New jet on the taxiway

[w2ttsy]

Hey all,

I'm new to the forums, old to flying. I've done a stack of travelling domestically, mainly on LCCs that have no rewards programs (26 return flights on tiger in a year back in 2010!) so my points balance is a rather paltry 4.5k on Velocity.

Now that I'm branching out into international travel, I'm keen to work out how I can start accruing points for future travel plans. Would be keen on ways to grow the points balance that don't involve credit cards, as I'm not really a fan of using them for frequent shopping.

Happy travels,

Matt

 

[straitman]

Hey all,

I'm new to the forums, old to flying. I've done a stack of travelling domestically, mainly on LCCs that have no rewards programs (26 return flights on tiger in a year back in 2010!) so my points balance is a rather paltry 4.5k on Velocity.

Now that I'm branching out into international travel, I'm keen to work out how I can start accruing points for future travel plans. Would be keen on ways to grow the points balance that don't involve credit cards, as I'm not really a fan of using them for frequent shopping.

Happy travels,

Matt

Hi w2ttsy,

Welcome to AFF.

Any idea which programs you are interested in at this time?

You have almost asked a 'how long is a piece of string' question so I'm just trying to narrow down the field a little.

 

[w2ttsy]

Any idea which programs you are interested in at this time?

I'm gathering you mean FF programmes?

Well I'm a velocity member now on a red level card. I'd probably want to continue using the velocity programme as I think it offers the best value for money in terms of points/out of pocket $$ when redeeming (compared to QFF). For example, I did a one way flight to hobart for 5k points + $12 admin fee.

My current goal is to grow points for now and then work out how to use them later. My future redemption goal is to have enough to do a round the world flight or similar.

I'm flying with Air NZ in January to SFO, and I'll be eligible to earn 0.25 velocity points per mile between MEL and AKL.

Since Velocity only takes me across the tasman, would I be better off switching to (and creating an account) AirMiles for the whole trip? Or is there another star alliance partner that has a better rewards program that I could sign up to?

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome

Those are the types of questions I suggest you need to focus on, straight up. The biggest weakness in use of FF programs is to spray earnings around and never ear enough points for anything worthwhile, nor gain any status.

My current goal is to grow points for now and then work out how to use them later.

Sorry, that's not going to work. If you want to earn points for a 'free trip' (and you'll get to know that there aren't many that are actually 'free'), you sorta need to decide now where you want to go. International: Americas? Europe? Asia? RtW? This will largely determine which FF scheme you join and more basically, which global airline alliance you focus on. OneWorld (Qantas etc), Star Alliance (Singapore Air etc) or Sky team (Delta, KLM etc, with affiliations with Virgin Australia). If your ambitions are only domestic, then of course its Virgin vs Qantas only.

If its OneWorld routes, then don't just think about Qantas Frequent Flyer. The earning on American AAdvantage is good, and the redemption rates are better than Qantas. Also, Qantas charges large 'fuel fees' for Award flights - such that for a Y redemption, the cost of cash 'fuel fees' almost as much as a discount Y fare!! American Airlines charges low fuel fees, as do a number of other airlines. This is what I mean about thinking ahead, and crediting to the scheme that will yield best results with respect to what you ant to do.

If you are thinking about Asia travel, you might think of joining Sing Air's or Thai's scheme (Star Alliance) but Aegean Airlines' scheme for instance allows you to qualify for higher status (better flying perks) more easily. Then you redeem points on Sing Air flights and enjoy the use of the Sing Air lounges

As you are flying to SFO on ANZ, that seems to be the best place to start - with a Star Alliance Scheme. You could join United Airlines' scheme, or Air NZ's, or even Aegean's but once you start, you should stick with it. others here can give better advice as to which Star Alliance Scheme might be best.

There ARE many ways to easily extra points (mainly for Qantas) by credit card use etc, even if you aren't 'trying'. Lots of info on various threads here.

So life gets complicated quickly, and I'm sorry if this all seems a bit bewildering; keep plugged in and you'll read and learn a lot. Even if you don't want to be that focussed on the issues as many of us here are, there are some simple ways to increase your earn and burn rates.

Good luck

 

[TomVexille]

Welcome aboard!

 

[w2ttsy]

Welcome

Sorry, that's not going to work. If you want to earn points for a 'free trip' (and you'll get to know that there aren't many that are actually 'free'), you sorta need to decide now where you want to go. International: Americas? Europe? Asia? RtW? This will largely determine which FF scheme you join and more basically, which global airline alliance you focus on. OneWorld (Qantas etc), Star Alliance (Singapore Air etc) or Sky team (Delta, KLM etc, with affiliations with Virgin Australia). If your ambitions are only domestic, then of course its Virgin vs Qantas only.

Thanks for the advice RooFlyer!

I'll try and elaborate on my travel goals for the next few years.

I'm new to the International legs scene and will probably be doing quite a bit in the future as the travel bug bites (and also my travel budget will be freed up significantly next year). In the next few years, my plan is to focus mainly on North America (states and Canada), and Western Europe, and some of developed Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan).

I have a 4-5 week European trip planned for late 2016 as it incorporates my cousin's wedding in Italy and I expect to do a round trip of the usual suspects (england, france, germany, etc) whilst over there. I do know that I will be flying on a full service carrier for the legs to Europe, so SQ, EY, EK, etc. No China southern or other lower rate carriers.

As you are flying to SFO on ANZ, that seems to be the best place to start - with a Star Alliance Scheme. You could join United Airlines' scheme, or Air NZ's, or even Aegean's but once you start, you should stick with it. others here can give better advice as to which Star Alliance Scheme might be best.

So life gets complicated quickly, and I'm sorry if this all seems a bit bewildering; keep plugged in and you'll read and learn a lot. Even if you don't want to be that focussed on the issues as many of us here are, there are some simple ways to increase your earn and burn rates.

Good luck

Sadly I don't do a lot of travel for work (domestic or otherwise), so earning points has only really entered my mind now as the option to start going overseas has presented itself. Thanks for all the advice so far.

 

[RooFlyer]

OK, one last tip. Flying within continental Europe is difficult on One World as the players BA, Finnair, Iberia are all on the edge; can't get from Rome to Vienna for instance on one World. I recently did a hop around Europe, and stuck with Star Alliance (Lufthansa, Swiss, Brussels, Austrian, LOT etc, lots of hubs within Europe). But to get a Star Alliance Europe Pass, you need to fly Star Alliance long haul to get there; SQ/LH, or TG or even TK (Turkish). Some good combo fares with LH especially. A good travel agent helps if you don't have the time to research all the options.

Given you immediate flight on ANZ, and future major plan, I'd be seriously looking at one of the Star Alliance Schemes to earn points; do look at United's scheme, BUT always look out for the requirement to do so many sectors on the 'native' airline to qualify for status in any year. You may not be flying enough in one year to earn status, but that's another story.

BTW none of the above stops you from earning QFF points using credit cards, shopping cards etc. Go for it!

 

[JohnK]

Welcome to AFF w2ttsy!