Shopper shares how she earned thousands of Qantas points by buying gift cards from Woolworths

The true cost of a holiday in 2023: Woman raises eyebrows after going to extreme lengths just to earn 30,000 Qantas points: ‘That’s dedication’

A shopper bought 57 $50 gift cards to earn herself 30,000 Qantas points
She wanted a $3,000 treadmill and will buy it with her dozens of gift cards
The woman bought the cards when Woolworths was offering 20x rewards points
Frequent Flyer points can be exchange to get discounts on Qantas flights
The bargain hunter shared her hack online dividing people in the comments

By Louise Allingham For Daily Mail Australia

A penny-pinching traveller has divided shoppers after she revealed the controversial hack she used to earn more than 30,000 Qantas points.

The woman wanted a $3,000 treadmill from Rebel sports but instead of purchasing it outright at the store she bought 57 $50 gift cards from six different Woolworths to rack up her Qantas Frequent Flyer points.

She shared her efforts online raising the eyebrows of many who said she will cause checkout staff a ‘headache’ however others applauded her ‘dedication’ and said the effort was ‘worth it’.

A shopper wanted a $3,000 treadmill but instead of purchasing it outright at Rebel Sports she bought 57 gift cards from six different Woolworths to rack up her Qantas Frequent Flyer points

‘The things we do for points! I’m buying a $3,000 treadmill from Rebel and was waiting for a 20x points offer,’ the shopper wrote in a post to Qantas Point Collectors Facebook group.

‘Two days, six different Woolworths and used my own account, my partner’s account and my daughter’s account to stay within the 10 per day per customer limit.’

The gift cards amounted to $2,850 altogether and earned her 60,000 Woolworths Everyday Rewards point or 30,000 Qantas frequent flyer points.

‘30,000 points already in my Qantas account. Plus an extra 3,000 for buying the cards on my Qantas AmEx. Not bad for something I was going to buy anyway!’ she explained.

The gift cards amounted to $2,850 altogether and earned her 60,000 Woolworths Everyday Rewards point or 30,000 Qantas frequent flyer points which can be used to buy flights

Woolworths occasionally has deals that allow customers to earn 20x points when they buy a gift card which are advertised in the weekly catalogue or via in-store signage.

Each Everyday Rewards point is worth half a Qantas point which can then be used to purchase discounted flights.

People in the comments were divided over the woman’s ‘painful’ money-saving tactics.

‘I’d love to see the check-out person’s face when you show up with all those cards,’ one member replied.

‘It’s painful to even read how you did it,’ said a second and third wrote: ‘They must LOVE you at Rebel…not!’.

Gift cards and rewards points: How does it work?

When shopping at Woolworths, you’ll usually earn one Everyday Rewards point (worth half a Qantas point) for every dollar spent on groceries. It’s a similar story when shopping at Coles, where you can earn one Flybuys point (worth half a Velocity point) per $1.

According to the terms and conditions of the Everyday Rewards and Flybuys loyalty programs, gift cards are normally excluded from earning points. However, there is an exception during special promotions – and you can earn a lot more than just a point per dollar.

Every few weeks, Woolworths and Coles run special offers that allow you to earn 10 or even 20 Everyday Rewards or Flybuys points per dollar spent on specific types of gift cards. When collecting 20x Everyday Rewards points on gift cards, for example, that’s equivalent to earning 10 Qantas points per dollar.

After purchasing gift cards, you can then spend them like cash at stores where they are accepted.

The main benefit of doing this is the extra points. As an added perk, you might even be able to save on credit card fees by purchasing the gift card from Coles or Woolies using your credit card and then redeeming it – with no payment surcharge – at a retailer that normally has credit card fees or perhaps doesn’t accept American Express.

Source: Australia Frequent Flyer

Some were thankful for the ‘clever’ travelling tip saying: ‘This is how to collect Qantas points to avoid paying full price air fare’.

‘Hmmm. I need a new laptop. This could be the way to go!’ one woman said.

‘Wow that’s dedication,’ commented a second and another agreed the effort was ‘worth it’.

One point collector warned some store have limits on how many gift cards customers can use in one transaction.

‘Did you check in stall that there is no limit on the amount of cards you can use? I know online we can only use rebel and a max of three,’ they asked.

‘I spoke to the manager prior to buying the cards and he said all good,’ the frequent flyer responded.

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