When shopping online, you could be earning up to 10 frequent flyer points dollar by clicking through to your preferred online retailer from an airline shopping portal such as the Qantas Online Mall or Velocity e-Store. That’s in addition to any points you might be able to earn on your credit card.
In Australia, you also have the option to earn United MileagePlus miles, Cathay Asia Miles and even now Emirates Skywards miles when shopping online. It’s an easy way to boost your points balance for purchases you were going to make anyway!
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How online shopping portals work
To earn points through an online shopping portal, you’ll first need to log into your frequent flyer account and ensure your browser cookies are enabled. Then, click through from your airline’s shopping portal to the retailer’s website. The airline will track any purchases you make in order to reward you with frequent flyer points for every dollar spent.
Airlines are able to offer points in this way because, if you click through to the online retailer from their website, they’ll earn a small commission on any sales. They then pass on some of this commission back to you in the form of frequent flyer points.
This is similar to the business model of Cashrewards, except that Cashrewards gives actual money back rather than points.
In Australia, you can earn points by shopping through the online portals of multiple frequent flyer programs. Here are the main ones…
Qantas Shopping Online Mall
The Qantas Shopping Online Mall boasts a large list of online retailers where you can earn bonus Qantas points. These include Fantastic Furniture, Apple, UNIQLO, T2 and Pizza Hut. The number of Qantas points earned per dollar varies by store, and you can often earn bonus points during special promotions.
To ensure you never miss a points-earning opportunity, Qantas Frequent Flyer even offers a Points-Prompter browser extension. This works on desktop computers and highlights bonus Qantas point offers available when you’re shopping online.
However, you should be aware of and be comfortable with the possible privacy implications before downloading this extension. If you see something you wish to buy, you’ll still need to go to the Qantas Shopping portal to earn points for the purchase.
Velocity e-Store
The Velocity e-Store is Virgin Australia’s online shopping portal. With most retailers, you’ll earn 2 Velocity points per dollar spent. But, as with Qantas, there are regular offers where you can earn bonus Velocity points with certain retailers for a limited time.
There are more than 200 online retailers participating in the Velocity eStore including Menulog, iTunes, Myer, Bing Lee, Groupon and Specsavers.
Although there are many online retailers that participate in both the Qantas and Velocity shopping portals, the number of points awarded per dollar is not always equal. So, it pays to shop around!
United MileagePlus Shopping Australia
Since 2019, United Airlines offers its own shopping portal for the Australian market called MileagePlus Shopping. You can earn United miles for shopping at participating online retailers including Chemist Warehouse, Rebel, R.M. Williams and The North Face.
Asia Miles iShop
Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles iShop awards miles for every USD1 spent. The Cathay Pacific shopping portal has coverage for several different countries – simply select “ANZ” (Australia/New Zealand) as your region if you live in Australia.
Stores covered include Apple, Bonds, Menulog, Tommy Hilfiger, Baby Bunting and Samsung.
Emirates Skywards Miles Mall
Emirates has just launched its own online mall for the Australian market called Skywards Miles Mall. Emirates Skywards members can earn miles for every $10 spent with over 300 partner retailers such as Apple, eBay, BWS, Sunglass Hut and Appliances Online.
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