Do you want to start your next overseas holiday drinking champagne in a stylish airport lounge, before settling into a comfortable business class suite?

Anyone can do so without breaking the bank. The trick is to use frequent flyer points to book, which requires a little planning and know how, but is oh so worth it.

Without even flying, it’s possible to earn enough frequent flyer points ‘on the ground’ to take off on a business class holiday every year. That’s because you can earn a huge amount points each year through your everyday spending and a few other tricks.

You should be earning points every time you shop at the supermarket, buy fuel, book a hotel, eat at a restaurant, shop online for personal and household items, and even pay rent.

To significantly ramp up your points earning:

• pay for everything by credit card – unless the merchant doesn’t except credit cards of course, otherwise always choose plastic over cash
• make sure your wallet holds high earning credit cards – including an Amex card that earns at least 1 point per $1 and a great Visa or MasterCard as a backup for merchants that don’t take Amex (your Visa/MC should earn at least 0.5 points per $1)
• shop online for all your personal and households needs – buy your clothes, shoes, household products, cosmetics, electronics, music and more through the big online retailers Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity connect to. I’ve covered in a separate post how easy and lucrative this is.
• find other points-earning options that suit you  on the Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity websites and sign up for their newsletters to find out about regular promotions where you can earn up to 10 points per dollar.

Here’s an example of how easy it is to earn enough points for a taste of luxury.

I recently flew from Melbourne to Singapore in the excellent Emirates A380 business class for 60,000 Qantas points. I earned those 60,000 points with just one credit card sign-up bonus (or by purchasing six cases of wine through Qantas’ wine club, Epiqure).

Thanks to this small amount of effort, I was able to enjoy a chauffeur pickup from my apartment, Veuve Cliquot and canapes in the beautiful Emirates lounge, a very comfortable seat, and cocktails at the A380 onboard bar. Read my review here. This is how holidays should begin!

As well as Qantas and Virgin Australia, Aussies can also use points with some of the world’s best airlines, such as Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Reward seats can be a bit hard to find, so you’ll need to plan ahead or be ready to book quickly when new seats become available. For now, start earning those points and planning your next holiday. And make sure you follow us on Facebook to hear about the latest points tips and promotions!