Did you know that you can get free frequent flyer miles and points just for your basic every day living expenses? Over the last couple of weeks, I wrote about credit card options for Australians so right there if you can route all your expenses for groceries, petrol, utilities via the card (and pay it in full each month) you will accumulate a LOT of points.
There are also ways to earn points that don’t require a credit card.
QANTAS FREQUENT FLYER
1. Join Everyday Rewards. Then swipe your card when you shop at Woolworths, Big W, Caltex Woolworths Petrol, Dick Smith and BWS you will earn points. They sometimes email you special offers such as “Spend $25 on pet food and get 300 bonus points”. They have more recently been giving fuel vouchers as bonuses but hopefully they will return to bonus Qantas points soon but you always earn the base points, so why not turn your groceries, petrol and other shopping into free points?
2. Link your Optus phone and internet account and get 2 points per dollar for your normal phone and internet expenses. You can do this whether you are new to Optus or been using them for years. You pay the same bill you have always paid but now you are getting points for them!
3. Use Rental Rewards to pay your rent! In the example here, they show you how you can get 20,000 points per year!
4. Life Insurance can earn you 10,000 points. Check here for details.
5. Restaurants – if you like to eat out, check here to see if your favourite restaurant will give you points with your meal!
VIRGIN VELOCITY
1. Virgin Mobile – if you switch to Virgin Mobile, you will get a bonus of 4000 points plus $3 per dollar on every monthly bill thereafter.
2. On the same page, you will see bonuses for getting Foxtel, Quickflix, and tickets for events.
3. Online shopping – Velocity partners with Westfield and most of us do shop at Westfields pretty often so check to see if you can get points for it. They also have their own online shopping mall and partner with Ebay, the Iconic, Booktopia and more!
4. Insurance and Financial – maybe not an everyday expense but if these are services you are shopping for anyway, why not get points by using the click-thru link?
5. Wining and Dining – once again, if you like going out or joining a wine club you can get points!
I know if you are just starting out, this seems kind of daunting, but once you get started, it becomes second nature. If I get a bonus for pet food, I stock up on bird seed. I plan my grocery shopping for days when bonuses are on offer and fill my car with the maximum petrol voucher as those also get me points. It all adds up-it has only taken me a year to get over 16,000 Qantas points just from groceries, petrol and Optus! Purely free travel!
DOUBLE DIPPING
Oh and if you have a miles/points earning credit card you get to double-dip! That means you earn the points from the card and from the retail partner. For example, I spend $150 on groceries at Woolies. I pay for it with my Amex. I just got 130 Qantas points and 150 Amex Membership Rewards for stuff I had to buy anyways!