In the throes of the most expensive and hectic time of year, it’s easy to succumb to spending frenzy. Naturally, that threatens to cost you more, but there’s probably an opportunity cost you might not realise: a bucketload of forgone frequent flyer points.

Indeed, it’s possible to turn Christmas expense into a (largely) free New Year excursion for you and your family.

Step 1. Think about how you purchase every present. Two words for you: Gift cards. Yes, you can give them (bearing in mind the loophole that I recently exposed that cinemas in particular are using to get around the three-year validity rule). But you can also simply take the step of buying said gift cards and then your chosen presents.

Why? Because significantly boosted points are often given on gift cards on a short-term-bonus basis – even as many as 20 points per dollar spent. Take Everyday Rewards, where you can buy gift cards for Big W, BWS and Woolworths (hello to a bonus-points Christmas feast, too).

While there are no decent active Everyday Rewards offers currently, there might be – probably briefly – before Christmas. They come out in the catalogue every Monday.

But right now, there are also 10 points per dollar on Apple Digital Gift cards bought through Qantas Marketplace, between $25 and $500, if you were planning a tech present (or a tech gift card). And such bonuses regularly switch between a raft of different gift cards.

A credit card should be used only as a conduit to earn points.

If there’s nothing you want for a good gift card deal though, you have another angle to come out ahead: purchase the gift cards at discounted face value through a cash-back service like Shopback or GrowMyMoney.

Step 2: Pay for everything on a rewards credit card. Yep, the next hack to stack points is to use a rewards credit card for the gift card purchases, either a Qantas-affiliated one or one where you can convert your points to Qantas.

If you don’t have such a thing, Point Hacks says the top bulk Qantas points available today for new applicants (with annual fees below $400) include the St George Amplify Qantas Signature Visa and Westpac Altitude Qantas Black Mastercard (both 150,000 points over two years; 90,000 the first year and 60,000 the second) or ANZ Black Visa (130,000, split 90,000 and 40,000, with a potential $200 statement credit at the end of three months).

Of course, the big caveat on this one is that a credit card should be used only as a conduit to earn points (and to use the bank’s money for free while you sit your salary each month alongside your mortgage, if you have one, to cut its interest).

If you pay interest on a card because you fail to clear it in full each time the bill is due, you are entirely eroding the advantage you are trying to engineer.

Step 3: Decide carefully where you purchase every present. We are, on average, set to spend $491 on presents this silly season, says the Pureprofile Global Christmas Report. So, make it smarter by spending this right.

On pretty much every purchase transaction, it’s possible you can earn even more Qantas points. Qantas has done deals with hundreds of merchants (you can now get points at David Jones) for its Qantas Shopping points portal.

Indeed, not only will you get points by doing so, you are likely to get them at a boosted rate: Adidas is currently on a special offer at seven Qantas points per dollar spent.

Note that an edge Qantas Shopping has over cash-back services is that you can use discount codes. With most cashback facilities, this voids the cashback. Qantas Marketplace, aside from gift card deals, stocks various products with a flat three points per dollar accrual.

And with Qantas Wine, you can sometimes get not just three points but also a bulk, say, 3000. Bear in mind the clock is ticking on online purchases as they have to wing their way to you in time for Christmas.

Frequent flyer aficionados speak of a triple points haul – and that’s what the above purchasing process can net you. Remember, frequent flyer points alone should never influence the providers you use or products you choose. Nor should they ever persuade you spend more to earn them.

But with the money you have carefully allocated for Christmas, why not get a cherry on top?

Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon is author of How to Get Mortgage-Free Like Me, available at www.nicolessmartmoney.com. Follow Nicole on Facebook, X and Instagram.

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

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