Qantas has launched a flash sale offering a massive 50% off the points needed for an economy award seat on selected international routes.

This is a limited time sale, for five days only and ends 11.59pm (AEDT) 5 December 2017.

Here are the eligible travel dates and routes:

• 14 January to 31 October 2018 on Qantas (QF) between Australia and: Hong Kong, Japan (Tokyo Haneda, Tokyo Narita or Osaka Kansai), China (Shanghai or Beijing), USA (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York or Honolulu) or South Africa (Johannesburg)
• 14 January to 30 September 2018 on Jetstar (JQ) between Australia and: Japan (Tokyo Narita or Osaka Kansai), USA (Honolulu), Singapore, Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), Thailand (Bangkok or Phuket)
• 18 January to 28 February 2018 on Qantas (QF) between Australia and London (Heathrow)
• 14 April to 31 October 2018 on Qantas (QF) between Melbourne and Singapore.

Here are a few examples of where your points could take you:

• Sydney to Hong Kong in Economy return on Qantas, now 28,000 Qantas Points (was 56,000 Qantas Points) plus AU$326 taxes, fees and carrier charges.
• Melbourne to Tokyo Narita in Economy return on Qantas, now 35,000 Qantas Points (was 70,000 Qantas Points) plus AU$318 taxes, fees and carrier charges.
• Brisbane to Los Angeles in Economy return on Qantas, now 45,000 Qantas Points (was 90,000 Qantas Points) plus AU$435 taxes, fees and carrier charges.

The full offer details are available here.

Happy travels!

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Qantas and Mastercard have partnered to give Mastercard cardholders the chance to earn bonus Qantas points when shopping with selected retailers.

The program, called My Card Offers, is similar to the Amex Offers initiative that many Amex cardholders are familiar with.

If you hold an eligible Mastercard credit or debit card, you can link it to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account, and then you’ll receive a weekly email with offers for specific retailers, which you can save to your card.

You then simply pay for your qualifying purchase with your card and Qantas will credit the bonus points to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account.

Your Mastercard doesn’t need to already earn Qantas Points for purchases – but if it does, then the bonus points will be awarded in addition to points you earn on spending, allowing you to ‘double dip’.

To check if your card is eligible, go to My Card Offers, log in with your Qantas account details and try to ‘link’ your card (or multiple cards, if have more than one).

The full terms and conditions of the program are available here.

Note that this program is currently in Beta testing mode and Qantas is only accepting cards from 300,000 frequent flyers.

The program will be open to everyone from April 2018.

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Qantas partner and oneworld member Qatar Airways is offering some great fares from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney to Madrid, Spain next year, with prices as low as $990 ex Perth, or $1050-$1100 from the other cities, for an economy return ticket.

There are lots of dates available next year, with the cheapest fares from January to April 2018, and a small increase in price for later months.

Qatar Airways flights can be credited to Qantas Frequent Flyer, allowing you to earn both Qantas Points and status credits. By my calculations, you’ll earn at least 70 status credits and 4,400 points for the return trip.

This deal won’t last long, so if you’re interested, don’t delay!

The best site to search and book is momondo, where you can play around with the calendar function to find the cheapest dates to fly.

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Lonely Planet has launched a massive ‘buy one get one free’ sale covering everything in its online store – from guidebooks and ebooks to inspirational coffee table books.

The sale is advertised as ending on Sunday 26 November, but I’m advised it will be extended until Monday night.

To access the deal, you need to use the code “ONE4FREE” at the checkout. This is a great opportunity to stock up on books if you have trips in mind, or to use as Christmas gifts.

To go to Lonely Planet’s online store, click here.

Qantas and Virgin Australia are both offering up to 10 points per dollar spent with retailers connected to their online malls – a great opportunity to boost your points balance by stocking up on the things you need or doing your Christmas shopping online.

Shopping via the Qantas Mall and Velocity e-store is one of my favourite strategies for earning points. Not only is it very lucrative, but I find shopping online much more convenient than going to physical stores – especially during holiday periods.

Right now through the Qantas Mall, you can earn:

• 10 points per dollar at David Jones
• 8 points per dollar at Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Fossil, Marcs and M&S
• 7 points per dollar at The Iconic, Rodd & Gunn, Samantha Wills and Saks Fifth Avenue,
• 6 points per dollar at Bonds, Cue, Country Road, Forever New, Glasshouse Fragrances, Sheridan, Yoox and Zanui.

Through the Velocity e-store, you can pick up:

• 10 points per dollar at StrawberryNet, Clinique, lululemon, Edible Blooms and Zanui
• 8 points per dollar at Marks & Spencer, Charles Tyrwhitt and Bonds
• 6 points per dollar at Booktopia, David Jones, Mecca, Rebel Sports and Country Road.

Plus, there are more stores where you can earn up to 5 points per dollar – see the full list of offers for the Qantas Mall here and for the Velocity eStore here. Note that offers can change at any time.

Shopping via the two portals is very easy – just go to the Qantas Mall or Velocity eStore, log in and follow the link to the retailer you want. You’ll need to make sure cookies are enabled on your browser (you can check here). Then, shop with the retailer in the usual way and Qantas/Virgin Australia will track your purchase, with the points deposited in your account within 30 days.

And always make sure you pay with a high points earning credit card to really ramp up your points balance.

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Qantas partner and oneworld member Qatar Airways is offering some great fares from Melbourne and Sydney to Milan next year, with prices as low as $1061 for an economy return ticket.

There are lots of dates available from January to May 2018, though the price goes up slightly towards April/May.

Qatar Airways flights can be credited to Qantas Frequent Flyer, allowing you to earn both Qantas Points and status credits. By my calculations, you’ll earn 70 status credits and 5,200 points for the return trip.

This deal won’t last long, so if you’re interested, don’t delay.

The best site to search and book is momondo.

And while you’re here, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter: