Hello all.
I run a small transport business turning over approx 500k/year - We do not fly for work much, but I have seen the new Qantas business rewards system and it just looks to good to be true. I would like some advice as a business owner who doesnt fly often for work, but can definately use their partners to rack up points to use on flights later. Here is how we would work:
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I have 4 vehicles all using Diesel. Caltex star card members get 1 point per 2 litres. Plus a bonus 20,000 points just for signing up
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MOST of the income i receive comes through an eftpos machine (westpac) - however i see EFTPOS LIVE BLACK - you get 1 qantas point per $1 transacted, with no cap and an extra 5000 just for joining up before may 31st
-Westpac is offering a credit card which you receive 1 qantas point per $1.50 spent with an extra 80,000 points for signing up
So if this is correct, with no catches I pay a $89.95 joining fee for QANTAS BUSINESS REWARDS, join these 3 membership schemes, and I get 20k + 5k + 80k qantas points immediately. And they are partnered with other airlines like jetstar, emirates and Fiji airways.
I’ve checked online, and forums read for around 100k points you get a trip to NZ from Sydney in business class (Emirates). Or 72k points you can go Sydney to fiji return in business (Fiji airways) - Unless they are talking about the old qantas FF points, not the new qantas business rewards scheme (?)
However if I transact say 400k per year on the eftpos machine I will have an additional 400k points - so 500k+ points excluding my diesel and westpac credit card expenditure. Would this get me business class to europe return for 1 - 2 people?
Does anybody know if there are any catches, and if a large amount of around 400k - 500k points actually get you anything in the way of decent flights for a small company like me to sign up to solely accumulate points for a holiday at the end of the year? And also I read that the “points + pay” system is common, does Qantas give both option to pay with points only, and points + pay or is it a case to case scenario based on the type of flight etc ?
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
There are many questions so I’ll go through them all individually. I am also a small business operator and have only been collecting Qantas points for just over 12 months and have earned almost 900,000 points in that time. You will need to join Qantas Frequent Flyer as an individual too as the business account can be transferred to anyone you nominate. There are options to join both QFF and QBR free of charge.
The sign up bonus for Starcard is 5,000 points but you also need to look at the 2 c/litre saving in fuel costs which in a transport business will be significant. There are also credit cards from banks and AMEX that offer 1.5 points per dollar spent so the points earned for 1,000 litres of diesel change depending on it’s price. At $1.50 per litre, Caltex will cost $1,500 - $20 discount for 1,000 points but using an AMEX card with no surcharge will net 2,250 points. $1/litre is the same points at Caltex but 1,500 points using an AMEX card. The $2.95 fee a month can easily be offset by the purchase of 150 litres of fuel.
The Live Eftpos Black has a 20k signup but to get that, you need to process $45k worth of payments in 2 months. Once again, it depends what your current EFTPOS terminal costs you per month and in fees. My business uses a CBA terminal that accepts AMEX costing $16.50 / month terminal rental and no stationary costs. Visa and MasterCard payments cost me 0.92% per transaction and 1.98% for AMEX. Live Eftpos Black is $40 / month terminal costs and 2.75% for Visa and MasterCard only, no AMEX. At $25k a month for 12 months processed through V/M, my CBA costs me $2,958 whereas LEB would cost $8,730.
The cheapest round the world flight is 280k points and $1,100 in taxes or you can buy that same ticket for around $5,700 including taxes so to me, collecting points in this manner doesn’t add up for me. I’m not aware of the points needed to just fly to Europe or the USA as I want to get the best use of my points and for this example shown it doesn’t add up. Also, rewards flights to Europe and USA are the most sought after and difficult to obtain so research how to lock in the flights as they are just shy of a year out.
I have also applied to Westpac for the business rewards card as the signup bonus is the only business card that has it. There is a higher earn rate with the Westpac amplify card with no cap but I also have other credit cards that have a higher earn rate with a cap that I fit under. The points earned from flying will be low/non existent so having points credited to my QBR makes it possible to transfer the points out as you need a minimum of 3k points to transfer. An economy return flight to Dubai from Adelaide on Emirates but code shared with Qantas netted 1800 points and return trips from Adelaide to Sydney is 320 so if you have no other means to add to these flights, the points will go to waste.
Regards,
Michael
Thanks Mike.
So you’re saying i’m probably better off to:
-Grab the Starcard for the bonus points, plus fuel discounts OR are you saying that if i simply put my fuel costs on Amex i would likely incur more points as its 1.5 points/$1 anyway.
-Sign up for the westpac business rewards credit card , primarily to get the bonus points and use AMEX for purchases at 1.5points/$1
It depends on where you buy fuel and what cards they take. If they take AMEX and there is no surcharge, you’ll get more points by paying AMEX than you will with a Caltex starcard for the same amount spent. If you sign up to the Qantas Ultimate Express AMEX, that will give you 55k points. The card has a $450 annual fee but also a return flight every year after you’ve purchased a flight with Qantas so it basically is a free card.
There is also a way to double dip with fuel. I generally only use BP fuel and they are aligned with Virgin and Velocity points so it is possible to fill up at BP, swipe a Velocity card to get points and then pay with the AMEX to get Qantas points. This allows me to earn reward flights on Virgin also which I can use locally while still getting Qantas points for overseas travel. Depending on the size of your trucks, the Velocity points are only up to 150 litres of diesel so to maximise them with a large tank will require splitting up your fuel purchase into 150 litre fills.
If you spend around $10k a month on Visa and the rest on an AMEX, the ANZ FF black Visa gives 75,000 bonus points with a 1:1 earn rate up to $7,500 and then 0.5:$1 thereafter. I have this card at the old rate of .75:1 but it works for me until I’m upgraded to the new rate in August.
If you have a good credit rating and a partner then there is nothing stopping you each getting the cards which doubles up on bonus points and then if 1 month you need to spend $15k on Visa, you’ll still get maximum points. By getting the Westpac business card on top, you get those 80,000 bonus points plus you have a constant earn rate which can be used after reaching the crossover point on the ANZ to where you receive less points than the Westpac.
Finally, I missed it originally, the best use of points are reward flights. Points plus pay is a waste of points for flights. I’d rather pay for a flight and then request an upgrade versus points plus pay for the same flight. Using points for domestic flights has it’s best value in business class compared to economy. So Adelaide - Melbourne - Adelaide in business was 32k points and $65 whereas economy was half the points but the same price in taxes. To buy the economy flight was over $200 return let alone business and if the points cost nothing to get then why not use them.
Regards,
Michael