I became a serious Points Runner about the time I read about the exploits of the Pudding Guy and a number of other large earning promos that had been exploited by various people and most of which had been written up on Flyertalk. That was not long after I started browsing this forum and a few like forums. Reading of their succes really galvanised my thinking, and more importantly committment.
That was my Epiphany.
For many The Pudding Guy is great story. For me it was a new beginning.
Now prior to that ever since I started flying lot in my previous employ I had yes acquired frequent flyer points by various means. ie flying, accommodation, credit card hotels etc. I was a Platinum with Ansett and was regularly redeeming for domestic and international flights.
But my Epiphany resulted in my moving into earning and burning points in a lot more scientific manner. To really think about how strategically I could acquire more points, and also how those points could be redeemed in the best manner for my circumstances and requirements. Earn and Burn...and maximising both. For example I am now earning (when extra bonii are not on offer) a minimum of 1.5points per $ on Amex and 1.0 on VISA rather than the previous 1.o/0.5 that I was earning. Flight wise for redeeming I swapped from QF to SQ.
I now have changed careers for lifestyle reasons and do not have anywhere near the amount of paid work travel that I had in the past and yet due to my Epiphany I am now earning considerably more points each year and getting more bang for my earnt points as well.
Looking at my records.
I peaked on 5 March 2009 when I had 3.4 million points
Since then I have redeemed 997,500 points on flights.
But totalling up my accounts today I still have 2.8 million points.
So in less than a year I have still managed to aquire 400K.
Without maximising one’s earn that would have only been say 150K or less. The extra has come from chasing extra bonus point earn/$ on cards, a 10K sign on with Westpac,a bit here and there with opportunities such as Woolworths Everday points, and 71k from BMI for in the main doing a few quick surveys/sign-ons (all free apart from one $130 car rental). In that period there have also been various deals such as the current QF Ultimate deal where one can effectively buy points cheaply for the yearly fee. But with a large points balance I have refrained. If my points balance became small I would probably take up some of these as it would still be cheap flying.
But apart from earning more points I am now burning lot better with a lot more point bang!!! That 997500 of points in the past (J and F travel) would have cost me more like in excess of 2 million points with the result that I and my family would have been redeeming in Y instead.
And yes this forum has resulted in all sorts of useful tips to urn, burn and ease ones travel and to save money in other ways (ie Wizard Card).
