Our pets are undoubtedly a source of great love and affection, making it worth all the money spent on their care and comfort. But there’s no reason why you can’t sweeten this deal further by also earning a decent amount of frequent flyer points on their upkeep.

Here is our round-up of some accessible ways to boost your balance with the expenses you might normally pay for your pet anyway.

1. Pet sitting

Best described as an ‘Airbnb for pets,’ Mad Paws connects you with locals who can take care of your pet if you’re out of town. Other services include dog walking, animal grooming, and pet training.

You’ll earn 500 Qantas Points for your first Mad Paws booking made via the Qantas website, then one Qantas Point per $1 spent on each subsequent booking.

Mad Paws pet sitting Qantas
Earn Qantas Points when you book Mad Paws services via the Qantas website.

Bonus tip: You can become a pet sitter with TrustedHousesitters. While you won’t earn any points, you can nab some free accommodation during your travels just for taking care of pets.

Learn more: How I travelled Europe for six months, almost for free, thanks to points and TrustedHousesitters →

2. Insurance for your pets

Medibank Pet Insurance partners with Velocity, offering a lump sump of bonus points after you hold an eligible policy for a set period. We’ve seen offers of 8,000 Velocity Points for holding a policy for 90 days, and up to a 15,000-point bonus after holding a policy for 11 months. Offers can change or be withdrawn at any time, so check the Velocity Frequent Flyer website for the latest deals.

There are three types of pet insurance policies, offering varying levels of coverage to suit your needs. If you currently hold a Medibank Health Insurance Policy, you’ll receive a 10% discount on your premiums with Medibank Pet Insurance. And Velocity members who take out a pet insurance policy can also enjoy a 5% discount on subsequent policies – so all your furry family members are covered.

Another option is Woolworths’ Everyday Pet Insurance. Although a less lucrative offer, you can pocket 200 Everyday Rewards points when you request a free pet insurance quote online. You can do this once every 90 days to receive another 200 points. Unfortunately, you won’t earn any additional points for taking out a policy.

As with all insurance products, ensure you check the product disclosure statement (PDS) to see if the cover is right for you and your pet. We recommend comparing other policies on the market and prioritising cash savings over earning points.

Medibank Pet insurance Velocity partner
As a Velocity partner, Medibank often awards a lump sum of bonus Velocity Points on eligible pet insurance policies.

3. Earning points through Qantas Shopping

Qantas Shopping is an online mall that allows you to earn Qantas Points at hundreds of online retailers, including Petbarn, Petstock, PetPost and Pet Circle. You’ll also find retailers like Catch and eBay there, offering a variety of goods, including pet products.

You’ll earn at least one Qantas Point per $1 spent, excluding GST and delivery charges, when shopping at any of the retailers above via the Qantas Shopping portal. Allow up to 90 days for the points to credit to you account.

Qantas Shopping also runs regular bonus point offers, where you can earn up to five Qantas Points per dollar—sometimes more!

Qantas Shopping Petstock bonus points offer
Earn at least one Qantas Point per $1 when shopping via Qantas Shopping, and keep an eye out for bonus point offers like the example above.
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4. Earning points through Velocity eStore

Like Qantas Shopping, Velocity eStore is an online portal where you can click through to your favourite retailers and earn Velocity Points with popular pet stores like Petstock, Petbarn, Pet Circle and Lyka Pet Food found here.

All these pet stores offer a generous base earn of two Velocity Points per $1 spent, excluding GST and delivery fees. Velocity Points will usually land in your account within 30 days.

To maximise your rewards, it’s worth comparing the points offers across Qantas Shopping and Velocity eStore, as Velocity eStore often offers bonus offers as well.

Velocity eStore Lyka Pet Food
Pocket Velocity Points when shopping via the Velocity eStore portal.

5. Earning points through Petstock Rewards

Petstock has its own loyalty program, Petstock Rewards, which partners with the Everyday Rewards program. If you’re a member of both programs, you can double-dip on rewards when shopping directly with Petstock.

When you shop for select products and brands at Petstock, you’ll earn 15% ‘Brand Cash’ through Petstock Rewards. Brand Cash can be redeemed for savings on future purchases. You’ll also earn one Everyday Rewards point per $1 spent on all products online and in-store.

To maximise your rewards, you’ll need to join both programs and follow the Petstock website instructions to link your accounts.

Everyday Rewards points convert to Qantas Points at a 2:1 rate, so this could be a good way to give your Qantas Points balance a boost without flying.

Petstock and Everyday Rewards partnership
Double-dip on rewards when shopping at Petstock, thanks to its partnership with the Everyday Rewards program.

6. Supermarket gift card offers

Coles and Woolworths regularly run gift card promotions. A popular one for points collectors is the 20x bonus points offer, where you’ll earn 20x extra Flybuys or Everyday Rewards points on the gift card’s value. You don’t normally earn any points when purchasing gift cards at supermarkets, so this is a great offer to keep an eye out for!

Flybuys points convert to Velocity Points at a 2:1 rate, where you’ll receive 500 Velocity Points for every 1,000 Flybuys points. It’s similar to Everyday Rewards and Qantas, where you’ll net 1,000 Qantas Points when you transfer 2,000 Everyday Rewards points.

The type of gift cards and offers change weekly. But you’ll periodically find bonus point offers on gift cards that can be redeemed at Petstock, as well as retailers like Howards Storage World, Supercheap Auto, TK Maxx, Typo, and others that carry a selection of pet accessories.

We regularly post the latest Flybuys promotions and Everyday Rewards promotions.

Or, learn more about supermarket gift cards: Case Study: How I easily earned 10,000 bonus points with gift cards →

Purchasing gift cards during a bonus points promotion could earn you thousands of points.

7. For everything else, use a rewards credit card

If your preferred vet, insurance or pet products do not partner with a frequent flyer program, at least make the most of your expenses by using a points-earning credit card.

You could even double-dip by paying for some of the products and services above using a credit card that earns frequent flyer points. Or, in the case of the Petstock and Everyday Rewards partnership, you’d be earning three times the rewards!

Credit cards like the NAB Rewards Platinum offer bonus points at eligible grocery stores, which are useful for your regular top-up of pet food or kitty litter.

Take advantage of our credit card sign-up bonus below and earn a stash of points towards your next getaway.

Summing Up

While you probably will not earn bucketloads of frequent flyer points just from your pet’s expenses, in the long run, every point you earn counts. Those small actions add up and could be the difference between getting a First Class or Business Class reward seat to your dream destination!

When shopping for products like pet accessories, toys, or food, it’s best to go with the cheapest option. Earning points from your shop is a nice bonus.

Similarly, when it comes to insurance and services, we recommend shopping around for prices to ensure you’re not overpaying just to earn points.

This article was originally written by Evin Tan Khiew. Featured image: Alvan Nee, Unsplash.


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How to earn frequent flyer points from your pet expenses was last modified: October 8th, 2024 by Victoria Kyriakopoulos