Cards and Point System

No. You just have different priorities, we all do.

 

I don't chase points, but will sign up to most programs if it's free. If I get a freebie so be it, if not, I don't care. Oz airlines used to charge a fee ($70?) to join their FF programs.

For domestic travel, I'm kind of wedded to Qantas as I have a lifetime club membership. I don't think they offer that anymore.

 

Nice - lifetime memberships are still around but you can't purchase them anymore you have to earn them.
I use QFF points to upgrade. Everyone in my family of 5 has a membership and I pool those points via transfer to me to do upgrades on trips I do by myself, eg PER --> SYD is 20,000 QFF point upgrade to biz.
I tend to stick to Jetstar or Qantas or Oneworld to maximise points and status benefits. Flying Jetstar with a Qantas Gold status means I can use the Qantas Lounge and just have a nice relax and feed before the flight then cram on and ignore my butt for 5hrs.

 

Plus priority check-in, additionally luggage, priority luggage, priority boarding, just to name a few perks of being an elite member…


Don’t forget a lot of airlines offers matching status when there is a promotion, planning it strategically you will receive amazing result with no money out of pocket.


This is how I did it:


1. Obtained gold status with Aegean Airlines (Star Alliance, it focuses on Europe routes) with one Return business class trip to Bangkok. (This is because Aegean Airlines USED to be the easiest in all airlines in the world to reach elite status, the threshold was 20k (or 10k?) miles but currently it is 40k now.)

2. Status matched with Air Berlin by using my gold status from Aegean Airlines. Air Berlin is affiliated with Qantas so I used this gold status to enjoy Qantas gold status perks.

3. Status matched with Etihad Airways by using my gold status from Air Berlin. Etihad is affiliated with Virgin Australia and a whole heaps of other airlines, And Virgin Australia is affiliated with Air New Zealand so I’ve been using gold status from Etihad on all Virgin flights and I get to choose which lounge (Etihad or Virgin or Air NZ) I use.

 

One year I flew economy to Europe with Qatar. It is a member of OneWorld so I used my Air Berlin gold card for priority check-in & lounge etc. At check-in I asked if I can get an upgrade, the nice lady checked the system said no but she blocked the two seats next to me so I managed to sleep through this 14.5 hour journey lying down.

 

We must belong to the same forums. I joined Aegean to do that deal but then couldn't travel so had to make do with earning the hard way. But I do keep an eye out for the status matching deals as they are good.

 

I thought so. Lifetime paid memberships used to be a bargain (back when there were no gold/silver/diamond/coal memberships). I think it was something like 5-10yrs fees for membership for 50yrs+. I got gifted one as a young man.

 

Citibank signature occasionally have deals through the referral scheme (look on Point hacks or I fly flat, or even on AFF, for a fee free card. I got one, but their points exchange is not as good now. I swapped a bunch of points to Krisflyer before the drop. I mostly fly Virgin though. It's the best domestic airline for families.. with points and status credit pooling. I also get virgin lounge access with my AMEX.

 

At 43, I'm middle aged.

 

I've flown business class on points to the UK. My son was just under 2 at the time, so I only booked one seat we shared on the way up which was OK. The plane wasn't full on the way home & they blocked one for him all the way home, happy days. I have enough to upgrade us from economy to business for our next European trip in the next couple of years so I'll probably do that if I can get the upgrade. 24 hours in economy is just no fun. I confess I was a bit spoilt as needed to travel to the UK a few times a year and was always flown business or first. Hard to go back to economy!

 

This is a bit long winded, but explains how I am in the process accessing around $3000 worth of free accommodation on an upcoming European holiday for perhaps a couple of hours worth of messing around.

American Express 'Explorer' card was released last year.

Benefits:

* Bonus 50,000 Membership Rewards points (80,000 via referral link, message me if interested & can provide mine)
* $400 travel credit every year
* Free access to the Sydney Airport American Express lounge twice a year
* Free insurances (phone screen + travel, T&C apply)

Restrictions:

- Need to earn $65k per annum (personal or household)
- Minimum card limit of $3,000
- $395 annual fee
- Need to spend $1,500 on card in first 3 months to get the bonus points

How this works for me:

I usually holiday/travel each year so the $395 annual fee is basically offset by the $400 travel credit supplied each year which I will use for hotels, flights or tours (so net neutral cost).

I have received my card and will be referring my wife as well so that we have 2 of these cards and 160,000 points between us (+ 20,000 additional I will receive for referring her).

The $1,500 spend in first 3 months is easy, especially if you are looking at booking holidays / accommodation, etc, some businesses charge additional fees for AMEX. Even so, $1,500 @ 3.5% surcharge is only $52.50 in fees (worst case scenario, some charge lower % or not at all) and chances are you can avoid these anyway.

The American Express Membership Rewards points can be transferred to various airline, hotel and other reward partners.

For example, we are transferring 80,000 of the Membership Rewards points to 40,000 Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points [1:0.5 ratio], then you can convert to their hotel partner Marriott for 120,000 points [1:3 ratio]. The Marriott Rewards points can be used to book nights in their hotels and I am looking at some 120,000 point 5 night hotel stays in the EU (5th night free promotion) which would otherwise have cost us somewhere between $750 and $1,800 (depends on hotel, country, dates, etc).

I understand the minimum value of 80,000 Membership Rewards points is around $600 - $800 if you just use them to purchase gift cards, but you can use various, hacks / transfers to increase their value substantially.

If you are interested in giving it a go (applying for a card), feel free to shoot me a message and I can provide a link that will get you the 80,000 points or otherwise you can signup via their standard website and still get 50,000 points.

Of course once you have received and spent the bonus points, you can always close your account