Qantas Frequent Flyer
- How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 2, Star Alliance, Etihad & Virgin Australia/Atlantic redemptions
- 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’.
- How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 1, oneworld redemptions
- 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’.
- Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard – 20,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $89 annual fee
- 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’.
- QantasLink relaunches Sydney – Mount Hotham route for Winter 2012, sale fares and award availability loaded
- 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’.
- Membership Rewards transfer rate bonuses for March; and SPG goes 2MR:1SPG
- 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’.
- Jetstar Platinum Mastercard – 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, no annual fee
- 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’.
- 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’.
- Free Qantas Frequent Flyer membership sign-up links
- 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’.
- Qantas First Class Lounge, Sydney – pre-QF127 review
- 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
- 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’.
- Trying out Qantas Domestic Business – QF444 Melbourne to Sydney Review
- 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’.
- Sydney to New York (via Auckland) – QF141, QF25 and QF107 Qantas Business Class review
- 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’.
- Fancy trying out the 787 using your Qantas points? Here’s how…
- 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
- 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
- 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’.
- Qantas QF2117 Coffs Harbour to Sydney – Dash 8 Q400 review
- 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
- 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!
- 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!’.
- Car rental points earning summary; or ‘which frequent flyer program should I credit my car rental to for the most points?’
- 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 Westpac Earth signup bonuses – 16,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $75 annual fee
- 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’.
- Everyday Rewards offering free Qantas points if you threaten to close your Everyday Qantas credit card account
- 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’.
- QF6 Frankfurt – Singapore in Qantas Business Class – Upper Deck 747
- 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’.
- Qantas’ latest ‘new spirit’ announcements & their impact on your frequent flying opportunities
- 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’.
- CitiBusiness Gold Visa – massive 40,000 point signup bonus
- 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’.
- Bankwest More Platinum MasterCard – 22,500 bonus Qantas points
- 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
- 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’.
- Discounted Qantas Club membership until end of FY11
- 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’.
- 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’.
- 30,000 Bonus Qantas Points – Amex Ultimate Card
- 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
- 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
- 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! Read more – ‘Sydney – New York via Los Angeles – QF11 & QF107; Qantas Premium Economy & Business Class’.
- 16,000 Qantas Bonus Points – Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard
- 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’.
- 10,000 Qantas Point Bonus for Hong Kong Holidays
- 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’.
- Sydney – Frankfurt in Qantas Business Class on Points
- 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’.
- Highest Qantas Points earning Visa/Mastercard – Citibank Gold Business
- 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/$. Pretty enticing if you’re a regular shopper at any of [...] Read more – ‘Highest Qantas Points earning Visa/Mastercard – Citibank Gold Business’.
- 10,000 point bonus for Qantas Flights and Hotel Packages to the USA
- Any USA flight and accommodation combo booked through Qantas holidays (excluding Hawaii) can earn 10,000 bonus points until 27 March, for travel 1 April to 30 June 2011. Read more – ‘10,000 point bonus for Qantas Flights and Hotel Packages to the USA’.
- 5000 point bonus for Qantas Flight and Accommodation packages to the Northern Territory
- Qantas Holidays are offering 5000 bonus points on packages to the Northern Territory, This is only a decent offer if you’re already planning an NT trip – I wouldn’t change my plans, make new ones or incur additional expense to gain the bonus. Read more – ‘5000 point bonus for Qantas Flight and Accommodation packages to the Northern Territory’.
- 10,000 ‘Free’ Qantas Points with the Qantas American Express Discovery Card
- The Qantas Amex product range often has decent signup bonus offers in place that help offset the annual fee for the card. The newest Qantas Amex is a no frills card, and comes with no benefits other than 1 QFF point/$ 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’.