You can watch your frequent flyer points balance skyrocket with these top tricks

You can make your next overseas trip even more rewarding by earning frequent flyer points as you travel.

From everyday travel costs to accommodation, here are four ways you can pick up some more Qantas or Velocity frequent flyer points on your next holiday.

1. Use a frequent flyer credit card or travel card

You can earn a reward for every $1 you spend on your trip if you’re using the right card. Whether you want to pay with a credit card or a prepaid travel card on your trip, you have a few options for earning points.

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Frequent flyer credit card

In Australia, most frequent flyer credit cards are linked to either the Qantas or Velocity frequent flyer program. With these cards, you can usually earn points for every $1 you spend on eligible purchases. Some frequent flyer credit cards even reward cardholders with more points per $1 spent on foreign transactions. These cards regularly come with introductory bonus points offers, which you can take advantage of to boost your rewards balance with thousands of points if you meet the spend requirement.

These cards often come with higher annual fees than other cards and may also charge a foreign transaction fee when you spend overseas, so you should make sure to compare these costs with the rewards before you apply.

Prepaid travel card

You can also pick up points with a prepaid travel card if you use the Qantas Cash card or the Velocity Global Wallet card. These cards also reward cardholders with higher earn rates when they shop overseas. You can earn 1.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent in foreign transactions (compared to 1 Qantas Point per $4 spent in Australia) with your Qantas Cash card. The Velocity Global Wallet card also offers 2 Velocity Points per $1 spent overseas (versus 1 point per $3 spent in Australia).

These cards support 11 international currencies, so you can lock in exchange rates and avoid foreign transaction fees when you’re shopping in supported local currencies overseas.

2. Earn points on hotel bookings

If you’re a Qantas Frequent Flyer member, you can earn 3 Qantas Points per $1 spent when you book accommodation through Qantas Hotels. You can also earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on Airbnb stays booked through the Qantas website.

You can also earn Velocity Points by quoting your Velocity Frequent Flyer card number when you book at partnered hotels and hotels. The number of points you’ll earn will vary between hotels. As an example, you can earn 3 Velocity Points per $1 spent at Crown Hotels or 1,000 Velocity Points per stay at Langham hotels outside of Australia.

3. Collect points on car rental bookings

If you’re taking a road trip, you can earn either Qantas Points or Velocity Points on an international vehicle hire. You can collect 700 Qantas Points per rental with Avis Car Rental and Budget or 800 Velocity Points per international rental with Europcar, Hertz and Thrifty.

4. Book travel insurance with a partnered issuer

You can even reward yourself for necessary holiday expenses like travel insurance. For example, you can earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 value of eligible insurance premiums when you take out Qantas Assure travel insurance. If you book through Virgin Australia, you can also earn Velocity Points on Cover-More international travel insurance policies.

Although the promise of points is tempting, make sure to compare the inclusions, exclusions and eligibility requirements of the insurance before you apply. You can see Money Smart’s guide to travel insurance for some more information.

As you can see, there are a number of ways to pick up frequent flyer points when you’re travelling overseas. Just do your research beforehand so you know exactly how you can earn a reward for every $1 you spend on your next international adventure.