How I earned 83,485 flybuys points in a year
I'm in the top 2% of points hogs, apparently.
So flybuys sent me a retrospective of my activity in 2019 yesterday. It was a good year: I earned a total of 83,485 flybuys points.
I work hard on maximising my points, but I hadn't realised I'd worked quite that hard. Indeed, the email informs me that I'm in the top 2% of points earners nationwide.
What's really noteworthy about this, and what you can easily copy yourself, is the way I earned those points. Just 3,659 of them came from regular flybuys shopping, which averages out at about $70 a week. That's not a lot, especially considering that covers food, alcohol and the occasional Kmart shopping binge. It's a little confronting seeing what I purchase most often, but hey, I like tomatoes.
The remaining 79,826 points came from special offers, where you can earn 500 points for buying cheese or 2,000 points for grabbing a Netflix gift card. Consistently taking advantage of those really adds up. And remember, we track every offer here at Points Finder to make it easy to know what's available.
The other key element is using those points intelligently. I convert my flybuys points into Velocity Points, because they're worth more that way. Indeed, I've just booked myself a business class trip to New Zealand using a stack of those converted points.
For flybuys, it's always best to wait until there's a 15% bonus offer on for conversions. That means you get 1,000 Velocity Points for every 2,000 flybuys, rather than the lower regular 870 Velocity Points conversion.
Knowing those totals also helps me refine my 2020 frequent flyer goals. I'm in the top 2%, but that means I can still aim for the top 1%. There's a limit of 138,000 flybuys points that can be transferred to Velocity each year, and I still haven't hit that. So onwards to the next offer!
Angus Kidman's Findings column looks at new developments and research that help you save money, make wise decisions and enjoy your life more. It appears regularly on Finder.
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