Everyone knows an upgrade story, but how easy is it to get that elusive upgrade to Business or even First class?
I talked to my friends at Point Hacks who are crazy about frequent flyer points and getting the best value out of each point. Apparently that upgrade to business or even flying at the front of the plane really isn’t that elusive after all.
Here are the top 5 tips you need to know to maximise your points balance (wisely) and hack your way to the front of the pane.
1. Buying Points – Yes it really is that simple! Many airlines have frequent flyer programs that offer points for sale, from time to time they run sales which is the perfect opportunity for the savvy point hacker to snap up the points required for a redemption in Business or first class. Sometimes for around the price of economy.
The major ones to keep an a look out for are American Airlines (oneworld), United Airlines (Star Alliance) and LifeMiles (Star Alliance). If the exchange rate is right and the bonus promotion is high enough you can snag yourself some luxury travel for a bargain price. Go and have a read of our Point Hacking Guides section for tips and tricks.
2. Use the right Credit Cards – Credit cards are your friends… That is if you know how to manage them properly, for many it is seen as a tool to get some extra cash. Wrong; if that’s you, stop it! A smart point hacker will make his/her credit card work for them by earning points on your everyday spend.
Paying the balance at the end of the month is crucial here so before you get started you should really figure out your budget and track it. This way you can use credit more wisely, earn points and at the end of the statement period pay off the full balance in time to do it all over again when the next month rolls around.
So you might ask; what are the best credit cards to get started? The best kind are transferable points cards. These are cards where you accrue points into a central pool and then you can transfer to another of different partners.
You have a million options on how to redeem them.
With airline credit cards, you’re betting on that airline, and the airline could change the rules overnight which can devalue your miles substantially.
A great example of a flexible earn card is the American Express Platinum Edge (at the moment with no annual fee, a free air NZ domestic return flight and 5000 bonus points) this card allows you to earn points in the Membership Rewards program which than lets you transfer points to your preferred airline.
The list is pretty big so this gives you a great choice to redeem your preferred flight.
3. Consider credit card sign up bonuses – Many credit card providers will try lure you in with an enticing bonus point offer for signing up with them, sometimes one credit card can net you over 100,000 points in one go.
Typically there are some terms and conditions attached so make sure you read up on those, usually there is a minimum spend required before points are credited. But it always pays to keep an eye on the promotions and the best place to do that (of course) is Point Hacks NZ where we give reviews of all the best frequent flyer credit card deals on offer.
4. Flying – This is an obvious one, of course you should be singed up to a frequent flyer program which earns you a nice chunk of miles with each flight you take. On top of that airlines give status points on each flight which might get you Silver, Gold or even Platinum status one day with all the perks that come with it.
Choosing the right frequent flyer program to earn points on is key here. Most airlines are part of an “alliance” the major ones you need to keep an eye on are One World (Qantas, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines etc) and the other one is Star Alliance (Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Thai Airways etc.).
Most Kiwi’s are very loyal Air New Zealand fans and I’m sure most of you will have an AirPoints account where you credit all those miles BUT is it really the best way to save up those points for a business class redemption? The fact is, Air New Zealand has some of the worst reward rates in the world, since each AirPoint is equivalent to one dollar you will find that reward tickets are equivalent to paying in cash – which is just crazy.
As a simple comparison let’s look at redeeming a flight from Auckland to London in both Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines. While you will only need 80,750 KrisFlyer miles (And NZ$424.35 in taxes) one way, Air New Zealand is asking a hefty price tag of $5,371 AirPoints. To put this in actual “required spend” perspective, you would need to spend whopping $313,308 with Air NZ or only $53,833 with Singapore Airlines (based on 3 Membership Rewards points per $ at the supermarket with that Platinum Edge card we mentioned before).
If we consider the rate at which we can earn these points by flying and using our credit card, it’s easy to see Singapore Airlines is giving you a much better return.
5. Use Online Malls – Boosting your points with credit card spend is great, but what if there was an other way to get an extra bonus for all your online shopping? Look no further! All of our favourite reward programs (Qantas Mall, Velocity eStore & Krisflyer Spree) have an online mall featuring some of the most well known retailers in the world (think ASOS, eBay, Net-A-Porter, Bonds and many more) so the golden rule here is to do a quick google search for the brand you’re looking for + “qantas/krisflyer/velocity” more often than not you will see that they are listed in one of the shopping malls. There is no extra cost to you and your homework gets rewarded with some nice bonus points each time you shop.
These are just some basic ideas to get you started, before you know it you will be hooked on the points game and jetting around in business and first for the price of economy.
With a little dedication and the right resources it can be done. If you’re a beginner to the points game in New Zealand Point Hacks is of course your go-to destination, for those in Australia there is an excellent (and free) email course to get you up to speed. You can check it out here.
That’s it, we hope you enjoyed this intro into the world of Point Hacks and look forward to seeing you on Facebook & Twitter.
