Week 2 · Earn it
Points 101
Everything you need to know about points to get started, on one page.
"Points is money, but points is all about numbers."Steve Hui
Gift cards, shopping and points plus pay give you far less for the same points. Business class is where a point does its best work.
You pay a small fee to earn them. That's fine: the bill had to be paid anyway, and a trip on points still costs well under the cash fare.
Points in an airline program are locked to that airline. Points in your card rewards or PayRewards can still go to many. Transfer last.
Why it's still the cheaper way to fly
Steve Hui's own example: a return business class trip to Europe for about 300,000 points.
| Cash | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| The fare | A$12,000 | 300,000 pts |
| Fees to earn the points (2%) | A$6,000 | |
| Taxes on the reward seat | A$2,000 | |
| What you pay | A$12,000 | A$8,000 |
His example, not a promise. Fares, fees and seats vary.
Buy low, sell high
Earn points for around 2 cents each. Use them in business class, where Steve Hui puts their value at 3 to 5 cents. That gap is the whole game.
Your cost per point = fees paid ÷ points earned. Your Bill audit works it out for you, so you never do the sum.
"If you get the cost versus benefit right on points, you're never going to go backwards."Steve Hui
The three rules
- Only earn on bills you already pay. Never create spend to chase points.
- Pay your card off in full, every month. Interest wipes out the value of every point.
- Don't transfer early. Search first, transfer second.
Go deeper, if you want to
Watch the Points Travel OS
You don't need these to be Flight Ready. They're there if you want the full thinking behind each idea. All in Circle under Go deeper.