Aussie has only paid for three flights in 10 years

Sydney man Andy Hutton hasn’t paid for more than three flights in a decade as he continues to travel the world for “free”.

Sydney-based man Andy Hutton is so points savvy, he once took a flight to Fiji during his lunch break because it provided an alternative way of getting to Los Angeles in business class using loyalty points.

The 40-year-old revealed he hasn’t paid for more than three flights in 10 years as he continues to travel the world for “free”.

On average, across all cabin classes, Andy has flown 146 times using loyalty points, with more than 40 of those in business and first class.

It works out to be about two flights for “free”, per month.

Andy, who is part of six major airlines’ frequent flyer programs, was first introduced to collecting points after he moved from the UK to Australia a decade ago, marking the beginning of his high-flying life.

“As I was going to be travelling a lot to go home, my friend suggested I look into points programs – and it really evolved from there and has become a passion since,” Andy told news.com.au.

Andy Hutton estimates he has only paid for commercial flights three times in the last 10 years.

“I signed up to my first credit card – the Qantas Amex Ulimited Card – locked in the 120,000 points and secured my first business class seat to London via the UAE. The sign-up points got me a one-way business seat to Dubai.”

Andy was flying with Emirates at the time and to his absolute shock, got upgraded to first class.

“The experience was amazing,” he recalled. “To have a shower, a chef, a bar – it was tailored to your needs.

“I think I was really fortunate to be able to head into first class – I assume business was full and perhaps because I was also a single flyer.”

Andy uses his points frequently. He currently has 600,000 with 320,000 Qantas Points.

He has travelled on more than 40 business class flights using points.

Andy, who is now a Qantas gold member, isn’t wrong when he says “most people prefer to go left on a plane”.

After getting a sweet taste of the pointy end, he made it his mission to educate himself on how the points system works so he can travel back home frequently without burning a hole in his wallet.

He currently has 600,000 points with 320,000 of those with Qantas alone.

“You don’t keep points, the idea is to spend it as you get it, because they can devalue,” he advised.

He collects points across Qantas, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Avios frequent flyer programs, having travelled to 94 countries in the past 10 years.

“It’s super easy to sign up to a frequent flyer program – it’s a matter of getting an email with your frequent flyer number, then it’s a credit card sign up.”

Andy is so savvy, he once took a flight to Fiji during his lunch break because it provided an alternative way of getting to LA in Business class using points.

His two picks are the Westpac Altitude Black Card and Qantas Amex Unlimited Card.

“For both of them you’re looking at a sign up of 100,000 to 120,000 points and normally it’s a spend of $3,000 in three months to meet the criteria but it can vary,” he explained.

Andy said you can use it to pay for things like groceries, phone bills, insurance, memberships, fuel – and get points.

“The biggest challenge is trying to find a reward seat. People tend to give up but I have learned over time how to locate those seats,” he said, explaining travellers have to try and be as flexible as possible.

The Sydney-based man has a travelled to 94 countries in the past 10 years.

“You have to get creative about the route you are flying, for example, your New Yorks and Londons are going to be in high demand. If you look at alternatives such as Manilla, Jakarta, then you can connect on partner airlines.”

Andy is so savvy, he once took a flight to Fiji from Sydney during his lunch break because it provided an alternative way of getting to LA in business class using points.

“I decided I needed to be flexible so I hopped on a Qantas flight during my extended lunch break to Fiji and worked from the lounge into the afternoon before heading on its partner airline Fiji Airways, to LA, in business class.

“But that’s only because I had the flexibility and it didn’t really have an impact on my day. “You can say it’s a bit ridiculous but I was able to still work.”

He also mentioned people often forget airlines like Qantas have more than 30 partner airlines around the world – which means you can still accumulate and redeem points.

Andy’s points have taken him everywhere – Europe, Asia, North America, across Australia – and back home to the UK. He moved to Australia 10 years ago.

“I would also consider the days and times you are flying – if you are flying on a Friday before Christmas or the day before school, there’s not going to be reward seats available – instead think about travelling on days less in demand.”

He said while he tries to fly using just his points he also pays for flights, mainly domestic, to maintain “status”.

“Airlines like Qantas and Virgin reward loyalty and it’s something you want, as it gives you access to things like lounges, priority boarding, extra baggage – things that are important to people when travelling to help make the journey smoother.”

He said you can get status credits and still fly on reward seats if you are part of the Qantas points club and Qantas points club plus - and booking flights during promotional deals such

as Qantas’ current one-week promotional campaign.

“I tend to book those really low domestic flights to make sure I achieve 600 status credits to achieve gold,” he said.

“When you fly on a reward seat it’s 48 credits in business one way - if you’re bookig during a promotional period like double status credits you’re looking at 96.”

“For Qantas, you have got a year to achieve Gold membership. So it’s all about striking the right balance of being creative with flights such as a combination of rewards seats and low value domestic flights (like sales) and making sure you stay within one alliance (connected partners) so when you do fly, you’re maintaining that status.”

He said in terms of using points to buy flights, as an example with the Qantas sale, Adelaide to Kangaroo Island is 6700 points one way in economy, when normally it’s 8000 economy. “Classic Plus is a lot higher because of prices but during sales it often falls below a standard Classic seat. If you want to use points and use it smarter, look for Classic Plus.”

There are over five million Classic seats which are at a fixed points price and over 20 million Classic Plus seats, which vary like commercial fares (lower when booked early or sale periods, higher during peak periods).

The savvy points hacker is unsurprisingly the go-to man among family and friends — and given his experience and knowledge he is now looking to start a side-hustle offering tips and tricks to help those keen on accumulating and spending points navigate challenges.

Meanwhile, another Aussie has revealed how he can fly for free for the rest of his life.

The 58-year-old has accumulated 25 million points over a period of 25 years.