Genius ways to accrue airline points with last-minute festive shopping
Use your gifting to get a kick-start on your next holiday.
Supercharge your airline points balance this Christmas and earn that next holiday sooner by taking advantage of bonus offers on wine and presents, and using supermarket loyalty points smartly.
Australian Frequent Flyer editor Matt Graham said there are numerous ways you can maximise your airline points during the festive season, including shopping for presents via your favourite airline's online portal.
"You can earn Qantas Points by clicking through to a retailer's online store from the Qantas Online Mall - or Virgin Australia Velocity Points via the Velocity eStore," Mr Graham said.
Want to stock up on wine for your Christmas lunch or New Year celebrations? Consider buying home-delivered wine from the Qantas Wine website at wine.qantas.com/c/browse-products?BonusPoints=1
"The base earn rate is 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent, but you can earn literally tens of thousands of bonus points by buying certain promo cases of wine that have bonus points attached," Mr Graham said.
"For example, last week I bought a $450 case of Australian red wine that came with 25,000 bonus Qantas Points - enough for a flight from Australia to Bali."
Qantas Wine offers an extra 5000 points for first-time users, and Mr Graham said if you order over the phone, "they'll often even throw in a few extra points at no cost if you ask nicely".
Another tip is to elect to convert your Everyday Rewards points at Woolworths into Qantas points and your Fluybuys points at Coles into Velocity points at a rate of 2000 points = 1000 airline points, and make sure you scan your loyalty cards every time you shop.
Then, you can turn your gift-buying into points by buying gift cards offering extra points deals at supermarkets.
Mr Graham gives an example of how his brother used this trick to buy a new iPhone costing around $2500.
"Instead of just going straight to the Apple Store, he first bought 5x $500 Apple gift cards at Woolworths where he earned 20 Everyday Rewards points per $1 spent, thanks to a promotion that was running last week," Mr Graham said.
"He earned 50,000 Everyday Rewards points for that, which he converted into 25,000 Qantas Points. He then redeemed those gift cards at the Apple Store to pay for the phone."
Point Hacks editor-in-chief Daniel Sciberras said it's important to ensure you "don't leave any points on the table" when transacting with airline partners.
"The most obvious is when taking flights to see family members. Make sure to include your Qantas Frequent Flyer or Velocity Frequent Flyer number to your booking when flying with Qantas/Jetstar or Virgin Australia respectively," Mr Sciberras said.
And if you're so inclined, you could take out a points-earning credit card which "usually come with a nice welcome bonus," Mr Sciberras said.
"And by paying for all the above purchases, you will earn frequent flyer points for each dollar spent."
My all-time favourite destination is ... Cornwall. From the giant seagulls to the blustery beaches, Cornish pasties and fishing villages, it stirs something romantic and seafaring in me.
Next on my bucket list is … Mongolia. I want to go somewhere really unique that feels totally foreign and challenges my way of life.
My top travel tip is … Don’t plan too much. Walk the streets and let it happen. And make sure you check out what’s within a few blocks of your hotel - sometimes the best local food is found that way.
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