Views from the air don’t come cheap … or do they? Photo: James Coleman.
When you’re married to an expat, a trip to the Northern Hemisphere every few years goes from a fancy holiday to a budget necessity.
It’s only fair – after all, if we end up moving closer to his family at any point, I’ll still want to see mine from time to time.
This comes with plenty of perks. You get to see parts of other countries that are off the beaten track, you get all the best food recommendations and if you let the local do the talking you don’t get charged tourist prices.
You can also get away without having to pay for accommodation, a car or any bits and bobs you’ve forgotten to pack (many, many thanks to my wonderful in-laws).
One of the perks is not, however, plane tickets.
Whichever way you slice it, airfares are expensive.
My husband’s previous job involved a lot of travel, paid for by his employer. This resulted in an abundance of Qantas points – so many that we were on a first-name basis with the man behind the desk at the lounge (bless you Graeme).
His latest gig comes without this particular perk, leaving us to wander the concourse like the peasants we are and paying full-price for our fares.
Until now.
We’ve discovered rewards points.
Please forgive us – we were living overseas. No racking up points with your grocery shop there.
Now, however, we are possessed body and soul by the siren song of airline points.
Decisions about grocery shops, petrol stops and the electricity bill are all now made with the almighty points in mind.
Let’s face it – the cost of living is through the roof wherever you shop. Saving $30 on our weekly grocery bill probably won’t change our lives.
But those sweet, sweet air points just might – at least until we win the lottery.
Any food item not stocked at a shop where we can rack up points is now off the menu.
Petrol stops required a 10-minute detour until we discovered a station that offered points near us.
The best part is the power bill. Our brick house faces due west, and with no shade it’s a hotbox in summer.
But now running the aircon 24/7 earns us more points, I’ve stopped screeching, “Don’t open the blinds” quite as often.
It’s important to note I do still screech this because old habits die hard and also I don’t have faith that our air-conditioning unit has the power required to defeat the sun single-handedly. But still.
Pet food? Points. If we could find a way to redeem our vet bills we’d be rolling in them.
After a couple months of dedicated points farming we’ve almost racked up 7000 of the buggers.
A round trip from Sydney to London for both of us would cost 260,000 – so by my calculations we should have our next visit to the in-laws paid for by 2030.
