Our pets are undoubtedly a source of great love and affection, making it worth all the money spent on their care and comfort. There is no reason though 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: earn Qantas points with Mad Paws
Best described as an ‘Airbnb for pets’, Mad Paws connects you with locals who can take care of your pet if you will be away. There are also other services such as dog walking and animal grooming.
You can browse Mad Paws through the Qantas website and earn 500 Qantas Points for your first booking, as well as one point per dollar ongoing.
2) Pet transport
While both Qantas and Virgin Australia can organise transport for your pet on their flights as cargo, Virgin lets your pets actually earn frequent flyer points for travel if they are on the same domestic flight as yourself.
You will get a flat 300 Velocity points per flight for each pet carrier loaded (maximum of two). Elite Velocity members have that boosted to 450 points, 525 points and 600 points for Silver, Gold and Platinum status members respectively.
For unaccompanied pet travel, Jetpets has a tie-up with Virgin Australia that sees you earn three points per dollar spent.
3) Insurance for your pets
The company Pet Insurance is a partner with Velocity, offering three points for every dollar spent on premiums. They have a number of products including puppy cover and discounted policies for indoor cats
(Please note that neither I nor Point Hacks are affiliated with Pet Insurance, and you should check the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) to see if the cover is right for you and your pet.)
4) Earning Points through Qantas Shopping
Qantas Shopping is an online mall that allows you to earn Qantas points at hundreds of online retailers, including online retailer Petbarn.
You will earn three points for every dollar spent at Petbarn online, excluding GST and delivery charges. Allow up to 90 days for the points to credit.
5) Earning Points through Velocity eStore
Velocity eStore is Velocity Frequent Flyer’s online mall, allowing you to earn Velocity points at hundreds of online retailers, including online retailer Petbarn as well as My Pet Warehouse
Petbarn is also on the Velocity eStore but earns a lesser two points per dollar compared to Qantas.
For something different, My Pet Warehouse is also offering two points per dollar. Metro customers can get same-day delivery and there is free general shipping over $49.99 spent which is great considering how heavy big packs of pet food are.
6) For everything else, put it on a decent rewards credit card
If your preferred vet, insurance or pet products do not have special arrangements with Qantas or Velocity, at least make the most of it by using a points-earning credit card.
On the Qantas and Velocity shopping portals, both Petbarn and My Pet Warehouse accept American Express cards.
Check out our credit card guides to see if there is a points-earning card that works for you.
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 and could be the difference between getting a First Class reward seat compared to just Business Class.
With things like pet transport, it is best to go with the established players who have relationships with the airlines, such as Jetpets.
But when it comes to insurance and consumables, I recommend you shop around for prices to ensure you are not overpaying just to earn Qantas or Velocity points, which defeats the purpose of ‘points hacking’.
Feature image courtesy of Jetpets.
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