Up, Up And Away

How to really get your frequent flyer points off the ground

For many people, frequent flyer points can seem a little, well, pointless. Try as you might, you never seem to earn enough for those truly big-ticket prizes. However, according to recent Qantas research, we could be earning “upwards of 130,000 points” – enough Qantas points for an economy classic flight reward return from Sydney to London – simply by making a few minor adjustments to our everyday spending habits. But is this an obtainable points tally or just clever marketing?

Frequent flyer points have, of course, long evolved beyond rewarding frequent flyers alone, says Sally McMullen, credit card editor at Finder. “Today you can earn points on virtually anything.

“Qantas calculated this tally based on the national average spend on everything from travel and credit card use to insurance and takeaway food costs. However, it was also made on the assumption that almost all of your expenses – whether that’s insurance through Qantas Assure, alcohol through Qantas Wine, a mobile phone plan with [partnered brand] Vodafone or takeaway through Deliveroo – earn Qantas points. So it’s only a realistic points tally if your spending lines up with the averages used in the example and you shop strategically with those partnered brands.”