Credit Cards helped us get First Class tickets - A big thank you

[Dr Ralph]

if anyone does that and can show me how to do it (and it cant be because of millions
of dollars of business trasnactions per month), they can have my first born! and my liver!

There is plenty of information about how to get 500,000 plus points a year available. You'll need to take same time to read through the information provided via the various credit card threads.

 

[SOPOOR]

There is plenty of information about how to get 500,000 plus points a year available. You'll need to take same time to read through the information provided via the various credit card threads.

i have read quite a few threads, from what I have read its people who do lots of business transactions, and signups that do the best

850k points I cant fathom how I would be able to do that

 

[Cruiser Elite]

if anyone does that and can show me how to do it

No such thing as a free lunch or free ride SOPOOR - like all of us it is a learning curve - the info is here - you just need to read and read and soak up the info then go to work.

 

[Dr Ralph]

i have read quite a few threads, from what I have read its people who do lots of business transactions, and signups that do the best

850k points I cant fathom how I would be able to do that

Start with this thread and you'll get a good idea what people are doing:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....otions/cards-have-you-applied-year-77757.html

I get around 80% of my points from cc churn.

 

[SOPOOR]

Start with this thread and you'll get a good idea what people are doing:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....otions/cards-have-you-applied-year-77757.html

I get around 80% of my points from cc churn.

OK thank KS for that link

Here is my situation
Mid 50s income so probably can't get the cards with 65k income
Good score
Two home loans but not with big bank. Amp

A question about churning.
All these deals with annual fees. Is the fee payable at the start or after 12 months
Also I'm thinking about applying for three cards simultaneously as it says on the thread same time is better
Also is it better to go for amex deals?
I have no problems spending the minimum amounts.
Some people on that link seem to have 5 or more cards with decent fees. Surely it's not worh paying that much for them. Unfortunately I don't have any business expenses that can be offset eg flights

Thanks for your help so far. But I'm pretty newbie

 

[Lawrage]

OK thank KS for that link

Here is my situation
Mid 50s income so probably can't get the cards with 65k income
Good score
Two home loans but not with big bank. Amp

A question about churning.
All these deals with annual fees. Is the fee payable at the start or after 12 months
Also I'm thinking about applying for three cards simultaneously as it says on the thread same time is better
Also is it better to go for amex deals?
I have no problems spending the minimum amounts.
Some people on that link seem to have 5 or more cards with decent fees. Surely it's not worh paying that much for them. Unfortunately I don't have any business expenses that can be offset eg flights

Thanks for your help so far. But I'm pretty newbie

Hi SOPOOR,

As Dr Ralph and Cruiser Elite have already said, browse these forums, there is a wealth of knowledge on here every credit card sign on bonus worth knowing will be there.

To answer your questions.
- Each card will be different but most take the annual fee within the first couple of months, majority before you get the points. There are a few cards with no annual fees so keep an eye out for these
- The Amex deals can be quite good, pretty decent sign on bonuses and they have a lot of perks. Keep in mind not many of the cards offer transfers to Qantas (If you care about this)
- Some cards have some pretty hefty fees yes but they also generally come with higher sign on bonuses and various perks. You will need to have in mind what you want to use the points for, get a $ value of what that would cost you in cash, see if paying using points + the annual fee is better or not for what you want to use them for. I am using them solely for flights at the moment and even with the card fees + taxes its worth it.

Am in a similar situation to you in that I have put zero of my spend towards business related purchases.

 

[SOPOOR]

Hi SOPOOR,

As Dr Ralph and Cruiser Elite have already said, browse these forums, there is a wealth of knowledge on here every credit card sign on bonus worth knowing will be there.

To answer your questions.
- Each card will be different but most take the annual fee within the first couple of months, majority before you get the points. There are a few cards with no annual fees so keep an eye out for these
- The Amex deals can be quite good, pretty decent sign on bonuses and they have a lot of perks. Keep in mind not many of the cards offer transfers to Qantas (If you care about this)
- Some cards have some pretty hefty fees yes but they also generally come with higher sign on bonuses and various perks. You will need to have in mind what you want to use the points for, get a $ value of what that would cost you in cash, see if paying using points + the annual fee is better or not for what you want to use them for. I am using them solely for flights at the moment and even with the card fees + taxes its worth it.

Am in a similar situation to you in that I have put zero of my spend towards business related purchases.

hey thaks for that post, plus other people,

if people have to pay the fee before the rewards get credited, unless you are already going to pay for the bonuses eg flights, then icant see it of any benefit as all, its like buying the points, Icant see the benefit for someone like me

is there a ideal max number of applications that can be done at one time? or should you do it all at the same time

I got some spam for this today
Frequent Flyer Platinum

50k QFF points is great and annual fee free for first year, plus the amex points are better than my CBA at the moment

- is 50k QFF points a good deal, ideally id like to maximise the points per application as im sure I have a maximum potentail application
- I dont know much about the amex program, for internatiol long haul business/first class poitns, is the program any good? if so I might start and applying for 100k bonus points type of offers

sorry for the questions, im pretty newbie

 

[Lawrage]

if people have to pay the fee before the rewards get credited, unless you are already going to pay for the bonuses eg flights, then icant see it of any benefit as all, its like buying the points, Icant see the benefit for someone like me

This is purely a personal thing and depends on what you are wanting to use them for.

For me I want to use my points for flights, lets take a return trip from Perth - Rome return on Emirates, searching for October next year per person
Business return = $6,427
First return = $11,837

On the other hand I can pay 288,000 points for the same trip.

To get to said 288,000 points could cost as little as $400 or as much as $2000, this will depend on how savvy you get with the cards you choose and sign on bonuses available.

Lets go absolute worst case and say you spent $2000 on credit cards plus ~$1000 in award booking fees you are all in at $3,000 for the above first class trip.

For me this is a no brainer, for someone who isn't planning on flying maybe not but then id wonder why you were chasing points.

Like I said find out what you want to use the points for, work the numbers out for yourself and see if its worth it.

 

[Dr Ralph]

hey thaks for that post, plus other people,

if people have to pay the fee before the rewards get credited, unless you are already going to pay for the bonuses eg flights, then icant see it of any benefit as all, its like buying the points, Icant see the benefit for someone like me

If you dont like flying first class for a fraction of the actual cost then credit card churning is probably not for you.

 

[SOPOOR]

This is purely a personal thing and depends on what you are wanting to use them for.

For me I want to use my points for flights, lets take a return trip from Perth - Rome return on Emirates, searching for October next year per person
Business return = $6,427
First return = $11,837

On the other hand I can pay 288,000 points for the same trip.

To get to said 288,000 points could cost as little as $400 or as much as $2000, this will depend on how savvy you get with the cards you choose and sign on bonuses available.

Lets go absolute worst case and say you spent $2000 on credit cards plus ~$1000 in award booking fees you are all in at $3,000 for the above first class trip.

For me this is a no brainer, for someone who isn't planning on flying maybe not but then id wonder why you were chasing points.

Like I said find out what you want to use the points for, work the numbers out for yourself and see if its worth it.

Yes totally agree with you
I caclulate on a similar level too, in terms of points 1x economy 2xeconomy=business class 3xeconomy = first class
and in terms of price by your example, its $2000/$6000/$11,000,
so the value of the points is the best on first class,

I assume by your example of 288,000 points is business class and not first class.

the way I value it is the best way for bang for buck is business class upgrade via points after buying economy tickets, however ive been told this is as much luck as winning lotto, so buying busines class with points is the best,

however for long haul Mel to EU/USA/UK, the taxes are around the $1000 mark, sometimes you can flights on discount carriers for around $1000 as well

so I look at it comparing paying for economy is $1000 odd, vs using 280k odd points for business class return PLUS paying $1000 tax

so the 280k points is worth the difference in price of say $1000-$1500 (economy cash price) vs $6000 odd (business class cash price)

 

[SOPOOR]

This is purely a personal thing and depends on what you are wanting to use them for.

For me I want to use my points for flights, lets take a return trip from Perth - Rome return on Emirates, searching for October next year per person
Business return = $6,427
First return = $11,837

On the other hand I can pay 288,000 points for the same trip.

To get to said 288,000 points could cost as little as $400 or as much as $2000, this will depend on how savvy you get with the cards you choose and sign on bonuses available.

Lets go absolute worst case and say you spent $2000 on credit cards plus ~$1000 in award booking fees you are all in at $3,000 for the above first class trip.

For me this is a no brainer, for someone who isn't planning on flying maybe not but then id wonder why you were chasing points.

Like I said find out what you want to use the points for, work the numbers out for yourself and see if its worth it.

may I ask you, when you say $400 for 288,000, I assume you mean paying $400 in annual fees for various credit cards to get the 288,000 points?

for my personal sitaution, since im not a high income earner, I would not purchase a business class or first class obviously

I understand paying $2000 in credit card annual fees to get 288,000 points or enough for first class is great value, but for me It doesnt suit

so for me, I would like to sign up for annual fee free cards with sign up bonuses and churning

I see a few 50k QFF points cards which I am considering applying for,
but im trying to work out amex card sign up bonus vs QFF points, eg 50k-100k Amex sign up bonuses compared to QFF point requirements


sorry for babbling on

If you dont like flying first class for a fraction of the actual cost then credit card churning is probably not for you.

I would like to fly first class , but dont want to pay too much extra compared to economy, so for me all my monthly spending isnt paying extra for it, if that accumulates to a free first class flight, then that is the perfect scenario,

if that all makes sense, I know I am sounding like A tightwad

ive accumulated a lot of points over the years , and thats from not spending extra or paying for fees etc. but Iunderstand the value that of first class travel at a fraction concept you mentioned

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I would like to fly first class , but dont want to pay too much extra compared to economy

Exactly what we all wish for SOPOOR but unfortunately we have missed Santa by a few days. As I mentioned in an earlier post 'No such thing as a free lunch' and not always do you get 'free FF pts' - many times you need to pay the 'ann fee' to secure the sign on bonus - many times the pain of 'ann fee' can be offset by things like '$400 Travel Voucher on Amex Explorer with $400 Ann fee or refund of 'pro-rata' refund Ann fee once pts banked and card cancelled.

There is no simple straight forward recipe for FF pts cultivation, harvesting and accumulation - it is a process you need to follow closely on here - read read and read more - absorb the wealth of knowledge that is readily shared here - we all had to learn - you will be no different.

 

[Lawrage]

I assume by your example of 288,000 points is business class and not first class.

Nope that would be the cost for first.

 

[coyote25]

So my example is I signed up for both the NAB (75,000 pts & $250 fee) and ANZ (75,000 pts no fee) which got me 150k points. Add two 8k loyalty bonus and I had 166k points.

I then used 168k points (so extra 2k points) and $638 for first Class seats on Emirates Melbourne to Dubai to Nairobi. For this I'm getting a car pick up in Melbourne, first class lounge access in Melbourne and Dubai and a 'free' hotel during my 11 hour transit in Dubai.

All of that for really $888 in cash. Which is much cheaper than purchasing an economy seat on the same flights.

But it all depends on what you want to get out of the scheme. This works for me ð

 

[cove]

288,000 Qantas points on Emirates gets you to Moscow and back in First. Just don't try it in winter unless you have clothing to suit a Russian winter.

 

[SOPOOR]

Nope that would be the cost for first.

I assume one way first class?

 

[Lawrage]

I assume one way first class?

Never assume. That is what we just paid for 2 people one way, so for one person that would be a return flight.

 

[SOPOOR]

288,000 Qantas points on Emirates gets you to Moscow and back in First. Just don't try it in winter unless you have clothing to suit a Russian winter.

Really? 288k?

I thought via one world it's 280k and 420k. Business and first return plus taxes

 

[SOPOOR]

Never assume. That is what we just paid for 2 people one way, so for one person that would be a return flight.

Wow! I'm only familiar with one world flights. What am I missing here?

 

[Lawrage]

Wow! I'm only familiar with one world flights. What am I missing here?

Logon to the Qantas website, do a random flight search 10-11 months out and see what the points come in at