2024 Year in Review - Points Earned Edition

[CaptainCurtis]

I recall a thread from years gone by where folks shared the number of points they earned over the previous 12 months, and the source of those points. I loved reading it, and picked up a few good tips, so thought I would kick it off again for 2024.

330,384 earned with Qantas:

• 135,000 from credit card churning, with just two Qantas cards during the year - ANZ Frequent Flyer Platinum (75k) and St George Amplify Qantas Platinum (60k.
• 66,678 from flying.
• 33,000 from Woolworths Everyday Rewards, with a much bigger focus this year on gift cards. Probably 20,000 (or $2k) of this came from Uber gift cards.
• 34,179 from Qantas Wine, including 7,000 compensatory points related to this issue.
• 30,217 from hotels, with 14,217 coming from the Accor/Qantas partnership (8 separate stays) and 16,000 as a last ditch transfer from Marriott Bonvoy to ensure I hit Points Club Plus by June.
• 12,150 buying gift cards from Qantas Marketplace - $4k of AirBnB gift cards for some upcoming extended stays, with another 12k to buy early next year, but hoping for a 20x offer from Woolworths instead of the 3ppd from Qantas Marketplace.
• 7,519 from credit card spend, far lower than normal as I have been utilising a family members AMEX platinum card.
• 4,048 from Qantas Business Rewards - these had been sitting in a family members QBR account that I created for them a number of years ago. I think the points have largely come from shopping at Qantas Wine.
• 2,887 by clicking through Qantas Shopping.
• 2,500 Points Club milestone bonus.
• 1,790 from Uber airport trips.
• 416 from Red Energy.

30,900 earned with Velocity:

• 30,000 from churning the Virgin Money Velocity Flyer card, with another 30,000 expected in January.
• 900 from 7-Eleven.

Total earned across both programs was ~361k, a little lower than what I would have hoped for if I'm being honest. Churning is definitely getting harder with many institutions increasing their exclusion periods to 18-24 months, and a new mortgage early this year didn't help with serviceability. I'll be moving over to the US next year, so I'm excited by the churning opportunity there, but have a lot to learn and am not sure if I will still be able to churn Australian cards as an expat. Time will tell.

Two key takeaways from me:

1. Gift cards, gift cards, gift cards. There are some lucrative offers out there. Timing and planning is everything, but worth the investment.
2. There are a number of opportunities to earn points from what you're already spending on - Uber airport trips is a google example, as is Qantas Shopping.

Over to y'all.

 

[joelby]

Nice idea and interesting exercise! I looked at mine for the last 12 months. I earned:

• Flights: 88127 on 20 segments
• Wellbeing app: 4653 + 3600. This sounds way more than I’d expect but is what the Qantas site says.
• Airport Uber: 55
• Home and car insurance: 9000
• Red planet research: 8605
• Gift cards: 12000 - mostly through Everyday Rewards, some through Qantas Marketplace. Apple pre-payment for future purchases and subscriptions, Uber, and some actual gifts
• Everyday rewards: 3000
• Qantas hotels: 10485
• Wine: 5300
• Credit card (2) and Zip signup bonus: 283000 - NAB 130K and Amex QBR 150K
• Credit card spend : 102000

Total: 529825

A lot of the CC points in my new membership year were credited as QBR points, so unfortunately I’m nowhere near PCP for this membership year. It’s tempting to use a business Amex for the higher earn rate, but I’ll probably close it and switch to something else soon to ensure I reach PCP.

Paying ATO bills using Mastercard gift cards was a good earner, though the process is very tedious. I’m surprised by the surveys - my New Year’s resolution is to check these more diligently as I know I missed many when I was too busy to do them. I also need to drink more wine.

All the best for your move!