JT Genter is a millionaire – at least when it comes to flying. He and his wife currently have over four million miles accrued, and he’s spent plenty more. As a senior writer for travel website The Points Guy, working loyalty schemes to his advantage is his professional beat.
The world of frequent flyer programs is byzantine enough – it formed a major plot-point in a movie, the 2008 George Clooney vehicle Up in the Air; a book, John Hodgeman’s Medallion Status; and spawned dozens of dedicated blogs and websites.
In the time of climate emergency, we should all be striving to fly as little as possible. However, in a country as large and remote as Australia, it can be difficult to avoid getting on a plane completely. Though they’re not without complications, carbon offsets should also be front of mind when you fly. But when you do have to fly, you may as well try and wring the most out of it personally too. It might not be enough to get you into the free-spread bonanza of a premium lounge, but you can score a fair few points in a single afternoon. And most of it doesn’t involve flying at all.
1.30pm: Review what you’ve got
Your frequent flyer points will expire if your account has no activity. On Virgin’s Velocity program, you’ll lose your miles after 24 months, while Qantas miles expire after 18 months of no earning or spending. If you’re already a member of a mileage program, check your balance and see if your account might be nearing expiration. If it is, arrange some kind of activity. That doesn’t have to mean booking a flight. You could connect your account to a partner service or redeem some miles for vouchers or products, “but those are generally bad value”, warns Genter.
Next, take a look at your credit cards and see if any of them entitle you to travel status you’re not using. “My dad didn’t realise he had lounge access until I told him,” says Genter. Your employer might give perks you’re not aware of too. “If you work for a large company, see if their travel department has any special offers. IHG has deals with a lot of accounting firms, where all employees instantly get top-tier offers.”
2pm: Define your travel goals for the year
Once you’ve figured out what you already have, it’s time to decide where you’re going “and see how far away you are from achieving at least part of it with points and miles.”
Look into the costs for the trips you have planned, and figure out if it makes sense to fly using points. While you’re at it, figure out if there’s a way you can get there without flying at all – the planet will thank you.
For the travel you have to do, Genter says expensive short-haul flights are an ideal candidate for spending points, while popular routes with cheap fares such as Sydney to Melbourne are not likely to deliver good value. Upgrades are often better value than redeeming points for the full cost of an economy ticket, but it’s not always the case, so do your research. When you want to cash in your points, it’s better to plan ahead, since they can be complicated, or date-dependant, to redeem.
Finally, it’s better to spend points quickly. “We definitely preach miles are a bad long-term investment and they’re going to go down ... It’s a balancing act. You don’t want to spend them frivolously ... If there’s a flight to the United States that’s only $1,000, and it would cost you $700 for a redemption, plus the points, then maybe not.”
2.30pm: Sign up for additional schemes
“There’s a debate about whether you should be a ‘free agent’ or loyal,” Genter says. “If you know you’re going to travel enough to get elite status on one airline, and you’re willing to take particular connections or pay a little bit more to be loyal, it could make sense.” For the sake of your wallet, this approach should only be taken if you’re travelling on your company’s bill. Consumer advocacy group Choice suggest paying more to earn points is almost never worth it. And, for the sake of the planet, you should avoid unnecessarily long or complex routes for the sake of scoring milage.
That means “for most people, free agency works best. You can fly with whoever works best for your situation.” In Australia, Genter suggests you should be signed up for both Qantas and Virgin’s frequent flyer programs. Virgin’s program is free, while Qantas charges a joining fee of $99.50 – but you can sneak through the back door and get away with not paying it by going through one of their partners like Woolworths or Deliveroo.
If you travel internationally, signing up for a Star Alliance (one of the largest global airline alliances) program is a good idea too – Singapore Airlines Krisflyer is a good, free option, as it also has a partnership with Virgin’s Velocity, so you’ll have more flexibility when it comes to transferring and spending your points.
This suggestion comes with a caveat. “There certainly is data sharing ... behind the scenes,” says Genter. “With all the data breaches that have happened, especially in the US, I pretty much just assume everyone has everything about me. If you’re worried you might want to limit your number of programs.”
3.15pm: Figure out how to earn points for spending you’re already doing
Once again, if you’re privacy conscious, this might not be the right choice for you, but if, like Genter, you “think if they make my life easy, they can know everything about me”, then it’ll help you reach your mile goals faster.
“The traditional way of earning points was just from flying. Now you can earn them through shopping.” Genter suggests Qantas’s Points Prompter browser extension might be a good place to start. “That way, when you’re online shopping, the merchant will pay Qantas a little bit for referring them, and you’ll get the points.”
The major Australian carriers also have partnerships with hotels and big grocery chains, so you can connect your frequent flyer account to a Flybuys loyalty scheme (Coles and Virgin) or Woolworths Rewards (Woolworths and Qantas). Ride sharing apps Uber and Ola also have frequent flyer partnerships, with Qantas and Virgin respectively. You can get a full list of partners from your frequent flyer programs’ websites. As a bonus, this kind of activity means your points are less likely to expire.
3.50pm: Cancel your credit card and sign up for a new one
Provided you pay your credit card bill off monthly, using a points-earning card is one of the best ways to accumulate points. And the offers are sweeter for new customers.
“Changing credit card providers regularly is how I’ve earned millions and millions of miles,” says Genter. “I’ve signed up for around 60 credit cards. We have 37 that we have open now – the US is crazy. It’s not nearly as lucrative down here, but there are definitely still great sign-up bonuses.”
Genter notes that credit cards in Australia tend to have higher annual fees than their US counterparts, so if you are considering switching to a points-earning card on a great sign-up offer, do some mathematics to figure out if it’s worth your while. He suggests valuing a frequent flyer mile at about 1.5 Australian cents, while consumer affairs group Choice put the value at around one cent. So if a card is offering a sign-up bonus of 70,000 points, you should think of it as having around $700 to $1,050 of value. If the card’s annual fee is higher than that, it might not make sense. There are several comparison sites that give regular rundowns of sign-up bonus offers – do your research.
If you do switch, be sure to read the fine print to see if you’ll qualify for all the bonus points too. Many sign-up offers come with minimum monthly spends in order to qualify.
4.30pm: Think about your status
Frequent flyer programs tend to be made up of two components. There are points – the things you earn and spend – and then there’s status. Status is harder to earn, but it comes with the best perks. Genter says on a recent, short-haul flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, for instance “because I flew with an airline I had status with, I got to go to American Airlines’ best lounge, where they have buffets of sushi, make-your-own-omelettes and free booze. It’s ridiculous to do what I did, which was to hang out in the lounge for four hours before a 30-minute flight, but those are the sort of perks that you can get.” Genter has also received plenty of free upgrades due to his status, been bumped up to the penthouse suite in hotels, and was once even flown to the Bahamas. “It was a huge hassle to redeem, but it’s a fun story,” he says.
Beyond clocking thousands of kilometres of airline travel, the only way to accumulate status is by signing up for expensive credit cards, and additional loyalty schemes. However, if you’ve had to travel for work a lot, gained status, and now it looks like you’ll lose it, one semi-professional tip Genter offers is transferring your loyalty to a program that will status-match. You might have to complete a long-haul “challenge” in order to qualify for “status matching” – but it’s a way to wring an extra year out of your high-life lounge access. Just make sure that challenge flight is an essential one.
5.30pm: Treat yourself to a glass of complimentary bubbly – you’ve earned all your points for the day.
