Best ways to use your frequent flyer points

IT’S one thing to earn frequent flyer points, but are you using them correctly? Here’s how you could make them go further.

Frequent flyer points vary between airlines for the same destination. Picture: iStock

IT’S one thing to earn frequent flyer points, but another thing altogether to spend it.

Just as there are plenty of things to speed up your earning of points on the ground, there are also plenty of ways you can make the most of your points when booking a flight.

One of the main ways to make your points go further (literally), is to make sure you choose to spend it on the right routes and membership programs.

Play your cards right and you can save as much as 40 per cent, which means more points left over for your next trip.

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The starting point should always be to figure out where you travel the most (or where you would like to travel), according to Steve Hui from iFLYflat.com.au.

“Pick your travel destinations to decide which frequent flyer program works the best for you. Most people jump in too fast into collecting points but are collecting the wrong points,” says Hui, also known as The Points Whisperer.

“Different programs require a different number of points to fly to the same destination. Pick your desired destination, and then choose the most appropriate program. Getting it right at the start can save you over 33 per cent.”

Hui cites the Sydney to London route as a classic example. An economy flight from Sydney to London takes 120,000 Qantas points or 128,000 Virgin Velocity points.

If you’re a member of Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program, however, you’ll only need 80,750 points for the same journey — a 33 per cent saving.

Choose the right program and you’ll be flying more often. Picture: iStock

The savings are even bigger in business class, with the trip taking 256,000 and 278,000 points on Qantas and Virgin respectively, while Singapore KrisFlyer asks 161,500 points — saving you 40 per cent.

However, Singapore Airlines just announced changes to its frequent flyer program, which will see an increase in the number of points needed to book a flight after March 23.

The business class leg just mentioned will soon cost 210,000 points — a substantial increase, but still 25 per cent less than Virgin.

It goes to show that you shouldn’t hoard your points for too long: “Frequent flyer points are made to fly, so the key with collecting them is to use them to book your holiday,” says Hui.

Plus, there’s more to think about than just the number of points you need. For the Sydney to Los Angeles route, Hui points out there’s only a small difference in points between Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Virgin (44,200, 45,000 and 44,800 one-way economy, respectively).

On Singapore Airlines, that will increase to 55,000 points after March 23 and it will require a stopover in Singapore, which pretty much rules it out for anyone wanting to fly direct.

However, while Virgin charges $137.67 for fees and taxes for the trip, Qantas asks $249.75. Add a return trip and the difference becomes substantial — especially if you’re travelling as a family.

“Qantas to its credit had lowered its economy points redemption and taxes to more reasonable levels back in January 2016,” says Hui.

Apart from picking the right destination and membership, there are a few other tips that Hui says travellers should keep in mind about maximising their points.

“Booking seats using points as a full redemption is better value than trying to get an upgrade,” says Hui.

“As upgrades are like a lottery, there are always more people trying their luck to get the limited seats. Besides, most upgrades are allocated based on an ranking algorithm — rewarding platinum and gold frequent flyers more often.”

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