Tag Archives: qantas

15% Off Qantas & Jetstar Classic Award

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This was emailed to me by Qantas, good deal for those who have travel plans they can book at such short notice.

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For 7 days only, we’re offering 15% off Qantas and Jetstar Classic Award flights in Economy to all Australian domestic destinations and selected international destinations*.

Hurry, offer ends 25 January 2015 at 11:59pm (AEDT)! Just be sure to book your Classic Award seat (including any connecting domestic Australian flights) on Qantas or Jetstar operated flights with a QF or JQ flight number within the promotional periods to receive the discount.

How can I book?

  • Check below to see our wide range of destinations on sale.
  • Log in to Your Account.
  • Select the ‘Search Qantas and Partner Classic Awards’ option when searching for your flight. Your 15% discount will be applied where the full itinerary only contains Qantas (QF) or Jetstar (JQ) flights (including domestic transfers) within the promotional period. If a booking is made on partner airlines, no discount will apply for the entire itinerary.
  • Book your Qantas or Jetstar Classic Award flight online before 11:59 (AEDT) on 25 January 2015.

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Finally, ANZ Offers Aussies A Credit Card Deal Like Americans Get

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This post is for my Australian readers, especially those who have been looking with envy at the lucrative credit cards Americans can get with Chase, Citibank, Amex and more!  It’s very rare to find an offer where the annual fee is waived!  Minimum spend is $1500 in 3 months so pretty easy even if we can’t manufacture spend here!

*Not affiliate links, they go right to Qantas website.

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I applied and got a “more information required” message so no instant approval but my details are well within the criteria for the basic card.

What can you do with 50,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points?  Use the “where can I go” tool!  Please note the taxes and fees, some of which are YQ fuel surcharges.

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Win 1 Million Qantas Points

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Brush up on your writing skills, you could be one of 9 winners of 1 million Qantas Frequent Flyer Points!

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Rules:
* The promoter is Qantas Airways Limited (ABN 16 009 661 901) of 10 Bourke Road, Mascot NSW 2020 (13 11 31). The promotion commences at 7.00am (AEST) on 1 June 2014 and closes at 11.59pm (AEST) on 15 June 2014 (Promotion Period). Entry is open to all (Eligible Entrants) Entrants under the age of 18 must get permission to enter from a parent or guardian. To enter, you must complete the online entry form at qantas.com/news and in 200 words or less tell us how one million Qantas Points would change your life, or the life of someone else. All entries must be the original work of the entrant. There will be nine prizes. Each Prize consists of one million Qantas Points. The maximum total prize value is AU$22,844.50 based on a sample of the Qantas Frequent Flyer Awards that could be obtained by redeeming through the Qantas Frequent Flyer program (as full defined in the terms and conditions of the program available at qantas.com/terms and the value of a QFF membership. Judging will take place between 26 June 2014 and 3 July 2014 at 10 Bourke Road, Mascot NSW 2020 and the winner will be notified by email or phone by 7 July 2014. Terms and conditions apply, visit qantas.com/newsterms for full terms and conditions.

^ Complimentary Qantas Frequent Flyer membership is offered by Qantas Airways Limited ABN 16 009 661 901. This offer is available until 30 June 2014, but may be withdrawn at any time. This offer is not available in conjunction with any other offer. Qantas Frequent Flyer membership and the earning and redemption of points are subject to the terms and conditions of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program and each application is subject to approval by Qantas.

Flying Domestically Within Australia

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Given that Australia is so large and that bird species are spread out over the entire country, most people will need to use domestic flights at some point.  These can sometimes be purchased at a good rate if you keep an eye on the sales on Qantas, Jetstar & Virgin’s websites.  You can get a pretty good snapshot of what’s available on Webjet.  Take for example our first flight from Brisbane to Perth.  Bear in mind that some fares do not allow a checked bag, you have to pay extra for this and that carry-on bags are limited to 7kg and by size.

If you need to get from a foreign country to Australia, please see my guide on redeeming awards to Australia.  I also have a guide to Perth as a gateway city.

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Neither Star Alliance nor Skyteam have a partner in Australia, but luckily anyone who is in a program from the One World Alliance has some good options.  Most people will use either American Airlines or British Airways Avios or Qantas points.

AMERICAN AADVANTAGE

Using AAdvantage is very easy as flights can be booked online and only cost 10,000 miles for a one way award that allows a checked bag.

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This search has produced 3 non-stop flights followed by several connections for 10,000 miles.  As you can see, the blue tab for business/first class awards is lit up so you could also chose a premium cabin for 17.5k miles.  Personally, for a 5.5 hour daytime flight, I would save my miles for something else but the option is available for those who wish it.

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Once you choose a flight, log in with your account, you will see that there are taxes of $14.60 in addition to the miles.  If you have been taking advantage of the Citibank American AAdvantage credit card bonuses which range from 40,000 – 100,000 miles, you can see that adds up to lots of free flights within Australia!

BRITISH AIRWAYS AVIOS

Since Avios redemptions are distance based, they may or may not be the better option. If the distance is more than 2000 miles, then AAdvantage would be cheaper as you can see by the chart below.

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First you need to know the distance between origin and destination for each leg.  I use the Great Circle Mapper.  The non-stop flight is 2246 miles which means it costs 12,500 Avios.  Since each segment of an Avios award is charged separately, if you connect in Sydney, you would be charged 4500 Avios for the first segment and 12,500 for the 2nd segment which isn’t a great deal.  If you were going simply from Brisbane to Sydney, 4500 Avios is a much better deal than paying 10,000 AAdvantage miles!

QANTAS

Qantas points are zone based and you can get the mileage required from their calculator.

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VIRGIN VELOCITY

If you are from Australia, you probably have points in Virgin’s Velocity program which are very easy to redeem online.  You can choose to use your points to cover the taxes or pay the taxes in cash and spend fewer points.

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Find Your International Flight Faster At Qantas.com

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Qantas has announced the latest updates to the way you book flights at qantas.com that help you find the flight you want faster. You can now combine cash^ and Award˜ fares in the same booking and choose to use Qantas Points* for taxes, fees and carrier charges when flying domestically or leaving Australian shores for a trip overseas on Qantas (QF), Jetstar (JQ) and selected flights on partner airlines.

I’ll let the video tutorial do all the talking!

New Global Cash Cards For Australian Frequent Flyers

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Both Qantas and Virgin Australia are offering their members the opportunity to order new global cash cards with their airline membership numbers on them.  If you order by the specified date, you have a chance to win a prize in the drawing too!

QANTAS

Full details

Qantas Cash Card

Log in to your Qantas account to confirm or update your Qantas Frequent Flyer profile contact details before 11 August 2013 and you’ll be automatically entered into the draw to win one of three $15,000 Qantas Holidays Vouchers. Vouchers can be used toward any Qantas Holidays domestic or international package.

You must be over 18 years of age and an Australian resident to be eligible for the competition. One entry per member. Alternatively, you can enter the draw by logging in to Your Profile from the qantas.com homepage, or by updating your member details through the Frequent Flyer Service Centre. See terms and conditions for details*.

VIRGIN VELOCITY

Full details

Win with Global Wallet™

With Velocity’s new Global Wallet™ you can travel easy with your Velocity Frequent Flyer Membership and Visa Prepaid card in one. It’s a convenient, secure, and reloadable travel card that allows you to make purchases, earn Points and access your own money around the world, anywhere Visa is accepted.

To celebrate the launch of Global Wallet™ Velocity is giving you the chance to win one of 10 x $1,000 AUD* to be pre-loaded onto to your card. All you have to do is opt in or sign-up to receive the new Global Wallet™ card before 31 August 2013!

Learn more about Global Wallet™ and its features.

New Members

If you aren’t already a Velocity member, join now. New members who sign-up to Velocity before 31 August 2013 and who are eligible~ for the Global Wallet™ will automatically request to receive this nifty new card and will receive an automatic entry into the competition.

Current Members

If you are a current member~ and would like to receive a new membership card with Global Wallet™ functionality, simply login to your Velocity Account and request a new card for free. Do this before 31 August 2013 and be in the running to win.

Now you have that extra incentive to start planning your next getaway with the convenience of your new Global Wallet™ (potentially pre-loaded with an additional $1,000 AUD spending money!).

Terms and Conditions

*Please view full Terms and Conditions. View the Product Disclosure Statement or Financial Services Guide. Rêv Australia Pty Ltd and Cuscal Limited are not promoting this competition.

~To be eligible to receive a Global Wallet™ enabled card, you must be 18 years of age, have a residential address in Australia and otherwise be deemed by Velocity Frequent Flyer to be eligible to receive the Global Wallet™ enabled card.

 

Top 8 Frequent Flyer Programs For Eco-Travelers

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*** UPDATED FOR 2016 ***

It’s always good to be diversified but then not TOO diversified that you end up with tiny amounts in too many programs.  Everyone, no matter where you live should join these programs right now and be ready for the New Year in case bonuses and promos are released.  It’s also a good idea to make your own spreadsheet and track your miles in each program and set up a special email folder to put all emails that come from these airlines.  Throughout the year, I will be blogging about any promos that come up but will concentrate on these programs as I feel they offer the best award opportunities for eco-travelers in particular.   You will be on your way to a free eco-tourism adventure in no time at all!

1.  United Airlines Mileage Plus – Star Alliance member, very easy for Americans to get LOTS of miles via Chase’s Ultimate Rewards (see reference tab at top), especially strong for Central America with partners Copa and Taca, but can get you to Asia pretty easily on Singapore or Thai.  Has an excellent online award booking engine and allows one ways at half round trip for extra flexibility.

2.  American Airlines AAdvantage – One World member, has more options between USA and Australia on Qantas, Air Pacific or Air Tahiti Nui, also great for LAN or AA to South America.  Can book several of their partners online with AA planning to add more as they go along.  One way awards at half round trip rates.

3.  US Airways Dividend Miles – Star Alliance member, noted for great promos in the past such as Grand Slam (between me and my husband, we got over half a million miles in 3 years with this promo).  Good option for non-USA residents as they offer frequent discounted buy/share miles promos throughout the year.  Same redemption opportunities as UA but no one-ways and you must call them to book so they lose points for inflexibility.  They have recently started to enforce MPM (maximum permitted mileage) on award tickets so booking Australia to/from USA via Asia may or may not work.

4.  Avianca-Taca LifeMiles –  Star Alliance member, has frequent buy share promos so good chance for worldwide members to get discounted tickets.  Has online booking of partner awards but the real benefit to eco-travelers is the great rates on their own flights within Central America and Peru.

My analysis of Avianca-Taca LifeMiles

 

5.  British Airways Avios and Iberia Avios– One World members, same Avios currency but you need to join both BA and IB’s versions to maximize it.  Pretty easy to earn Avios via E-Rewards and can also credit stays at Accor hotels to Iberia’s program and transfer easily between BA and IB.  Americans can get lucrative credit card bonuses.  Not a program for long haul or itineraries needing connections but excellent for short haul within South America on partner LAN or within Australia on partner Qantas.

FOR AUSSIES ONLY

6.  Qantas Frequent Flyer – One World member – Join at Woolies via Everyday Rewards and get points from your weekly grocery shopping and Optus phone/internet.  Various credit cards to get more points.  Use for domestic Australia or short-haul to NZ, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

7.  Virgin Velocity – Not in an alliance.  Good for credit card bonuses, transfers from Amex and short-haul to New Zealand and Pacific islands.

8.  Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer– Star Alliance member.  Don’t keep miles in here if you can’t use them within 3 year because they expire whether you have activity or not.  Good for redemptions on NZ between Australia and Pacific islands.

Free Points For Everyday Living – Australian Edition

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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!

 

Airline Alliance References – One World

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ONE WORLD

Air Berlin (AB)

American Airlines  (AA)

British Airways  (BA)

Cathay Pacific  (CX)

Finnair (AY)

Iberia  (IB)

Japan Airlines (JL)

LAN  (LA)

Malaysia Airlines (MH)

Qantas  (QF)

Qatar Airways (QR)

Royal Jordanian  (RJ)

S7 (S7)

SriLankan Airlines (UL) – 1 May 2014

TAM (JJ)

US Airways (US)

 

If you are new to miles and points, the best thing is to figure out which one of these programs will offer the best redemptions at the lowest cost in both miles and taxes.  Some airlines have fuel surcharges which can add a substantial cost to your award ticket.  From the One World airlines, I use  American Airlines,  Qantas, British Airways and Iberia.  No matter where you live in the world, it will probably work out best for you to use American’s AAdvantage program to accumulate your miles unless you are seeking status with an airline you frequently fly on.  I am expecting that people attracted to this blog will be the sort who travel for leisure and are saving up for an aspirational trip to one of the great ecotourism spots in the world.   If you are based in the USA (or even an expat American like me)  it’s pretty easy to get huge credit card sign up bonuses and if you are based elsewhere, you can use American Express Membership Rewards to transfer to AA via Starwood’s SPG program.

Since I live in Australia, I also have Qantas because I get points simply for shopping at Woolworths and linking my phone and internet with Optus to them.  Gotta love free points that just come from day to day living!

British Airways and Iberia both use Avios which can be excellent value for short hop awards such as domestic awards in the USA on American and Alaska Airways,  Australia on Qantas and South America on LAN.

These links are also good if you want to check out an airline’s route map to see where they fly, join their frequent flyer program and see what you can do to earn miles by flying on partners, staying in hotel partners and patronizing their other partners such as credit cards, shopping malls, phone companies and survey companies.

This is a just a very brief overview of the One World alliance and there is so much more to learn.  The best source of information is on FlyerTalk where each airline has its own forum, most forums have wikis or “read this first” posts to get you started.  I will be going into some programs more in depth as the subject relates to building your ecotourism dream trip.