Hong Kong – Review’.
Etihad join the ranks of Membership Rewards Australia transfer partners February 23, 2012: Etihad Guest recently became the latest airline program to partner with American Express Membership Rewards as a transfer partner. MR Points transfer over to Etihad Guest at 1 Mile : 1 Point, and there’s a 20% bonus promotion running on transfers until the end of March. Up until now, it’s been particularly tricky to earn [...] Read more – ‘Etihad join the ranks of Membership Rewards Australia transfer partners’.
Jetstar Platinum Mastercard – 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, no annual fee February 21, 2012: This offer literally arrived in my inbox from Jetstar about 30 minutes ago, and it’s one of those you just can’t ignore. The Jetstar Platinum Mastercard (issued by Macquarie Bank) is offering 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points for new sign ups, with no annual fee ($149 in subsequent years). You can’t get much better than [...] Read more – ‘Jetstar Platinum Mastercard – 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, no annual fee’.
Starwood hotel category changes for March 2012 February 17, 2012: Starwood are regrading a wide range of properties for SPG award night redemption in March for the rest of 2012. The full list is here (pdf) and it’s not great news for Australia and Fiji. The following hotels are all going up a category, meaning increased points needed to make a redemption. Four Points by [...] Read more – ‘Starwood hotel category changes for March 2012’.
30% off domestic Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer redemptions until 22nd February February 16, 2012: In a beautifully timed move, just when all the news coming out of Qantas is negative, Virgin Australia rolled out a promotion on domestic Velocity award seats – 30% off on bookings made from 21st Feb to 21st June, with a blackout over Easter (5th Feb to 16th April). It’s a simple promotion, and a [...] Read more – ‘30% off domestic Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer redemptions until 22nd February’.
Qantas cuts more routes; Singapore – Mumbai & Auckland – Los Angeles get the chop: Not so great news for Qantas Frequent Flyers today as Qantas announced a range of cuts. In summary… Singapore – Mumbai gone (from May 6th) Auckland – Los Angeles gone (from May 6th) Sydney – Auckland A330 services replaced with 737-800s (I believe from May 6th) Sydney – Bangkok 747 services replaced with A330s (from [...] Read more – ‘Qantas cuts more routes; Singapore – Mumbai & Auckland – Los Angeles get the chop’.
Deal: Sydney – Europe (OK, Moscow) for $900 with Qantas & S7 February 13, 2012: Everyone knows that usually airfares to Europe from Australia never come in at less than $1600 or so at the best of times, right? And normally I’d consider $1800 a good deal from Sydney, with Qantas/BA usually pushing prices north of $2000. If you’ve got the travelling guts, you can halve that by booking a [...] Read more – ‘Deal: Sydney – Europe (OK, Moscow) for $900 with Qantas & S7’.
Cathay Pacific’s The Wing Lounge review – Photo tour, post 2012 refurbishment: Cathay has 3 major lounges at HKG – The Wing, The Pier (both with Business and First Class sections), and The Cabin (Business class only). On my return to Sydney, I was able to access both The Wing and The Cabin thanks to my Qantas Gold status, and a 2 hour delay which meant me [...] Read more – ‘Cathay Pacific’s The Wing Lounge review – Photo tour, post 2012 refurbishment’.
Free Qantas Frequent Flyer membership sign-up links February 11, 2012: One of Qantas’ more bizarre policies is their attempt to charge a one-off fee $82.50 for membership to Qantas Frequent Flyer to members with Australian addresses. Overseas residents can get it free. It’s quite odd that they would actually want to charge for this, but it’s simple to get around. One of the simplest, more [...] Read more – ‘Free Qantas Frequent Flyer membership sign-up links’.
Sydney – Hong Kong QF127 (747) Premium Economy review: My flight up to Hong Kong was on QF127, the daytime departure from Sydney at 11.50am. Although Qantas have recently started flying the A380 on this route, 3 days out of 7 are still operated by a 747 which was the case for this journey. As this work trip was booked only 10 days before [...] Read more – ‘Sydney – Hong Kong QF127 (747) Premium Economy review’.
Singapore Airlines Krisflyer award chart changes; increases to ‘Saver’ availability February 5, 2012: Singapore Airlines announced yesterday a range of changes to their own award chart; their Star Alliance award chart and an increase in Saver availability in Business Class on the A340 and A380, and in Business and First class on their 77W. Given these ply most of Singapore’s Australian routes, this is good news. Prices for [...] Read more – ‘Singapore Airlines Krisflyer award chart changes; increases to ‘Saver’ availability’.
Qantas First Class Lounge, Sydney – pre-QF127 review February 1, 2012: I’m fairly fortunate to have Qantas Gold status – I don’t travel ALL that much, especially compared to the real air warriors. I normally bank 4 or 5 international trips a year – but thanks to these and the ability to book Any Seat Awards using points to travel nearer the front of the plane, [...] Read more – ‘Qantas First Class Lounge, Sydney – pre-QF127 review’.
Week News – Priority Club revaluation & 20% bonus Qantas points on hotel point transfers January 27, 2012: Not much going on at the minute in the world of points and travel – January has kicked off without a bang, and the only things worth highlighting are some recent changes to the InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club scheme and Qantas’ new promotion on hotel program transfers. The Priority Club Revaluation So, Priority Club [...] Read more – ‘Week News – Priority Club revaluation & 20% bonus Qantas points on hotel point transfers’.
A guide to LA800 & LA801 Business Class – Sydney to Auckland return January 20, 2012: One of my favoured ways to travel between Sydney & Auckland in Business Class on the cheap, whilst still accruing Qantas Frequent Flyer points and Status Credits, is to use LAN’s daily service. LAN fly a widebody Airbus A340 between the two (and onwards to their primary hub in Santiago, Chile), with their respectable long [...] Read more – ‘A guide to LA800 & LA801 Business Class – Sydney to Auckland return’.
Making Avios work in Australia – British Airways offering 25% bonus on Avios purchases until 29th February January 14, 2012: British Airways run a promotion to earn a 20-30% bonus on points purchases 2 or 3 times a year, and the time has rolled around again – this time a 25% bonus on purchase (BA login required) of their new points currency, Avios, until 29th January. With the recent changes to the Executive Club scheme, [...] Read more – ‘Making Avios work in Australia – British Airways offering 25% bonus on Avios purchases until 29th February’.
Score a discount on Velocity bookings in Virgin Australia domestic Business Class if booked by Wednesday: The guys over at the ever-useful AusBT posted a useful heads up of a quick way to save on Virgin Australia domestic business class redemptions (except East Coast – Perth routes) if you’re able to book by this Wednesday, 18th January. This is the deadline for removal of premium economy bookings for VA, as they [...] Read more – ‘Score a discount on Velocity bookings in Virgin Australia domestic Business Class if booked by Wednesday’.
Latest Membership Rewards Bonus Partners for January 2012 released January 10, 2012: Amex have got their act together and updated the Membership Rewards Bonus Partner microsite in the last couple of days with their bonus partners for the next few months. The 5 bonus points per $ at BP remains until March 31 at least, making it worth seeking out a BP specifically to fuel up. However [...] Read more – ‘Latest Membership Rewards Bonus Partners for January 2012 released’.
InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto – King Deluxe Room Review: This is a bit of a lacklustre review as I don’t have many pictures from my stay, and it wasn’t a particularly long or interesting one either. As such I’ve excluded this one from the homepage and RSS feed, and it’s just here for completeness and anyone just browsing around who might be interested in [...] Read more – ‘InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto – King Deluxe Room Review’.
How to use your Qantas First Lounge Invitation, and a list of Australian domestic departures from Sydney & Melbourne International Terminals January 8, 2012: Qantas recently gave out International First Class Lounge invites to many of Gold & Platinum Frequent Flyers by way of an apology for the disruptions caused by strike (and strike mitigation) action at the tail end of last year. Mine arrived back in December, and I’ve been pondering how to use it over the last [...] Read more – ‘How to use your Qantas First Lounge Invitation, and a list of Australian domestic departures from Sydney & Melbourne International Terminals’.
Priority Club redemption changes – new property bands in effect from January 18th January 4, 2012: Others more timely than me have already posted on the Priority Club changes, so this is just a heads up – PC have introduced some new tiers for redemptions, and you can only imagine that properties will jump into these tiers (especially the new 50,000 point InterContinental tier – ouch) come January 18th. There’s no [...] Read more – ‘Priority Club redemption changes – new property bands in effect from January 18th’.
Free Hilton HHonors Gold, anyone? January 1, 2012: Not sure how I missed this first time around… Hilton are offering free HHonors Gold Status to certain Visa Infinite cardholders. HHonors Gold gets you… Free internet Free breakfast Bonus points Maybe an upgrade The registration form should be locked down, but the six digits 442394 will work. This one’s a no brainer if you [...] Read more – ‘Free Hilton HHonors Gold, anyone?’.
Citibank Skywards Visa – 25,000 Bonus Skywards Miles, $229 Annual Fee: Citibank continue to hide their bonus point signup offer from the general public (god knows why), offering only 4 Skywards Miles per $ for ‘a limited time’ through the Citibank main website. Browsing around the Emirates site this morning, I came across a promotion for the card with a different offer for a more palatable [...] Read more – ‘Citibank Skywards Visa – 25,000 Bonus Skywards Miles, $229 Annual Fee’.
My top points earners for 2011 December 31, 2011: Qantas American Express Ultimate Card At first, the standard $450 annual fee is frightening, even with the free flight. However I received a $200 discount on the annual fee as part of a standard signup promotion back in May, and sold the flight on eBay for $250. A few months later, I noticed an annual [...] Read more – ‘My top points earners for 2011’.
Trying out Qantas Domestic Business – QF444 Melbourne to Sydney Review December 29, 2011: I normally wouldn’t write a review about a quick Melbourne – Sydney domestic flight. As one of the busiest routes in the world, and at an hour or so long, it’s never going to be a unique experience that you’d die to repeat. However, I was down in Melbourne for work, and given my employer [...] Read more – ‘Trying out Qantas Domestic Business – QF444 Melbourne to Sydney Review’.
Earning ‘free’ Frequent Flyer points using just your time and some minimal risk December 28, 2011: One of the neatest (but more time consuming) ways to earn points (effectively for free) is to use your points earning credit card to purchase something at less than it’s resale value on eBay, and then sell it. This is most easily calculated and understood when considering gift voucher of fixed monetary value, which retailers [...] Read more – ‘Earning ‘free’ Frequent Flyer points using just your time and some minimal risk’.
Sydney to New York (via Auckland) – QF141, QF25 and QF107 Qantas Business Class review December 24, 2011: As I wrote back in November, I was recently given the opportunity to go to a conference/seminar type thing in New York in early December. The event was only announced a month before it was on, and I knew it was something I wanted to be at. I am lucky that my employer is pretty [...] Read more – ‘Sydney to New York (via Auckland) – QF141, QF25 and QF107 Qantas Business Class review’.
Reminder – BP’s 5x Bonus offer for Membership Rewards spend ends December 31 December 20, 2011: It’s worth a quick post for Membership Rewards cardholders – don’t forget that the existing 5 bonus points/dollar at BP offer ends on December 31st. The promo was renewed when it was last up for expiry in September, but it’s worth considering pre-purchasing fuel by buying a BP gift card (which are sold as $200 [...] Read more – ‘Reminder – BP’s 5x Bonus offer for Membership Rewards spend ends December 31’.
Fancy trying out the 787 using your Qantas points? Here’s how… December 17, 2011: The aviation geeks out there will be well aware that Boeing’s first next generation airliner, the 787, entered into commercial service with Japan’s ANA in the last few months. For those of you keen to sample the new 787, and potentially use some Qantas points to do so, the 787 will enter into service for [...] Read more – ‘Fancy trying out the 787 using your Qantas points? Here’s how…’.
10 x Qantas bonus points on Qantas Gift Voucher purchases December 13, 2011: Qantas don’t offer many bonuses, but November and December have been small gold mines as they look to procure loyalty and extra cash in the bank, using Frequent Flyer points as their chosen weapon. Qantas gift vouchers (which usually offer no additional points on purchase to the giver) are yielding 10 points per dollar. It’s [...] Read more – ‘10 x Qantas bonus points on Qantas Gift Voucher purchases’.
QF32 Qantas A380 Premium Economy – brief round-up December 10, 2011: It’s been an age since I started my report of our RTW trip I took 8 months ago now. I’ve been procrastinating posting this leg as, well, I didn’t get many good pictures, and it just wasn’t particularly interesting. So, it’s here for completeness, nothing more, nothing less, and in brief form. This was booked [...] Read more – ‘QF32 Qantas A380 Premium Economy – brief round-up’.
25% discount code for Virgin America bookings made to December 31st December 6, 2011: Given how crappy my experience of most US carriers have been, Virgin America remains one for me that I’d actually like to try. Given their reciprocal points earning benefits, and competitive fares, if their route network will get you where you need to go in the US they are definitely worth considering. For the next [...] Read more – ‘25% discount code for Virgin America bookings made to December 31st’.
In the market for miles? American, US Airways and Starwood are all running discounts in December December 4, 2011: Here’s a brief rundown of the options to purchase currently in the market in December. First up, American Airlines AAdvantage is offering a staggered bonus on miles purchases between now and December 31st – for every 6000 miles you purchase, receive a 2000 mile bonus. It works out to be a 20% kicker, and the [...] Read more – ‘In the market for miles? American, US Airways and Starwood are all running discounts in December’.
Virgin Flyer Visa Cards – 50,000 bonus points plus some status credits November 29, 2011: You know how sometimes you say one thing, and then it’s inevitable that something comes along out of the blue and makes what you just said a bit redundant? Consider my post on Saturday on which cards I’d pick if I were in the market for a new a card. Via the AFF forum, Virgin [...] Read more – ‘Virgin Flyer Visa Cards – 50,000 bonus points plus some status credits’.
Recommend an American Express card; receive bonus points November 27, 2011: I stumbled across this ongoing promotion by American Express this morning, which allows a current Amex cardholder to recommend another card to someone else and receive 1/2 of the amount of their signup bonus in points back to your account. For example – recommend the 80,000 point Platinum Charge Card, and you receive 40,000 points [...] Read more – ‘Recommend an American Express card; receive bonus points’.
Emirates fan? Apply here… November 26, 2011: I received a promo today from Emirates in my inbox, which, for an Emirates Skywards diehard, would be pretty appealing. Right now the standard public offer on the Citibank Skywards card is $229 for no signup bonus, but 4 Skywards miles per dollar (compared to the usual 1.5:1), up to 25,000 miles. The offer that [...] Read more – ‘Emirates fan? Apply here…’.
Pick a (credit) card, any card…: Not too much has been going on in the world of points earning in Australia in the last couple of months, which is a bit of a bummer for those looking to bump up their point balances for travel in 2013. There are some pretty good credit card sign up offers in the market right [...] Read more – ‘Pick a (credit) card, any card…’.
Qantas QF2117 Coffs Harbour to Sydney – Dash 8 Q400 review November 19, 2011: Reviewer: Point Hacks – Keith Mason Rating of Qantas QF2117 Coffs Harbour to Sydney – Dash 8 Q400 review : 4.0★★★★ As I arrived at Coffs Airport, there were no Qantas staff around as the previous flight had left about 20 minutes prior, with my flight about 3 hours away. I managed to catch someone [...] Read more – ‘Qantas QF2117 Coffs Harbour to Sydney – Dash 8 Q400 review’.
Qantas offering Bonus Points and other gifts to some Frequent Flyers November 16, 2011: Hot out of my inbox comes the news that Qantas are offering some nice point bonuses on flights (with a QF flight number) between now and December 23rd. How nicely timed, given that I’ll be flying around 22,000 base points worth of flights in December, and this ups my bonus from the usual 75% to [...] Read more – ‘Qantas offering Bonus Points and other gifts to some Frequent Flyers’.
My next trip booked – to NYC! November 13, 2011: The past couple of weeks have been slightly crazy, hence the lack of updates around the place. One of things that has kept me away from blogging, but researching points, routes and airlines a hell of a lot, is the opportunity that has come up for a quick trip to New York in December. I’ll [...] Read more – ‘My next trip booked – to NYC!’.
Link Roundup – 5th November November 5, 2011: I’m going to start a post once every few weeks rounding up interesting news and links to articles and info that have caught my eye. Clearly the big news for the week was the Qantas shutdown and Virgin Australia’s efforts at gaining further traction across all segments in the market as a credible Qantas alternative. [...] Read more – ‘Link Roundup – 5th November’.
20% discount on Starwood points purchases November 4, 2011: I haven’t covered many SPG offers yet on the site – they don’t come around often, but when they do, they’re worth considering as SPG points are just so damn valuable. Starwood this week kicked off a 20% discount on the purchase of SPG points – there’s a minimum purchase of 500 points for $14 [...] Read more – ‘20% discount on Starwood points purchases’.
Virgin Australia Premium Economy – DJ1167 Embraer 190 Sydney – Coffs Harbour Review October 31, 2011: I’d managed to arrange a last minute trip up to the Coffs Coast to go check out Rally Australia. Part of the trip was funded through work, but I had to enable to flights – the perfect use of points for flying domestically given the last minute booking (plans were only confirmed on Wednesday for [...] Read more – ‘Virgin Australia Premium Economy – DJ1167 Embraer 190 Sydney – Coffs Harbour Review’.
Reminder – Virgin Australia 20% points transfer bonus ends on the 31st October October 28, 2011: A gentle reminder that the 20% points transfer bonus for Velocity points that’s been available on credit card program transfers expires this coming Monday, the 31st October. As I said when the bonus came out, it’s not huge enough to convince me without a doubt to move my heard earned Amex Membership Rewards points over [...] Read more – ‘Reminder – Virgin Australia 20% points transfer bonus ends on the 31st October’.
Taking a step back. What makes a travel experience truly outstanding? October 21, 2011: Warning upfront… this post is not about points. If you’re points junky alone, tune out now. This post cuts into why I try and earn and use points for special experiences – and about why I (try to) write about them. Finnair have recently (re)launched a campaign called ‘Qualityhunters’ which aims to try and track [...] Read more – ‘Taking a step back. What makes a travel experience truly outstanding?’.
InterContinental Singapore – Club Premier Room review October 19, 2011: On our way back to Sydney from Europe (London to Frankfurt on BA, and Frankfurt to Sydney on Qantas) we decided to break the trip with some time in Singapore to ease the jetlag pain. It ended up being 2 nights, and meant we were fortunate enough to enjoy the InterContinental Singapore to relax over [...] Read more – ‘InterContinental Singapore – Club Premier Room review’.
David Jones American Express Card – 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards points October 15, 2011: UPDATE – Consider the whole post below somewhat redundant – as rightly pointed out in the comments, the DJ’s Amex is a significantly downgraded Membership Rewards scheme with 50% fewer points offered on points transferred to airline and hotel schemes… so why bother? American Express are running a David Jones Card promotion which nets 30,000 [...] Read more – ‘David Jones American Express Card – 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards points’.
Car rental points earning summary; or ‘which frequent flyer program should I credit my car rental to for the most points?’ October 9, 2011: I’ve been looking at booking a few different car rentals recently, and it got me thinking about the various programs you can credit rentals too – and, depending on the type of rental – which would offer the best points accrual. After a while, I realised that I needed a comparison table to help summarise [...] Read more – ‘Car rental points earning summary; or ‘which frequent flyer program should I credit my car rental to for the most points?’’.
Latest Membership Rewards bonus partners: Membership Rewards added a few new bonus partner offers this month, and renewed some of the others due to expire at the end of September. Catching my eye from the new partners was BP – Amex is now offering a 5 points per $ bonus on spend at BP with registration, which when combined with [...] Read more – ‘Latest Membership Rewards bonus partners’.
Latest Westpac Earth signup bonuses – 16,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $75 annual fee October 7, 2011: I’ve been somewhat ignoring Westpac’s Earth card offerings in recent times, as I haven’t seen any worthwhile signup bonuses come through. I was digging around again this week however, and came across their latest offer for the Earth Classic card (16,000 point bonus, $75 annual fee) and for the Earth Platinum card (33,000 points, $250 [...] Read more – ‘Latest Westpac Earth signup bonuses – 16,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $75 annual fee’.
InterContinental Hotels Ambassador upgrade policies in/around Australia & New Zealand October 6, 2011: One of the main benefits of the InterContinental Ambassador program is the complimentary room upgrade when staying at IC hotels. However, you have to be well informed to make best use of it. I’ve been a bit baffled when trying to book rooms at InterContinentals when you are trying to apply room upgrades, thanks to [...] Read more – ‘InterContinental Hotels Ambassador upgrade policies in/around Australia & New Zealand’.
New, larger signup offers for the American Express Platinum Card Range, including 25,000 Membership Rewards points for the Platinum Edge October 2, 2011: Amex have bumped up the bonus Membership Rewards points available on sign-up for the Platinum Edge, Platinum Reserve, and original Platinum cards to 25,000, 35,000 and 80,000 points respectively. The best increase, proportionally, is on the Platinum Edge which gains 10,000 additional MR points – the Reserve and the Platinum increases by only 5,000. The [...] Read more – ‘New, larger signup offers for the American Express Platinum Card Range, including 25,000 Membership Rewards points for the Platinum Edge’.
Earning Etihad Guest miles in Australia (without flying) September 27, 2011: Some of the rationale for writing on this site is to act as a bookmark for certain information, tips & tricks that I’d like to save for myself for the future. The benefit of publishing publicly online means that if anyone else gives a crap then they might find it too. This post falls firmly [...] Read more – ‘Earning Etihad Guest miles in Australia (without flying)’.
50% Discount on Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Redemptions September 26, 2011: Hot off the twitter presses, Singapore Airlines are offering a 50% discount (in points) on specific flight redemptions across their route network in both Economy and Business class. I’ll take a look at some of the specific opportunities tomorrow, but for now you can start research for yourself by checking out the targeted routes and [...] Read more – ‘50% Discount on Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Redemptions’.
Holiday Inn Atrium Singapore – King Superior Room Review September 23, 2011: We needed an extra night in Singapore on top of my initial booking with the InterContinental, thanks to award availability changing on me during the booking process. By the time I got around to sorting the extra night, the IC was too expensive, and I reverted back to the Holiday Inn, which was booked via [...] Read more – ‘Holiday Inn Atrium Singapore – King Superior Room Review’.
Addition of Hilton HHonors & Priority Club to the Credit Card Transfer Calculator September 21, 2011: I’ve spent the last couple of days fine tuning the reward program transfer calculator. I’ve added in Priority Club and HHonors intermediary transfer options for transfers out of Membership Rewards, so if you need to move some points into an overseas program it’s clear how many points you’ll end up with at the end of [...] Read more – ‘Addition of Hilton HHonors & Priority Club to the Credit Card Transfer Calculator’.
This week’s challenge – the US Airways Grand Slam promotion September 19, 2011: I’d previously been ignoring the Grand Slam promotion from US Airways, but a recent post from View from the Wing spurred me into action – and I figure it could be an easy and cheap way to add to my US balance with minimal effort and cost. The full rules of the promo are here. [...] Read more – ‘This week’s challenge – the US Airways Grand Slam promotion’.
New points calculators September 12, 2011: Over the past couple of weeks I’ve quietly been working on a handful of pretty helpful (and fairly hefty) new resources for Point Hacks – a suite of new calculators relating to valuing and using points. The concept and inspiration for them was pretty straightforward. I kept referring to some Excel spreadsheets to: Work out [...] Read more – ‘New points calculators’.
JetQuay VIP arrival, lounge & transfer service review – Singapore Changi Airport September 3, 2011: I learnt about the JetQuay VIP arrival and transfer service at Changi from Gary Leff’s JetQuay review, and given we would be arriving with bags, infant and long flight behind us, I figured I’d give it a crack. I emailed the InterContinental after making my booking to double check on the price and arrangements – [...] Read more – ‘JetQuay VIP arrival, lounge & transfer service review – Singapore Changi Airport’.
Virgin Australia offering a 20% bonus on Credit Card program transfers to Velocity Frequent Flyer September 1, 2011: Another day, more news from Virgin, this time offering a 20% bonus on transfers from most credit card programs into Velocity points. Banks/Card Programs included are… American Express Membership Rewards Commonwealth Bank Westpac Altitude St George ANZ Rewards BankSA Bank of Melbourne Citirewards is notably missing. A 20% bonus isn’t enough to make me transfer [...] Read more – ‘Virgin Australia offering a 20% bonus on Credit Card program transfers to Velocity Frequent Flyer’.
Everyday Rewards offering free Qantas points if you threaten to close your Everyday Qantas credit card account August 31, 2011: I’m consolidating my various lines of credit at the minute, and unfortunately for Woolworths my Everyday Rewards Qantas Card didn’t make the cut. It’s a great value card with some good signup bonuses for new customers, but the annual fee was due soon and I’m concentrating my spending elsewhere. On calling and asking to close [...] Read more – ‘Everyday Rewards offering free Qantas points if you threaten to close your Everyday Qantas credit card account’.
Virgin Australia Velocity announcements – program revamp including new tiers; status match scheme; great extra benefits and bonuses August 25, 2011: Now we’ve got a serious fight on our hands – today’s announcements from Virgin Australia significantly enhance the Velocity Program, giving Australian Frequent Flyers and point collectors a real alternative to the once-mighty Qantas. Virgin Australia announced today the following major enhancements to the Velocity Program, the most noteworthy to point redeemers and hunters are… [...] Read more – ‘Virgin Australia Velocity announcements – program revamp including new tiers; status match scheme; great extra benefits and bonuses’.
Maximising your Membership Rewards haul & value from your Amex Platinum Edge: It’s no secret around these parts – I’m a big fan of the Amex Platinum Edge Card for a few reasons. Good earn rate on everyday spend, bonus rate in supermarkets; free return domestic economy flight, decent signup bonuns, tolerable annual fee… it’s all pretty attractive. There are a few ways you can really get [...] Read more – ‘Maximising your Membership Rewards haul & value from your Amex Platinum Edge’.
QF6 Frankfurt – Singapore in Qantas Business Class – Upper Deck 747 August 24, 2011: Research & Booking Getting back over to Asia and onto Australia from Europe was only possible in Business on points by departing from Frankfurt on QF6. QF5 (to Frankfurt) and QF6 (from Frankfurt) is Qantas’ last non-London European beachhead, and operates daily – departing Frankfurt in the late evening, and one of the first Qantas [...] Read more – ‘QF6 Frankfurt – Singapore in Qantas Business Class – Upper Deck 747’.
JAL Sakura Lounge, Frankfurt – Review August 23, 2011: After arriving into Frankfurt from London on BA in the early evening, we set about whiling away a few hours until the 23.50 departure to Singapore. We headed over to the JAL Sakura lounge which was just a few minutes walk from our arrival gate. It turned out the lounge was also well located for [...] Read more – ‘JAL Sakura Lounge, Frankfurt – Review’.
30% bonus on purchase of BA Miles August 22, 2011: British Airways have kicked off a new campaign – up to 30% bonus on the purchase of BA Miles until 5th September. The bonus is structured as follows: It’s not enough of a bonus haul to warrant buying miles outright for a redemption, but if you’re looking to make a BA redemption and need some [...] Read more – ‘30% bonus on purchase of BA Miles’.
Priority Privilege – check discounted room rates on priorityclub.com without PP membership August 19, 2011: Priority Privilege is a (paid) membership scheme operating in the South Pacific and SE Asia which offers a bunch of discounts for stays and other benefits in InterContinental Group hotels across the region. I’ve covered the benefits briefly over here. The PP website allows members to research availability through use of a country/city based form [...] Read more – ‘Priority Privilege – check discounted room rates on priorityclub.com without PP membership’.
20% bonus on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club transfers from Amex Membership Rewards August 18, 2011: Amex are currently offering a 20% sweetener on MR transfers to Virgin Atlantic Flying club – until the 9th October. A relatively unpublicised recent promotion, I can’t find an offer page outlining this yet, but was assured by Amex over the phone that it’s active until then. There’s a promo on the homepage of the [...] Read more – ‘20% bonus on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club transfers from Amex Membership Rewards’.
Citibank CitiRewards scheme – the card range; bonus & transfer partners; and is CitiRewards for you?: For the next post in the series, I’ll be taking a look at Citibank’s Citirewards (CR) credit card points scheme. In Australia, it’s the scheme with the most transfer and bonus partners after American Express’ Membership Rewards, and Citibank have been offering some pretty hefty signup bonuses recently. You’ll end up with a Citi card [...] Read more – ‘Citibank CitiRewards scheme – the card range; bonus & transfer partners; and is CitiRewards for you?’.
Qantas’ latest ‘new spirit’ announcements & their impact on your frequent flying opportunities August 16, 2011: This morning Qantas announced a raft of changes to their business, phased in over the next two years. I’ll dig into them and give you my opinion from a points redemption perspective, and what they mean for those looking to maximise the value of their Qantas point balances. New opportunities to Europe on Malaysian Airlines [...] Read more – ‘Qantas’ latest ‘new spirit’ announcements & their impact on your frequent flying opportunities’.
10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points with American Express foreign money transfer August 15, 2011: American Express FX International Payments are offering Amex Membership Rewards cardholders 10,000 bonus points with their first international money transfer, if made by August 31st. You’ll need a bank account overseas to send money to in order to take advantage. Their transaction and forex rates are actually quite good, so it’s worth considering the service [...] Read more – ‘10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points with American Express foreign money transfer’.
ANZ Platinum Amex/Visa – 32,000 point signup bonus, $295 annual fee: Now this offer personally doesn’t interest me as it’s a little below my value threshold for points. It’s a decent size signup bonus, but a hefty annual fee for the latest offer from ANZ – offering 32,000 bonus points off a $295 annual fee for their Platinum Qantas cards. The bonus is awarded on approval, [...] Read more – ‘ANZ Platinum Amex/Visa – 32,000 point signup bonus, $295 annual fee’.
InterContinental Sydney – King Harbour View room review August 13, 2011: Research & Booking I wanted to book a night at a hotel in the CBD for an easy city stay after a meal out at Rockpool Bar & Grill. The InterContinental on Phillip, Macquarie and Bridge Streets fit the bill, given the proximity to the restaurant and my IC Ambassador and Priority Privilege memberships, and [...] Read more – ‘InterContinental Sydney – King Harbour View room review’.
InterContinental Ambassador Membership Kit August 11, 2011: I’ve been receiving a few membership renewal or welcome packs in the post recently, and nothing makes you feel ‘welcome’ into a loyalty program like a bit of membership paraphenalia… it’s like you’ve finally arrived. And then generally about 2 minutes after you’ve opened it that feeling disappears, but it was nice while it lasted! [...] Read more – ‘InterContinental Ambassador Membership Kit’.
CitiBusiness Gold Visa – massive 40,000 point signup bonus August 10, 2011: I was just digging around the Citibank website, and came across the following gem of an offer on the Citibusiness Gold Visa – 40,000 bonus Citirewards point for new signups for a $149 annual fee. Normally CitiRewards point aren’t transferable over to Qantas, but that’s not the case with the CitiBusiness card, which for some [...] Read more – ‘CitiBusiness Gold Visa – massive 40,000 point signup bonus’.
The US Airways 100% bonus miles promotion is back… August 9, 2011: Another lucrative US Airways miles promotion landed overnight – again a 100% bonus on buying miles, but this time in increments of 10,000 miles, to 50,000 (for a bonus of 50,000). So buy 10,000, get another 10,000 as a bonus – and so on. This is equally as appealing as the last one back in [...] Read more – ‘The US Airways 100% bonus miles promotion is back…’.
Living Social offering discounts on British Airways flights to Europe August 7, 2011: livingsocial, one the new crop of ‘group buying’ discount sites has partnered with British Airways to offer some significant discounts to travellers departing from Australia, and buying a ticket with BA. For only $49, you get $250 off any Economy or $500 off any Premium Economy return British Airways operated flight from Sydney to Europe, [...] Read more – ‘Living Social offering discounts on British Airways flights to Europe’.
CX110 Sydney – Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Business Class Mini Review August 5, 2011: Ever since I can remember, I’ve gotten super-tense for early morning departures of any kind. It’s something I’m slowly getting better at, but this morning was no different – I reckon I was operating on 3 hours sleep, max, after leaving the house at about 5am to be at SYD by around 5.30, for a [...] Read more – ‘CX110 Sydney – Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Business Class Mini Review’.
50% discount on British Airways miles redemptions for the next 10 days August 4, 2011: British Airways this morning released a 50% sale on miles redemption bookings (login required) – so there are some excellent bargains to be had if you are planning to travel on a BA operated route out of Australia, and you have a stash of BA miles. BA miles can be a little hard to get [...] Read more – ‘50% discount on British Airways miles redemptions for the next 10 days’.
American Express Membership Rewards Scheme in Australia – the card range; bonus & transfer partners; and is Membership Rewards for you? August 3, 2011: I’ll start off with Membership Rewards (MR from here on out) as it’s the credit card points program by far with the highest earning potential and the most transfer partners, and therefore is probably the most work for me to summarise. I figured I’d better get it out the way early! Why choose Membership Rewards [...] Read more – ‘American Express Membership Rewards Scheme in Australia – the card range; bonus & transfer partners; and is Membership Rewards for you?’.
Introduction – Summarising Credit Card points earning & transfer options available in Australia July 27, 2011: I’m kicking off a new series outlining how you can earn points into the major loyalty programs in Australia. It seems the market here is cursed to never be offered the huge, lucrative signup bonuses that occur in the USA where the credit card market is much more competitive, and sign up bonuses are often [...] Read more – ‘Introduction – Summarising Credit Card points earning & transfer options available in Australia’.
InterContinental Adelaide – $149/night for 24 hours: An email from Priority Club just landed in my inbox, offering $149 King Superior rooms at the IC Adelaide for booking within the next 24 hours. Normally rooms start at around $240, so this isn’t a bad deal if you’re considering a stay in Adelaide between now and the end of September… should be good [...] Read more – ‘InterContinental Adelaide – $149/night for 24 hours’.
To Hong Kong – Pre-Departure Dramas & a review of The Cranky Concierge July 18, 2011: Trip Research and Booking Last year I planned a brief trip to visit a friend in Hong Kong for a few days. I had collected around 13,000 miles from travel back from 2001/2002 (!) on Continental which had been sitting in an account for 8 years – it’s actually amazing they didn’t expire. Combined with [...] Read more – ‘To Hong Kong – Pre-Departure Dramas & a review of The Cranky Concierge’.
London – Frankfurt (LHR-FRA) on BA914 – British Airways Club Europe & Heathrow T5 Galleries Lounge July 13, 2011: Booking I couldn’t get award availability out of London to Singapore for two of us in Business, so needed a connecting flight to Frankfurt to pick up Qantas’ other European service, QF6 to Sydney (via Singapore). Both our tickets were originally booked in Economy – one a BA points award and one a paid booking [...] Read more – ‘London – Frankfurt (LHR-FRA) on BA914 – British Airways Club Europe & Heathrow T5 Galleries Lounge’.
Bankwest More Platinum MasterCard – 22,500 bonus Qantas points July 11, 2011: Bankwest recently updated their More Rewards scheme to include a direct sweep option to Qantas – for the usual additional extra fee, though at $30 this compares very favourably to other rewards schemes, usually around the $50 mark. Alongside, Bankwest are also offering triple signup points to new customers in their promotional period (until August [...] Read more – ‘Bankwest More Platinum MasterCard – 22,500 bonus Qantas points’.
Qantas Holidays offering 10,000 bonus points on Hawaii packages July 5, 2011: This month’s promotion from Qantas Holidays is a relatively unappealing 10,000 points on a Hawaii package, for travel until 31st March next year. Given that flights to Hawaii on Qantas are never that cheap and you’ll have to combine your flight and hotel booking – possibly missing out on hotel deals or points as you’re [...] Read more – ‘Qantas Holidays offering 10,000 bonus points on Hawaii packages’.
London City Crowne Plaza – Executive Club Room Review July 4, 2011: Research & Booking Before heading out of the UK we were due to spend a couple of nights in London catching up with some friends and enjoying the city we lived in a few years back. I was looking for a central, but not too obvious location that would be close to either Victoria or [...] Read more – ‘London City Crowne Plaza – Executive Club Room Review’.
Virgin Australia’s new Velocity American Express credit card offerings July 1, 2011: I haven’t covered the new Virgin Australia American Express card offering yet, and it’s probably about time I did. I’ll start at the top, so to speak, with their Velocity Platinum Card. I don’t have much traction in Velocity, having directed my efforts at Qantas earn and burn in recent years, so I haven’t calculated [...] Read more – ‘Virgin Australia’s new Velocity American Express credit card offerings’.
London Heathrow Hilton Terminal 4 – Standard Room review June 30, 2011: Research & Booking We needed a brief overnight stay after landing at Heathrow on BA178, and the Sofitel at T5 was too expensive. I wanted a hotel that was as close to the airport as possible as we were connecting onto a BA flight to Glasgow the next morning, and wanted to minimise any transfer [...] Read more – ‘London Heathrow Hilton Terminal 4 – Standard Room review’.
Booked! To New Zealand on Air NZ in Business June 29, 2011: Well, I went for it : ) helped me think it through, and the plan all made sense – so I bought and confirmed my Air New Zealand itinerary for early next year. I’ll be heading to Webstock – my favourite web conference, ever – in Wellington, via Auckland. The routing looks like this - [...] Read more – ‘Booked! To New Zealand on Air NZ in Business’.
Discounted Qantas Club membership until end of FY11 June 28, 2011: Qantas are offering a significant discount on Qantas Club memberships for the next 72 hours – for example, a one year membership is discounted by $410 to $470. A good deal if you anticipate flying on Qantas, BA or American a lot over the next year (they all offer Qantas Club members lounge access), and [...] Read more – ‘Discounted Qantas Club membership until end of FY11’.
Sydney-Auckland in Air New Zealand Business Class for less than economy?: Here’s a sweet, first-world dilemna. You know a couple of weeks back I posted about the US Airways 100% bonus miles promotion? Well, I said at the time that, while I was strongly considering it, but I wouldn’t jump on the offer. I think I may have changed my mind. I just put on hold [...] Read more – ‘Sydney-Auckland in Air New Zealand Business Class for less than economy?’.
New York JFK – London LHR – BA178 in Club World (Business Class) June 22, 2011: Our experience on BA was actually pretty bad, given how great Qantas were for the rest of our journey. I’ll come to that in due course, but first, a few notes on how this was booked. BA charge 50,000 miles for a one way Club fare between the North America and the UK. Redeeming for [...] Read more – ‘New York JFK – London LHR – BA178 in Club World (Business Class)’.
InterContinental The Barclay New York – Executive Room Review June 14, 2011: As part of my round the world trip we had around a week in New York, visiting friends and family. When we first arrived I was keen to stay in a full service hotel with everything taken care of; after a couple of nights we’d then move into an apartment rental for the rest of [...] Read more – ‘InterContinental The Barclay New York – Executive Room Review’.
Discounted Star Alliance awards with US Airways buying bonus June 9, 2011: I wouldn’t normally post about a US airline offer, but this one is going to be tough to pass up, especially given the excellent Australian Dollar exchange rate at the minute. US Airways is offering a straight up 100% bonus on buying miles for their Dividend Miles program until June 30th, up to a total [...] Read more – ‘Discounted Star Alliance awards with US Airways buying bonus’.
5000 Bonus Qantas Points for Flight & Hotel Bookings to Melbourne or Tasmania: Qantas Holidays are back at it again with another bonus point offer – this time 5000 points for packages (flight and hotel) to either Melbourne or Tasmania. As always, not worth going out of your way for, but if you’re considering booking a trip anyway, might be enough to sway you to package it up [...] Read more – ‘5000 Bonus Qantas Points for Flight & Hotel Bookings to Melbourne or Tasmania’.
Malaysian to join oneworld; Enrich signup bonus; earn points on Virgin Australia into a future oneworld program June 7, 2011: Wow, long post title that, but there’s a little bit to cover. First up, Malaysian Airlines announced yesterday their intention to join the oneworld alliance sometime in late 2012 – good news for oneworld FFP members, as Malaysian’s product is well regarded – they even have a proper First cabin, adding an additional First Class [...] Read more – ‘Malaysian to join oneworld; Enrich signup bonus; earn points on Virgin Australia into a future oneworld program’.
New Priority Club Guide for Australia and NZ June 6, 2011: I’ve just written up my first revision of a guide on I’m planning that these will get fleshed out over time, so if I’ve missed anything that needs to be included in this please do let me know by way of a comment and I’ll update accordingly. I’ll be adding more of these introductory pieces [...] Read more – ‘New Priority Club Guide for Australia and NZ’.
How to earn Priority Club points and discounts in Australia, NZ, and Asia: While it has it’s downsides, the InterContinental hotel chain and Priority Club reward scheme is one of the most ‘hackable’ for points and discounts in Australia, thanks to it’s wide selection of hotels throughout the region. If I was living in the US my choice might be different for a number of reasons – for [...] Read more – ‘How to earn Priority Club points and discounts in Australia, NZ, and Asia’.
30,000 Bonus Qantas Points – Amex Ultimate Card May 30, 2011: I’ve been the owner of a negotiated no-fee Qantas Classic American Express for the past few years and while I’ve kept an eye on the various sign-up offers available, I’ve never been convinced to take the plunge. The Classic card has recently been replaced in favour of the new no-fee Discovery card; both have/had a [...] Read more – ‘30,000 Bonus Qantas Points – Amex Ultimate Card’.
Citibank Platinum – 60,000 (!) Bonus Points, 1/2 Annual Fee May 9, 2011: I’ve been keeping an eye on Citibank’s Platinum offers for a little while now – it’s not a cheap card at $249, but Citibank have been increasing their sign up bonuses and recently hit a 50k signup bonus. Not too bad for the annual fee, given that the card offers a bunch of benefits like [...] Read more – ‘Citibank Platinum – 60,000 (!) Bonus Points, 1/2 Annual Fee’.
Sydney – New York via Los Angeles – QF11 & QF107; Qantas Premium Economy & Business Class May 7, 2011: The first and second legs on our around the world trip were from Sydney to New York, via a 23 hour stopover at LAX. Qantas treated us admirably in Premium Economy, and we scored an Economy -> Business points upgrade about 22 hours prior to departure for LAX-JFK – win! Full review and more pictures [...] Read more – ‘Sydney – New York via Los Angeles – QF11 & QF107; Qantas Premium Economy & Business Class’.
16,000 Qantas Bonus Points – Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard May 5, 2011: The Woolworths Qantas card is new-ish on the market – it’s been around about 6 months. Initially they offered it with a 16,000 Qantas point signup bonus (which I jumped on), but this was reduced to 10k and 12k in recent months. Still not bad for the $89 annual fee. The 16k bonus is back [...] Read more – ‘16,000 Qantas Bonus Points – Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard’.
Introduction – Around the World in Premium & Business Class – April 2011 May 4, 2011: The lack of updates around here has been because I’ve just returned from a round the world trip in Business and Premium Economy, for roughly the cost of an Economy ticket – by using BA and Qantas points. I was traveling with my partner and our 4 month daughter, and was determined to not have [...] Read more – ‘Introduction – Around the World in Premium & Business Class – April 2011’.
10,000 Qantas Point Bonus for Hong Kong Holidays May 3, 2011: Qantas Holidays are rolling out their 10,000 bonus point offer again, this time for packages (Qantas flight plus hotel) to Hong Kong. If you’re already considering a break to HKG and their package price is within $50-$75 of what you were intending to pay for a hotel and flight, then it’s probably worth picking up [...] Read more – ‘10,000 Qantas Point Bonus for Hong Kong Holidays’.
How to redeem Etihad Miles for Business Class May 2, 2011: Etihad has a bunch of quirks in it’s online redemption search system, as well as some not so obvious processes to get through if you’re used to using more usable systems, for example compared to Qantas. I thought it might be useful to look into some of the hurdles to redeem these miles, as they’re [...] Read more – ‘How to redeem Etihad Miles for Business Class’.
The Value of Travel Insurance April 29, 2011: I’ve just returned from a month long round the world trip, which I’m writing up for the site at the minute, and hope to have up very soon. In the meantime, a quick cautionary tale… Travel Insurance is one of things that often gets put off until you’re at the airport, or until a few [...] Read more – ‘The Value of Travel Insurance’.
Sydney – Frankfurt in Qantas Business Class on Points March 11, 2011: Given that this site has been set up to talk about how to best accrue frequent flyer points I figured I might as well cross-post this write up from my personal blog of my experience last year of flying from Sydney to Frankfurt in Qantas Business Class which was booked using 128,000 Qantas points. Enjoy [...] Read more – ‘Sydney – Frankfurt in Qantas Business Class on Points’.
Etihad Guest – 25% discount on redemptions: Fresh out of my inbox this morning, the Etihad Guest program is offering 25% discount on redemptions to any destination, in any cabin from March 9th to May 31st. Points must be redeemed and travel taken during this period. Interestingly, this discount also applies to upgrades, so 25% off upgrades as well. Not a bad [...] Read more – ‘Etihad Guest – 25% discount on redemptions’.
100 to 1 million AAdvantage Miles with AA’s Mystery Miles Facebook Promotion March 8, 2011: American Airlines AAdvantage is currently running a promotion on their Facebook Page where, by following a couple of instructions, you can claim something between 100 and 1 million miles. I (typically) only received 100, but quite a few people over on AFF are reporting getting 1000 so it’s worth the 10 seconds it takes to [...] Read more – ‘100 to 1 million AAdvantage Miles with AA’s Mystery Miles Facebook Promotion’.
100 free Starwood (SPG) points: The Starwood (SPG) loyalty program is offering 100 free SPG points for anyone registering to take part in Earth Hour 2011. Simple, easy. Do it (and the pledge). via View from the Wing Read more – ‘100 free Starwood (SPG) points’.
Highest Qantas Points earning Visa/Mastercard – Citibank Gold Business March 4, 2011: The CitiBank Gold Business Visa card is a bit of an unknown gem, earning 1.25 points per AU $ – more than any other non-expensive AMEX on the market. n addition, Citi also gives you 4 bonus points/$ at selected partners bringing in 5 points/$. Pretty enticing if you’re a regular shopper at any of [...] Read more – ‘Highest Qantas Points earning Visa/Mastercard – Citibank Gold Business’.
10,000 point bonus for Qantas Flights and Hotel Packages to the USA: Any USA flight and accommodation combo booked through Qantas holidays (excluding Hawaii) can earn 10,000 bonus points until 27 March, for travel 1 April to 30 June 2011. As always, this is only a decent offer if you’re already planning a USA trip on Qantas – I wouldn’t change my plans, make new ones or [...] Read more – ‘10,000 point bonus for Qantas Flights and Hotel Packages to the USA’.
5000 point bonus for Qantas Flight and Accommodation packages to the Northern Territory: Qantas Holidays are offering 5000 bonus points on packages to the Northern Territory, This is only a decent offer if you’re already planning an NT trip – I wouldn’t change my plans, make new ones or incur additional expense to gain the bonus. Valid until 31st March, for Travel 1st March to 30th September. More [...] Read more – ‘5000 point bonus for Qantas Flight and Accommodation packages to the Northern Territory’.
10,000 ‘Free’ Qantas Points with the Qantas American Express Discovery Card March 3, 2011: The Qantas Amex product range often has decent signup bonus offers in place that help offset the annual fee for the card. The newest Qantas Amex is a no frills card, and comes with no benefits other than 1 QFF point/$ spent – but also no annual fee, so effectively the current 10k Qantas signup [...] Read more – ‘10,000 ‘Free’ Qantas Points with the Qantas American Express Discovery Card’.

Point Hacks - The best frequent flyer deals, bonuses and ways to use your points in Australia