A guide to the types of offers that can earn points; & what is a ‘Point Hack’?

The world of frequent flyer points can be pretty confusing at the best of times. However, this series of introductory guides is here to help.

You’re at step 1 – a guide to the types of offers that can earn points and an explanation of a ‘Point Hack’ – a term coined to explain a particularly neat way to earn a bunch of points or miles at minimal cost.

Frequent flyer (or hotel stayer) point/miles earning offers can be broadly broken up into the following categories:

Free points (time or info trade-offs)
Bonus points from credit cards
Bonus points from specific spend – airlines, hotels, travel and program partners
‘Point Hacks’

Any offer has to be weighed up appropriately to your circumstances – you’ll need to assess your own personal value of points and compare that to the points offer available. Be realistic – don’t take up an offer if your value of the points is less than their cost.

Free Points

There’s generally no such thing as ‘free’ points. Ultimately airlines and hotels have to assign a value to points for accounting reasons- they can either sell them to their partners, such as credit cards or hotels, or give them to you for your loyalty, time or personal details. The latter two- your time and/or personal details are where free point offers come in.

An airline, hotel chain or program partner might want to increase their customer database or social media reach. They often give small rewards for participating in surveys or similar promotions, in which you trade your time and/or your personal information for a small reward. If you have no issues with giving your details, or using your time in this way, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t take up these offers.

Credit Card Bonus Points

Credit Card companies are always fighting for new customers. There’s no simpler way for them to entice them by offering sign up bonuses. The trade-off is the cost of the annual fee and the mark on your credit card record.

The value of card bonus point offers is simple to calculate – to work out the cost per point, simply divide the annual fee for the card by the number of bonus points. Then compare this to your own personal valuation of those points, and decide if the deal is worth it.

Travel and partner bonus points

These are generally offered when you make a booking meeting specific criteria within a set timeframe. Generally these offers are only worthwhile if the booking was being made anyway – it’s not like you should book an overseas trip just to gain a few thousand points.

You should also weigh up the cost of booking through the bonus points provider against the same travel ‘product’, e.g. the same hotel and flight booked through the normal low cost travel providers or your usual travel agent.

This category also includes bonus points from partners, such as restaurants/dining, and shopping.

Generally, there aren’t too many great simple bonus deals to be had in this category – but never say never. I try to list the most appealing offers I find.

Point Hacks

This is where things get interesting! My definition of a “Point Hack” is where you’re able to use a standard offer in a creative way to generate a larger than expected points bounty. This might be by combining bonus partners or offers, or simply by noticing a creative loophole in the bonus offer terms.

Acquiring points may require financial outlay, but as outlined above, by setting your own $$ value of a point it becomes simpler to calculate if a deal or hack is worth taking up.

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