Imagine turning your biggest monthly expense into a ticket to an overseas holiday.
That’s exactly what one savvy Aussie renter has done, sparking a viral sensation online with her ingenious method for racking up Qantas frequent flyer points.
Jazmin Hermione, a 21-year-old childcare worker, and her partner pay $770 a week for their Gold Coast apartment.
Instead of the usual direct debit, Ms Hermione revealed to Yahoo Finance she’s been putting her entire rent, and almost all other household expenses, onto a credit card that earns one Qantas point per dollar spent.
MORE NEWS
11 properties in 1 yr: 31 yo’s investor secret
The foreigner buying Australia piece by piece
‘No-brainer’: Why Aussies are ditching gas
The catch? A $420 annual fee and a third-party payment platform that adds a 0.99 per cent surcharge, pushing their weekly rent to approximately $777.
Hermione and her partner have 155,000 Qantas points so far and are hoping to use them for a flight overseas. (Source: Supplied)
“Our rent is our biggest expense, so it was a bit of a no-brainer to try and figure out a way for it to come off our credit card,” Ms Hermione explained.
Since mid-last year, this disciplined approach, coupled with sign-up bonuses, has seen the couple amass a staggering 155,000 points, all while meticulously paying off their balance in full each month to avoid crippling interest.
Is this frequent flyer frenzy worth the risk?
While the allure of free flights is strong, experts are sounding the alarm.
Sarah Megginson, a personal finance expert at Finder, acknowledges the potential for significant points accumulation but stresses the critical importance of financial discipline.
“Obviously, the big risk there is that if you don’t pay the credit card balance in time, you’re going to pay a huge whack of interest,” she told Yahoo Finance.
“You should only be considering it if you have the cash to pay your credit card in full each month.”
With credit card interest rates typically hovering between 20 and 24 per cent, failing to clear the balance can quickly negate any points benefit and plunge individuals into debt.
MORE NEWS: $19k annual bill shock hits Aussie homeowners
The couple puts most of their everyday expenses on their credit card to help earn points, except their electricity bill as they found the surcharge for paying by credit card outweighed the points that could be earned. (Source: Supplied)
Ms Megginson highlighted that while Ms Hermione’s 0.99 per cent fee is standard, the value of the points earned must genuinely outweigh these additional costs.
For instance, $26,000 in annual rent (at $500 per week) could yield 26,000 points, costing $260 in fees.
These points, she noted, could be enough for a business class flight between Brisbane and Melbourne, or three economy flights between Brisbane and Sydney – a clear win if managed correctly.
While a celver way to save on flights, finance experts warn the technique won’t work for everybody. (Source: Supplied)
However, Ms Megginson also cautioned that points, while offering extraordinary value, can sometimes be difficult to redeem.
She urged Australians to conduct thorough research and have a clear redemption plan before embarking on such a strategy.
Dreaming of overseas adventures
Ms Hermione and her partner are hoping their accumulated Qantas points will fund flights to the US or Japan. “
Travelling is definitely a very big priority between me and my partner,” she shared.
“We try to go travelling every year, so we honestly are just trying to make it as cheap as possible to make that feasible for us.”
Beyond rent, the couple strategically uses their credit card for most everyday expenses, carefully avoiding bills where surcharges outweigh point earnings, such as their electricity bill. They also convert Everyday Rewards points from Woolworths into Qantas points, maximising every opportunity.
Ms Hermione openly admits that this credit card strategy isn’t for everyone, advocating for individuals to tailor financial approaches to their unique circumstances.
English (US) · 