I’ve been trying to up my frequent flyer reward game in 2017. I’m lucky that I get to fly a lot and once won a chunk of 250k points so I’ve enjoyed some awesome redemptions. This year, however, I’ve been paying more attention to the many ways you can earn frequent flyer points without having to take flight.
These tips will relate largely to Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity programmes as they are the major players in Australia and I have decent experience with both. Many of these tactics will apply to other airlines however – just check the programme’s website for specifics.
That being said, these are the easiest ways I’ve come across to earn frequent flyer points without flying.
1. Frequent Flyer Credit Cards
The main way to earn a big chunk of points is through a credit card sign up bonus. These cards do come with some caveats though. Most will require a minimum spend (of around $3k) and they may have monthly fees as well as high interest on what you spend.
I’d recommend only applying for a card if you have a specific redemption in mind (that’s going to make the fees worthwhile) and have funds set aside to pay the card off in full each month. For more info on the best travel rewards cards check out Upgraded Points.
2. Prepaid Cash Cards
A low risk way of earning points on your daily spend is through a prepaid cash card. Both Qantas Cash and Velocity’s Global Wallet offer points on purchases made at home and away.
- Earn 1 point for every $2 you spend on eligible purchases in Australian Dollars
- Earn 1 point for every AU$1 equivalent you spend on eligible purchases in foreign currency
The benefit of these cards is you can lock in your exchange rate before you leave and manage your spending via the app. Plus you may already have one in your wallet. If your frequent flyer membership card has a Visa sign on it you simply need to go online to get it activated.
3. Buying Groceries
If you’re a member of Woolworths Rewards or Coles Flybuys simply link them to your frequent flyer accounts and you can transfer these points into air miles.
4. Buying Clothes
You can also earn points on certain fashion and home purchases. I’ve earned Qantas points in-store with Oroton (2 points per $1) and Virgin Velocity points online with The Iconic (2 points per $1).
I’d have been better off doing my The Iconic shopping via the Qantas store though as they are currently offering 5 points per $1 spend!
5. Travel Insurance
You can also earn points when buying your annual travel insurance. Velocity has a relationship with Cover-More insurance, who I’ve used for the last couple of years. Qantas have a whole range of insurance products via Qantas Assure.
6. Utility Bills
Energy Australia are currently offering a sign up bonus of 20,000 Velocity points if you transfer both your gas and electricity accounts to them.
7. Fuel
Use your Woolworths Rewards card at Caltrex to turn fuel into flights. Fill up at BP for Velocity points – approx 2 points for every litre of fuel.
8. Holidays And Travel
You can earn points on holidays, hotels and car hire you book via the Velocity and Qantas frequent flyer stores. Velocity members also earn points if you take the SkyBus from Melbourne Airport and Qantas will give you points on Airbnb stays.
9. Refer A Friend
From time to time the airlines offer a sign up bonus for members who refer friends. At the moment you can earn 1000 points if you sign up to Velocity Frequent Flyer (it costs nothing and I get a bonus 1000 points too!). Hurry though, this often ends on 30 April 2017.
10. Ask Your Family
Finally, the easiest way to boost your balance is to blag some points from your family members. Some points expire so ask your rellies if they have any going spare to help book your redemption. Qantas will let you transfer a minimum of 5,000 and a maximum of 600,000 points while Velocity let you transfer a minimum of 5,000 Points and a maximum of 100,000 Points. Both let you do this for free.
So where you planning to fly with all your new frequent flyer points?
FYI: This post is not endorsed or sponsored by anyone mentioned in it. It’s based on personal opinion/experience only.
Great read! I keep saying that I want to become more aware of airline miles, and start taking advantage of them more! I think I have several thousand points spread out across 15 different rewards programs right now – not ideal! Time to do some researching, and this post was a great place to start 🙂
Haha I used to be like that but now I’m all about trying to boost my balance. Some airlines – like Virgin and Singapore – allow you to transfer between programmes so def look into combining your balances.
Such a good post, Jayne, thank you! I’ll have to put some of them into practice when I eventually return home 🙂
You can hit the ground running 🙂
Good on you for upping your game in 2017! We shall have to talk because I need to spend all my Virgin Velocity points and the system confuses me so badly!
As a Qantas nerd, going to be a pain and correct you:
– Qantas Cash is aligned with MasterCard, not Visa. 🙂
– Also, it’s good for people to note that with Flybuys, to get frequent flyer points, you need to accumulate and transfer them out of the account, and the only options are the Virgin Velocity and Etihad Guest program. That’s probably the one perk of Woolworth’s partnership, it’s automatic once you set it!
Look forward to hearing how you go with your mission. 🙂
Definitely agree that Woolies automation is easier but Flybuys do run incentives to convince you to transfer points to Velocity so you often end up with a few bonus points.
In terms of redemption you could try the business flat beds to Perth. I’ve just booked this in for May. Think it was about 60k return and there was heaps of availability on the VA site. Otherwise I recommend transferring the points to Krisflyer as there’s far more options for redemptions/upgrades on Singapore flights to Asia.