Best way to earn bonus points

[Bakks]

I'm looking to book two return business class flights to Europe for July 2018. I currently have 200k points, and from what I can tell will need to get to around 500k points.

I currently have a NAB and American Express card to earn points (so can't use their bonus schemes, as they have already been exhausted), but am looking at other cards with bonus points to boost the balance.

From what I can tell the options are:
- Westpac Altitude Black - 100,000 bonus Altitude points, converted to Velocity this becomes 50,000 points
- ANZ Rewards Black - 75,000 bonus reward points, converted to Velocity this becomes 37,500 points
- Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer - 40,000 bonus Velocity points

Am I missing any others here, or any other effective ways to earn bonus points?

 

[PhilandJosh]

Very new to this but from what I can tell if you are flush with cash the Amex platinum charge would still allow you to have a signup bonus of 100000MR points equal to 100 k velocity. Apparently you can get the bonus from AMEX for 1 charge and 1 credit card... $1200 annual fee though!!!!. If you have a home loan and can get a comparable deal to your existing lender without too many fees NAB do 250k velocity pts ( may be less75k as it sounds like you got the signup bonus on their cc??? Not sure best to check with them)

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Am I missing any others here, or any other effective ways to earn bonus points?

Credit card sign-on bonii is only one form of earning bonus points. In recent years this has been a lucrative type, but it does go up and down over time.

There are not the only type of bonus points though.

For example various cards will have bonus points for various promotions, or to shop with various partners. Sometimes this is specific to one company, or may be say like Citibank who will have promos based on triple points at supermarkets, or like the NAB promo I just finished which had triple points for 2 months.

You can also earn bonus points from Card Referrals with Amex. And in addition for some cards you will earn more sign-on bonus points if you use a referral.

Amex also has its Local Champion Bonus Point system.

Transfer bonus is also another type of bonus that comes and goes (ie to move your points from a credit card program to an airline, ora toa hotel program etc).


Then they are bonus points from hotel stays, car hire, buying things from health insurance to energy.

Another type is FF bonus points awarded for buying through various airlines shopping programs. ie Krislfyer, QFF and Velocity all have these.

etc

 

[Bakks]

Very new to this but from what I can tell if you are flush with cash the Amex platinum charge would still allow you to have a signup bonus of 100000MR points equal to 100 k velocity. Apparently you can get the bonus from AMEX for 1 charge and 1 credit card... $1200 annual fee though!!!!. If you have a home loan and can get a comparable deal to your existing lender without too many fees NAB do 250k velocity pts ( may be less75k as it sounds like you got the signup bonus on their cc??? Not sure best to check with them)

I've already used the AMEX cards for the 100k velocity points, and also managed to get the NAB 250k home loan offer. The helped to pay for this years trip

Credit card sign-on bonii is only one form of earning bonus points. In recent years this has been a lucrative type, but it does go up and down over time.

There are not the only type of bonus points though.

For example various cards will have bonus points for various promotions, or to shop with various partners. Sometimes this is specific to one company, or may be say like Citibank who will have promos based on triple points at supermarkets, or like the NAB promo I just finished which had triple points for 2 months.

You can also earn bonus points from Card Referrals with Amex. And in addition for some cards you will earn more sign-on bonus points if you use a referral.

Amex also has its Local Champion Bonus Point system.

Transfer bonus is also another type of bonus that comes and goes (ie to move your points from a credit card program to an airline, ora toa hotel program etc).


Then they are bonus points from hotel stays, car hire, buying things from health insurance to energy.

Another type is FF bonus points awarded for buying through various airlines shopping programs. ie Krislfyer, QFF and Velocity all have these.

etc

Thanks - sounds like I should do some research into these. The credit card bonus points are certainly the easiest!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I'm looking to book two return business class flights to Europe for July 2017

School holidays this year. You best get on your bike then.

The best options will already be gone.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I've already used the AMEX cards for the 100k velocity points, and also managed to get the NAB 250k home loan offer. The helped to pay for this years trip




Thanks - sounds like I should do some research into these. The credit card bonus points are certainly the easiest!

All the various types of bonii add up.

I advocate grabbing all that are worth your time and effort...and the $ when there is a cost involved.

 

[Bakks]

School holidays this year. You best get on your bike then.

The best options will already be gone.

That should be July 2018! 2017 is already locked in thankfully.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

That should be July 2018! 2017 is already locked in thankfully.

Well that makes live easier. Booking window opens August-ish. So will still need to gain points quickly.

However to gain a lot of points into the one program that quickly may test you. So another option would be to redeem 2 J tickets in one program one way, and to book the one way return flights via another FF program.

In addition multiple programs opens up more redemption options.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I currently have a NAB and American Express card to earn points (so can't use their bonus schemes, as they have already been exhausted),

Sure you can use them.

Cancel these cards and reapply. Get the bonus again.

Details of other credit card offers listed here:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/current-credit-card-promotions/

 

[PhilandJosh]

So you have used both the platinum charge card sign up bonus from Amex and the velocity platinum sign up bonus? Any investment properties you can refinance to nab

 

[dec540]

Well that makes live easier. Booking window opens August-ish. So will still need to gain points quickly.

However to gain a lot of points into the one program that quickly may test you. So another option would be to redeem 2 J tickets in one program one way, and to book the one way return flights via another FF program.

In addition multiple programs opens up more redemption options.

This. You'll find it far easier to accumulate points with QF given you've already used the good VA bonuses. That way you can book SQ/EY one way with VA points, then use QF points for the other way.

 

[AnnaB]

I have started to dip into QF as well as VA... as dec540 said, book with VA one way and QF the other.

Otherwise I could recommend Flybuys for your everyday purchases. Take advantage of all bonus points you can get. I got Medibank and an additional 100,000 FB points, then linked to my Fitbit I get an extra 10 points per day I do my steps. Also, on the bottom of the receipts you sometimes get offers, like shop for $30 and earn 1000 bonus points etc. The problem is the limit of 128,000 FB points transfer to VA per year, but it is still a nice bulk of points that you get for doing what you do anyway.

 

[Bakks]

Sure you can use them.

Cancel these cards and reapply. Get the bonus again.

Details of other credit card offers listed here:

Current Credit Card Promotions

Thanks, that link is great. However, you can't get the bonus points more than once - from the AMEX T&C's:

1. Offer only available to new American Express Card Members who apply online, are approved and spend $1,500 on their new Card in the first 3 months from the Card approval date. Card Members who currently hold or who have previously held any other Consumer Credit Card product issued by American Express Australia Limited in the preceding 18 month period are ineligible for this offer. 80,000 Membership Rewards points will be awarded to the eligible Card Member's account 8-10 weeks after the spend criteria has been met. This advertised offer is not applicable or valid in conjunction with any other advertised or promotional offer.

Well that makes live easier. Booking window opens August-ish. So will still need to gain points quickly.

However to gain a lot of points into the one program that quickly may test you. So another option would be to redeem 2 J tickets in one program one way, and to book the one way return flights via another FF program.

In addition multiple programs opens up more redemption options.

I've only just moved to Velocity as I've essentially exhausted my Qantas options