It’s probably an understatement to say that I’m an avid points collector. I’m a member of over two dozen frequent flyer programs, many of which I actively collect and spend points with. But there are three frequent flyer point currencies that I find particularly valuable at the moment.

I will caveat this list by saying that frequent flyer programs change over time. These weren’t my favourite programs 5-10 years ago, and in the next 5-10 years other points programs could become more useful or valuable. I would also add that these aren’t necessarily the programs that I choose to earn status with.

Depending on how you personally want to spend your points, other programs may be better for you. For example, if most of your travel is to regional Australia, Qantas Frequent Flyer might best suit your needs. But, between them, my three preferred programs cover a lot of bases and give me lots of flexibility to burn points – at good value – on many different airlines across multiple alliances.

Without further ado, here’s my list for 2024!

Air Canada Aeroplan

Four years ago, Air Canada completely overhauled its Aeroplan frequent flyer program. It’s now run by a team of people who are themselves frequent flyers and “avgeeks” who really understand how to make the program attractive. They’ve also done a great job at signing up new airline partners.

In the same year, Aeroplan began selling points. The program now regularly offers bonus point promotions to encourage members to buy points, and some of those offers are rather spectacular. For example, Aeroplan is about to launch an offer of up to 125% bonus points.

You can also earn Aeroplan points in Australia with various credit cards, including the HSBC Star Alliance card.

So, there are a few ways to acquire Aeroplan points in Australia. And it’s totally worth doing this because they’re so valuable when it comes to redemptions.

Why I value Aeroplan points

Firstly, you can redeem Aeroplan points to fly with around 47 partner airlines. That includes all 26 Star Alliance members, as well as an additional 21 airlines – many of which do not partner with any other frequent flyer programs easily accessible to Australians.

For example, you can use Aeroplan points to fly with Air Mauritius, Oman Air, Discover Airlines, Bamboo Airways, Singapore Airlines and SunExpress… as well as Virgin Australia. That opens up a lot of choice!

You can easily book most Aeroplan redemptions on Air Canada’s website, combining multiple partner airlines onto the same ticket. You can even add a stopover to most awards for 5,000 points.

Redemptions are well-priced. For example, you can fly from Melbourne to Bangkok in Business Class for just 45,000 Aeroplan points + CAD117 (~AU$128) in taxes.

Plus, Aeroplan doesn’t levy fuel or carrier surcharges on any of its partner airlines. That includes Emirates!

See our guide to buying and redeeming Aeroplan points for details.

Virgin Australia Velocity

I actively use both the Qantas and Velocity Frequent Flyer programs. I have been able to get fairly good value from my Qantas points, using them for domestic and international flights.

But there’s no denying that it can be hard to find Classic Flight Reward seats on popular long-haul routes using Qantas points, especially in premium cabins. The reality is that you’re competing for a limited number of seats with millions of other Aussies who also collect Qantas points.

It certainly varies by route – for example, I find Qantas points more useful for getting to South America. But in general, I find it a bit easier to find reward seats using Velocity points on both domestic and international flights. The overall value is often better, too.

Velocity reward seat availability

I can usually find Velocity reward seats on the domestic routes I want to fly – even though they may not always be in Business Class or at the exact time I want.

And I like Velocity’s variety of international partner airlines which often have reasonable reward seat availability. For example…

• If you want to fly to Europe, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways have far better availability than Qantas and its partners.
• If you want to fly to South Africa, there are often seats on South African Airways from Perth to Johannesburg.
• If you want to fly to the United States, you can often get lots of last-minute Business reward seats on United.
• If you want to fly to Asia, Singapore Airlines and ANA have pretty good availability.
• Hawaiian Airlines has better Business Class availability from Sydney to Honolulu than Qantas.

Last year, I also managed to score an Air Canada Business Class reward seat from Vancouver to Brisbane using my Velocity points.

Admittedly, trying to find and book reward seats on the Virgin Australia website can be a bit difficult at times. But that’s often because the website is poorly designed and/or certain partner airlines don’t appear, more so than a lack of availability.

Velocity’s X factor

Even if you can’t find availability through Velocity, this loyalty program has an X factor that most others do not. You have the option to convert your Velocity points into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles. That opens up KrisFlyer redemptions for Singapore Airlines First Class, as well as across the entire Star Alliance network.

It’s easy to earn Velocity points in Australia

As an added bonus, it’s very easy to earn Velocity points in Australia. Besides flying with Virgin, you can earn points through program partners on the ground such as Coles (via Flybuys), 7-Eleven and DiDi. And of course, there are plenty of Australian credit cards that can get you Velocity points.

British Airways Executive Club

Executive Club is the frequent flyer program of British Airways, the UK-based Oneworld airline. Instead of points or miles, British Airways calls its currency “Avios” – a currency it shares with five other loyalty programs.

You can redeem British Airways Avios to fly with all of the same Oneworld airlines that you can book using Qantas points. But the availability isn’t exactly the same.

Executive members get access to many more reward seats on Qatar Airways and British Airways flights. That’s because Qatar Airways doesn’t block access to its inventory like it does for Qantas frequent flyers. British Airways also has a reward seat guarantee for its own members, which can be very helpful if you want to fly from Sydney to Singapore or London on BA16.

Admittedly, with Executive Club you can’t redeem Avios to book flights on most of Qantas’ non-Oneworld partners, such as Emirates, Jetstar, China Airlines or Air France.

On the other hand, Avios does also get you access to reward seats on some airlines that Qantas doesn’t. You can redeem British Airways Avios for Aer Lingus bookings, or transfer those Avios to Qatar Airways Privilege Club to book seats on the likes of JetBlue, MEA or RwandAir.

British Airways redemption pricing

British Airways short-haul redemptions on Qantas are excellent value – cheaper than booking through Qantas Frequent Flyer. The only annoying quirk is that you need to call British Airways to redeem Avios for regional flights operated by QantasLink.

The same applies to Qatar Airways flights between Australia and Europe. When booking Qatar Airways flights with Avios, you’ll have access to more seats, for fewer points, and with lower taxes & charges, than you would through Qantas Frequent Flyer.

One downside of BA Executive Club, however, is that the program doesn’t have proper award charts. As a result, it could change reward pricing at any time – as it did last week for short-haul redemptions within the United States.

Earning Avios in Australia

You can convert points from Amex Membership Rewards, CommBank Awards and Citi Rewards (if you have a Citibank Prestige card) into Qatar Airways Avios. You could then transfer those Qatar Avios into your British Airways account at a 1:1 rate. The American Express Platinum and Explorer cards are particularly high-earning Australian cards if you want to earn Avios.

Personally, I have a British Airways Avios subscription that deposits Avios into my account each month. I purchased this as an annual subscription.

See our British Airways Avios guide for more.

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Which is the best airline points program for you?

Do you agree with my frequent flyer program choices? Which are your favourite programs for collecting and redeeming points?

Share your thoughts on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum!

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.