Disabled on fixed income, looking to accrue Qantas points for travel.

[AustraliaPoochie]

In 3 of the past years, I was QF SG, and spent $8--- a year to retain.
In the closer Aust, parts of the trips, were Au (ADL - MEL/SYD to AKL/CHC/WLG), a lot in J, just to feel the lounge.
For QF PS, Aud$2500 to get 250 QF SC is achievable, but to get
QF SG, you need to spend quite a sum.
Even if you fly J, its a lot of J to get to QF SG/QF WP/QF P1, you need to fly F Au - UK at least one return to get QF SG fast.
$749 is usual, MEL - SYD in J, for 1400 QF points min points, (before bonus), and only 40 QF SC.
Return is $1498 for 2800 QF points (before bonus), and 80 QF SC.
Its the SC that is of most imprtance, and they die off after a year, so 700 QF SC for the first year, to get QF SG first year, you need to spend more than Aud$25--.
QF PS only gives you one QP access, QF SG gives you a years worth of QP access.
Okay, no debts, or owing, thats good, but still, a lot of money to spend for QF SG.
Can I make a suggestion, buy QP membership, $8-- for first year, then about $55- for the rest if you keep paying renewals without fail.
If you have AFF Gold, you can get a discount on QP by the corporate membership on here.
QP domestic access is covered by the QP membership, and also if you travel internationally, you can also get access to QF international J lounges while flying QF and most partners.
Buy the seat next to you, called QF Comfort Seat request.
This will make flying a bit easier, and a bit cheaper than flying J all the time.
I share a commercial rental property and also work a tough demanding job with several payers, (the cleaning industrial work is a horrid industry), so can pay to fly at QF SG over the past 3 years, but this year, with EK no longer flying Au - NZ, I have decided to go(/am) down to QF PS, will be QF NR soon, but will pay to sit in J twice a year and not do any more SC runs.
At 50, I am too old to chase it now, and am only 40% towards LTS.
In 27 odd years, I have been up to QF SG and QF PS many times, but in the end, maybe enough is enough.
But if you feel you can achieve 1400 QF SC a year, every year, and you have worked it out on a spreadsheet, month by month, desto by desto, as I did at one time for my QF SG, its all good.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

MEL - PER with QF in J, is 3300 QF points, before bonus and 80 QF SC.
PER - DXB in F operated by EK but with QF flight number, 12000 QF points, and 210 QF SC.
DXB - LHR in F operated by EK but with QF flight number, 6800 QF SC and 150 QF SC.
One way, about Aud$15--- gives 22100 QF points and 440 QF SC, coming back probably double the cost.
With one flight like that in a year, you are already QF SG.
Flying any QF (except EK) partner will earn you half the QF SC, so if you JAL Au - Japan, you will only earn half the QF SC.
QTMC is useless, only 0.25 points per Aud1 spend in Au, pittance.
Change your home energy to Red if you can, they have a tie in with QF to earn I think, 10,000 QF points on joining.
Vodafone, to earn QF points, you might be post paid with them not prepaid, thus you go into debt/hock, ie owe them $ if you want to earn QF points from Vodafone plan spends.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

To gain QF points under Bankwest, you have to deposit Aud$2--- into the account, and you get about 100 QF points a month for keeping a certain amount of money in it.
Buy as much of your groceries from Woolworths, and Big W for other stuff, if you drive, go to Caltex Woolworths, or Caltex.
If you do drink a bit, go to BWS but no Dan Murpheys to get QF points via Woolworths Rewards.

 

[Danger]

Welcome, Newb.

I wasn't aware that about the restriction on credit cards for the disabled. Is this a minimum income thing or a government thing?

If you can't around it I would definitely see if you can get a close family member to take out a credit card in their name that is, for all intent and purpose, yours. You seem to be spending a fair bit of money on tech stuff (it was all Double-Dutch to me) so that in itself would generate some reasonable frequent flyer points. The added benefit is that many of the cards provide three or four months purchase protection insurance, protecting those expensive purchases against theft, loss and damage. The close member could then transfer the points to you, or simply purchase frequent flyer award seats in your name.

Best of luck. As has been mentioned, there's lots of information on here and an abundance of people who will be happy to help. Use the search engine first but if you can't find a thread on a particular topic then definitely start a new one.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

You need to have minimum income of Aud$15k for a lot of cards.
When I was working in another industry, a long time ago, it was a longer term temp assignment in admin job.
Pay was good, and I was on about Aud$20k, and got the at that time, ANZ Qantas visa real credit card.
Income was good, I spent a lot, and did a lot of recreational flying, every quarter, in whY, but as I wasn't too knowy, I went into hock, ie, debt to ANZ.
I was being paid for the work at ASO level, and heard from my payroll dept that the ANZ had contacted them to ask about my income.
Lots of real credit card application forms stipulate income of Aud15k, and you have to list your employer, and the income from that.
Retirees, the bank would probably have an interest in providing credit to, as they know they are asset rich, ...
But in the OP case, its either the Bankwest system, not sure what the name of that account that earns Qantas points is, but needs to deposit Aud$2k for a lot of their accounts to avoid monthly fees.
Under Aud$2k, they have a $3 monthly fee.
QTMC is the only one that is given out to nearly everyone, but as we know, it has its downsides, but is a good way for those not normally approved for credit cards to have.
ING is a good one, they have no fees, and if you deposit Aud$1k a month, you have your international transaction fees rebated.
Overall, ING is the best in fact to funnel money into, then NAB which also has a no fees Visa debit card.
If OP has a partner, and in a good paying job, then get the partner to apply for a true credit card, and the OP is as joint holder, but have to ensure that money can be paid to repay the debt before interest accrues.
I was helped out of the ANZ debt hole, and that true credit card was deleted, I have been on Visa/Mastercard debits/prepaids ever since.
If you live by yourself, and even if you are sure you can pay back a debt, let me tell you, you must have strength of steel to have money aside to pay back the true credit card.
AMEX is the worst culprit, the surcharge for using that card can amount to 0.02% on top of purchases, if OP gets approved for that.
And yes, I talk a lot of bull.

 

[Colesmore]

It's a slippery and intriguing slope that's fascinating to research, which you're clearly well into. Welcome

As mentioned sharing your nearest major airport will help figuring out some options for the community.

Looking at your plan's not sure if the big trip you refer to yearly is overseas or domestic but if OS would look at hedging between QF and Lifemiles or AA or the like. Sign up to each FF program to get the emails detailing bonuses, such as Lifemiles recent 140% bonus on buying. During that bonus ~$3k spend on miles would get you return business to Europe, but difficult to find (good routing & stopovers). Given your ability to research you'd likely be in a better position to nab the options when they come up. This may also allow you to spend some time living somewhere comfortably for a couple of weeks (hello summer or winter break?) with a cheaper cost of living than Aus. Many Credit cards offer bonuses for OS spends but this needs to be carefully researched to ensure its suitable for whichever destination your visiting to maximize value/minimise bill shock. Perhaps supplement this with a Qantas Club membership to get some of the perks on your road in year 1 to SG with QF to be able to day trip and enjoy some lounge fun. I believe this suspends when you hit SG, so if you drop back the benefits remain pro rata on your year remaining (can someone confirm?) You could day trip on Red edeals for relatively cheap, enjoy the lounge and wait for Double SC bonuses to smash the status runs you've been researching to get you to SG. With the spend on points, flights or QC these may trigger point bonuses with Credit Card sign ups. This could be a cycle of CC sign ups get a further 50-100k points, but probably only a few times over a couple of years to avoid potential credit damage.

With this strategy you could attain 1 OS trip and 3-4 trips locally each year for the 4-5k, and will get you on the road to Lifetime Gold, albeit slower.

There's many ways to skin a cat, you'll certainly find yours, and this forum is a great way to learn the others (pardom the somewhat graphic anology)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'd like to spend 3-6k on status runs each year as a hobby and structure most of my costs in such a way that I'll earn points, does anyone have any advice on how I can make the most of this?

I think there might be other, better ways to spend your money to get 'bang for your buck'. Rather than try to accrue status with qantas you could be using the same money to buy miles from a program such as Avianca Lifemiles. That program is not without its difficulties, but it can be extremely rewarding. Return flights from Australia to anywhere in Asia (Thailand, China, Japan) come in at around AUD1500. Business class al the way, with international lounges.

Accruing status just for Aussie domestic lounges, even Qantas international business class lounges is not worth the money. All you're going to get in there for food is sliced bread and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and maybe rice and a curry for lunch or dinner. And quality on par with a frozen meal. And you can achieve exactly the same thing with a Qantas club membership for $600. No flying required.

I'd be saving the other $4500 for three return trips a year to Asia, or one trip to Asia and one to Europe.

 

[Newb]

I think there might be other, better ways to spend your money to get 'bang for your buck'. Rather than try to accrue status with qantas you could be using the same money to buy miles from a program such as Avianca Lifemiles. That program is not without its difficulties, but it can be extremely rewarding. Return flights from Australia to anywhere in Asia (Thailand, China, Japan) come in at around AUD1500. Business class al the way, with international lounges.

Accruing status just for Aussie domestic lounges, even Qantas international business class lounges is not worth the money. All you're going to get in there for food is sliced bread and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and maybe rice and a curry for lunch or dinner. And quality on par with a frozen meal. And you can achieve exactly the same thing with a Qantas club membership for $600. No flying required.


I'd be saving the other $4500 for three return trips a year to Asia, or one trip to Asia and one to Europe.

I can do my schoolwork from anywhere, why not do it in flying domestically in and out of business lounges eating free food and drinking free booze in between flights bought last second for cheap to stay in hotels paid for by miles? Assuming I stay with my carer 3 days per week I could take 3 50 dollar flights a week and overnight in QP hotel rooms or snagging deals on hotel chain coupons to use or simply sleeping on the plane and pulling an all nighter somewhere quiet and safe if I'm not willing to spend on accomodation because I've slept well. I don't even care what time of day or night I leave or arrive, I'm completely disconnected from the normal sleep/wake cycle.

Welcome, Newb.

I wasn't aware that about the restriction on credit cards for the disabled. Is this a minimum income thing or a government thing?

If you can't around it I would definitely see if you can get a close family member to take out a credit card in their name that is, for all intent and purpose, yours. You seem to be spending a fair bit of money on tech stuff (it was all Double-Dutch to me) so that in itself would generate some reasonable frequent flyer points. The added benefit is that many of the cards provide three or four months purchase protection insurance, protecting those expensive purchases against theft, loss and damage. The close member could then transfer the points to you, or simply purchase frequent flyer award seats in your name.

Best of luck. As has been mentioned, there's lots of information on here and an abundance of people who will be happy to help. Use the search engine first but if you can't find a thread on a particular topic then definitely start a new one.

Very hard to get a CC card when you can't work, the person who lets me interest free stuff in exchange for lumpsums on bills is willing to get a CC for me.

You need to have minimum income of Aud$15k for a lot of cards.
When I was working in another industry, a long time ago, it was a longer term temp assignment in admin job.
Pay was good, and I was on about Aud$20k, and got the at that time, ANZ Qantas visa real credit card.
Income was good, I spent a lot, and did a lot of recreational flying, every quarter, in whY, but as I wasn't too knowy, I went into hock, ie, debt to ANZ.
I was being paid for the work at ASO level, and heard from my payroll dept that the ANZ had contacted them to ask about my income.
Lots of real credit card application forms stipulate income of Aud15k, and you have to list your employer, and the income from that.
Retirees, the bank would probably have an interest in providing credit to, as they know they are asset rich, ...
But in the OP case, its either the Bankwest system, not sure what the name of that account that earns Qantas points is, but needs to deposit Aud$2k for a lot of their accounts to avoid monthly fees.
Under Aud$2k, they have a $3 monthly fee.
QTMC is the only one that is given out to nearly everyone, but as we know, it has its downsides, but is a good way for those not normally approved for credit cards to have.
ING is a good one, they have no fees, and if you deposit Aud$1k a month, you have your international transaction fees rebated.
Overall, ING is the best in fact to funnel money into, then NAB which also has a no fees Visa debit card.
If OP has a partner, and in a good paying job, then get the partner to apply for a true credit card, and the OP is as joint holder, but have to ensure that money can be paid to repay the debt before interest accrues.
I was helped out of the ANZ debt hole, and that true credit card was deleted, I have been on Visa/Mastercard debits/prepaids ever since.
If you live by yourself, and even if you are sure you can pay back a debt, let me tell you, you must have strength of steel to have money aside to pay back the true credit card.
AMEX is the worst culprit, the surcharge for using that card can amount to 0.02% on top of purchases, if OP gets approved for that.
And yes, I talk a lot of bull.

Yep, won't get a CC in my name, going for a qantas cash card in my name and a qantas points CC in my carers name once I work out which one is best for me..

It's a slippery and intriguing slope that's fascinating to research, which you're clearly well into. Welcome

As mentioned sharing your nearest major airport will help figuring out some options for the community.

Looking at your plan's not sure if the big trip you refer to yearly is overseas or domestic but if OS would look at hedging between QF and Lifemiles or AA or the like. Sign up to each FF program to get the emails detailing bonuses, such as Lifemiles recent 140% bonus on buying. During that bonus ~$3k spend on miles would get you return business to Europe, but difficult to find (good routing & stopovers). Given your ability to research you'd likely be in a better position to nab the options when they come up. This may also allow you to spend some time living somewhere comfortably for a couple of weeks (hello summer or winter break?) with a cheaper cost of living than Aus. Many Credit cards offer bonuses for OS spends but this needs to be carefully researched to ensure its suitable for whichever destination your visiting to maximize value/minimise bill shock. Perhaps supplement this with a Qantas Club membership to get some of the perks on your road in year 1 to SG with QF to be able to day trip and enjoy some lounge fun. I believe this suspends when you hit SG, so if you drop back the benefits remain pro rata on your year remaining (can someone confirm?) You could day trip on Red edeals for relatively cheap, enjoy the lounge and wait for Double SC bonuses to smash the status runs you've been researching to get you to SG. With the spend on points, flights or QC these may trigger point bonuses with Credit Card sign ups. This could be a cycle of CC sign ups get a further 50-100k points, but probably only a few times over a couple of years to avoid potential credit damage.

With this strategy you could attain 1 OS trip and 3-4 trips locally each year for the 4-5k, and will get you on the road to Lifetime Gold, albeit slower.

There's many ways to skin a cat, you'll certainly find yours, and this forum is a great way to learn the others (pardom the somewhat graphic anology)

Tullamarine is 15 minutes from my room when traffic isn't heavy, I can get there very easily. I was thinking I could loiter in airport lounges and business centers doing my schoolwork while I use something to monitor prices on flights so I can lock in a cheap flights and rooms(with points, cash, coupons or all three) as they come up at Tullamarine and fly out that day if anything particularly cheap or enticing with the plan of repeating the same idea wherever I can obtain comfy lounge access/free food somewhere that has better deals like Sydney or Brisbane.

I could have free accommodation near the airport 3 days a week and not have to pay ANY utilities or bills at all for it while retaining my current setup as solar is currently being installed to make this house more self-sustaining thus eliminating the only cost to my carer I'd still be incurring if I did this. They are completely on board with the idea and I can always pay board/utilities again if I get sicker again and become unable to leave the house for a number of weeks.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I can do my schoolwork from anywhere, why not do it in flying domestically in and out of business lounges eating free food and drinking free booze in between flights bought last second for cheap to stay in hotels paid for by miles?

Yes, but why would yo spend $3K-$6K to do status rund to achieve lounge membership? You can simply buy it for $600 and not have to spend any other money.

 

[juddles]

Newb, your posts and expectations are so "far out there" that I have pondered whether this is all a windup. I have decided for now it is not because of the detail you have posted. In so many ways I feel a I have been in a similar situation. Years ago I was a computer nerd - building desktops was my passion. But then I got ripped on a long international trip so my focus changed from electronics to travel. And beleive me, it is harder to keep up with frequent flyer programs, airlines, etc than even tech. If you manage to transfer your zeal for computers to the frequent flying thing, I am sure that within short time you will be teaching us all new tricks. But as you know from computing, you have to live and breathe this stuff every day if you want to excel. I totally understand what I perceive as your overall world, and I totally agree that it would be fantastic if you can blend your tech habits with lounge time Go hard, and keep asking questions!

 

[sjk]

The numbers don't even come close to adding up, sorry. There is no equivalent of your purported Telstra experience in the airline world.

And the food sucks.

 

[Colesmore]

I can do my schoolwork from anywhere, why not do it in flying domestically in and out of business lounges eating free food and drinking free booze in between flights bought last second for cheap to stay in hotels paid for by miles? Assuming I stay with my carer 3 days per week I could take 3 50 dollar flights a week and overnight in QP hotel rooms or snagging deals on hotel chain coupons to use or simply sleeping on the plane and pulling an all nighter somewhere quiet and safe if I'm not willing to spend on accomodation because I've slept well. I don't even care what time of day or night I leave or arrive, I'm completely disconnected from the normal sleep/wake cycle.



Very hard to get a CC card when you can't work, the person who lets me interest free stuff in exchange for lumpsums on bills is willing to get a CC for me.



Yep, won't get a CC in my name, going for a qantas cash card in my name and a qantas points CC in my carers name once I work out which one is best for me..




Tullamarine is 15 minutes from my room when traffic isn't heavy, I can get there very easily. I was thinking I could loiter in airport lounges and business centers doing my schoolwork while I use something to monitor prices on flights so I can lock in a cheap flights and rooms(with points, cash, coupons or all three) as they come up at Tullamarine and fly out that day if anything particularly cheap or enticing with the plan of repeating the same idea wherever I can obtain comfy lounge access/free food somewhere that has better deals like Sydney or Brisbane.

I could have free accommodation near the airport 3 days a week and not have to pay ANY utilities or bills at all for it while retaining my current setup as solar is currently being installed to make this house more self-sustaining thus eliminating the only cost to my carer I'd still be incurring if I did this. They are completely on board with the idea and I can always pay board/utilities again if I get sicker again and become unable to leave the house for a number of weeks.

I can do my schoolwork from anywhere, why not do it in flying domestically in and out of business lounges eating free food and drinking free booze in between flights bought last second for cheap to stay in hotels paid for by miles? Assuming I stay with my carer 3 days per week I could take 3 50 dollar flights a week and overnight in QP hotel rooms or snagging deals on hotel chain coupons to use or simply sleeping on the plane and pulling an all nighter somewhere quiet and safe if I'm not willing to spend on accomodation because I've slept well. I don't even care what time of day or night I leave or arrive, I'm completely disconnected from the normal sleep/wake cycle.



Very hard to get a CC card when you can't work, the person who lets me interest free stuff in exchange for lumpsums on bills is willing to get a CC for me.



Yep, won't get a CC in my name, going for a qantas cash card in my name and a qantas points CC in my carers name once I work out which one is best for me..




Tullamarine is 15 minutes from my room when traffic isn't heavy, I can get there very easily. I was thinking I could loiter in airport lounges and business centers doing my schoolwork while I use something to monitor prices on flights so I can lock in a cheap flights and rooms(with points, cash, coupons or all three) as they come up at Tullamarine and fly out that day if anything particularly cheap or enticing with the plan of repeating the same idea wherever I can obtain comfy lounge access/free food somewhere that has better deals like Sydney or Brisbane.

I could have free accommodation near the airport 3 days a week and not have to pay ANY utilities or bills at all for it while retaining my current setup as solar is currently being installed to make this house more self-sustaining thus eliminating the only cost to my carer I'd still be incurring if I did this. They are completely on board with the idea and I can always pay board/utilities again if I get sicker again and become unable to leave the house for a number of weeks.

Is it the intention to be traveling over these 3 days and enjoying the lounge between flylig? To access the lounge one must have a boarding pass, and there's not a lot of $50 QF flights. Cheapest I've seen is maybe $109? Not a huge outlay but would be doubling your expenditure per week. Also there's restrictions on lounge on arrival access with no onward boarding pass.

 

[Newb]

Yes, but why would yo spend $3K-$6K to do status rund to achieve lounge membership? You can simply buy it for $600 and not have to spend any other money.

Because I'm seriously considering taking literally any flight I can get below 60 dollars twice per week just to spend time in airport lounges eating and drinking free while I do homework, taking flights at night whenever possible and sleeping on board whenever I can get a comfortable enough seat or in the cheapest hotel room I can find with points + cash the following evening when I can't while continuously scanning for cheap flights to continue onto the next leg as I do my schoolwork online.

I want the best lounge experience I can get because I will more or less live out of them and planes whenever I can once I know more about mileage running. Between sleeping in business class seats, cheap hotel rooms and sleeping bags inside of locked rooms at business centers/gyms/short stay facilities and having a free room I can come back to for short-stays freely to long-stays fairly cheaply in Melbourne, I should be pretty good for accommodation.

It's completely within my financial reach to do that if I'm being fed and watered based on the rates I'm seeing as my only expenses would be my health insurance, phone bills, flights and cheap rooms at hostel/hotels/airbnb/any random place that lets you reserve a locked room for a few hours as part of membership as I could always come back here three days a week or even far less often than that when I get super-cheap streaks and my health is doing okay. If I get my insurance to pay for membership with the right health services, I'll have chains of places I can shower, dress and exercise for no extra cost all year 'round across the country with lockers I could throw a bag of clothes in one at each capital city with my membership card.

Newb, your posts and expectations are so "far out there" that I have pondered whether this is all a windup. I have decided for now it is not because of the detail you have posted. In so many ways I feel a I have been in a similar situation. Years ago I was a computer nerd - building desktops was my passion. But then I got ripped on a long international trip so my focus changed from electronics to travel. And beleive me, it is harder to keep up with frequent flyer programs, airlines, etc than even tech. If you manage to transfer your zeal for computers to the frequent flying thing, I am sure that within short time you will be teaching us all new tricks. But as you know from computing, you have to live and breathe this stuff every day if you want to excel. I totally understand what I perceive as your overall world, and I totally agree that it would be fantastic if you can blend your tech habits with lounge time Go hard, and keep asking questions!

It's not a windup, nothing I did was too expensive for someone of my means because I broke it up and spread it out.



Even flying over a friend only cost me 650 to get her here, we used groupon and scoupon type deals and hung out playing games for three months while we toured Melbourne and Victoria together on the cheap.

I'm honestly just looking for tips and tricks to maximize my earning of points, reduce costs of hotel stays and get free perks so I can restructure my finances to allow me to go overseas regularly and travel around Australia a whole bunch.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Eating and drinking at airport lounges? Domestically the food is pretty limited and quite ordinary. IMO ok occasionally, but every week would soon pale.

Eating in the air. Domestically, in Y lucky to be a snack. J hardly that satisfying.

International J. Quite ok. International lounges much better than Australian Domestic ones.

Sleeping on planes? Even in GOOD J and F it is just ok for me. Y I am lucky to nap and feel horrid after landing. Everyone is different though.


The plane as destination? Not for me, but others love everything about flying. For me it is just something to be endured, but yes International J and F make it pleasant enough.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Because I'm seriously considering taking literally any flight I can get below 60 dollars twice per week just to spend time in airport lounges eating and drinking free while I do homework, taking flights at night whenever possible and sleeping on board whenever I can get a comfortable enough seat or in the cheapest hotel room I can find with points + cash the following evening when I can't while continuously scanning for cheap flights to continue onto the next leg as I do my schoolwork online.

But if you are taking flights less than $60 they're are only going to earn you... well... 0 status credits. With jetstar you need to add a bundle to get SCs. Qantas doesn't offer flights for less than $60 - that I have seen - that are going to be from major airports with lounges, let alone overnight flights. And the closer to departure, the more expensive flights will be.

While you are adding up your 10 SCs at a time (to get 700 to get gold) - or even if you needed 350 with a double status credit promotion - which lounges are you going to use? That's a lot of flights to rack up. And if you are intending to spend $3K-$6K to earn that staus quickly... there's little point when a Qantas club membership gets you exactly the same benefits but for one tenth the cost.

Also, with double status credits there's a very limited booking window, can be just a few days. You need to buy all your furture airfares in that small window. A big outlay for little or no return.

 

[Newb]

But if you are taking flights less than $60 they're are only going to earn you... well... 0 status credits. With jetstar you need to add a bundle to get SCs. Qantas doesn't offer flights for less than $60 - that I have seen - that are going to be from major airports with lounges, let alone overnight flights. And the closer to departure, the more expensive flights will be.

While you are adding up your 10 SCs at a time (to get 700 to get gold) - or even if you needed 350 with a double status credit promotion - which lounges are you going to use? That's a lot of flights to rack up. And if you are intending to spend $3K-$6K to earn that staus quickly... there's little point when a Qantas club membership gets you exactly the same benefits but for one tenth the cost.

Also, with double status credits there's a very limited booking window, can be just a few days. You need to buy all your future airfares in that small window. A big outlay for little or no return.

That 60 bucks will get me to another city into a lounge if I have status or membership, it will earn miles towards a room which is hit with a multiplier if I have silver or higher. It will also let me be in position AT the airport lounge, ready to buy vacant seats on under-booked planes, surely there must be a way to get cheap flights if I'm buying the ticket 10-30 minutes before take off, right? I'm also looking into signing up with another frequent flyer mile program to use for interconnecting flights to the airport doing the cheapest Qantas business class fights whenever I can't get a good deal on oneworld to get there when so I can keep my spend down, I figure a priority pass would handle lounges in that scenario.

I intend to loiter in or near airports to do this, I don't mind alternating between varying levels of flight quality if I always have access to first class lounges and ultra cheap accommodation as I can spend the flight asleep or in VR.

 

[kitkatff]

for points (not status), if you can drink wine, look at epiqure (Wine Sale - View our Wine Deals | Qantas Wine), you can usually find wines for around $17-20-25/bottle and 5, 7,8 or 10,000 Qantas point per case of 12. As far as I know they only do free shipping for customers with status, so you may need to factor in delivery costs initially, unless you can find promos to get free shipping - check for ex. Frequent Flyer - Member Specials - Qantas epiQure bonus Qantas Points offer to see if it's still valid.

Wine might sem like a bit of a luxury, but when starting the frequent flyer point game with no status, a $250 case of wine is quite cheap to get 7-10,000 points ... as mentioned above, MEL-PER in J only gives you 3,300 points and costs way more.
Make sure to pay with a credit card earning Qantas points.

No status credit, but some points you can use down the track for upgrades/etc.

 

[Newb]

for points (not status), if you can drink wine, look at epiqure (Wine Sale - View our Wine Deals | Qantas Wine), you can usually find wines for around $17-20-25/bottle and 5, 7,8 or 10,000 Qantas point per case of 12. As far as I know they only do free shipping for customers with status, so you may need to factor in delivery costs initially, unless you can find promos to get free shipping - check for ex. Frequent Flyer - Member Specials - Qantas epiQure bonus Qantas Points offer to see if it's still valid.

Wine might sem like a bit of a luxury, but when starting the frequent flyer point game with no status, a $250 case of wine is quite cheap to get 7-10,000 points ... as mentioned above, MEL-PER in J only gives you 3,300 points and costs way more.
Make sure to pay with a credit card earning Qantas points.

No status credit, but some points you can use down the track for upgrades/etc.

I've seen some of those and considered getting the wine deal once per year to give away as gifts/have booze on hand for friends.

I just picked up a Bankwest Qantas Transaction account that pays out 5 to 1 QP/AUD on purchases in Australia and 5 to 1 QP/AUD on cash withdrawals overseas and I got a Qantas Cash card in the mail that pays out .25x per $ locally and 1.5x per $ overseas on dollars spent on the card, gonna have my pay + savings on the Bankwest and spend it from that locally and the Qantas Cash card whilst overseas most likely. Still looking at CCs.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I just picked up a Bankwest Qantas Transaction account that pays out 5 to 1 QP/AUD on purchases in Australia

You might want to double check this. The Bankwest account pays 5 points per transaction, not per dollar. If you make a purchase of $1 you earn 5 points, but if you make a purchase of $100 you also only earn 5 points.

 

[Pushka]

I can do my schoolwork from anywhere, why not do it in flying domestically in and out of business lounges eating free food and drinking free booze in between flights bought last second for cheap to stay in hotels paid for by miles? Assuming I stay with my carer 3 days per week I could take 3 50 dollar flights a week and overnight in QP hotel rooms or snagging deals on hotel chain coupons to use or simply sleeping on the plane and pulling an all nighter somewhere quiet and safe if I'm not willing to spend on accomodation because I've slept well. I don't even care what time of day or night I leave or arrive, I'm completely disconnected from the normal sleep/wake cycle.



Very hard to get a CC card when you can't work, the person who lets me interest free stuff in exchange for lumpsums on bills is willing to get a CC for me.



Yep, won't get a CC in my name, going for a qantas cash card in my name and a qantas points CC in my carers name once I work out which one is best for me..




Tullamarine is 15 minutes from my room when traffic isn't heavy, I can get there very easily. I was thinking I could loiter in airport lounges and business centers doing my schoolwork while I use something to monitor prices on flights so I can lock in a cheap flights and rooms(with points, cash, coupons or all three) as they come up at Tullamarine and fly out that day if anything particularly cheap or enticing with the plan of repeating the same idea wherever I can obtain comfy lounge access/free food somewhere that has better deals like Sydney or Brisbane.

I could have free accommodation near the airport 3 days a week and not have to pay ANY utilities or bills at all for it while retaining my current setup as solar is currently being installed to make this house more self-sustaining thus eliminating the only cost to my carer I'd still be incurring if I did this. They are completely on board with the idea and I can always pay board/utilities again if I get sicker again and become unable to leave the house for a number of weeks.

Within a very short period of time you will realise that the food even in J lounge is just not the type of food that will sustain you. It’s ok for a quick snack usually when you plan on grabbing a meal at home or in the hotel. It tastes ok for a once in a while necessity but not as your normal way of eating.

Part of me wants to tell you not to do it because I just don’t think it is a wise thing to do, in terms of importantly health, then lifestyle then finances. I don’t think you’ve done all the research needed. The other part of me wants to see if what you are planning does actually work.

But the first part of me thinks you shouldn’t do this.