So...I think I need Points Club

[bismarck]

So for context, I’m currently QF Platinum on ~10.5k lifetime SC’s. My points club balance is about 15k (year starts 31 Jan)

I usually do the SYD-MEL weekly commute for work but am shortly going to make the move to MEL. For the next 6-9 months I will need to switch from a company funded weekly commute to personal funded before that move is formally made.

I’ll likely do as much as I can on points so would seem there is some merit in getting points club so those classic rewards flights earn status credits. My logic is to lock in LTG as soon as I can.

BUT

Points club probably only adds around 400-500 status credits. So it doesn’t make too much sense to straight out “buy” it....hence my question, are there particularly affordable ways of running up the 110k or so I’d probably need to get points club?

 

[Hvr]

Is credit card churn worthwhile for you? If there is a decent offer someone will mention it here.

Or lots of wine?

Let us know when you're here. Probably about time we visit the Olive Tree again.

 

[flydoc]

So for context, I’m currently QF Platinum on ~10.5k lifetime SC’s. My points club balance is about 15k (year starts 31 Jan)

I usually do the SYD-MEL weekly commute for work but am shortly going to make the move to MEL. For the next 6-9 months I will need to switch from a company funded weekly commute to personal funded before that move is formally made.

I’ll likely do as much as I can on points so would seem there is some merit in getting points club so those classic rewards flights earn status credits. My logic is to lock in LTG as soon as I can.

BUT

Points club probably only adds around 400-500 status credits. So it doesn’t make too much sense to straight out “buy” it....hence my question, are there particularly affordable ways of running up the 110k or so I’d probably need to get points club?

suspect for many a credit card sign on bonus forms the bulk of the minimum 130k ground-earned points required for points club

Also an informative sounding webinar this Wednesday:

Register for Our Next Webinar - Frequent Flyer Solutions

frequentflyer.com.au

 

[mviy]

Note that a credit card sign up bonus can take about 3 months after meeting the required spend to receive. Note that Points Club can include up to 20k points from flying in addition to the points on the ground.

Decent credit card offers to use vary depending on your income etc. and what's available at the time.

 

[dylarr]

Credit card signups will usually deliver the most amount of points.

For example — if you haven't held an Amex in the last 18 months, The High Life have an offer with Amex at the moment. If you apply for the Qantas Amex Ultimate Card using the link on their site, you will get 120,000 Qantas Points and 120 Status Credits after spending $4,500 in the first 3 months. The card has a $450 annual fee, but comes with an an annual $450 travel credit for Qantas flights which can offset the annual fee. Note that the T&C's state that the bonus status credits don't count towards Lifetime status.

If the Amex isn't for you, Qantas maintain a list of offers here: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/freque...are-credit-cards.html?mid=c1mc#/uses=Personal

If you're a wine drinker, some of the Qantas Wine bonus points offers can yield a decent amount of points plus you get some wine to enjoy.

Have a look at Red Energy and see if it is worth switching to them. They are offering 10,000 points for switching electricity, 5,000 points for switching gas. Plus, if you use one of the referral codes from one of the members in this thread here, you can receive an additional 3,500 Qantas Points referral bonus.

 

[mviy]

suspect for many a credit card sign on bonus forms the bulk of the minimum 130k ground-earned points required for points club

Also an informative sounding webinar this Wednesday

It does sound informative but I don't think spending 40 bucks to learn about Points Club is necessary. There is plenty of information freely available online and opportunity to ask questions in communities such as AFF.

As bismarck will be doing a regular commute it'll probably be used to book direct flights not status runs. Though being only ~3.5k status credits away from LTG would perhaps make a run for LTG tempting if not this year perhaps in a few years or so's time.

 

[bsb]

It does sound informative but I don't think spending 40 bucks to learn about Points Club is necessary. There is plenty of information freely available online and opportunity to ask questions in communities such as AFF.

good on him for doing it, but TBH, if a 3rd party needs to run a paid webinar to explain Points Club, then clearly it’s a) too complicated or b) not necessary or a combination of both.

 

[AFF Editor]

good on him for doing it, but TBH, if a 3rd party needs to run a paid webinar to explain Points Club, then clearly it’s a) too complicated or b) not necessary or a combination of both.

Just thought I'd chime in on this as I'm the host of next Wednesday's webinar. The purpose is not really to explain how Points Club works - although the webinar will also cover the basics of the program to give some context to beginners. The main reason to attend is that it will explore unpublished tips & tricks to get more out of the program, e.g. how to maximise the ability to earn status credits from reward flights and potential Qantas Points Club status runs.

Many of the tips would also be mentioned in various threads & articles on this website, and of course people are most welcome to look for this information for free. But the webinar could be useful for some people because all of the relevant info is neatly presented in a one-hour session, with live Q&A also available.

 

[bsb]

Just thought I'd chime in on this as I'm the host of next Wednesday's webinar. The purpose is not really to explain how Points Club works - although the webinar will also cover the basics of the program to give some context to beginners. The main reason to attend is that it will explore unpublished tips & tricks to get more out of the program, e.g. how to maximise the ability to earn status credits from reward flights and potential Qantas Points Club status runs.

Many of the tips would also be mentioned in various threads & articles on this website, and of course people are most welcome to look for this information for free. But the webinar could be useful for some people because all of the relevant info is neatly presented in a one-hour session, with live Q&A also available.

That’s cool and good on you - I’m sure you’ll provide great info & you will provide a great ROI ($40 is a bargain). But I stand by my statement that if it needs explaining by a third party, even to find tips and trick, then inherently its got issues.

 

[mviy]

The best way to use Points Club for status runs is to book them during a DSC promo and fly routings that maximise the status credits per point spent. If I had Points Club I would consider doing it. However, I can't see myself getting Points Club this membership year but maybe next year.

I would like to find a way to get to LTG and manage the cost of doing so. If Points Club enables that to happen much more cheaply then that's great.

 

[dairyfloss]

I'll be in the Points Club for the 2nd year, from September - all on personal spend, with no points from flying, business/similar spend, cc churn or signing up to new contracts like insurances, energy or telco plans. I would ordinarily have the 20K from flying, too, but not likely to get back to that level again for some time. Travel now is obviously domestic, and I've been flying by burning the points that have been piling up since that dreaded day in March 2020.

It has been a bit of a stretch to get there... but it is certainly doable if you have relatively high spend, that you can run through a points earning card... and you are alert to bonuses, deals and behaviours elsewhere that can make a difference.

Some tips from my playing of the game, which may help, or just remind you of some of the things you can do to get to the 150K QFF points needed:

• Fly to get the 20K max input from flying... if you can.
• If you aren't already; put everything that you can via a points earning card. Ideally the card is uncapped for points at 1:1, or better. Unfortunately, my preferred card is capped at 10K/mth; Without that, I'd quite easily requalify on card spend alone.
• Subscribe to & use the QF Shopping & Card Offers - many award between 2 & 10 QFF points per dollar, plus whatever you already earn with your card. I've found a number of these that I was able to take advantage of without any real shift in spending or behaviours (e.g. buy x product from y instead of z, or buy x product online, instead of in-store). Note: Watch the dates on these, as they credit using the purchase date, and not when they credit, which can be 90-120 days later! I found this out the hard way when I lost a 15K bonus to the previous qualifying year!
• Shop at Woolworths using Woolworths Rewards, if you can, and sign-up to get the rewards offers - again, some small changes to spend or brands purchased, here-and-there can net a lot of bonus points (I see about 1K a month from here). I fill up at BP, but you can also earn via Caltex/Ampol with WW Rewards, and that's where your 4c/L discounts from a >=$30 shop are, as well.
• Sign up to BP Rewards and watch for bonuses for filling up there (e.g. a recent promo was 10 points per litre on Ultimate fuels, & 5 points per dollar on purchases)
• Qantas Wine case bonuses can be quite good - keep an eye on these if you're into your vino... unfortunately for me, I'm a beer guy, and they only sell awful beer with no bonuses.
• Complete all your Red Planet Research surveys (or register interest via the Contact Us page, to get on the panel sometime in the future) - I've got >3K points from surveys since Aug 2020.
• Check out the Qantas Partners page every so often to see if there are partners that you use or might use to give your balance a boost

And.... if you do all that, and come close, but not close enough... you could always buy some top-up points... hopefully with a bonus like they had for the 1st half of April (50% bonus points on any purchase), as the value at a cost of up to $0.056 per point (buying the min 1,000 points) is pretty awful!

Edit, to add: In my first year, I was nearing the end of qualification and running a little short, and so transferred in some Hilton HHonors points to top me up. Like the QF Top up points, it's not very good value, but a means to an end, and wasn't using the HHonors points anyway.

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[SYD]

Further to the previous post, the revised AMEX “Shop Small” promo will be handy for some to gain/retain.

3x bonus points per $ available over a 12mth period up to a max of 40k Points.

 

[11sjw]

About to make it past the 350k, PC Plus, mark (yes i churned a couple of credit cards) with approx 2 months to spare. It will give me a QC Membership, handy as i start a new role soon and some travel will be required.

Some other small earners that add up along the way:
1. Kayo, 100 points/month.
2. Utilising the Mastercard shopping bonuses.
3. Within our house we have 2 Woolworths Rewards accounts. One account seems to get the great bonus offers (eg.10k WWR points for 2 weeks of a certain spend) along with both getting weekly booster offers. Sign up kids and your spouse, It may help accelerate things.

 

[sudoer]

3. Within our house we have 2 Woolworths Rewards accounts. One account seems to get the great bonus offers (eg.10k WWR points for 2 weeks of a certain spend) along with both getting weekly booster offers. Sign up kids and your spouse, It may help accelerate things.

Are you crediting from multiple WWR accounts into a single QFF account? I believe this is the only way points from multiple WWR accounts could count towards Points Club qualification as QFF family transfers are exempt. It would also require all members to have the same surname? (rotating multiple accounts for the 2k/10k bonus offers is still good practice though)

Back to the OP's question, CC sign-ups are the easiest way to unlock Points Club and it feels like Qantas has intentionally set the bar at 150k/350k to encourage multiple sign ups each year. I would imagine the % of cardholders who actually put $150k+ annual spend on a card is very low.

My current strategy is to start applying for good deals three months before my membership year begins, so I can hit Points Club Plus as early in the year as possible - this year it took 6 months. I then move spend over to Amex MR for the remainder of the year, and give the credit score a break or apply for a Velocity or bank rewards card if a decent deal pops up. With the recent 120k ANZ Black and 60k Amex Elevate -> Qantas Ultimate upgrade promos, I should be just past half way to PC+ within the first two weeks of the year The challenge has now become ensuring I meet the minimum spend criteria in the 3rd month.

 

[RichardMEL]

with the lack of flying most of my PC spend has been in the form of 10k/20k bonuses on QF wine purchases tbh

(hic!)

 

[Vic]

So like 400 SC from points club on Syd-mel means spending about 450000 points on classic awards. If you're earning that many points per year, getting points club is a no brainer...

or to put it another way, maybe to OP needs to re do the sums

 

[SYD]

So like 400 SC from points club on Syd-mel means spending about 450000 points on classic awards. If you're earning that many points per year, getting points club is a no brainer...

or to put it another way, maybe to OP needs to re do the sums

The OP was aiming for LTP with just under ~4k SCs to go. So probably 3+ years for those extra 400-500 if they maintain WP throughout. Many more years if less SCs per year.

Hopefully some more interesting SCs earning opportunities will open up over that period.

I went for PCs for the ability earn SCs on awards flights since I’m sitting on a very large points balance. I’m already LTG but the possibility to maintain WP without forking out thousands of $ is very attractive. My wine cellar is also well stocked...

 

[11sjw]

Are you crediting from multiple WWR accounts into a single QFF account? I believe this is the only way points from multiple WWR accounts could count towards Points Club qualification as QFF family transfers are exempt. It would also require all members to have the same surname? (rotating multiple accounts for the 2k/10k bonus offers is still good practice though)

Yes, we all have the same surname. Just one of us is targetted way more frequently with bonus point offers!

 

[ABC]

The OP was aiming for LTP with just under ~4k SCs to go. So probably 3+ years for those extra 400-500 if they maintain WP throughout. Many more years if less SCs per year.

Hopefully some more interesting SCs earning opportunities will open up over that period.

I went for PCs for the ability earn SCs on awards flights since I’m sitting on a very large points balance. I’m already LTG but the possibility to maintain WP without forking out thousands of $ is very attractive. My wine cellar is also well stocked...

For the OP I think it would be well worth doing whatever they can to qualify for Points Club as it is an amazing benefit to be able to earn SCs on award flights.

I'm not that far off qualifying for Points Club for this year, but as I don't currently live in Australia I can't take advantage of earning SCs on award flights so it is not worth it for me to make the extra push to qualify.

I already have plenty of Qantas Points, I just wish there was some way I could convert them to SCs. Finnair allow their loyalty scheme members to convert a certain number of their award points to their version of SCs (Tier Points). I wish Qantas would introduce something similar.

 

[sudoer]

already have plenty of Qantas Points, I just wish there was some way I could convert them to SCs. Finnair allow their loyalty scheme members to convert a certain number of their award points to their version of SCs (Tier Points). I wish Qantas would introduce something similar.

Qantas has previously allowed members to retain their Gold or Platinum for 80k or 120k points, but it doesn't come with the SC. Maybe worth calling to ask if this is an option for you next year?