Whether you are a regular or occasional visitor, it is a good idea to keep up-to-date with all the latest frequent flyer news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals available to our readers.
Let’s keep it short and sweet—here are the most popular articles for 2017.
Top 10 most-read posts
1. Westpac Altitude Black credit card guide
With a huge sign-up bonus and discounted annual fee, this card was in high demand in 2017. Our exclusive 100,000-point offer is back, 20,000 points above what is publicly offered by Westpac.
You can use a Qantas Points sign-up bonus for great-value Emirates First Class redemptions
2. Promo codes for Virgin Australia domestic and international flights
A no-brainer to check before you book a Virgin Australia flight with cash. The largest discount this year was 30% of Business Class fares back in October.
Booking a oneworld Classic Flight Reward is one of the best ways to maximise the value of your Qantas Points.
4. Which credit cards earn points for tax payments at the ATO
One of the questions often considered by anyone who has to pay tax bills to the ATO: ‘how do I earn the most points on this transaction?’ Hopefully this guide will help point you toward the card to use for your own circumstances when paying taxes.
5. The best uses of 100,000 Velocity Points
In this guide, we outline our top nine recommendations for using your Velocity points balance for maximum value, including flights on Virgin Australia and partners like Etihad and Singapore Airlines.
You can redeem your Velocity Points for Etihad Business and First Class flights
6. Buy Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles
Alaska’s well-priced frequent flyer program became the most popular one for our readers to buy miles for, with sweet spot redemptions for premium cabin travel on Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines possible.
7. Some of the cheapest ways of earning Qantas Gold status in one trip
We regularly update this guide with some of the better, more accessible and useful deals for obtaining enough Status Credits for Qantas Gold status in one trip, with our current flight offer starting from $5295 on sale until 8 January.
Fly Finnair Business Class and reach Qantas Gold status at the same time
8. Changes to ANZ cards in 2017
ANZ made one of the first major moves of credit card changes this year, severing ties with American Express, with their range of rewards cards now including a Visa only.
9. Velocity Frequent Flyer transfer and redemption bonuses guide
These deals usually run a couple of times a year, offering bonuses of between 15% and 50%.
10. Priority Pass lounge guide
This is definitely a credit card perk to aim for. With the addition of eateries at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Airports, the program has become much more attractive for those of us here in Australia.
Keith’s personal top picks
When it comes to credit cards, I am still preferring to earn points in flexible points programs, focusing on Velocity (for the ability to transfer to KrisFlyer as needed), American Express Membership Rewards points, flybuys and Starpoints.
You can now use your Velocity points for Singapore Airlines First Class flights
This has me using the Amex Explorer, Amex Platinum Charge and Coles Rewards Mastercard as best suiting most of my needs.
I still enjoy topping up my Qantas Points balance with wine from EpiQure, plus points earned via my Amex Platinum Charge.
Given all of this, the most useful guides when it comes to using points that I think are worth calling out are:
- What can you use 100,000 Amex Ascent Membership Rewards points for?
- Six ways to get the most out of your Velocity points
- How to use Qantas Points for Emirates flights
On the travel side of things, the places and flights I’ve most enjoyed using my points for in 2017 have been:
- Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas (Starpoints)
- Etihad A380 First Class Apartment (Etihad Guest miles or Velocity Points)
- Qatar Airways A380 First Class (Qantas Points)
Etihad A380 First Class Apartment
Matt’s personal top picks
My favourite guides from this year have been:
- How to easily compare legroom across a number of flights in just one glance
- Sun and Fun in Spain: a destination guide
- The best credit cards to earn the most frequent flyer points at supermarkets
It’s been a big year of travel for me, including South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong in Asia; Canada, the US, Mexico and Colombia in The Americas; and Spain in Europe. My top frequent flyer experiences were:
- Getting driven to my plane in a Mercedes from the Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt
- Enjoying excellent customer service on my Singapore Airlines A350 Business Class flight from San Francisco to Singapore
- Using only 40,000 United MileagePlus miles (now 65,000) to fly THAI First Class from Hong Kong to Sydney and getting a complimentary one-hour massage on my transit in Bangkok
The Lufthansa First Class experience
Tomorrow, I’m off to Chile, Argentina and Peru to hike, eat and work remotely for the next three months.
The next redemption I am aiming for is flying Qatar Airways’ new Qsuites Business Class.
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From the entire Point Hacks team, thank you for your support this year and we wish you all the best for 2018!
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