Lonely Planet has named Costa Rica, Morocco and Swaziland in its top 10 countries to visit in 2020. If you’re the type of person who always wants to be the first in your group to visit exciting new places, you’ll be wanting to pick one of these more adventurous spots to explore first. We all know overseas trips can be prohibitively expensive; in fact, 40% of Australians have never even been abroad*. But if you have the itch, and are forever dreaming of far flung travel, don’t despair! There are ways you can explore the globe, without dipping into your savings, but instead being smart about how you earn frequent flyer points, and crucially, how you redeem them. Spending time in top Jaco Costa Rica rentals will add some of the best days in your life.
If you’re a loyalty program addict, you’ll already know the standard hacks for gathering more points. Make the most of all those offers that land in your inbox, from gathering points when shopping for groceries to making the most of new partner offers. You might also want to take out a frequent flyer credit card – there are a number of cards currently offering piles of points to Australian travellers. Right now, card providers are offering up to 120,000 Qantas Points plus a reduced annual fee – enough points for return flights to Europe or the USA. Remember, however, to always pay your card off so as to avoid interest. You might even want to add the credit card to your banking app, and transfer between your regular account frequently, or if you’re forgetful, set up an automatic transfer.
So you’ve saved hundreds of thousands of points, but how to use them? You may find that the flights you’re looking for are just never available. Here’s some tips I swear by to make the best use of these points:
- Be open minded and flexible. It’s no secret that airlines are not going to offer reward seats when they know they can fill the plane with paying customers. So don’t be surprised when you can’t get to Greece in July, or New York at Christmas. Pick a number of potential destinations that you’d be keen to go to, and look at going at a less popular time of year. The wider you can cast your net, the greater the chance that you will find the seats you are after.
- You’re going to have to put some effort in and look at different routes. Popular routes like Sydney – LA or Melbourne – London see rewards seats snapped up very quickly. By considering a second tier city, such as Fez instead of Marrakech, or Manchester instead of London, and you might have more options. Spend some time researching different routes and combinations to get to your ideal destination, and don’t rule out adding an additional stop to your journey – not only will there be more seat opportunities, but you might also get to enjoy a destination you hadn’t considered before.
- Plan ahead. If you’re the adventurous type, the thought of booking a trip a year in advance might give you the shivers, but I’m afraid that you’ll be more likely to bag your preferred point hack award redemption on a popular route you may need to be looking 10 or 11 months out. Having said that, you can sometimes be lucky if you do the exact opposite, with many airlines, including Emirates, Singapore Airlines and sometimes Qantas, opening up award seats very close to the departure date. It’s a risk, but if you’re relaxed about your destination or specific date, being spontaneous can pay off.
- Another ‘hack’ to be in a better chance of securing a points seat is to look beyond the most obvious and popular frequent flyer programs. Qantas is easily the most popular program for Australians and one that you can gather points for on a daily basis – be it through shopping for groceries at Woolworths, drinks at BWS, transport through Uber or even accommodation via Airbnb. However, it’s worthwhile considering other schemes such as Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. For example, you can bag a return premium economy on a Qanta flight from Sydney to LA for around 100,000 miles with Asia Miles – versus a redemption of 162,600 with Qantas Frequent Flyer. Here in Australia, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles can be earned easily, notably via American Express Membership Rewards earning credit cards.
Remember, airlines don’t want to fill their plane with non-paying customers so they don’t make it too easy for you. That’s why you’ll notice Qantas, for example, trying to push you to use ‘Points Plus Pay’ to reduce the cost of your fight – the airline still gathers some profit, but your balance will be significantly reduced. Unfortunately, there’s no ‘magic’ trick to securing that first class cabin for free, but with a little bit of clever research, and thinking creatively and with an open mind, you could soon be exploring somewhere you’d never imagined, and being the envy of all your friends.
*https://www.abc.net.au/life/why-some-people-have-never-travelled-overseas/10725770
About The Champagne Mile founder, Adele Eliseo:
Adele Eliseo has a passion for travel, scouting tricks and hacks to earn frequent flyer points and using them to travel in style – without the hefty price tag. Whilst working full time in research and project management, she began a personal blog, offering her advice on how to navigate airline and hotel loyalty programs. When her blog, The Champagne Mile began attracting large numbers of followers and corporate partners, Adele gave up the day job and now works on the site full time, helping thousands of Australians to enjoy luxury travel for less.
