Frequent flyer programs are the best thing to sign up for if you travel a lot for your work or you use your credit card excessively. By this I mean having a credit card which earns you frequent flyer points every time you use it.
Since you work hard for your money why not get the most of what helps you earn your money. All the examples listed below are from the Qantas Frequent Flyer program.
What is a frequent flyer program?
This is a program that is offered by airlines to reward loyal customers.
How do you earn points?
You can do this in one of two ways.
Using your Credit Card
There are many banks who offer frequent flyer credit cards. You sign up for these cards and every time you use your card to pay for something you earn points. ANZ seems to be the most popular.
Flying with a Particular Airline
Each airline has its own frequent flyer program. You sign up for a membership for example the Qantas Frequent Flyer program costs AUS$82.50. Every time you pay for a flight, quote your membership number and use that ticket you earn points.
To get a little more specific, if the fare you purchase is on sale you may not be able to earn points with it. Ask before your pay.
The points you earn are calculated by how many miles you travel e.g. 1 point for every mile you fly.
How do you use points?
Once you have accumulated points you can make a frequent flyer booking. Each destination has a value associated with it.
e.g. A Qantas flight in business class from Sydney to Melbourne is 32,000 points per person return. Halve that for an economy fare.
If you have accumulated this many points you can make a frequent flyer booking.
The flights unfortunately are not free. You need to pay for taxes too. You can choose whether you would like to use your points to pay for your taxes, which will cost much more or you can use your credit card to pay for them.
It still comes out much cheaper than buying a full fare commercially.
Otherwise you can just pop into your closest Qantas travel centre where you can pay for the taxes with cash.
Status Levels
The more you fly, the more points you earn and the higher your status level. The higher the level the better the benefits.
You can only go up in status levels by flying as it is calculated by the miles you have flown. This is a thank-you from the airline for flying with them and their partners. With Qantas you can earn points and redeem points with Jetstar as well.
So let us talk about these wonderful benefits. To make changes to frequent flyer bookings you need to pay points. As a status member you pay NO point fees for changes to date and time.
Normally it is 2500 points per person to make a change but you don't pay this fee. If you change class or destination then you pay a 5000 point fee per person. This applies to everyone.
For status members there is extra availability. This means you will get a seat even if they overbook a flight. Someone else will get kicked off. Basically this guarantees you a seat no matter what.
The higher in status the more they will do for you to please you. The higher in status the more personalized the service as they have specific people who will bend over backwards to help you.
Also you need to give 24hrs notice to make a booking. You can't make a booking today to fly out today unless it is an emergency. If it is an emergency then you need to provide doctors certificates to prove it.
So there is the program and all the benefits that come with it. As long as you know the rules you will never have a problem. It's not knowing that always causes the problems.
Qantas Status Levels are:
Gold
Silver
Platinum
Chairman's Lounge (Invitation only)
Popular Programs:
Qantas - Frequent Flyer
Cathay Pacific - Airways Asia Miles
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
British Airways - Executive Club
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
Emirates - Skywards
Air New Zealand - Air Points
Virgin Blue - Velocity
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