Points and Budget Hacks
This page shares practical ways we earn and use frequent flyer and hotel points, along with simple hacks, to make travel more financially accessible, so bigger trips feel possible.
Frequent Flyer Points
One of my focused interests is airline/hotel miles. I love working out creative ways to earn huge amounts without being a frequent flyer for work, or overspending I things I wouldn’t otherwise buy. Collecting these points is the biggest reason our family has been able to travel so much internationally (with the occasional business class experience). Whilst this is not a ‘points hacks’ webpage, it would be unhelpful to create a website that provides support in how to make travel more accessible in terms or autism, but not budget. Below are some of my favourite resources and creators for getting started:
Point Hacks - the most extensive Australia-specific site about points collecting
The Points Guy - not Australia-specific, but globally the most useful resource in this space
Freepoints - Australia-specific site that lists the latest points deals from Everyday Rewards, Flybuys, Velocity and Qantas Frequent Flyers
Olivia Points & Flight Hacks - A relatively new TikToker in this space but really good, well-communicated info about this topic
The most important tip of points collecting Before you start collecting, please make a commitment to not spend any money or buy anything that you would not otherwise consume in the pursuit of points.
Realistically, what type of holiday could I get with this approach?
These days, we mostly do longer holidays and points/surveys etc are supplementary. E.g. for my up-coming three month trip later this year, I spent 18 months obsessively collecting Qantas points to pay for 2 x long haul business class flights, and one medium haul economy flight (for 4). Hotel points and Points Club perks (mostly from surveys) are covering about two weeks of accommodation, and little bits of cash saved up from surveys etc are paying for one cruise. The rest has been from saving, knowing it’s something I have been planning for years. It’s important to note that this is my focused interest though and I spend an inordinate amount of time on it! Do not expect this as an outcome!!!
A more realistic starting point is something like the following.
Beginner Mode:
A week on the Gold Coast from Sydney (off-peak)
Qantas return flights - 73,600 Qantas Points + $472 cash for fees and taxes
7 nights at Mantra Crown Towers Surfers Paradise - 40,000 Accor Points
Car hire, food, Village Roadshow Theme Parks - $2,500
To do this I would break this down into something more manageable e.g. what would I need to earn each week over 12 months.
1,415 Qantas points per week over a year could be earned from doing your weekly shop at Woolworths
40,000 Accor points could be earned from eRewards doing 2-3 average-length surveys per day
$3,000 is just under $60 per week (less than $10 per day) in surveys/market research/mystery shopping
So yes, it’s completely doable, it just requires effort and consistency.
Surveys, Market Research, User Testing and Hotel Points
Similarly, a way we have been able to pay for hotel stays with points or earn small amounts of cash, has been through surveys, market research and user testing. The following is not going to replace your regular income, but can pay for nice extras like a holiday.
Surveys
The pros of surveys are that they are easy, and can be done any place and any time. I usually do a few each night whilst watching TV. The cons is that they can be tedious and are low return for effort. But…once again you may as well do them whilst watching TV. My favourite platforms are:
eRewards - This is the survey platform I use daily…every day…whilst watching TV of an evening. I use it to get rewarded in Accor hotel points. You can also get rewarded in other hotel points/gift cards/airline points, but for the current trip I am planning, it’s Accor all the way. Warning - it is a bit convoluted to set up.
Octopus Surveys - are one of my favourites. The reward for effort is higher than others and sometimes you can get the occasional (very occasional) lengthy survey that pays $90 for a really epic 90min survey. Also something I just do whilst watching TV.
Pure Profile - is another one that pays well for the amount of effort however I rank lower than Octopus because there is a limit to how much you can cash out in a month.
QMee - Occasionally has decent surveys, but generally I only use this if I have no surveys on other platforms. But worth doing if I have time.
Market Research
These opportunities pay more than doing surveys, however are more effort, harder to come across and cannot be done at one’s leisure.
Askable - This is an platform that recruits for online market research. Paid Zoom interviews are generally 30 - 60mins of your time and pay between $35-$70. They are also starting to do well paid surveys and shorter tasks too. I highly recommend this platform. Get a few of these per week and you are golden!
Real Time Research - This is a notice board advertising an abundance of market research opportunities. These pay well when you get accepted (e.g. $150 - $200 for a 90 min in-person session), but I only do a handful of these a year.
Mystery Shop Apps
This is my preferred method of mystery shopping. You complete short audit tasks that only take a few minutes, on your phone when you are out and about. My favourite apps are:
Traditional Mystery Shopping
This is my least preferred method of mystery shopping. You complete either in person/web/phone enquiries to audit customer service, followed by writing a detailed report. This worked ok when I was on maternity leave because it gave us missions to go on and I would do phone calls and reports when my child napped. But at this point in my life, it just doesn’t fit. That said, I did pay for a week in Japan with this for two of us and an infant, so….here were who I used: