Hi
I have started flying a lot more overseas in last year or 2 so was thinking i should look into this more.
What flybuy packages do you all use and how do you maximise your points.
Would be nice to be able to upgrade seats when flying up to maui etc.
Ive had a look and there seems to be 2 main themes here in Aus.
There is
Quantas specific Credit cards
Virgin + alliance Crdit cards
both belong to international alliance which have a few associated carriers.
Then you can also get fly buy cards that you flash at supermarket and shops when ever you do a purchase.
Which of these do you use and how do they tie in nicely with your credit it card
Cheers
Craig
We use a Woolworths card and pay for everything we can with Amex, and Visa if Amex is not accepted. Big stores like Woolies, and fuel stops like BP will accept Amex.
The reason we prefer it is because we pay a fee to have a platinum Amex, but get double points., so it's worth it for us.
Amex charges a high fee, so lots of smaller retailers don't accept it. Most of those business owners will have an Amex in their wallet though. They are not stupid.
If you are travelling, paying by either platinum card means you get free travel insurance on legs paid for by the card, which is a nice bonus. You also then get FF points as well.
We have managed to pay for various fares and business class upgrades this way.
You need to monitor the expenditure and makes sure you just siphon the money through the credit card, and not build up a debt balance.
This all links to Qantas FF for us. Not saying that's the best scheme to be in, but we started out that way, so we stick with it. The biggest hassle with Qantas is having to go through
LA to get to Canada for ski-ing. So, consider where you like to travel, and pick the airline that is the best fit.
Craig
I've been with United's milage plus, although the're not the best airline in the world (not the worst either), but thier frequent flyer programme is pretty good. As long as you have some sort of account activitey (that is its not dormant for longer than 36 months) your points will never expire.
I've been lucky enough over the past couple of years to get a free return bussiness class trip to Fiji (which covered all my windsurfing gear) and an economy plus return ticket to JFK-NYC using my frequent flyers.
United are part of Star Alliance so I actually accrue most of my points flying on Singapore Air or Air New Zealand.
I don't now of their details but they also have a credit card you can get to help accrue points. and you can get deals/points with hire cars and hotel chains - but like I said I really don't now of their details as I usually shop around for that sort of stuff.
Whatever you do don't let point accrual rule they way you shop!
Edit: forgot to add - Milage plus ATM is useless for flying within Australia
We also have all our regular direct debits like phone and electricity on Visa too. We basically put all out household expenditure on it, making sure we pay it off each month to avoid interest.
Not to boast, but we got a return business fare to Canada for our ski trip next year. After purchasing a matching fare, we only paid a bit more than 2 economy fares would have cost.
We also paid for the other fare on Amex, and immediately earned a crap-load of points back in the process.
The Woolworths card is definitely worth having.
) where you rake up the big miles. Flybuys and other schemes are not worth the effort IMO.
Should have used that Amex more huh..........
