They pay no credit card interest, have a good credit rating, and enjoy multiple free international and domestic flights each year – usually in business or premium economy – and the data is there to prove it. These are the frequent flyers in Australia’s business community who have mastered the use of rewards cards and have point-hacked their way to meeting their travel goals.
Point Hacks (pointhacks.com.au), an independent platform for one of Australia’s largest communities of airline rewards experts, can now share how these savvy business owners do it. It surveyed 320 of its business owner members to learn their credit card habits, and the rewards those habits earn them.
Point-hacker business earn multiple free international and domestic flights a year
The survey reveals that 71 per cent of business owners use their frequent flyer points to take at least one international flight a year, while 60 per cent take one or more domestic flights on points a year. The majority also get premium class seats on points: 72 per cent have booked at least one business class or premium economy flight a year.
The business community recognises that flights are the best value redemptions, as only 20 per cent have used their points for hotel stays, 12 per cent spent for gift cards and five (5) per cent used for technology items.
The 8 successful credit card habits that are rewarding Australia’s business community
The survey also revealed just how this business community is reaping its travel rewards: clever use of rewards credit cards.
- 84 per cent of survey respondents own two or more points-earning credit cards.
- Among these, 53 per cent have reached gold or platinum status on their rewards program.
- 51 per cent are happy to pay an annual card fee of at least $500 for the benefit of having a card that gives them rewards points
- Yet 83 per cent pay off their credit card every month.
- Two-thirds (69 per cent) have a strategy for how they use and pay off their rewards credit cards.
- Nearly half (43 per cent) earn more than 75 per cent of their points through credit card spend, while 72 per cent said more than 50 per cent of their points were earned through credit card spend.
- 57 per cent make more than 50 per cent of their business expense purchases through credit cards
- Due to the many rewards-earning cards and bonus points offers available in the market, 42 per switch or get a new credit card at least every three months.
Daniel Sciberras, Point Hacks’ spokesperson and frequent flyer expert, says: “Business owners are at an advantage when it comes to earning points through credit card spend, as there are many cards that are made for business in mind. When choosing the credit card for you, it pays to look at the points earn rate. You should aim for at least half a point earned per $1 spent. You can also narrow down the options by seeing which cards offer bonus points when signing up. For instance, NAB is offering 100,000 bonus Qantas Points for new NAB Qantas Business Signature Visa cardholders.[1] The Point Hacks website is a good way to keep on top of any new and exclusive bonus deals, so that business owners will never miss out.”
Point Hacks’ top 4 points-earning cards for business owners[2]:
- AMEX Qantas Business Rewards. Apply for this card before 3 July 2019 and receive 120,000 bonus Qantas Points.[3] Qantas Points are earned and transferred automatically into the business’ Qantas Business Rewards account. This offers more flexibility and convenience for business owners, who can transfer the points to anyone’s personal Qantas Frequent Flyer account.[4]For every $1 spent on the card, you can earn 1.25 Qantas Points, and 2 Points on eligible Qantas flights and services. Triple Points on what is normally earned by your business in the Qantas Business Rewards program when flying Qantas can also be earned when paying with this card.
- NAB Qantas Business Signature Visa. With this card, 1 Qantas Point is earned per $1.50 spend on everyday business purchases.[5] New cardholders of the NAB Qantas Business Visa can earn 100,000 bonus Qantas Points when spending a minimum of $4000 on eligible purchases within the first two months of approval. There’s no rush to sign up for this one, as there’s currently no offer-end date.
- American Express Platinum Business. American Express are offering 100,000 Membership Rewards points bonus to new card members until 3 July 2019[6], which can be transferred to Qantas, Velocity, Asia Miles, and more frequent flyer programs. This card is aimed towards large business spenders looking for high points earn rates on travel and business expenses. Card holders can earn 1.125 frequent flyer points per $1 on purchases, except for government spend, for which 1 point per $1 spent can be earned.
- Westpac Altitude Business. The Altitude Business card range allows you to earn points into Altitude Rewards and then transfer them to range of frequent flyer programs such as Qantas, Velocity and KrisFlyer. These cards can also earn up 0.25 frequent flyer points per $1 on government transactions[7], which is worth considering if you have an ABN and need a business card.
Most popular award redemptions by business owners
| Number of domestic flights redeemed (including upgrades | % of respondents |
| 0 | 40% |
| 1-2 | 29% |
| 3-5 | 17% |
| 5-7 | 7% |
| 7-10 | 3% |
| 10-15 | 1% |
| 15+ | 3% |
| Number of international flights redeemed (including upgrades) | % of respondents |
| 0 | 28% |
| 1 | 13% |
| 2 | 23% |
| 3 | 8% |
| 4 | 11% |
| 5+ | 18% |
| Business class or premium economy flights (including upgrades) | % of respondents |
| 0 | 28% |
| 1-2 | 35% |
| 3-5 | 19% |
| 5-7 | 9% |
| 7-10 | 4% |
| 10-15 | 2% |
| 15+ | 3% |
| First class flights (including upgrades) | % of respondents |
| 0 | 79% |
| 1 | 8% |
| 2 | 8% |
| 3 | 1% |
| 4 | 2% |
| 5+ | 1% |
Proportion of business expenses paid through credit cards
| Percentage of business expenses | % of respondents |
| Less than 10% | 11% |
| 20-30% | 15% |
| 30-50% | 12% |
| 50-70% | 17% |
| More than 70% | 40% |
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