A Thank You to the awesome AFF community! I'm starting a "Points Project"

[Janeski]

I thought a thank you was in order to the very helpful AFF community- always ready with an answer or helpful tip! I'm an infrequent poster-as I'm an infrequent traveller albeit a VERY enthusiastic one (much of my spare time is spent contemplating travel. I'm one of those people who LOVE the airport, plane food, and dress up for a flight-I've written before about my love for a trip! So far this week I've done three Sydney airport runs to drop/pick up friends- just wish it was me!

SO inspired by lurking around on this forum- I'm starting a little project to try and accumulate as many FF points as I can in the next 6 months to try and save enough to take our family of 4 to the US. The goal is to at least save our flights which is prob going to be around an $8k saving. I'm going to sign up for some CC's- just got 50,000 QFF with the ANZ card and about to get another 40,000 with the Comm Bank Card- I only want to get ones that have significant points offers and don't charge a fortune for them.

I have been inspired and kickstarted by Stephen Hui of iflyflat. I think it is a terrific service- but I'm going to have to attempt to DIY as I just don't have enough expenditure as a Stay at Home Mum to use his services! My self imposed "rules"
1) Only spend on what I would normally buy- so groceries from Woolies etc and if points "cost" nothing" ie the Aust Post 1000 point sign up for an e mailbox, then I will sign up for them.
2) Get creative on spend- we "need" a bar fridge- so I'm going to use the Penfolds offer- $255 for a Vintec fridge with a 6 bottle purchase. Buy the bottles through Epiquire and pay with my new Qantas Visa CC (3 points per $1 spend on wine plus 1.25 points on my card = 900 points.

I'd love to hear any of your ideas or suggestions as I am sure there are a few of you who have been able to accumulate points in a clever way. I will keep this thread up to date if I spot any "deals" to share

I am excited about my little project- I am fascinated to see how quickly the points for a non-flyer, regular shopper, can accumulate.

 

[ketsuzei]

I very much look forward to hearing about it, but I think saving $8k on fares after taking fuel surcharges etc. into account within six months is going to be quite a challenge, as is getting four seats even if you do accumulate sufficient points. I'd recommend spending a lot of time thinking about alternative programs.

 

[cove]

The Knowledge Centre in AFF is a good read.
With Woolies Group you can use RAC or Entertainment Card to buy Wish Gift cards 5% off. (Spending money for your trip)
I hope you go well with your points chase Janeski.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I very much look forward to hearing about it, but I think saving $8k on fares after taking fuel surcharges etc. into account within six months is going to be quite a challenge, as is getting four seats even if you do accumulate sufficient points. I'd recommend spending a lot of time thinking about alternative programs.

I agree but I love to hear about a challenge
It sounds as though you are off to a good start Janeski.
Make sure you don't use your credit cards for credit ie pay them off at the end of the month.
Have a look at the threads on purchasing miles (AA/US) as that might be something you wish to consider.

 

[Janeski]

I very much look forward to hearing about it, but I think saving $8k on fares after taking fuel surcharges etc. into account within six months is going to be quite a challenge, as is getting four seats even if you do accumulate sufficient points. I'd recommend spending a lot of time thinking about alternative programs.

HI Ketsuzei- yes I'm vigilant about that- already prepaid the $1500 spend on the ANZ card so I won't be tempted to go over!! Yes- I do know it's ambitious plan.. and I think the toughest challenge will be getting the seats!! But I love a challenge and think it is good to aim for something!

 

[scwappy]

With a family of 4 assume your expenditure on food and fuel is large. Consider the Amex Platinum Edge for 3 pts for groceries and 2 pts for fuel. cannot transfer to QF though

 

[Janeski]

Thanks Princess Fiona... I think all challenging projects are worth it.. even if it is for the experience and mental diligence in making it happen! And yes- I have prepaid the credit limit and keeping tabs on the CC spend.. will go in a drawer once limit is reached- my father taught me to always be careful with credit and I'm very grateful for that!
I will def look at the AA miles thread. I'm racking up some Velocity points too to see if I can even go one way with Q and the return with V... but I think the biggest challenge will be literally getting seats on the plane!

I agree but I love to hear about a challenge
It sounds as though you are off to a good start Janeski.
Make sure you don't use your credit cards for credit ie pay them off at the end of the month.
Have a look at the threads on purchasing miles (AA/US) as that might be something you wish to consider.

 

[Janeski]

Scwappy- fuel maybe $50/ week. Food- probably $150-200 a week??? It is the $195 annual fee that puts me off right now as there are no signif points offers. But I'll do some calculating in my "Points spreadsheet" to see if it would be a good option- thanks for the tip!!

With a family of 4 assume your expenditure on food and fuel is large. Consider the Amex Platinum Edge for 3 pts for groceries and 2 pts for fuel. cannot transfer to QF though

 

[Janeski]

Thanks Cove- yes the Great Points Chase is on... I just thought it may be something of interest to the forum to see if it can be done and how long it would take to actually achieve. Got to have a goal!

The Knowledge Centre in AFF is a good read.
With Woolies Group you can use RAC or Entertainment Card to buy Wish Gift cards 5% off. (Spending money for your trip)
I hope you go well with your points chase Janeski.

 

[cove]

What city is your starting point for your travels?

 

[ketsuzei]

Playing with figures and various scenarios can be addictively fun mental exercise. Not to mention the excitement of finding that perfectly timed award...

A year ago I never imagined I'd spend so many hours talking to a call centre in El Salvador, but I almost enjoy it these days.

 

[Janeski]

What city is your starting point for your travels?

HI Cove, Sydney

 

[Janeski]

I hear you! ketsuzei. I do love a spreadsheet!

Playing with figures and various scenarios can be addictively fun mental exercise. Not to mention the excitement of finding that perfectly timed award...

A year ago I never imagined I'd spend so many hours talking to a call centre in El Salvador, but I almost enjoy it these days.

 

[cove]

Janeski being in Sydney gives you the opportunity to go out of Melbourne and Brisbane if you have to split into two sets of two when doing a points redemption. Do not be afraid to consider one ways at 353 days out from flying so you don't have to compete with 10 million others if part of it is with Qantas.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

TIPS:

1/ Do not just think about automatically awarding points to just Qantas and/or Virgin
2/ Do not restrict yourself by thinking of just redeeming through an airline, on the same airline. Think Alliance, and think of Partners (ie you can deem through one airline on other airlines that are either in the same alliance, or who are Partners with it). This can in some cases reduce point cost, fuel costs...and increase locations that you can fly to and also availability)
3/ Depending on your family unit, it can optimise both earn and burn to be a member of multiple programs - though for others it can be better to stick to one program is redemption would otherwise take too long and points may expire in some cases. For myself multiple programs allows me to super-charge my earn and burn.

 

[ketsuzei]

If saving money is a key objective and you're happy to make it as far as the west coast of the US, Virgin has a pretty big head start:

(One-way, economy)

QF: SYD-LAX 48,000 + $462
VA: SYD-LAX 47,000 + $102.12

I only mention this because you've posted in the Qantas forum, and getting the best bang for your buck might very well require you to look elsewhere.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Points collecting can be fun and even better when you get great value!
To spell out the analytics for those of us interested....

Assuming you're budgeting $2k per head for flights - surely this means your overall goal is enough points for 4 people with $0 cash to pay?
My calcs are: 168,300 * 4 = 673,200 QFF points required (based on a very cheap $1349 per head fare) Up to ~180K/head on a fare closer to $2k return each.

Compared to buying the tickets on sale:
4 x 1349 = $5396 + 40,000 QFF points earned (with no FF status)

Ultimately in this scenario you're saying 670,000 QFF points are worth $5300 (+ a bit of fun doing it).

Please keep us up to date on what you do to amass the points. For the super-geeks reading this we can then work backwards to see how much you're investing per hour to make it happen too
Would make a great case study!

 

[deejo77]

Best advise....look at savings accounts with bonus sign on points and some have points per transactions (go look at bankwest thred) - these do not affect your credit rating

Insurance income protection etc is also a good one

Good luck

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

No way can you get enough points to take 4 to the US, earning points via CC in 6 months, 2 years, maybe a yes.
But without flying, 6 months purely by CC spend, ... nak.

 

[Jay Cee]

Others may disagree with me...but I changed over to Lumo Energy two years ago and received 10,000 (VA) points at sign up and 6 points for every dollar paid on electricity. Up until today I have received 29,000 points from Lumo credited to my Velocity account. Maybe something to look at !

regards and good luck, I'm sure you will have fun doing it.