Points of View

Qantas raised classic reward prices, so what still delivers with 100,000 Qantas Points? Brandon Loo joins Tobias Venus to re-rank 9 great redemptions post-devaluation. We cover: ✅ What changed in the Qantas award devaluation (up to ~20%) and how it reshapes the value of 100,000 points ✅ Emirates First SYD–CHC: why it still punches above its weight  ✅ Asia in Business with Cathay or China Airlines ✅ JAL Business: what's great, what's quirky ✅ Qantas A330 Business to Asia ✅ Qantas First SYD–SIN vs saving ~40k by booking Business instead ✅ When cash fares beat points for long-haul economy ✅ Short regional hops (~9,200 pts) that shine when cash spikes

Thanks to its partnership with Qatar Airways, Virgin Australia is “back” with international long haul flights. But are these flights actually worth your hard-earned Velocity Points? In this episode Tobias Venus chats with Chris Chamberlin (Senior News Editor, Point Hacks) who flew the inaugural VA-coded service to Doha on Qatar Airline's Qsuite Business Class. We cover: ✅Which international Velocity redemptions offer the best value (hint: this flight is one of them) ✅How the Virgin Australia flight differs from Qatar's offering ✅The quirks of wet-leasing and how it impacts amenities and lounge access ✅How to stitch connections to Europe on one ticket. ✅How to book VA coded flights between Australia and Doha using points, including alternatives to Velocity Points ✅What's next for Virgin Australia international long-haul

In this episode of Point Hacks, Tobias Venus chats with Brandon Loo, fresh from an epic two-week trip around the globe — all booked using Qantas Points!  Learn exactly how he visited four continents, multiple world-class cities, and top airline lounges for just 318,000 points + minimal taxes (now 365,800 points). We cover: ✅ How to book a oneworld Classic Flight Reward and maximise the 35,000-mile cap ✅ The essential rules & tricks to maximise value ✅ Tips for finding rare business class award seats ✅ Brandon's full itinerary: Tokyo, Chicago, New York, Barcelona, London, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Singapore & more ✅ The best food, lounges, and airlines from his trip ✅ Smart ways to earn points faster for your own round-the-world adventure Whether you've got 300,000 Qantas Points or you're just starting your points journey, this episode is packed with practical strategies, insider hacks, and inspiration to turn your frequent flyer balance into the trip of a lifetime.

Travel Pointers is a brand new Australian podcast for frequent flyers, hosted by Point Hacks News Editor Chris Chamberlin and Australian Frequent Flyer Editor Matt Graham. Each month, your hosts will discuss the latest travel news, share their best travel tips and stories, and provide useful tips to help you make the most of your points! Some episodes will also include interviews with leading travel industry figures.

Travelling in India is an amazing adventure, but it pays to plan in advance. From landing in a security-heavy air force base to finding the right ATM, Chris Chamberlin shares his firsthand experience of incredible India.

Fresh off a Business Class flight, Chris Chamberlin is loving New Caledonia. Noumea is easy to get to, gives you a taste of the Maldives, and there are reward seats available! David and Chris breakdown the entire experience, and how you can fly there yourself using your Qantas points.

How do the experts find Business and First Class reward seats? What are some routes to look at given current availability? Which points currencies should I be collecting? There are too many answers to these questions to put on one guest's shoulders. So we got three! We've gathered some of Australia's leading frequent flyer experts from both Point Hacks and Australian Frequent Flyer to help us get to the bottom of these questions and more.

In this episode, Point Hacks' writer Brandon Loo returns to the podcast to brag about his recent trip to Rome and the sparkling Amalfi Coast. With reward availability at a premium right now, we also dive into some interesting and creative ways to jet to Europe on points. Brandon's top tips? You'll have to listen to find out!

Chris Chamberlin is making up for lost time! Having just completed the world's longest flight between Singapore and New York, we talk about how he fared and the future of ultra long hauls.

Point Hacks CEO, Michael Siwes, just flew return to Barcelona. From start to finish, the entire trip was booked using points in either Business or First Class. The catch? 109 hours of time spent travelling.

Singapore have recently relaxed their COVID restrictions, effectively opening the county to tourism again. Editor-in-Chief of Point Hacks, Daniel Sciberras, joins our host David to talk about what Singapore is currently like on the ground, and some of the best ways to get there on points.

Chris Chamberlin joins David today to talk about New Zealand. Chris had travelled over a million miles sampling the best in Business Class and First Class. That's further than two return trips to the moon! Today he recounts his recent trip to New Zealand and shares some tips for when you book your next trip.

On this episode of Points of View, we chat with Brandon Loo, a senior writer for Point Hacks. Brandon recently jetted to paradise in style, thanks to Qantas Points. He shares his tips and tricks – from planning his trip to Fiji, to making the most of his time on the ground.

We're back after a pandemic-sized break. On this episode of Points of View, we talk to Antonia Strakosch, a writer and editor for Point Hacks. Antonia just did a Business Class round trip to London on points, and dives into what it's like to travel as COVID restrictions are lifted and the world opens up. Antonia's biggest tip? Have a working printer at home.

What are your burning questions about the frequent flyer game? On the last episode of Season 1, we asked the Point Hacks audience what they’d like to ask our Managing Editor, Daniel Sciberras. From tools, status and the age old Qantas versus Velocity question, Daniel answers all.

We’ve got Keith Mason, founder of Point Hacks, back on the podcast and we’re talking about Beginners and Redemption Strategies. This is a great episode if you’re a beginner yourself or if you have friends that ask you how to get started in the points game. In the second half of the podcast we take a dive into Keith’s methods for redeeming flights, definitely worth a listen.

The team at Point Hacks travel a lot and have been fortunate enough to test out many Business Class seats. On this episode, Matt Moffitt and I run through the best seats you should be aiming for with your Frequent Flyer points redemptions.

Australians are points crazy, but mainly with Frequent Flyer points. There’s a whole world of hotel points that goes relatively unnoticed in comparison. Point Hacks Managing Editor, Daniel Sciberras is back to talk about how to get the most out of hotel points.

Point Hacks founder, Keith Mason, is back again and on this episode we’re talking travel with family. We’ll be diving into how Keith travels with his family using points, how your priorities can change when booking a seat, as well as tips & hacks to look out for.

How do you go from having close to 0 Frequent Flyer points in your account to booking a trip with 2 Business and 1 First Class flights just over a year later? A good friend of mine, Kane Richards, joins me today to talk about how he did just that and what he learned from the process. It's worth noting that the flights we discuss were booked prior to the Qantas Frequent Flyer changes that came into effect in September 2019 and at the time of recording, BP's switch to Qantas had only just been announced.

What do you do when you’ve booked a massive family trip to Europe using points and things start to fall apart? Edward Alder, who’s joining us today, found out the answer to that question first hand. It’s a pretty insane story.

The Managing Editor of Point Hacks, Daniel Sciberras, joins us today. We’ll be discussing one of the best value points redemptions you can make… a oneworld round the world booking. This can be done in Economy, Business or First class using your qantas points. Daniel covers all of the details, routes he's flown, and how you can book a trip yourself.

Imagine travelling the world, working from exotic locations and flying in more business and first class seats than you can count. Well that’s exactly what Matt Moffitt, a Senior Writer for Point Hacks, did for over a year! Today I’m talking to Matt about his time as a digital nomad including the ups, downs and tips if you want to do the same.

In the very first episode of Points of View we talk to Keith Mason, founder of the Point Hacks website. Point Hacks started in 2011 and has grown into Australia's top website to help people earn the most points that can meet their travel goals. We also dive into how Keith got into the world of Frequent Flyer points, how Point Hacks came to be, and some of his most memorable Business and First Class redemptions.