Frequent flyer programs

A Quick Little Day Trip

Posted on by Jaffa

Earlier this year I made a shocking discovery while reviewing my travel plans for 2019. Absolutely zero travel was planned for April and May!!! This really was a big shock, to not have a flight for 2 whole months, as it was less than a year since I’d been flying weekly. Thankfully Qantas came to the rescue with a double status credits offer to help improve the value for money in flying. The easter weekend was well within the promotional period for double status credits and there was a spare day with no particular family events.

It was then just a matter of picking a destination; on Qantas from Adelaide the Gold Coast really is great value as there are no direct flights, so you must connect in Melbourne or Sydney. The first version of the plan involved returning with Qantas with everything booked on the cheapest economy airfare to get the extra points I wanted, but the price was a little be too much. Some extra investigation showed that there was a nice direct Virgin Australia flight back to Adelaide about 40 minutes after Qantas arrived. Perfect.

Adelaide to Melbourne Plane, Dark!

So I found myself with a ticket on Easter Saturday flying Adelaide, Melbourne, Gold Coast with Qantas and returning Gold Coast to Adelaide on Virgin Australia. I had to book flexible economy to get the desired Qantas points, but the price was actually about $200 cheaper. Aside from getting back to Queensland, I had the chance to try out the new and improved Qantas Club and Business Lounge in Melbourne, and try out Virgin Australia for the flight home. The direct flight back also got back in time to pick up the missus from work.

The early starts really are not my friend anymore. I simply do not know how I managed 6 am every Monday morning for 8 years. I managed to score a row 4 seat for the flight to Melbourne, which is great for this short 1 hour flight. I popped into the Qantas Club, after a painless trip through security, in time to have 2 coffees. The great thing about day trips is from Adelaide is parking in the short term car park right next to the terminal for only $37. The car ends up on the same level as the departures and security area.

I was more interested in relaxing on the flight than talking food pictures. We were offered cornflakes for breakfast, no hot option which has less chance to drop food down my front. I just took a water and opted for sleep. Weekdays usually have a hot breakfast option such a wrap with scrambled eggs or a quiche. I did score an empty seat in the middle, which is always welcome. The crew were perfectly fine for a 6 am departure, getting on with the job. Soon enough we arrived in Melbourne, where it was time to wander up to the Qantas Business Lounge for another coffee.

The re-model Qantas lounges in Melbourne mean the business lounge has all the good views of the tarmac. The line up for a coffee was surprising long, and the lounge rather busy for easter Saturday. I only realised on leaving that the Qantas Club was closed for the day, one way to save the penalty rates I guess. Regardless, I enjoyed the view, a coffee and a bacon sandwich. This was my longest stop of the trip at about an hour.

I had requested an upgrade on the next flight, without success. Turns out that the flight was very busy with many people leaving Melbourne for school holidays to spend some time on the sunny Gold Coast. The upside was that I had one of 3 empty middle seats on the plane. In many ways an empty middle seat is better than an upgrade on a short domestic flight. Very cool to find our operating aircraft was Retro Roo, a Qantas 737 painted up like a Qantas 707 as used on the Kangaroo route. The original flying kangaroo with wings.

We were served a snack on the flight, this means either biscuits (sweet) or savoury, meaning some sort of crackers and dip. This was a longer flight so I took the time to finish off a couple of movies that I’d started on other flights. Again the crew were perfectly fine, friendly and just got on with the job at hand. There was a fairly long delay (about 20 minutes) in departing Melbourne as we had an aircraft behind us. This was eating into my 40 minute connection time on the Gold Coast. I wasn’t too worried, as a bit more time in Queensland would allow time to leave the airport.

In the end we arrived on a rainy, overcast Gold Coast with 20 minutes to spare before my flight with Virgin Australia back to Adelaide. Plenty of time for a few pictures of the planes and to enjoy some lounge time. I arrived in the Virgin lounge and decided to check for an upgrade. I made the upgrade cut off with minutes to spare, which was the best use 7400 points. Having secured the upgrade I settled in for a beer, popcorn and some plane spotting. The Gold Coast Suns were in the lounge, travelling to Adelaide to play the Crows.

Qantas use stairs at the Gold Coast airport, which might be slightly quick to “connect” to the plane compared to the Virgin Australia ramp arrangement. However, the ramp is a bit more user friendly for boarding via the tarmac. I had a good chat to a couple of the Suns players as we got onto the aircraft; one heading for his 15th game, and the other just about to play his 150th. Really decent blokes who where good enough to just chat with a random non-fan while getting on a plane.

Lamb and Gnocchi main

The ramp saved me from my usual staggering up the stairs, i do have a bit of a muscle problem, and I was in seat 1F soon enough. I took the window seat to catch the view, over my usual preference for an aisle seat. I don’t usually talk to other people besides a quick hello, but my seat buddy did seem a bit distant. We were underway soon enough, with a couple of small bumps as we took off due to the clouds. In general, Virgin Australia has the best business class service in Australia. This flight was no exception with 2 decent main course options, extras on the side, plus a decent selection of drinks. A similar standard of business class meal is offered regardless of the time of day. The standard of Virgin’s business class is in contrast to the fairly ordinary snacks that they offer in economy.

Pilliga National Park, NSW (near Narrabri)

After the meal I settled in to grab a few pictures over NSW in between watching the end of a movie over a few vinos. Soon enough the Murray River could be seen out the window, and we were back in South Australia. All in all a great way to collect a few extra frequent flyer points. The short time back in Queensland made leaving so quickly a bit sad. I’m not sure I’ll go back to the Gold Coast again for one of these trips, if I do I’ll make sure to take the time to have a swim.

  • Murray River
  • Murray River

Keeping those Qantas Points Alive

Posted on by Jaffa

You’ve been saving your Qantas points for that 1 special flight, or woolworths gift card. It’s hard saving because you don’y fly very often, maybe once a year. But the special day comes, you’ve got the points you’re flying in luxury to a special place on those points. You log in to your Qantas account – to find you have ZERO points!

It is a familiar and regular story over on the Qantas Facebook page. People are often unaware that deep in the Qantas Frequent Flyer conditions there is an 18 month expiry for Qantas points. If you don’t earn points for 18 months Qantas will cancel all the points in your account. Qantas are pretty strict about this, they even cancelled the points of someone who was battling cancer. (word on the street is the points were reinstated once Qantas saw some sense). Qantas are not unique in cancelling points, most modern airlines do it. Singapore Airlines Krisflyer program even has a hard expiry where the points expiry even when you have been earning.

Qantas are more generous in that your points stay alive as long as you are earning points. Qantas points only expiry if there has been 18 months since you last earned a qantas points. Family transfers do not count either when it comes to points expiry. If you have saved up a decent swag of points that are waiting for a business class seat on a special trip it is important to keep earning qantas points. Luckily earning does not have to be from flying only.

There are 100s of ways to earn Qantas points, but not all of them are equal. Flying  somewhere is obvious but it takes time. Similarly with renting cars, staying in hotels, spending on credit cards, Woolworths shopping and etcetera.  Credit Card spending is a rather good option for regular points earn, if you can’t get a credit card there is always Qantas Cash, which is a debit card attached to your frequent flyer card. There are also a few bank accounts that offer Qantas points for deposits, for example QUDOS bank. The downside of earning points with these methods is there can be a delay of more than a month and having to commit money, of course. Points do have a cost after all, businesses are not going to give away points for free. The delay is a particularly important consideration, Qantas points expiry at the end of the 18 calendar month after the last point was earned. If you’re points are expiring on 28 February, spend with Qantas Cash today will get points in March when it is too late.

Fortunately, there are a couple of nice ways to earn Qantas points and to get them immediately. A very nice earning method is Qantas Epiqure they often have bonus points offers where you can get half a dozen nice wines, sometimes at a good price, with bonus points from Qantas. Even better the points are in your Qantas account within a couple of days, when the wine is shipped. You do have to spend money, and there may even be shipping charges. I’m a premium epiqure member (open disclosure) that comes with free shipping. Perhaps not cost effective but the points are quick.

The most cost effective method I use to get points is Qantas ASSURE – there venture into private health insurance.  I assume that most people think of Qantas as an airline not a private health insurer and might miss this little trick. Certainly Qantas do offer buckets of points for buying their health insurance, 50,000/100,000. Previously you could only get Qantas points form Assure if you purchased their health insurance.

But you can now earn points with Qantas Assure without spending money. Simply download the Qantas Assure App and link it to a step counter, fitbit or even the one in your phone. The Qantas Assure app has daily and weekly step challenges, you can even challenge your friends. The most recent update to the Assure apps allows everyone to earn Qantas points for completing step challenges.  You can challenge yourself with a few as 1000 steps per day. There are only a handful of points on offer, but you only need 1 point to keep your Qantas points alive. More importantly the points come in weekly.

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I’ve managed to earn more free points from Assure, than points that are locked until I buy Qantas Health Insurance.