Apart from watching sport, traveling seems to be Australia’s favourite pastime, with nearly 8.9 million Australians heading overseas in 2013-14 on holiday or business to Europe, U.S., Asia and other destinations.

Many people would love to travel more often but airfare (that adds up to several thousands of dollars for a typical family of four), is often top single expense stopping people from taking a big trip.

You always want to minimize costs of travelling as much as possible, so wouldn’t be great if you and your family could fly overseas every 2-3 years for free?

I have a good news for you. Join a good frequent flyer program, learn all about it and you will be able to earn enough points for that big overseas trip.

And you probably didn’t know that you could do it without actually being a frequent flyer.

Quite opposite to the common saying that one can never be too rich or too thin with all these frequent flyer points, I myself have been earning frequent flyer points for many years.

It all started with me getting membership of Ansett Global Rewards many years ago. It was in the late 1990s when Ansett Global Rewards or Ansett Frequent Flyer, as it was formerly known, used to be the frequent flyer program of Ansett Australia.

Points earned with this reward program could be used for services from Ansett Australia and their partners including flights, upgrades, holidays, hotel stays and car rentals. Back then Diners Club was a significant financial services partner in Global Rewards. But, unfortunately, points held at the time of the airline's collapse in 2001 lost their value.

Fortunately, I managed to use all my points just a couple of months before Ansett went down. Yes, I was one of the lucky ones. Just before the airline went bankrupt, I used up all of my points on a trip to the U.S.

Let me confess that it was pure chance as I'd had no idea that the company was in such dire straits. Honestly speaking, I couldn't help feeling a little smug, especially when I came across so many other people who'd been left with a big swag of unused, non-redeemable points. So, I pat my back for the perfect timing.

I can’t tell you how great it was to fly with my son to the U.S. to enjoy Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World and many other fantastic places on the West Coast and have the airfare paid with the Ansett points. Life couldn’t be more rewarding!

Shortly, after the Ansett collapse, my husband and I joined the Qantas Frequent Flyer program seeing the awesome opportunities they offer and, since then, we have been able to earn hundreds of thousands of points, despite being only an occasional flyer.

Yes, you read me right. We were and we still are occasional flyers who would not spend a fortune on buying a business class ticket and we fly only every now and then. Here’s the catch! Most people think that you can only benefit from a frequent flyer program if you fly a lot. But that’s not the case.

Definitely, if you do fly a lot for business or pleasure, you can earn zillions of points; but there are other easy ways too through which you can earn points even if you fly only once in a while. Would you like to find out how to earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points the smart way?

The September 2014 edition Choice Magazine article titled “Frequent Flyer Points – Who Really Benefits?” criticized the frequent flyer programs and concluded that they are just a "promotional and marketing currency" and “frequent flyer points won't buy you much unless you fly a lot”. I was overjoyed to find that this is absolutely not the case. Thank heaven!

There is no doubt that airlines generate huge revenue from the points and the frequent flyer programs partners can increase their sales, but I found that the Qantas Frequent Flyer program will allow you to earn quite a number points, even without flying a lot.

And if you are an average family, you can earn enough points to fly for free, every 2-3 years, even if you are only a very casual flyer. That’s what made me enjoy and stick with this program.

​Please note that for Classic Flight Rewards - flights, taxes, fees and carrier charges are payable, whreas Points Plus Pay redemptions do include them and you earn points and status credits as well.

Once you have earned points you can use them in the Qantas Frequent Flyer Store where you can shop for all sorts of things but I prefer to use all my points solely for flights. Redeeming points for flights offers the best value.

In this article, I will show you how - just like me - you can easily earn over half a million of points every 2-3 years, just by doing shopping, paying bills and pursuing other everyday activities. You will be able to do that without earning any substantial amounts of points through flights.

You will be on your way to plan your next free flight and take your family to anywhere across Europe, U.S. or any other overseas destination sooner than you thought you could.

Check out Qantas Points Calculator to find out how many points you need to have to fly to your favourite destination.

Now, before we dig into the details of how to fly free with Qantas Frequent Flyer program, let me give you a small introduction.

The Australian Qantas Frequent Flyer (QFF) Program

In Australia there are two main frequent flyer programs. Qantas and Virgin offer flyers the opportunity to earn points through various ways and redeem them for free flights.

To reign in the market, both the airlines are giving one another tough competition with their list of exclusive offers and services. In this battle of Virgin Velocity vs. Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qantas is already leading the market with its 10 million and above frequent flyer members, against Virgin's 4.5 million.

If you are confused to choose between the two let me share some more information about both airlines. Qantas is a name that has been here since 1987 and it has never stopped evolving since its emergence. Expanding every day with hundreds of partners, Qantas makes quite a strong impression and has been my airline of choice.

Not only Qantas Frequent Flyer program is considered to be the easiest one by many, it gives a wide range of options to choose from when it's about opting for an airline to fly. With airlines like Emirates, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, American Airlines and even the best budget Australian airline, Jetstar under its wings, members hardly need to go elsewhere for better options.

Besides being comprehensive, Australian Qantas Frequent Flyer also offers the flexibility of earning lots of points just by shopping at my preferred supermarket, Woolworths, which Virgin Velocity doesn’t.

Although I also shop at Coles, IGA and my local farmers’ market, for me, this is the primary reason why I chose Qantas program. I do have a FlyBuys card, and although you can use points on different airlines with the Coles card, I don’t like that FlyBuys points are not transferable between memberships and you have to book your flight with Webjet.

In summary, in my opinion, Qantas Frequent Flyer is a better program for those who are interested to earn a lot of points through not just flying, but also shopping and paying bills.

How to Join Qantas Frequent Flyer for Free | How to Apply for Woolworths Everyday Rewards Card?

Are you among those who are dying to know how to join the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme and start earning points on your shopping, flights and everyday activities?

If this is you, then let me guide with through this super easy process.

The first step is to join the Qantas Frequent Flyer. So, is Qantas Frequent Flyer free?

Normally, there is an $89.50 sign-up fee if you join through the Qantas sign-up page but you can escape the membership fee by getting free membership through various offers or joining Woolworths Everyday Rewards (EDR) first.

You will find out how you can earn tens of thousands of points every year through Everyday Rewards – Qantas program partner - later in this article.

Here is how you can apply for the Woolworths Everyday Rewards card.

Step 1: Go to Everyday Rewards homepage and click on “Join Now”.

Step 2: Follow the prompts to set up your Everyday Rewards Qantas Frequent Flyer account.

Step 3: Fill out your details (name, address, email, phone number and your date of birth) and you will be taken to the next page.

Step 4: Follow the instructions and confirm if you do or don’t have a temporary card. Finish the enrolment process.

Step 5: Now you are all set to join Qantas Frequent Flyer for free and link your new Everyday Reward Card, so that you can start earning points. It’s very simple. Just head to everydayrewards.com.au/easylink and fill out a few details.

Step 6: Both your new Quants Frequent Flyer and Woolworths Everyday Reward cards will arrive in the mail in a few days. Make sure that you save the login details of both of the memberships as you will need them to access your online accounts later on.

Step 7: Start benefiting from Qantas Frequent Flyer rewards. Check how many frequent flyer points you've earned periodically.

Do not forget to check that your Everyday Rewards Woolworths (EDR) card is linked to your QFF membership. It’s also a good idea to install the Everyday Rewards app on you mobile phone to make sure you can always check your Woolworths special offers and points even if you are on the go.

Did you know that children are currently the fastest-growing segment of the Qantas Frequent Flyer membership base, with some parents signing up their children from birth?

It is not surprising then that Qantas wants to expand their marketing efforts to the youngest flyers. Recently Qantas teamed up with The Wiggles to launch The Joey Club – a program aimed at Australia's children.

Frequent flyers between 3 and10 years old will receive a special Joey Club-branded “novelty passport" where they can record details of their flights.

A free Qantas Frequent Flyer membership is offered to children who sign up at www.qantas.com/kids before the end of the year.

How Do I Track My Qantas Frequent Flyer Points Balance?

As you start collecting points, you want to know how many you have and earned.

You can track them using the Qantas and Everyday Rewards websites by logging into your accounts.

Remember that it can take 3-10 (or more) business days for points to show up, so if you cannot see the records, wait for a few more days. Your Everyday Reward points are transferred automatically once a month to your Qantas account.

Users also receive an email from Qantas with their points balance as well. So make sure you subscribe to QFF email to get monthly updates on your points balance.

Do Qantas Frequent Flyer Points Expire?

Qantas Frequent Flyer points will not expire providing you keep your account active (you have to earn or redeem points through your account at least once in every 18 months). The 18 month time period starts from the date of your last eligible activity.

Earn Points on All Purchases Using Qantas Frequent Flyer Credit Cards

These days, we pay for almost everything with credit cards.

Having a Qantas Frequent Flyer points earning credit card is a sure way to earn points on all purchases both in the shops and online, whether in Australia or overseas.

There are many different frequent flyer credit cards on offer. So, I’m sure you will be able to find the perfect one for yourself that suits your need.

And if you use a credit card to purchase items from a Qantas Frequent Flyer partner, for example Woolworths, Caltex or BIG W, you will earn points twice, once for using your credit card, and once for shopping at a partner online/offline store.

Usually, you will earn 0.5 or 1 point (sometimes more) per dollar spent and if you get a credit card (Visa or MasterCard) account that also includes an American Express (AMEX) card, you will be able to take advantage of earning more points (1 or 1.5 points) on your every purchase.

Let me share a secret with you here. The trick to earning maximum points is to leverage the use of your AMEX card whenever possible, while making sure you are not incurring the usual AMEX surcharge that could negate the points you earn.

In the past, AMEX wasn’t accepted in many places. Then when it started to be accepted, it came with a whopping surcharge. These days, many places accept American Express and ignore the surcharge; this means more Frequent Flyer points for savvy point hunters. Bingo!

When I buy my groceries at Woolworths, I always pay with my ANZ AMEX Platinum Frequent Flyer card. You know why? Because it ensures that I can at least double the points when I shop as I also scan my Everyday Reward card.

Therefore, choosing the right card is very important for earning points. But who said everything important is easy to get?

Many banks offer them these days and they all differ in terms of the interest rate and annual fee they charge. So, if you keep checking, you will be able to grab the right opportunities.

Banks also have special offers from time to time and you can earn bonus points (20K-50K or more) and/or get lower annual fee if you sign up. All you need to do is do your homework as frequently as possible because the sign-up offers change all the time. So, keeping yourself up to date is the key to success here.

Currently, I use ANZ Frequent Flyer Platinum American Express/Visa and Westpac Altitude Black - Qantas AMEX/Mastercard. They are both great credit card accounts and are very suitable for our household needs.

You may also consider Woolworths Everyday Money which brings you financial services products including the Everyday Credit Card, prepaid cards and much more.

A wise suggestion here! It is vital that you are a responsible shopper and you get a card you can afford and you don’t overspend.

There is no point in earning a lot of points and then paying 20% or higher interest rate on your purchases. So, if you are not able to pay off your credit card every month, perhaps you should think twice about getting one.

There are several great websites which can help you check the credit cards’ features along with all sort of associated fees and charges. One of them is mozo.com where you can use their Rewards Revealer search tool to select the best credit card. You can also use Qantas Credit Card Selector or Frequent Flyer & Airline Rewards Credit Cards on finder.com.au .

I always make sure that I keep myself informed about the best frequent flyer deals and offers in Australia. I’d recommend that you should visit pointhacks.com.au as they have amazing reviews and articles about frequent flyer scheme loopholes as well as the best credit cards on the market. They will also show you ways to redeem your points for the best value.

Woolworths Everyday Rewards: Earn More Points You Ever Thought You Could!

Qantas and Woolworths started their loyalty partnership in 2009. Today, Woolworths customers, who have linked their Everyday Rewards and Qantas Frequent Flyer accounts together, earn one Qantas Frequent Flyer point for every dollar spent above $30 in one transaction.

The same offer is also available to Woolworths Supermarket and Liquor customers as well as BIG W customers, BWS, Dick Smith and participating Caltex Woolworths’ co-branded fuel outlets.

So, if you like shopping at Woolworths, you can most certainly earn a lot of points buying your weekly groceries. In addition, you can earn a lot more points than one point per dollar spent, with numerous point bonuses and special offers which are available almost every week. Using credit card(s) can also help you in earning points.

Read on further and I will show you how not only you can double or triple your points when you shop, but also, how to save money and buy many products at substantial discounts.

Not only Woolworths is the place where I buy at least 80% of my groceries, I find myself absolutely lucky to live in the area where there are five Woolworths stores nearby. So, I am absolutely spoilt for choice.

Besides shopping from the supermarket, I also do my shopping online quite often. So, it becomes very easy for me to earn points using Everyday Rewards. Using this program I also earn points for the money I spend on groceries at the BIG W store and the petrol I buy from Caltex. Now, you can see how easy it is.

Since you have your Everyday Rewards card now, you can scan it every time you shop. Or, if you prefer online shopping, sign up for a Woolworths account and link your Everyday Reward account number, so you can start earning points whenever you buy online.

How Many Points Can You Earn Buying Woolworths Groceries?

If you spent $250, you will receive 220 points (you earn points only over a shopping of $30) by swiping your Everyday Rewards card. If you use a 1:1 reward Qantas credit card you can earn additional 250 points. Congratulations! You’ve just earned 470 points!

Did You Know That Woolworths Loyalty Scheme Delivers Even Greater Rewards? - Double-Dip, Triple-Dip...

Woolworths bonus offers are simply amazing and it’s not hard to earn extra 250-1000 or more bonus points when you know how to structure your purchases. Here are some examples of some common bonus points offers.

You’d be amazed to know that these bonus offers have the potential to significantly bump up your frequent points balance. So, maximizing them is the key to getting the most value out of the program. They arrive weekly in your inbox. So let me remind you once again to sign up to receive Everyday Rewards email.

A 1000 bonus points voucher will transform your $250 grocery shopping into 1470 points earner (220 Everyday Rewards points + 250 points if paying with AMEX + 1000 bonus points). This equals to a whopping 5.88 points earned per each dollar spent.

Now, can you see that earning bonus Qantas points is easy and you don’t need to spend half a million dollars to earn half a million points!

All you need to do to get the bonus points is to click on “Activate my offer/reward” email link BEFORE you go shopping (in store or online). Scan the card at the check-out and the points will be added automatically to your account.

Here, you need to understand one point that the number and nature of offers received depend almost entirely on the information Woolworths collects about your purchasing habits (you scan your Everyday Reward card so your shopping is tracked).

As a general rule, the more you spend the higher the bonus offers. And there is a way to make sure you get a variety of great offers EVERY WEEK! How???

In order to maximize the offers you receive, make sure you open multiple EDR accounts per household so you get different offers for different accounts every week.

A household with just one Everyday Rewards account will only get one offer per week but a household with two or three cards (you have to be over 18 years to have your own Everyday Rewards account), you will receive two or three offers.

You can scan a different card each time you shop and take advantage of the best targeted offer(s) available in that week.

Just remember to activate the right offer before shopping and scan the right card when you shop. Qantas allows you to share points earned in a family so it doesn’t matter which card you use.

Besides all the ways explained above, there are several other ways too through which you can earn extra points and/or save money when shopping at Woolworths. For example there are $10 off coupons, free delivery coupons and $40 gift cards (for Christmas and Easter).

My favourites are personalized Christmas offers which last year arrived in the form of a booklet with 17 coupons (for 6 weeks of pre-Christmas shopping) allowing me to not only earn bonus points, but also save on buying various products.

I must say the Christmas coupons were also very nicely targeted to what I like buying and allowed me to save around $200 and earn valuable bonus points.

There also is a possible way to indicate your interests to Woolworths and Partner Brands to get as best targeted offers as possible. You can do it by logging to your Everyday Rewards account. Go to "My profile" and click on "Subscriptions". There is a table there where you can indicate your general interests.

I don't know how much they take your selections into account but I'm happy to report that I have never been bombarded by any kind of advertisements.​

Do You Drive a Car? Earn Stacks of Points and Buy Petrol with Woolworths Caltex

Statistics show that average family goes through about 80 litres (2 cars) of petrol a week. Just set your preferences to earn 2 points per litre when filling up with petrol at designated Caltex petrol stations and you will be able to earn 160 points by swiping your Everyday Rewards card per week.

To avail this 2-points-per-litre program, you need to:

• Login to your Everyday Rewards account and change your petrol preferences under the “redemption settings”.

• Now, check “swap fuel savings for Qantas Points” and you are done.

Please note that by changing your petrol preferences to Qantas points, you will not receive 4 cent per litre discounts as you can only enjoy one or the other opportunity here. I cannot guess what your preferences are, but if you ask me, personally speaking, I’d rather have the points than save couple of dollars when filling up my car.

You can of course earn even more frequent flyer points by also using your participating Qantas Frequent Flyer aligned credit card or Qantas Cash. For example, if you use an ANZ or Westpac AMEX card, you will double your points and earn 360 points for your weekly fuel purchase. That's over 1400 points every month.

30+ Strategies to Earn More Qantas Frequent Flyer Points Every Day

So far, you’ve learned that you can earn tens of thousands of frequent flyer points by using credit cards and doing shopping at Woolworths or buying petrol at Caltex, but I must tell you here that there are many more ways of flooding your Qantas Frequent Flyer account with points which can be earned on almost everything you do or buy.

One of them is shopping with Qantas Frequent Flyer Partners but that’s not the only way.

So if someone tells you that they can’t earn frequent flyer points because they don’t fly much, share this article with them along with the list below.

• Instead of paying cash, using BPay or paying through internet transfer, pay your bills using your Qantas Frequent Flyer credit, debit card or prepaid card for all of your bills (phone, electricity, rates etc.) to maximize the points.
• Shop at BIG W for all the inexpensive necessities.
• Special occasion coming up? Shop at David Jones and earn 5 points for every $1 spent.
• Earn 2 points for every $1 spent at Apple store online.
• iTUNES is an easy way to organize and enjoy the music, movies, TV shows, apps, and books you already have - and shop for the ones you want to get. Earn 3 points for $1.
• Go to Qantas Online Mall and shop at Mr Porter, Iconic, Macey’s and Booktopia. Earn 4 points for $1.
• EBay is one of the world's largest online marketplaces, where anyone can buy and sell practically anything. Earn 2 pints for every $1 spent at ebay.com.au. Pay with AMEX card linked to your PayPal account - you have just erned 3 points for every dollar spent.
  Did you know? There are more than 700 million items are listed on eBay and if you buy through Qantas eBay link you will earn points on purchases from shops which normally are NOT Qantas Partners like Target, Kmart, and thousands of others.
• Did you know you can earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points at Kogan? They have amazing prices and sell not just electronics! So why not save money and earn extra points when you shop online?
• Get your car’s windows tinted at Tint-A-Car.

Purchase QBE Qantas Travel Insurance if your credit card does not include travel insurance cover.

• ​Earn Qantas Points with Qantas Cash, a pre-paid multi currency Qantas debit card. You can load multiple currencies and spend overseas to receive your bonus points. Lock in exchange rates on up to 10 currencies and you will be charged no currency conversion fees when you make a purchase or ATM withdrawal with funds in the local currency on your card. See all the details here.
• ​Eat at restaurants where you can earn Qantas points. Pay by credit card and earn more points.
• Stay at selected Australian hotels and international hotels and earn points for your stay with Qantas Frequent Flyer hotel partners.
• Buy beer and wine at Woolworths Liquor, Cellarmasters or BWS.

• Join Qantas epiQure – an online food and wine community.
• Buy flowers for your loved one through Frequent Flowers. Earn 5 points for every $1 spent.
• ​Buy a car through Trivett.
• ​Set all regular payments as direct debits directly from your points earning credit or debit card (instead of your bank account) to pay for school fees, day care fees, health insurance, car insurance, health club fees, subscriptions etc.
• ​Use your Qantas FF credit card to pay at the doctor, dentist and pharmacy or when you have your water filter changed.
• Earn 1 Qantas point for every dollar spent on the first year's gross annual premium of any eligible health insurance policy if you go through iSelect website. Also earn 1000-2000 points by signing up for gas or electricity products from a range of providers.
• Switch your home loan, car loan, savings or credit card to a Qantas Points banking product from Qantas Credit Union, and you could be rewarded with Qantas points. There are four ways you could make your finances work for you.
• ​Have you got a property, or you want to sell one? LJ Hooker pays points if you use them to manage your property or sell it.
• ​Use PayPal for online shopping. Link all your reward cards to PayPal to earn more points. Make sure you link your AMEX card as you will be able to earn more points and buy from places that normally, either do not accept AMEX cards or charge extra fees.
• Need to print anything? Use Snap Printing.
• ​Earn points searching the net using Qantas Frequent Flyer Toolbar. If four people in your household use the bar while searching the internet, you can earn up to 7200 points in one year! This is a super easy and fun way for your kids to earn points while doing homework research.
  
• ​Fly with Qantas, Qantas Link or Jetstar as much as you can. You will not only fly with premium airline, but you will also earn points for every mile you fly. Use Qantas Frequent Flyer points calculator to find out how many points you will earn. Please note that Qantas points and status credits can be earned when flying on Jetstar only when you buy an extra bundle.
• ​Fly with partner airlines. When you need to fly beyond the Qantas network, you can earn points on eligible flights listed with OneWorld or partner airlines. Have a look at this table to learn how many points you can earn.
• ​Did you know that when you redeem the points using Points Plus Pay, you will earn points and status credits as well on these award flights, and you won’t have to pay taxes and charges? Points and status credits are not earned on Classic Award flights, you pay taxes and charges, but you need far fewer points to fly when you use Classic Awards. Choose the option you prefer of course.
  
• ​Friend’s birthday coming up? Earn points with Everyday Rewards gift cards.
• ​Save $$$ with gift vouchers (cards)! Sometimes you can even buy them at a discount. Qantas gift cards can be used for paying for all sorts of things. But, if you want to save on Qantas flights bookings, pay for the tickets with a gift card (even partially) and you will be exempted from the $7 (domestic) or $30 (international) per passenger credit card booking fee.
  
  Just buy a $50-100 Qantas Gift Voucher and part-pay using the voucher. The voucher is active immediately after purchasing it and you can buy it here.
  

So What Are You Waiting For? Join the Qantas Frequent Flyer Program Today

As you can see now, it's not hard to earn a large amount of points by doing nothing more than connecting up your Qantas Frequent Flyer number to a range of services you most likely are using already.

You can earn points on almost everything you daily pay for and the right points earning strategy will see you well rewarded.

But, I’d like to advise you to understand that the services I have mentioned above may not be suitable for every person and the amount of points you will earn depends entirely on your personal spending habits and the opportunities you will be willing to take advantage of.

When persuing points ensure that you are getting value. Don't forget to read all the terms and conditions of each program partner, credit card provider and/or other service mentioned in this article to make sure you are aware of every possibility and you are happy with the choices you are going to make.

Also, PLEASE, do not go on overspending just because you can earn points. The key here is not to maximize your expenses but to maximize your points without shooting up your regular expenditure.

Now you know how to earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points so do not waste any more time. Signup for Qantas Frequent Flyer program, follow the steps mentioned above and start earning LOTS of QFF points NOW!

There is no need to spend countless hours looking for cheap flights or burn holes in your pocket to fly any more. You have got the secret to fly free across the world just by following some simple steps.

So, go and grab the opportunity before it slips out. They never last forever!

Happy flying!