When you’re next jetting about, be sure you’re also earning frequent flyer points on the ground while you sleep – we’ll show you how it’s done with the major hotel chains, how to earn an easy 10,000 bonus points on top with Accor or 50% more with the other chains.
Also in this week’s wrap: how to earn up to three frequent flyer points per dollar spent on your Qantas Cash prepaid MasterCard, and how you can now redeem those points for car hire with Avis and Budget.
Rounding things out is our guide on how to use American Airlines’ latest ‘buying miles’ promo to nab significantly discounted business and first class seats, and how to make your Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles stretch twice as far on flights to Asia, Europe and the United States.
Qantas Cash: earn up to three points per dollar spent
Qantas Cash customers new and old can skyrocket their frequent flyer haul on overseas transactions to an impressive three points per dollar spent under the airline’s latest promotion.
It works like this: load at least A$1,000 worth of foreign currency in one transaction by June 30 to pocket 2,000 bonus Qantas Points; at least A$2,500 worth of the same to grab 5,000 bonus Qantas Points or A$5,000+ in forex for a cool 10,000 bonus points.
When combined with the everyday Qantas Cash earning rate of one point per dollar on overseas spend, you’re ultimately looking at three points per dollar charged abroad or when using your card to shop online at a foreign website.
Register for the deal now: Qantas Cash – earn three point per dollar
Singapore Airlines: 50% of KrisFlyer award bookings
In celebration of 50 years of flying, Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer members can use their frequent flyer points to book selected Singapore Airlines and SilkAir economy flights at just 50% of the usual mileage cost.
For travel through July 10 2015, that includes SQ’s services from Brisbane and Perth to Singapore plus SIlkAir’s Darwin-Singapore flights, and then beyond to destinations such as London, Zurich, Houston, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Johannesburg and Maldives.
You’ll need just 12,500 KrisFlyer miles each way between Brisbane and Changi Airport, with London Heathrow and Zurich only costing 17,500 miles more in each direction.
Read more: Singapore Airlines: 50% of KrisFlyer award bookings
Accor Le Club: 10,000 easy bonus points, win one million more
Le Club Accorhotels members can collect up to 10,000 bonus Le Club points from just three hotel stays at brands including Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel and Mercure, and can go in the draw to win a million more.
Stay just once for two nights or more and that's 1,000 easy bonus points, do the same again and add another 4,000 bonus points to the pile, and a further 5,000 points after your third two-night stay.
Added to the mix, every eligible Accor stay in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji before November 30 2015 gets one entry into the draw to win that impressive prize of one million Accor Le Club points.
Read more and register: 10,000 easy Le Club points, win one million more
New: use Qantas frequent flyer points for car hire
Qantas Frequent Flyer members can now redeem their points on car hire with Avis and Budget in Australia and New Zealand.
As an added bonus, frequent flyers can also earn points on rentals booked using points – calculated at three Qantas Points per dollar on what you’d have otherwise paid in time and kilometre charges.
The number of points needed varies in line with the cash cost of the same rental, with one frequent flyer point equal to roughly 0.64c when redeemed in this way.
Here’s what you need to know: Using Qantas Points on car hire
Transfer hotel loyalty points to Qantas, earn a 50% bonus
Members of the Hilton HHonors, Hyatt Gold Passport, IHG Rewards Club and Marriott Rewards programs should act fast to pocket a 50% bonus when converting their hotel loyalty points into Qantas frequent flyer points.
Available between Friday May 22 and Friday May 29 2015 (inclusive), there’s no need to register before you transfer: just ship your points across and that bonus is yours.
Read more: Earn a 50% bonus on hotel points transfers
New AA ‘buying miles’ deal: 50,000-mile bonus
A new AAdvantage 'buy miles' promotion is underway, this time offering a bonus of up to 50,000 miles on American Airlines mileage purchases through June 13 2015 for use on Qantas, Cathay Pacific and other Oneworld airlines.
Buy AAdvantage miles, redeem them for Cathay Pacific business class flights
If your goal is a simple trip from Sydney to Hong Kong, Shanghai or Singapore and back in business class, you could buy the 70,000 miles you'd need for about A$2,056 – around half the normal cost of buying that ticket.
Our article explains the deal in more detail and all about the actual process of buying and using American Airlines AAdvantage miles to book flights with Qantas and co.
Read more: Low-cost Qantas business class buying AA miles
How to earn Qantas, Velocity points on hotel stays
Whether you’re planning an overnight domestic hop or a longer international jaunt, don’t miss out on earning a hoard of Qantas or Virgin Australia frequent flyer points on your next hotel stay.
With many hotels, it’s not as simple as presenting your frequent flyer card at the check-in desk: you’ll need to join that hotel’s own loyalty program first, and use that program to funnel points to an airline of your choice.
Here’s how it’s done with Accor, Hilton, IHG and Starwood, and how you could also be earning frequent flyer points at any hotel around the world – even if they’re not traditionally tied to an airline and its loyalty scheme.
Read more: Earning frequent flyer points on hotel stays
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
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