First, Set A Goal

One way to focus your points accumulation and spending efforts is to pick a specific travel goal to work towards. Choose a destination and a class of travel (economy, business, first) and then work out how many points (and real dollars) your journey will cost. These things could help assess which frequent flyer program is best for you.

As you can get points organising a home loan, buying insurance, shopping for groceries and even by making a phone call, there are many factors to consider. Australians are great travellers and, because we travel a lot, we place importance on airline loyalty programs. We hope this frequent flyer section will give you a good overview of what is available to suit your travel needs. 

Earn By Flying

Flying to earn frequent flyer points is the original earning method, where simply taking a flight earns you reward points. Flights will earn more or less points depending on a number of factors, including:

  • Dollars spent
  • Distance travelled
  • Fare type (business and first class passengers normally get bonus earn rates)
  • Route
  • Membership level
  • Airlines partners and their point earning rates

Membership Levels

Frequent flyer programs usually have different membership status levels and associated benefits for each tier. When choosing a frequent flyer program, it is important to be aware of what you need to do to maintain your membership status level, and also what is required to move up the ranks for the increased benefits of higher levels.

Airline Alliances

Thinking about where you mostly travel will help steer you towards the partner airlines that will reap the most rewards. An example is when flying to Japan from northern states of Australia: there are plenty of easy options through Jetstar but, if you are with Velocity, you can fly and earn points on Virgin’s partner Singapore Airlines. 

Partner Credit Cards

In addition to airline partners, most frequent flyer programs have a linked credit card from a partner financial institution. This provides a great way to earn frequent flyer points on your everyday spending.

While this can be a great way to generate points, it is important to remember that they are still credit cards, which can attract high interest rates if the amounts are not paid off within a set period (usually 30 days). 

There is a lot to take in with Frequent Flyer programs. Feeling a little overwhelmed? Talk to our frequent flyer experts to find out which program best works for YOU, call 1300 735 896.